racism within organized labor

7/27/2019 Racism within organized labor

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Journal of Negro Education

Racism Within Organized Labor: A Report of Five Years of the AFL-CIO, 1955- 1960Author(s): Herbert HillSource: The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Spring, 1961), pp. 109-118Published by: Journal of Negro EducationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2294330 .

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RacismWithinOrganized abor:A Report fFiveYearsof theAFL-CIO,1955-1960*HERBERT HILLLaborSecretaryftheNAACP

The elimination f racism withintradeunionswas one of the majorgoalsfor rganizedabor nnouncedt themer-gerconventionf the American eder-ation of Laborand theCongress f In-dustrial rganizationsnDecember,955.This waswelcomed ymany ivilrightsagencies nd especially y the NationalAssociationortheAdvancementf Col-oredPeoplewhich fferedts full upportto the abormovement.Today,fiveyears fter heAFL-CIOmerger, he national abor organizationhas failed o eliminatehebroadpatternof racial discriminationnd segregation

in many important ffiliated nions.Trade unionactivityn the civilrightsfield since the mergerhas not been-markedy a systematicnd coordinatedefforty the nationalaborfederationoeliminate iscriminationnd segregationwithin ocal unions. This is especiallytrue of thecraft nions n thebuildingand constructionradeswherethe tradi--tional nti-Negro ractices asicallyre-main in effect.Efforts to eliminate discriminatory-practicesithin radeunionshave beenpiecemealnd nadequatendusually heresult f protesty civilrightsgencies-acting nbehalf fNegroworkers.TheNational AFL-CIO has repeatedly e-

fused o take ction n itsown nitiative.*This rticles based pon report adeat the AnnualMeeting f the NationalAssociationor heAdvancementfColoredPeopleon January, 1961, n NewYork'City.

In toomany asesyears aveelapsedbe-tweenthe filing f a complaint y anaggrievedworkerand acknowledgmentand nvestigationy theFederation,f n-deed there s anyaction t all.Discriminatoryacialpracticesy trade

unions renot implysolatedr occasion-al expressionsf local bias against ol-oredworkers,ut rather,s the recordindicates, continuationf the institu-tionalized attern f anti-Negromploy-mentpractices hat is traditional ithlarge ections f organizedabor and in-dustrialmanagement.The patternfunionresponsibilityorjob discriminationgainstNegroes s notlimited o any one area of the countryor to somefew ndustriesr union uris-dictions ut involvesmanyunions n awidevarietyf occupationsn manufac-turingndustries,killed rafts, ailroadsand maritimerades s forexample, heSeafarersnternationalnionwhich per-

atesunion-controllediring allsonGreatLakesports uch s Duluth,Chicago, e-troit, leveland nd Buffalo. As a sys-tematic ractice hisunionwill dispatchonlyNegroworkers or menial obs asmessmenn the galleydepartmentsfships operating nder S.I.U. collectivebargaininggreements.Over the yearsNegromembersftheSeafarersnterna-tional Union have repeatedlyrotestedthis practice, ut to no avail as theunion ontinuesiscriminatoryob assign-ments n itshiring alls.

On occasion ne or two Negroes ave109

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110 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATIONbeen admitted nto an all-white ocalunion s a token ompliance ith stateor municipalfair employmentracticelaw as with he nternationalrotherhoodof ElectricalWorkers n Cleveland; heBricklayersn Milwaukee nd the Rail-wayClerksnMinneapolis,utthis s es-sentially limited nd strategicdjust-mentto communityressurend repre-sentsverydubious"progress."

Certainly he tokenadmission f afew Negroes nto an electricalworkersunion n Cleveland an no morebe re-garded s integrationhancan thetokenadmissionftwoorthreeNegro hildreninto Southernublic chool. There realso many nstanceswhereunionshaveremovedhe"lily-white"xclusion lausefromheir onstitutionss public elationsgesturesutcontinuedoexcludeNegroesfrommembershipy tacit onsent.

As long as unionmembershipemainsa conditionfemploymentn thebuild-ingtrades,n the railroadsndelsewhereand qualifiedNegroesare barredfromunionmembershipolely ecause ftheircolor, hentradeunion discriminationsthedecisive actorndetermininghetherNegroworkersn a given ndustryhallhave an opportunityo earna living orthemselvesnd their amilies.This is es-pecially rue n theconstructionndustrywhere AFL-CIO building radesunionsexercise highdegree fcontrol ver c-cesstoemployment.

