The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was a labor union of African Americans working for the Pullman Company. It was created in 1925 by A. Philip Randolph and Milton P. Webster. They were fighting against the Pullman Company, The American Federation of Labor, and the anti-union.
The union didn’t attract very many members right away. Most African Americans at this time still largely distrusted labor unions. They also didn’t want to make George Pullman mad as he was one of the few people who provided many jobs and relatively high incomes to Blacks.
The Pullman Company was not as good for Blacks as it appeared to be. They were very dependent upon tips for most of their money. Porters spent about ten percent of their time doing set-up and clean-up duties that went unpaid. They also had to pay for their food, rooms, and uniforms which was about half their wages and were deducted whenever someone stole something.
Randolph transformed his newspaper into a vessel of propaganda for the BSCP and campaigned for the union. Over time this helped to convince black leaders, clergymen, and newspaper editors to join the union. This also allowed it to become a symbol of black advancement. In 1935 it was
the first black labor union to receive an AFL charter.
In 1941 Randolph used the threat of a march on DC and the support of the NAACP, Fiorello La Guardia and Eleanor Roosevelt to help ban discrimination by defense contractors. This also helped to establish the Fair Employment Practices Committee to enforce the ban. He also worked with the FEPC to combat employment discrimination. He also had another goal which was to end racial discrimination within the military which was accomplished seven years later.
The Porters became very respected and being part of this union became a sort of stepping stone to getting a better career.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Sleeping_Car_Porters
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/brotherhood-sleeping-car-porters-1925-1978
Pullman Porters
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