Black History Month - The Black Worker
American Federation of Teachers: Stellar integration record
By UBBY CLARK
Special To Th? Chronica
If a report card was demanded
today, The American Federation of
Teachers would get an ME" for
Excellence. It's far and away the
most integrated union in organized
labor from top to bottom. The
union has seven vice presidents.
n ?
A member of the American
FederatlofT^of Teachers In
Washington assists pupils
with classroom assignments.
They are Sandra Irons, Jacquelyn
Vaughn, Lorretta Johnson,
Nathaniel LeCour, John Elliott,
Carol Graves and George Springer.
In the first half of the 20th cen
tury, when segregation and discrim
ination was widespread and many
trade unions excluded Blacks from
membership, the AFT was among
iht first union to breakdown racial
barriers and open its-membership to
Blacks and other minorm^s.
In southern states, Blabk teach
ers in segregated school districts
organized their own unions locals
and readily affiliated with the AFT.
Local 9, an all Black Washington,
D. C., union was chartered in 1916.
Black teachers elsewhere -
joined on equal footing with their
white counterparts to organize inte
grated AFT locals in their respec
tive school districts in other parts of
the country.
In 1918, the AFT demanded
equal pay for Black teachers and
years later backed up its plea with a
generous contribution to the
NAACP fund earmarked for equal
pay activities.
Also in 1918, AFT called for
the election of Blacks to local
school boards, and it lobbied for
compulsory school attendance by
Black children, and equal educa
tional opportunity for said students.
In 1928 AFT demanded that
the historical contributions of Black
Americans be taueht in the public
schools. .
The union has not been without
racial strife within its own ranks.
As late as 1950, it was necessary for
AFT to expel a number of locals
who steadfastly refused to admit
Blacks to their membership. This
action resulted in a lost of nearly
10,000 members. The results - a
fully integrated union.
The 60 s found the AFT in the
vanguard of the civil rights move
ment alongside such venerable
fighters as A. Phillip Randolph, the
- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Whit
ney Young, Roy Wilkins, James
Farmer and other civil rights stal
warts. Indeed, AFT members
helped to organize the~1963 "March
on Washington" for Justice and
Jobs, and over the next five years
AFT staffers and members travelled
south to register new Black voters
and to teach in the "freedom"
schools.
Along with other unions and
civil rights organizations, AFT also
lobbied for passage of key civil
rights legislation, re: the Equal
Employment Opportunity Act, the
Fair Housing Act and the Voting
Rights Act
Further involvement of AFT,
along with civil rights groups and
the AFL-CIO includes lobbying
efforts on behalf of a decent mini
mum wage, for which legislation
was favorably passed last year;
school integration, adequate inte
grated housing, Medicare, full
employment and aid to education.
The battles to ke$p these programs
and to expand them continue, and
AFT remains in the thick of the bat
tle.
-1 Today, the fightagainsr tuition
tax credits is one of the most press
ing issues AFT faces in its stniggle
to build and maintain quality public
education for students of all racial
extractions.
AFT was recently victorious by
a 9 to 1 margin, in Washington, D.
CM where the local chapter, with
national AFT assistance defeated a
local tuition tax credit measure.
Headquartered in Washington,
D. C? the 680,000 member Ameri
can Federation of Teachers is an
international AFL-CIO union,
* whose membership is made up of
primarily elementary and secondary
school teachers, college and univer
sity professors and other non-super
visory personnel in the field of edu
cation. While the union represents *
teachers in urban, suburban and
rural school districts throughout the -
United States, its strongest concen
tration is in the large cities across
the country.
In recent years, AFT has
opened doors to other public sector
and professional employees with
concerns similar to those of teach
ers. The Federation of Nurses and
Health Professionals (FNHP) orga
nized in 1978, the nation's massive
and largely non-unionized health
care industry. Through the Federa
tion of State Employees (FSE),
AFT also serves a broad spectrum
of blue and white collar civil ser
vice employees working for state
and local governments.
Since the late seventies, AFT
has affiliated nearly 200,000 new
members. It is recognized as one of
the most integrated and fastest -
growing unions under the AFL-CIO
umbrella.
In 1967, AFT moved its head
quarters from Chicago to Washing
ton, D. C. The national office pro
vides technical assistance to its state
and local affiliates in the organizing
and collective bargaining activities.
Since AFT is largely a union of pro
fessional^ it also gives major atten
tion to tne professional concerns of
its members and provides support to
its locals^tferough legislative and
political action, public relations,
human rights, research, educational
issues and communications depart
ments.