AFL-CIO affiliatednions are todayguilty fdiscriminatoryacialpracticesnfour ategories:utrightxclusionfNe-groes, egregatedocals, eparate acial e-niorityines ncollectiveargaininggree-mentsand exclusionof Negroesfromapprenticeshiprainingprograms on-trolled y laborunions.As for the Federation's ivil Rights

Department,tsperformanceould seem?to indicate hat ts majorfunctions tocreate "liberal" ublic relationsmagerather han oattack hebroad attern fanti-Negropractices within affiliatedunions. The Civil Rights ommitteefthe AFL-CIO is theonly standing om-mitteen theFederation hosechairmanis not a member f the Federation'sExecutiveCounciland/or he presidentof an internationalnion. The rigid ro-tocolof thenational aborfederationn-dicates hat such a person s not in atpositionoimpose policy ponan inter-national r local unionbut must onfinehimself o issuing declarations nd to,exercisinguchpersuasions he can mus-ter. More often hannot,hiseffortsrefruitless.

ORGANIZED LABOR IN THE SOUTHThe threat f several ocal unions nthe Southtoorganize Southern edera-tion fLaborhas clearly otmaterialized.However, ne is forced o note thattheWhite CitizensCouncilsbegan takingcontrol f some ocal AFL-CIO affiliatessoonafterheSupreme ourtdecision f1954in the chool egregationases. Be-cause thenationaleadershipforganized

laborhas made t a practice o avoid asmuch nternal onflictn racial ssues s.possible, he Ku Klux Klan and WhiteCitizens ouncilforces,speciallynAla-bama,havemovedntomanyocal unionsand madethem,n effect,irtual xten-sionsofsegregationistrganizations.As a result, egroworkershroughout

theSouth reexperiencingn acute enseof alienationndrejectionromrganizedlabor. This becomesncreasinglyvidentin an analysis f Negro voting ehaviorin union certificationlections onductedby theNationalLaborRelations oard.Althought is notpossible o getan of-



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RACISM WITHIN ORGANIZED LABOR 111ficial breakdown f electionresultsbyBoardregions,lection esults re knownand are discussedn union circles.

At the SouthWire Company, arroll-ton, Georgia, where several hundredworkers ere nvolved, he InternationalBrotherhoodf ElectricalWorkers nionrecentlyost an NLRB election y eightvotes. It has been stated y the unionorganizershat he decisive otewas castby theforty-fiveegroesn the electionwho votedagainst he IBEW.Early n 1960 an electionwas heldinAiken,South Carolina t the SavannahRiverAtomic nergy rojectwith even-teenunions f the Metal TradesDepart-ment of the AFL-CIO seeking certifica-tionby theNLRB as bargaininggent.Thirty-one undred workerswere in-volved. Six hundred f thesewere Ne-

groes. It was stated yunionorganizersthat the six hundredNegroesvotedal-mostas a solid bloc against he unionand theelectionwas lost.The active ecruitmentf tradeunionmembersorWhiteCitizens ouncils, uKlux Klan and other egregationistr-ganizationsccounts ormuchof the oss

of influencehat the AFL-CIO has suf-ered mongNegroworkershroughoutheSouth. News of thisactivityas comenot alone throughwordof mouthbutfrequentlyrom ewspaperdvertisingnlocal communitieslainly o be seen byNegroworkershemselves.In a number f localitiesuch as Sa-

vannah,Georgia, ublicnotices ave ap-pearedstating hatthe Ku Klux Klanor the VVhite itizens ouncilwill holda meetingn a unionhall. Newspapershave alsoprinted eportsndpicturesfunion officialspeakingt suchmeetingsand thepointhas not been lost on the

Negro worker. Moreover,they areaware thatthe NationalAFL-CIO haspermittedts civil rights eclarationsobe ignored y manyaffiliatednions.The correctionfthismutuallyamag-ing situation ouldseem to demand c-tion directlyy theAFL-CIO leadershipand by the nternationalnions nvolved.At the veryeastwhat s requireds thatAFL-CIOmembersndlocalaffiliatesotbe active articipantsn segregationistt-tacks ponthe Negro's truggleorbasic

citizenshipights.SEGREGATED LOCAL UNIONS

TheBrotherhoodfRailway ndSteam-ship Clerkswhichmaintains any egre-gated ocal odgesn Northerns well asSouthern ities s amongthe importantinternationalnionswhich maintainbroadnational atternfsegregation.nthe Brotherhoodhe existence f morethan 150 segregatedll-Negroocalswithseparate acial eniorityostersimitsobmobilitynd violates heseniorityightsof thousandsfNegrounionmembers.

