Black organizers have played a crucial role in advocating for workers’ rights long before the Civil Rights Movement. This Labor Day, we honor five influential Black labor leaders who fought tirelessly for better pay, workplace equality and the empowerment of workers.
1. Hattie Canty
Hattie Canty is renowned as one of the greatest strike leaders in U.S. history. As president of the Las Vegas Culinary Union Local 226 in Las Vegas, she led a significant movement during the city’s rapid expansion in the hospitality industry. Under her leadership, the union became one of the largest in southern Nevada, representing thousands of workers. Canty organized a 75-day walkout against casinos to secure health insurance and living wages for culinary workers. The union members elected her president in 1990, and she led the union for over a decade. Her greatest achievement was the Culinary Training Academy in 1993, which helps further the skill set of those in Las Vegas’ bustling hospitality industry.
2. A. Phillip Randolph
A. Phillip Randolph was a trailblazer in labor organizing. He led a decade-long campaign to unionize the all-Black service staff of Pullman sleeping cars, resulting in the formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. This union, for which he served as its first president, according to the AFL-CIO’s website, was the first Black American labor union to sign a collective bargaining agreement with a major corporation. Randolph also played a pivotal role in planning the March on Washington in 1963, focusing on racial discrimination in the workplace. When the AFL and CIO merged to become one union, Randolph served as its first president.
3. Velma Hopkins
In the 1940s, Velma Hopkins mobilized 10,000 workers to unionize the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, NC. As a co-founder and leader of Local 22 of the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers of America-CIO, she fought for improved working conditions, fair pay and civil rights at one of the largest tobacco manufacturing companies in the world. Specifically, according to USFW227, she “played a pivotal role in the 1943 strike at Plant No. 65 of RJ Reynolds Company, the largest tobacco manufacturing facility in the world at the time.”
4. Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was the lead organizer — if not the main architect, states Labor Notes — of the 1963 March on Washington, despite not being named chair due to homophobia. According to the website, Randolph asked Rustin, an old friend of his, to draft a proposal for a large activist event in Washington. That proposal became the framework and playbook of the renowned rally — which he organized in less than two months.
Rustin also led the AFL-CIO’s A. Philip Randolph Institute, which sought to integrate the union, and dedicated his life to advocating for labor rights and fighting against poverty. Rustin’s contributions to the labor movement were significant, emphasizing the intersection of civil rights and labor rights.
5. Lucy Parsons
Lucy Parsons was a radical labor organizer and activist who emerged in the late 1880s. After her husband was executed for his role in the Haymarket Square labor protest, she became a prominent speaker against capitalist exploitation and social injustice. Part of that activism included founding Freedom, according to Black Past, which was a newspaper that reported on labor organizing and abuses as well as lynching throughout the South. Parsons’ legacy as a fierce advocate for workers’ rights continues to inspire labor movements today.
These five leaders exemplify the strength and resilience of Black labor organizers throughout history. Their dedication to improving the lives of workers has paved the way for future generations. As we celebrate Labor Day, let us remember their contributions and continue to advocate for workers’ rights.
This story was edited by Andrea Plaid.
