Two months after the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott began, the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA) met with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and formed a lasting partnership between the labor movement and the civil rights movement. The new Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led by King pledged to help organize southern meatpacking plants, while the UPWA pledged to financially support civil rights campaigns. But it soon became clear that the partnership would go beyond this scope. When the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) accused the UPWA of having Communist ties, King reached out to the UPWA, helped it comply with AFL-CIO ethical practice codes, and co-authored a response to the HUAC accusations. “It is tragic indeed that some of our reactionary brothers in America will go to the limit of giving Communism credit for all good things that happen in our nation.” King wrote in a SCLC press release. King considered the struggle for labor rights and civil rights intertwined. He spoke often at union halls claiming that “for it is axiomatic that what Labor needs, Negroes need...” The 1963 March on Washington where King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech was also co-organized by labor leaders such as Walter Reuther, then president of the United Auto Workers (UAW). King also had criticisms about some in the labor movement at the time. In a 1961 speech at the AFL-CIO Fourth Constitutional Convention, he bluntly called out their refusal to integrate southern locals, enforcement of discriminatory practices in the workplace, and their censure of prominent African-American labor organizer, A. Philip Randolph. However, King never cut ties with the labor movement despite his reservations. Even when he criticized labor unions, he highlighted that the coalition between the labor movement and the civil rights movement was not a preference, but an absolute necessity. As time went on, more of the labor movement heeded King’s words. In 1967, King praised the Teamsters for their racial integration efforts without the need for court orders or pressure. As of 2021, about two-thirds of bargaining unit employees are now women and/or people of color. While there are continuing discussions on the treatment of minorities within the rank & file, the statistics justify King’s faith in the labor movement as a champion for civil rights. King included labor leaders in his further initiatives such as the Poor People’s Campaign and continued to speak to labor unions to his dying day. King not only stayed firm in his beliefs in the labor-civil rights movement coalition, but he also painted a bright future for America as a call to action. On April 3, 1968, the day before his assassination, he addressed the African-American sanitation workers of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1733, closing with the following words: “Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
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The ACE AdvocateA publication of the IFPTE ACE Council. Managing Editor, John Berens. Content by the ACE Council Communications Committee. Archives
January 2025
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