This unionhas persistedn its racistpractices espiterepeatedprotestsromNegroworkersnd communityrganiza-tions. On April 30, 1957, the NewYorkStateCommissiongainst iscrimi-nationordered he merger f the "lily-white"GeorgeM. Harrison odge 783)and the all-NegroFriendshipLodge(6118). The whiteunion refused ocomplyndthe ocal odges emainegre-gated o thisday. Similar ituationsxistin ChicagowhereNegroworkersre insegregatedocal odge6132 andin Tulsa,Oklahoma, here hey re n local 6257.In East St. Louis and St. Louis thereare 14 all-coloredodges nd 14 all-whitelodgeswhichfunctionhroughegregatedjoint ouncils.



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112 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATIONThe practice f segregations so wellinstitutionalizedn thisunion hat hede-signationftheNegro odges ll over he

countryeginswith henumeral 6." Itis ironicto note thatthe president ftheBrotherhoodf Railway nd Steam-ship Clerks,GeorgeM. Harrison,s amember ftheCivilRights ommitteefthe AFL-CIO and a FederationVicePresident.The Brotherhoodf RailwayCarmenofAmericamaintainsegregatedocals nCalifornia, loridaand in manyotherstates. RecentlyNegro workers iledchargesointlygainst hisunion nd theSanta Fe Railroadwith the CaliorniaFair Employmentractices ommission.The Commissionas announced hat twillconduct publichearing nJanuary9 on complaintshat the companynd

theunionhaveacted n collusion o dis-criminategainstNegroworkers.In Jacksonville,lorida,Negroworkersemployed n the AtlanticCoast LineRailroadbelongto Local 690, a segre-gated ll-Negronit,whilewhiteworkersemployedn the same inehold member-ship in Local 509, an all-whitenitof

theBrotherhoodfRailway armen. Inaddition hewhite ocalpreventshe all-colored ocal from articipatingn nego-tiations ithmanagementnd insists hatit "represents"hecolored ocal. Similarpractices ccur n other itieswhere hisunionoperatesegregatedocals.Racially segregatedocals are todaycharacteristicf many buildingtradesunions n theNorthas well as in theSouth. The UnitedBrotherhoodf Car-penters nd Joinerss quite typical fbuilding rades nionsn itstreatmentftheNegroworker.This union, orovera half-centuryas been among hemost

important f all the buildingtradesunions, nd, withveryfew exceptions,organizesegroesndwhitesnto eparatelocals insofar s it permitsNegroestojoin the union at all. In the Souththere eemsto be no exceptiono thisrule nd itis most ften ollowednNor-thern ities s well.

The white ocalsare in controlf theunionhiringhall and, becauseof fre-quentarrangementsithmunicipal ndcounty oliticalmachines,ll hiring ormajorpublicas well as private onstruc-tionprojectss done throughhe "lily-white"unionhiring all. In many n-stances,hewhite ocal will mport hiteworkers rom ther ities ather hanal-low local Negro members o share inattractive ork pportunities.Quitefrequentlyegroes re excludedaltogetherromwork n whiteneighbor-hoods. This meansthatNegrocarpen-ters rerestrictedomarginal aintenanceand repairworkwithin heNegrocom-munitynd that hey eldom repermit-ted to workon the larger onstructionprojects. The same practices re trueforother uilding rades nions n manycities hroughouthecountry.

The Hod Carriers,uildingndCom-mon LaborersUnion is currentlyefen-dant in a suit brought y Negrocon-struction orkersn Chicago,chargingthattheHod Carriers nionbarsthemfromdesirableobs withinthisunion'sjurisdiction.n other itiesNegrowork-ers chargethat white ocals controllingjob assignmentsn federal onstructionprojectsefuseoaccept travellingards"issuedbycoloredocals.