Albert Shanker, a former New
York school teacher and union offi
cial, has been international presi
-dent of AFT since 1974. Robert
Porter has been international secre
tary-treasurer since his first appoint
ment by the organization's execu
tive council at the 47th AFT con
vention in 1963.
Loretta Johnson, vie* presi
dent of the American Federa
tion of Teachers.
MUSIC FROM ON HIGH
A Singing Stream
The Landis family of
Creedmoor pairs faith
and music; praising the
unearthly beauty of
spiritual gifts
11 PM Monday
WUNL-TV 26 Winston-Salem
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NORTH CAROLINA
PUBLIC TELEVISIOI
The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
By UBBY CLARK
Special To Th# Chronic*#
In September of 1972, more
than Btafk union officials and
rank and file members representing
thirty-seven different international
and national trade unions, met in
Chicago for two days of discussion
of the role of Black trade unionists
? in the labor movement The meet
ing proved to be very productive
and constituted the largest single
gathering of Black unionists in the
history of the American labor
movement.
The most significant develop
ment of the conference was the
establishment of a permanent
umbrella organization - the Coali
tion of Black Trade Unionists.
There are over three million Black
workers in the ranks of organized
labor - the single largest organiza
tion of Blacks in the nation. This
block of workers represents a very
significant economic force within
the Black community as well as
organized labor.
Since that 1972 initial confer
ence, the Coalition with William
Lucy as its president, has estao
lished twenty-six local chapters
across country, including three
state-wide chapters. Presently there
are seventy-two international and
national trade unions in its member
ship ranks.
Lfucv^-lhr^iiternational Secre
tary^TfCasurer of the American Fed
eration of State, County and Munic
ipal Employees, AFL-CIO
(AFSCME); says "Tapping this
reservoir (the Black Trade Union
ists) of hope, tenacity and creativity
is the challenge before those of
those who are committed to disarm
ing the forces of poverty, racism
and exploitation. Organization is
the key to harnessing the talent and
strengtii in minority communities.
Therein lies the necessity of an
organization like the Coalition of
Black and poorer workers is a cus
tom -tailored role for the Coalition
of Black Trade Unionists."
Continuing, to expound on the
goals and objectives of CBTU,
Lucy said, The imprint of CBTtTs
leadership and influence is beyond
dispute, ^trom funneling donations
and volunteers to political candi
dates fighting for more jobs and
better living -nndttioas to mitjforfcy
workers to providing all-out stoport
for the Free South Africa Move
ment While the media is bent on
belittling organized labor as anemic
and out of step with today's worker,
it is juattta common for the press to
ignore the successful and energetic
ists."
"The basic objectives of the
CBTU are reflected in its activities
and projects, which include: To
improve the "image" of labor
throughout the community; working
within the framework of the trade
union movement to provide a voice
and vehicle for greater Black and
minority participation; extensive
? and increased involvement in voter
registration and voter education;
campaigns and programs to
improve economic development
-and employment opportunities for
minority and poor workers; organiz
ing the unorganized; providing sup
port for civil rights, civil and related
groups to improve living and work
ing conditions in the Black commu
nities throughout America. Fore
most on the agenda of the CBTU is
. "organizing the unorganized." The
current dismal socioeconomic cli
mate in America that is devastating
the Black community is issue
enough to organize," Lucy points
out. "If we allow ourselves to
become impotent, disorganized and
powerless in the face of increased
unemployment; inadequate social
service programs; decadent and
indifferent educational systems and
ever increasing antagonistic atti
tudes and actions towards urban
communities where most Blacks
live and work - then we are wel
coming extinction," Lucy
explained
According to Lucy, labor oper
ates currently in an unparalleled
period of hostility and antagonism;
which means that extra efforts and
emphasis must be centered on
attaining more positive and visible
working relationships between
labor and institutions in the Black
community; consequently, the
CBTLTs role is to provide the most
effective bridge between the labor
movement and the Black communi
ty, realistically interpreting the
needs, goals and aspirations of one
to the other.
"As ultra-conservative right
wing groups and the right-to-work
advocates persist in their attacks on
organized labor; such actions
increased and accelerated political
coalescing between labor, liberal
groups, churches and the general
iif
public to muster support on issues
and projects of a common interest,"
One of the key focal points of
CBTU objectives is support projects
and programs aimed at reducing
Please see page A8
- Thalhimers Salutes
Black History Month
Celebrate the unique contributions
black Americans have made
to the histdry of our country and
the world. This month-long recognition
follows the commemoration of
Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday
and continues his dream that
^ all Americans share in an attempt
to relate to, contribute to and promote
what he called
"the beloved community'.'
-a
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