The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-01-08
The Negro and
Trade Unions
unlimited Estates
By OTTO HUISWOOD.
Reprinted from "The Communist"
Dec. 1921

At the close OIL Cne ClNl war; Vic
Negroes who had just been freed
from chattel slavery, we've con-
fronted with the problem of secur-
ing the means Of livelihood. Re-
leased from bondage, illiterate, pos
sessing nothing but their Drawn,
they were suddenly thrust into the
competitive labor market. Long ac-
customed to forced plantation labor,
it was not easy for them to adjust
themselves to the transition from
chattel slavery to wage slavery.
The promised "forty acres and a
mule" were not forthcoming. The
responsibility of securing their own
food, clothing, and shelter rested
upon them. They were left to shift
for themselves.
One of the most important fac
tors in the economic development of
the south was the labor of the chat
tel slaves and that of the free Ne
groes. The basis of the wealth of
the south was created by the Negro
masses. Not only was their con-
tribution made in the field of agri-
culture, but also in the skilled and
semi-skilled occupations. The me-
chanics of the plantations and the
towns were recruited from the ranks
of the slaves. Charles Wesley, "Ne-
gro Labor in the U. S." says:
"Among this group of skilled
laborers there were the black
smith, the carpenter, the wheel
wright, the mason, the bricklayer,
the weaver, the plasterer, the
painter, the tanner, the miller, the
shoemaker, the harnessmaker,
the cooper"
Evidently, then, the Negro also
contributed to the mechanical devel-
opment of the south.
Soon after the Civil War, the
migratory movement of the Negroes
from the south began. Gradually
they moved into the border states of
Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia, etc.
AS early as 1879, large numbers
of Negroes migrated to the west.
From then on, to the period of the
World War, migration has proceed
ed uninterrupted, sometimes becom-
ing sensational. These migrations
brought tens of thousands of Negro
workers into the border and north
ern states. They came seeking work
and higher wages and to escape the
brutal treatment which was their
lot in the south. They did not find
it easy shedding in the north. Com
peting for jobs, they met the open
hostility of the white workers and
the employers. The opposition, to
them manifested itself in various
acts of prejudice, discrimination,
and in race riots. However, on
many occasions, Negro workers were
hired in the place of white workers.
The importation of colored caulkers
from Virginia to Boston, Mass, dur
ing the struggle on the eight-hour
day question in 1866, caused the
newly formed National Labor Union
to pay some attention to the Negro
workers. The workers were called
upon to realize, "that there should
be no distinction of race or nation
atty; that there is but one divid-
ing line-that which separates man
kind into two great classes, the class
that labors and the class that lives
by others labor"
First Entrance Into Labor Move
r. ment.
The first appearance of Negro
delegates to labor body was at
the National Labor Union Assembly
in Philadelphia, in August, 1869.
There were nine Negro labor repre-
sentatives present. They repre-
sented Negro workers organiza-
tions such as engineers, moulders,
caulkers, painters and hod-carriers.
Not only did the Negro workers par
ticipate in the trade unions nation
ally, but in 1870 the National Labor
Union of the United States, an in
dependent Negro union, sent the
first Negro delegate to the World
Labor Congress in Paris.
| Race prejudice, discrimination,
mistreatment of Negro workers, and
disagreement between the black and
white politicians, who tried to in
fluence the local labor organiza-
tons, produced dissension and
caused the formation of a separate
national union by Negroes in Jan
uary, 1869. The first permanent
Negro labor organization convened
in December, 1870, in Washington,
representing 20 states with 2O3 dele
gates, under the leadership of Isaac
Meyers, the first prominent Negro
labor leader. After 1878 these
unions began to disintegrate and
like the white unions were broken
up because the intriguing politicians
tried to use them to further their
own ambitions. This ends the first
chapter in the history of trade
unionism among Negroes.
Changes Wrought by the World
War.
During the period of the World
War, the migration of Negroes into
the north was tremendous and over
Swallowed all previous r,ovo,,,a,,tr