The InternationalrotherhoodfPulp,Sulphiteand Paper Mill Workershasagreednot to issueanynew charterso



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RACISM WITHIN ORGANIZED LABOR 113segregatedocalunions nd has indicatedthat ctionwill be taken omerge egre-gated ocalswhereverossible,s well asto eliminateeparate acial eniorityinesin collectiveargaininggreements. hisoccurredafter representativesf theNAACP appearedbefore the Union'sGeneral ExecutiveBoard and made apresentationn behalf of Negro unionmembers.

Unfortunately,he UnitedPapermak-ers and Paperworkersnion refused herequest f theNAACP Executive ecre-tary o conferwiththeExecutive oardof thePapermakersnionregardinghematter f segregatedocals and separateracialseniorityines in union contracts.On thepositive ide we notethattheAmericanFederation f Musicianshasmergedegregatedocals n some16 cities

andthat he nternationaladiesGarmentWorkersUnion withthe requested s-sistance f the NationalAssociation orthe Advancement f Colored Peoplemergedeparate hite ndNegro ectionsoftheAtlantaocal nto neunit.RACIAL FXCLUSION PRACTICES

Todaynvirtuallyveryarge rbanen-ter n theUnitedStatesNegroworkersredenied mploymentn themajor ndustrialand residentialonstructionrojects e-causethey re,with omefew xceptions,barred rommembershipn thebuildingtrades raftunions. This includes heInternational rotherhoodf ElectricalWorkers,he Operating ngineers,ronand StructuralteelWorkers, lumbersand Pipe FittersUnion,PlasterersndLathers,he SheetMetalWorkers nion,theBoilerMakers, tc.

The basic factof craft nions n thebuildingradesndustrys that hey on-trol access to employmenty virtue f

their igid ontrol f the hiring rocess.In this industrynionsperformertainmanagerial unctions,specially he as-signmentfunionmemberso obs. Therefusal o admitNegroes ntomembershipsimply denies Negro workersopportuni-tiesto secure mployment.This is true n many ities cross hecountry uch as Terre Haute, Indiana,Washington,.C., St.Louis,Mo., Dallas,Texas; Cleveland, hio, East St. Louis,Ill., and Dade County, lorida, tc. Chi-

cago, ll., appears o be a partial xcep-tion,perhaps ecause of the Negro's f-fective se of his growing olitical ow-er.) Because theNationalLabor Rela-tionsBoardhas done ittle o enforce heanti-closedhop provisions f the Taft-Hartley ct,buildingradesnions ffilia-tedto theAFL-CIOinmost nstancesreclosedunions peratinglosed hops.Local 26 of theInternationalrother-hood of ElectricalWorkersn Washing-ton,D.C. is a typical xample f howunionpower susedtocompletelyxcludeNegroworkersromecuringmploymentin vastfederalonstructionrojects. FormanyyearsNegroworkersave beenat-temptingo secure dmissionnto Local

26, which ontrolsll hiring or lectricalinstallation ork n theNation's apital.They have filed complaintswith thePresident's ommittee n GovernmentContractswhich over threeyears agobrought his matter o the attention ftheNationalAFL-CIO.As ofJanuary, 1960,therewere till,

no Negroes dmittedntomembershipnLocal 26. However, fterthe JusticeDepartmenthreatenedctionand as aconcessionopressurerom ther overn-ment genciesndtoprotestsrom egrocivilrightsrganizations,neNegro lec-



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114 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATIONtrician,JamesHolland,was reluctantlypermittedy the union to work n agovernmentnstallation.

