Discrimination and the Unions

As the protests of 1963 and ’64 with their picketing of “Jim Crow” construction projects begin to fade into history, so does the unequivocal blessing the AFL—CIO gave to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and its fair employment provisions. Certainly, no leadership has been so far in advance of its constituency as that of the labor movement on the civil rights issue. The CIO unions, particularly, pushed hard for civil rights legislation when the issue was far more moral than political —as it was 20 years ago. Large Negro memberships have also made it less difficult for them to speak out, for instance, against formal racial exclusions and the separation of Negro workers in segregated locals.

Yet, although the labor mov...