National Negro Labor Council facts for kids
The National Negro Labor Council (NNLC) was an important group that worked for the rights of black workers in the United States. It existed from 1950 to 1955. Many labor union leaders thought it was connected to the Communist Party. In 1951, the U.S. government officially called it a "Communist front" organization.
Contents
History
Why the NNLC Was Needed
For many years, black workers in America faced unfair treatment. They often experienced racism and were kept out of many trade unions. This meant they often had the lowest-paying jobs and earned less money.
In the 1920s, some groups tried to help black workers. One early group was the American Negro Labor Congress, which started in 1925.
During the Great Depression in the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s, many more Americans joined unions. The number of union workers grew from about 3.7 million in 1935 to nearly 15 million by 1950. Black workers were a big part of this growth, especially in the new industrial unions like the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). By 1950, about 1 to 1.5 million black Americans were in unions.
During World War II, black union workers supported the war effort through the Negro Labor Victory Committee. This group helped black union officials work together and held large meetings to show their support for the government.
After the war ended in 1945, the Negro Labor Victory Committee stopped its work. Many black workers lost the jobs they had gained during the war. This was often due to a rule called "last hired, first fired." This meant that people who were hired most recently were the first to lose their jobs when companies downsized. For example, in 1940, black men held almost 16% of factory jobs, but by 1950, this number dropped to only 8.5%. This made many black labor leaders want a new organization to fight for their rights.
Planning the New Organization
In 1950, leaders decided to create a new national group called the National Negro Labor Council (NNLC). A main organizer for this new group was Ernest Thompson, also known as "Big Train." He used to work in a factory and later became an organizer for a union called the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE).
Thompson traveled across the country, talking to local labor leaders. He found a lot of support in cities like New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and San Francisco. Important union activists like Bill Hood from the United Auto Workers (UAW) and future Detroit mayor Coleman Young joined the project.
The leaders held many meetings to discuss the problems black workers faced, including issues of race and class. They decided that black leaders should lead this new organization. This was different from groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which had many white leaders at the top.
Some powerful union leaders, like Walter Reuther and James Carey, did not support the NNLC. They told their union members to stay away from the new group.
The city of Cincinnati was chosen for the first big meeting. This was a challenging choice because Cincinnati was a "Jim Crow" town. This meant black people were often not allowed to stay in white hotels. A leader named Victoria Garvin worked for months to find hotel rooms and private homes for all the delegates. She also had to talk with the city government, which was not very friendly to the idea of the convention. About 15,000 invitations were sent out to unions across the country.
The First Meeting
The first meeting of the National Negro Labor Council began at noon on October 27, 1951. About 1100 delegates gathered and sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the black anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
What the NNLC Did
By 1951, the NNLC had 23 local groups across the country. Representatives from all these groups met in Cincinnati to officially start the National Negro Labor Council.
The NNLC worked on many important issues. It helped organize strikes to get more jobs for black people. It also tried to stop unfair treatment or violence against black people by authorities. The group also worked to gain full access to public transportation and other public places.
The NNLC led campaigns against big companies like Sears-Roebuck, Ford Motor Company, and General Electric to get more jobs for African Americans. However, instead of focusing on these important issues, some leaders from the AFL and CIO attacked the NNLC. This led to investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which accused the NNLC of having ties to communism.
The End of the NNLC
Even though the NNLC achieved many things for civil rights and against discrimination, it came to an end in 1956. The organization was called before the Subversive Activities Control Board. It was accused of being a "Communist front" organization. The lawyers defending the NNLC charged a very large amount of money, which the organization could not afford to pay.
Because the legal problems and costs became too much to handle, the NNLC decided to vote on its future. The members voted to close down the organization. This difficult decision was made because the legal challenges were too great for the group to continue its work.
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