Soon after he mergern 1955 twointernationalnionswere admittedntothe Federation ith lily-white"xclusionclauses in their constitutionslthoughthis ctionwas clearlyn violationf thepoliciesannounced t the time of themerger greementetween he AFL andthe CIO. They werethe InternationalBrotherhoodf LocomotiveiremenndEnginemennd theBrotherhoodfRailroadTrainmen.Sincethen heBrotherhoodf RailroadTrainmenhas removed he "CaucasianOnlyClause" fromtsconstitutionut nNovember, 958,the Brotherhoodf Lo-comotive iremen nd Enginemenuc-cessfully efended ts exclusion f Ne-groesfrom nionmembershipn a suitbroughty Negrofiremenn theFederalDistrict ourt n Cincinnati,hio. De-spitemany appealsthe NationalAFL-CIO refused o intervener makeanypublic ommentndthisunion ontinuesto exclude ll Negroes rommembership.For almost generationualifiedNe-gro plumbers ave been attackingheracial exclusion racticesf the Plumb-ersUnion UnitedAssociationfJourney-men and Apprenticesf the Plumbingand Pipe Fittingndustryf the UnitedStates ndCanada,AFL-CIO). On De-cember , 1958,FrankT. Lyersonub-mittedn affidavito the AFL-CIO CivilRightsDepartmentharginghat Local630 of the Plumbers nion in East St.Louis, llinois efusedmembershipo himand otherqualifiedNegroes. AlthoughLocal 630 limitsmembershipo whitepersons xclusively,he NationalAFL-CIO has not taken nyaction n thisoron other omplaintsgainst he Plumb-ers Union.

The practicesf other uilding radesunions n the St. Louis-East t. Louisarea are typical f the racialexclusionpractices f many old-line raftunions.At thepresentime ualified egrowork-ers are barred rom ecuring mploymentin the largeharbor mprovementrojectin St. Louis, s well as in thevastfeder-ally-financedonstruction rogramsnEast St. Louis because f theexclusionistpracticesf unions ffiliatedothe Build-ing TradesCouncil of theAFL-CIO.Local 309 of the nternationalrother-hood of ElectricalWorkers,AFL-CIO,in East St. Louis is an all-whiteocaland has consistentlyefused o admitqualified egroes,ncluding ethromithwhofiled n affidavit iththe NationalAFL-CIO. HenryDensmoreiled simi-lar affidavitgainst he Operative las-terers nd Cement MasonsAssociation,Local 90, whichalso maintains rigidpolicyof excludingNegroesfrommem-bership.Negrofiremenorthe first imewereadmittednto he nternationalireFight-ersAssociation, FL-CIO, Local 734 inBaltimore, aryland, uring1959. Thisoccurredfterction ytheNationalAs-

sociation or heAdvancementfColoredPeople n supportfNegrofiremen hofiled complaint ith he BaltimoreairEmploymentOpportunityCommissionagainst heunion. However, egrofire-menwho appliedfor dmissionnto theFireFightersnion nWashington,.C.during ovember,960,wererefusedd-missionntothe "lily-white"ssociationof FireFightersn theNation's apital.At its 1958 convention,he NationalTransport ssociationmended ts con-stitutiono admitNegroesndsince henhas enrolledomeNegroworkers ithinits urisdictionn several tates.



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RACISM WITHIN ORGANIZED LABOR 115SEPARATE RACIAL SENIORITY LINES INCOLLECTIVE BARGAININGAGREEMENTSMany major unions affiliated o theAFL-CIO have negotiated nto theircol-lective bargaining agreements separatelines of seniority romotion. These limitNegro employmento unskilledor meniallabor classificationswhich deny Negroworkersequal seniority nd otherrightsand prevent them fromdeveloping jobskillswhich permitemploymentn more

desirable classifications.Although omefew isolatedactionscanbe reported s havingeliminated eparateseniorityines such as thatof the UnitedAutomobileWorkers of America at theGeneral Motors FisherBody plant in St.Louis, Missouri (UAW Local 25), theaction of the Oil, Chemical and AtomicWorkersUnion at the Magnolia RefiningCorp., Beaumont,Texas, and at the Phil-lips Petroleum Corporation in KansasCity, Missouri,as well as the limitedac-tionby the United Steelworkersf Amer-ica in response to a law suit filed byNegro members at the SheffieldSteelCompany in Houston,Texas, the patternof such discriminationemainspracticallyintact in Southern industrialoperationswhere trade unions hold collectivebar-gainingagreements.

