COALITION OF BLACK TRADE UNIONISTS
Plastrik, Stanley
Known for the time being as the "Coalition of Black Trade Unionists," a new organization has been launched of black trade union leaders and members. It may turn out to be of major significance...
...to help in the organization of the poor in black communities...
...Lucy hopes the Coalition will bring together the experienced organizers of the labor movement with the inexperienced but enthusiastic volunteers of the communities, thus achieving a unity hitherto unknown among blacks...
...This movement had its origin in the McGovern campaign, but its plans go beyond it...
...WILLIAM LucY, a tall and slender man with a good deal of poise, was especially insistent about the fraternal attitude of the Coalition toward the trade union movement...
...However, the struggle for minority and black jobs must be broadened as we shift to a "service economy...
...to back legislation favorable to federal revenuesharing programs that will bolster social services in black communities...
...hence, it is natural that black unionists are anti-Nixon...
...Lucy stressed that the group does not see itself as another "pro 12 test" or black nationalist movement...
...It may turn out to be of major significance both in the American labor movement and the black struggle for social and economic equality...
...In our interview, Mr...
...The Coalition will try to explain this in the community...
...Nor does it have the least interest in setting up anything at all rival or "dual" to the unions...
...This was not a tactical error because these unions wield an influence far beyond their actual numbers and because it was necessary to fight against what Lucy calls the `Building Trades Syndrome...
...A call for its organization arose out of a meeting attended by 1,200 black trade unionists in Chicago last September...
...It considers itself an organic part of the union movement, and it plans to operate fully within that framework...
...The AFL— CIO "neutrality" on the elections contradicted the needs of black workers and therefore had to be opposed...
...The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists aims: to conduct campaigns to organize nonunion black workers (it is estimated there are some 8 million in the country...
...He pointed out that the people the Coalition will mobilize are at the bottom of the social ladder, among those treated with particular callousness by the present Administration...
...According to William Lucy, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL—CIO (AFSCME), who is a spokesman for the new group, the McGovern campaign served merely as its "catalyst...
...A five-man steering committee, selected at the Chicago gathering, is at work preparing a constitution to formalize the new Coalition and to issue a statement of intent...
...The goals sought by this united movement will be jobs on the union level plus a further opening up of the construction trades to black and minority membership, and improved services on the community level...
...to provide a forum for blacks concerning their special problems within unions...
...it might turn out to be one of the few constructive results of the dismal election we have just been through...
...So far, the movement for jobs has concentrated on the building COMMENTS AND OPINIONS trades...
...He felt that the Institute had an important educational function to perform—registering union voters, conducting workshops in union policies, training courses, etc.—but that it was in danger of becoming counterproductive because of its unqualified defense of the status quo in the unions...
...and perhaps most impressive, to act as a bridge between the organized labor movement and the black communities where hostility to unions is often high...
...it conceives of labor as a major force for social change in America...
...At this stage, the Coalition of Black Unionists is a highly promising development...
...Lucy expressed regret that the Institute's reaction to the Coalition had been negative and apparently in accord with the viewpoint of the top AFL–CIO leadership, which considers this movement unnecessary and perhaps even disruptive...
...to support actions in opposition to the Vietnam war...
...The link between the unions and the future of the inner city has never been clearer...
...When questioned about the role of the A. Philip Randolph Institute and its leader, Bayard Rustin, Mr...
...Hundreds of delegates from UAW locals, building trades unions, the AFSCME, and dozens of other national unions decided to set up a continuing movement...
Vol. 20 • January 1973 • No. 1
