African Americans and Labor The 2025 theme highlights African American impact in the workforce. One of the individuals we recognize is A. Phillip Randolph. He is acknowledged as the greatest black labor leader in American history.

He founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. He was a pioneer in advancing racial equality within the labor movement. He campaigned to improve wages and working conditions for blacks and whites alike. He was a longtime crusader for civil rights. He persuaded President Franklin Roosevelt to order an end to discrimination in war industries and President Truman to ban discrimination in federal employment and armed services.

As chairman of the March on Washington, he fought for the oppressed of all races.

Other Black labor union leaders that should be honored during Black History Month include Issac Myers, Christian Smalls, Dorothy Lee Bolton and Mary McLeod Bethune, just to name a few.

Issac Myers (1835-1891)

In 1838 Black workers in Baltimore, Maryland founded the Caulkers Association, one of the first Black trade unions in the United States. Myers founded the Colored Caulkers Trade Union Society, which was formed to fight discrimination against Black employment in the ship caulking industry. He served as a labor union leader until he passed away in 1891.

Christian Smalls (1988-)

Smalls is the founder and past president of the Amazon Labor Union.

Doroth Lee Bolton (1923-2005)

Bolton founded and became the first president of the National Domestic Workers Union of America in 1968.

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) An important figure in the early civil rights movement, Mary McLeod Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women. She was an advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt. She became the first woman president of the American Teachers Association in 1912.

This is only a small sampling of Black labor leaders and advocates who have had a profound impact.