At present,many thousandsof Negroworkerswho are membersof AFL-CIOunions in southernpaper mills,chemicalplants, pulp works and oil refineries swell as steel plants and in the textile n.dustrysuffer he acute disadvantagesofseparate lines of progression or Negroand whiteworkers n union contracts.Examplesof tradeunions that have en-tered into collusionwith management odenyNegroworkers qual seniority ightsin thepapermanufacturingnd pulp and

sulphitendustryn theSouthare to befoundat the Union Bag-CampPaperCorp.,Savannah,Georgia,where ll theNegroworkersre imitedomembershipin twosegregatedocals,Local 601 and615, affiliatedo the nternationalroth-erhood fPulp,Sulphite nd PaperMillWorkers.

All whiteworkersoldmembershipnLocal 388 and 435 of the sameunionandLocal408 oftheUnited apermakersand Paperworkersnion. Similar on-ditions xist at the Crown ZellerbachCorp.,Bogalusa, ouisiana;HudsonPulpand Paper Company, alatka,Florida;and at International aper Companyplants n MViobile,labama;Georgetown,SouthCarolina;MossPoint ndNatchez,Mississippind Bastrop,ouisiana.In theseand manyotherpapermills

throughouthe Souththesetwounionshold oint ollectiveargaininggreementsand maintain rigidpattern f raciallysegregatedocalunionswith eparateen-iority ines limitingNegro employmentto aborerlassifications.At the American iscoseCorporationplant n FrontRoyal,Virginia, here he

TextileWorkersUnion is the collectivebargaininggent, heunionhas approveda supplementalgreemento thecontractwhichimits egro mployeesounskilledandmenial ob classificationshatviolatetheir asicseniorityights.A similaronditionxists t theAtlan-ticSteelCompanylantnAdanta,Geor-

giawhere fter ears fprotestyNegrounionmembers,he UnitedSteelworkersUnionhas onlypartiallyliminatedhoseseniorityrovisionshich imitNegroes,nomatterowwellqualified,ocommonlaborer lassifications.



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116 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATIONA typicalxample fhowseparatee-niorityinesbasedon race in collectivebargaining greements reventNegroworkers rom idding ormoredesirablejob occupationss to be foundat theUnited StatesPhosphoric ompany nTampa,Florida. Over200 Negrowork-ers have repeatedlyomplained o thePresidentf the InternationalhemicalWorkers nion,AFL-CIO,regardinghesupplementalgreementotheunion on-tractwhich containsrigidpromotional

linesforwhite ndNegroworkersimit-ingNegroworkersoundesirable enialjob classificationsndpreventingpgrad-ing ntoproductionlassifications.The InternationalnionofOperatingEngineers, heLake Charles, La.) andthe GalvestonTexas) AFL-CIO MetalTradesCouncilshold collective argain-ing agreementsn several argeoil re-

fineriesnd chemical lants n theGullarea. Theseunion ontractsontain ro-visions imitingNegro employmentosomefewmenialobs,a wage differentialbased upon race,and separateines ofseniorityrogressionorwhite ndcoloredworkers.APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING

The continued xclusion f Negroesfrom pprenticeshiprainings particu-larlydisturbingecauseof rapidtechno-logical hanges n theNation's conomy.Because of the disproportionateoncen-tration f Negroes n theunskilled ec-tions fthe aborforce here as alreadybeen a disproportionateisplacementfNegroes as a result of technologicalchange. Continued xclusion f Negroyouth rommajor pprenticeshiprainingprogramsn theNorth s well as in theSouth endangers he futureeconomicwell-beingfthe ntire egro ommunity.It is importantonotethat n theten-

yearperiod rom 950-1960,n theStateofNew York, he ncrease f Negropar-ticipationn building rades pprentice-ship training rogramsose only from1.5%o o2%. In most f these rogramstheroleof the aborunion s decisive e-cause thetrade nionusually etermineswho is admittednto the training ro-gramsand, therefore,ho is admittedinto heunion.Recent tudies learly ndicate hatnolarge calesignificantdvances ave been

made by Negroes ntothose raft nionapprenticeshiprograms hichhave his-toricallyxcluded on-whites.'*he rail-roadcraft nions s well as therailroadoperating rotherhoodsemain damantin theiropposition o Negrocraftsmenand bar apprenticeshippportunitiesoNegroyouth.Almost qually xclusiveretheprint-ing trades nionswithexceptionseingfoundin some areas of the AssistantPrintingressmen nionand theLitho-graphers nion. Open access oplumb-ing and pipe fittingpprenticeshipson-trolled y the Plumbers nion is a rareexperience or a young Negro in theNorth s well as in the South. Similarly

Negro youth re almost ompletelyx-cluded rompprenticeshiprogramsper-atedbythe SheetMetalWorkers nion,the Ornamental nd Structural ronWorkers, he Glass Workers, he TileSetters,he Machinists r theBricklayersUnion.The NAACP secured headmissionf

a Negrofor he first ime ntotheSheetMetalapprenticeshipraining rogramn*Apprentices,killedCraftsmennd theNegro,New York State Commission gainstDiscrimination, 960. The Negro Wage-Earner and ApprenticeshirrainingPro-grams,The National Association or theAdvancementf ColoredPeople, 1960.



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RACISM WITHIN ORGANIZED LABOR 117St. Louis,Missouri. In an unusualpro-cedurethe Associationecured ertifica-tionfrom he Bureauof Apprenticeshipof theU.S. Departmentf Laborforanon-unionirm wnedby a NegroafterLocal 36 of the Sheet Metal WorkersInternationalssociation ad refused oadmitNegroapplicantsntoits appren-ticeshiprainingrogramndhadrefusedto permitheparticipationf theNegro-owned ompanyn trainingrogramson-ductedby the union. The ownerofKennedy nd Sons Sheet Metal Shopsofferedohavehis employeesoin Local36 of theSheetMetalWorkersUnionbut the membershippplicationsf theNegroworkers ererefused y the all-white ocal affiliatef theAFL-CIO.

Recent ction y theNew YorkStateAttorney eneralactingat the requestof the NationalAssociationortheAd-vancementf ColoredPeoplemadepos-sible the admission f the firstNegrointothe apprenticeshiprainingrogramoperated y thePlumbers nionin theStateof New York.A sustainedrogramfactivityy theOregonFairEmploymentractices om-missionand the State Apprenticeship

Councilresultedn theadmissionf Ne-groesforthe first ime ntovarious p-prenticeshipprogramsconducted byunions ffiliatedo the OregonAFL-CIOBuildingTrades and the Metal TradesCouncils. These isolated ctions,how-ever,are completelynadequate s theydo noteliminatehebroadnational at-tern f Negroexclusion rom pprentice-shiptrainingrograms.Increasingly,pprenticeshipnd otherforms f technical raining ecometheheart ffair mploymentractices.ThecontinuedxclusionfNegroyouth romsuchprograms,speciallyhose ontrolled

byAFL-CIOcraft nionsn theprintingindustry,he building nd metaltradesand in other raft urisdictionsreventsthousandsfyoung ersonsromealizingtheirhumanpotential nd doomsthemandtheir amiliesoa marginalconomicexistence. t is in this reathat hedis-parity etween hepublicrelations ro-nouncementsf the AFL-CIO on civilrightsnd theday-to-dayeality orNe-groworkerss most harplyutlined.Manytraditionalources f Negro m-ploymenttheNation's ailroadsndmass-productionndustries,orexample),arerapidlyryingp as a resultfautomationand other echnologicalhanges n theeconomy.Todaythe tatus f theNegrowage earner s characterizedy drasticchange nd crisis. Tius, thevirtualx-clusionof Negroesfrom pprenticeship

and other rainingrogramsorces hemto remain s marginalmployeesn theeconomy.They are the oneswho arehiredastandwhocanbe dispensed itheasilywith he dded dvantagehat heirdisplacementanbe rationalizedn termsof lower ttainmentn craftkills.In addition, he appreciableack ofskilledNegro craftsmenirectlyffectstheeconomic ell-beingftheentire e-gro population s it removes otentialsources fhigh ncome ccupationsromthe group. The devices utlined rieflyin thisreport perate ffectivelyo con-centrate egrowageearnersn thoseobswhich ufferhehighestnstancesfun-employment.The concentrationf unskilled,ow-payingobs witha lack of employmentstabilityogether ithotherncomeimi-tationsuchas denialof accesstounionhiringhalls in thebuilding rades, nd



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118 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATIONseparate racial lines of senioritypromo-tion in collective bargainingagreementsall contribute o an explanation of why

Negroes constitute permanentlye-pressed conomic roup n American o-ciety.

racism within organized labor

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