The 1892 Dockworkers and 1925 Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Strikes
In the history of the labor unions, there are strikes that stand out as they were pivotal in the accomplishment of certain goals. The 1892 Dockworkers and the 1925 Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Strikes stand out. A comparison of the two strikes shows they had certain differences and similarities.
The Existent Conditions that led to the Strikes
Both the Dockworker’s strike and the Porter’s strike was carried out due to the poor working conditions of the Negroes at that time. For the dock workers, they used to work for long hours and there was no over time pay. Additionally the pay was little.
For the Porters, The Pullman Company had employed the majority of the Negroes. The company had a great image in the public as it assisted the middle class porters to have a comfortable lifestyle. However, the working conditions were tough. The porters were highly dependent on the tips of the passengers who were White. Furthermore most of the worker’s salaries were consumed by food, lodging and uniform expenses. The workers had to do duties such as set-up and clean up duties without any pay. Furthermore the Negroes could not be employed as conductors because the job was a preserve for the Whites. This was regardless of the fact that the Negroes performed most of the conductor duties.
The Demands of the Strikes
The Dockworkers wanted to be given overtime pay and a preferential Union shop. They further wanted a 10-hr working day. They also wanted an increase in their wages. The BSCP demands were several. They wanted the porters’ salaries to be increased to $ 150 a month. They wanted the company to abolish tipping. They also wanted the working hours to be reduced from 400 to 240 hrs per month. If the porters worked for excess hours overtime payment to be given by the company. Where the workers did the conductor’s duties, they were to be paid full conductor wages and not a meager allowance.
The Organization of the Unions
In 1869, the Knight of Labor had started as a secret organization to represent Negro workers. In 1887, between 6000 and 10000 workers in the sugar parishes represented by the Knight of labor held a strike. Over 90% of the workers were Negroes. Motivated by their actions, the New Orleans Dockworkers held s strike in 1892. The strike was to be carried out under the group, Triple Alliance. The three groups were known as the Packers, Teamsters and Salesmen. The Negro Unions were adequately represented by the AFL organization. The AFL was formed by men who disagreed with the Knight of labor organization leaders.
On the other hand, the porters at the Pullman Company appointed a man called Philip Randolph to lead them in stating their demands to the company. They formed the Brotherhood of sleeping car porters. The Union had a national membership drive to recruit members in Chicago, Oakland and St. Louis. In Chicago, Milton Price Webster was in charge. Unfortunately, the Negroes during the porter’s strike had limited representation in the AFL. The AFL was hugely dominated by White labor organizations. Representation in the AFL was one of the achievements of the BCSP. They won a charter with the AFL and came to be recognized as the worker’s union.
The Events of the Strike
The Dockworkers workers experienced a lot of support from the White workers and other Negro workers. The Triple Alliance gained so much support within the workforce that the other unions decided to also strike in their support. There were over 49 Unions that came together to form the Workingmen’s Amalgamated Council. (Rosenburg, 1988). A general strike was called for among all the workers that lasted for several days. All the workers in all kinds of industries were involved in the strike leading to the city operations being at a stand still. A committee was formed to lead the general strike. The Union pressure was now so high that there were employers outside the disputes that started to pressure the board of trade to start serious negotiations with the workers. The involvement of the workers in the strike was so high that half the workforce in the city was involved in the strike. For the Porters Union, there was no overwhelming support from the Whites or the middle class Negro communities.
Opposition and Challenges
The workers in the Dockworker’s and the Porter’s strike faced great opposition and challenges as they fought for better working conditions. For the Dockworkers, they had to deal with a lot of media propaganda. This was initiated by the Board of Trade, which represented the employers, to influence the public to have a negative opinion of the Negro workers. The newspapers ran headlines of how the Negroes were attacking White women and children who were alone at any one time. Other propaganda news said that the workers were beating up people and violently demonstrating in the streets as mobs. Furthermore the employers wanted to break the unity between the Negro and White workers. The Board of Trade said they would only negotiate with the white workers. The Negro workers would not have their demands met.
However, the workers were united and did not let the racial-affiliated pressure frustrate them. In fact the White workers refused to sign the agreements till the employers had negotiated and signed with the Negroes. The interracial solidarity among the workers led to the concept known as “half and half” concept that spoke of the cooperation and cohesion between the workers. Secondly, the Board of trade asked the state government to send the army or the police to break up the strike (Dodd, 2010). Finally through a racist governor, the government sent the Militia to the street to disrupt the strike. Another challenge was that the cotton workers did not participate in the strike. J. Callahon, the general organizer for in the AFL and representative of the Cotton Yardmen’s Union to the AFL did not want to risk the relationship with the cotton exchange and the shipping companies. The Negro and White cotton Union leaders had become comfortable with negotiating with the elite business men of that day.
The Porter’s strike also faced adverse circumstances. The Pullman Company renounced the BCSP and its demands. The company had the support of the gospel ministers and newspapers. The local authorities sided with the company by banning the BCSP meetings. The BCSP faced opposition from the Pullman’s Company middle class Negro supporters and the Whites (Santino, 1989). There were also communists who tried to infiltrate the union but the BSCP members fought them off. Thirdly, The National Mediation Board (NMB) formed under the Railway Act, betrayed the workers by meeting with the Pullman Company. It refused to represent the Negro workers though it had earlier said that it would.
Achievements
Both strikes achieved a lot for the Negro workers and the future of Negroes in the country. For the Dockworker’s strike, the Board of trade advised the employers to have a binding arbitration with the workers. At the end, the employers agreed to the 10hr work day and overtime pay. However, there would be no recognition of the Unions. Of great importance is that during the workers refused to conform to the racial pressure at that time.
The Porter’s strike was also successful. At that time, the Roosevelt administration amended the railway act and passed the Wagner-Connery Act to outlaw the labor organizations. The porters would now be represented under the Act. The BCSP won the election against the Pullman Company Union to be the certified worker’s representatives.
In 1935, BCSP and Pullman Company signed its first collective bargaining agreement (McWatt, n, d). The Negroes’ demands were now heard by the Pullman Company and action taken. There was an improvement in the working conditions. Up to that time the Negroes had received limited representation by the AFL. In 1935, BCSP won a charter with AFL.
The Aftermath
Unfortunately, The Board of Trade took the Dockworker’s Unions to court and accused them of the conspiracy to restrain trade. There was a temporary injunction against the union which the AFL appealed. The suit was however withdrawn years later by the federal government. One good thing that happened after the dockworker’s strike was that the labor movement in the area was strengthened as a result of the strike. New unions were formed during the strike period. After the Porter’s strike, the BSCP leader, Philip Randolph went on to actively fight racism and unfair employment practices in other professions such as the military and defense. In 1941, he organized a match in Washington against job discrimination in the military. However, the BCSP had to deal later with the Jim Crows Laws that advocated for the segregation of Negroes and Whites. The transport, school, restaurants and recreational facilities would be different for the two races. This led to social, educational and economic advantages for the Whites over the Negroes since the Negro facilities were inferior. The Laws were enacted between 1867 and 1935. However, they were abolished by the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Conclusion Both strikes had a great impact as they strengthened the labor movements and paved the way for the Civil rights movement for the fight of freedom and end of slavery. The showed the plight of the Negro workers and the extent and depth of racism. The BSCP had a harder time than the Dockworkers as they lacked the support of the middle class Negroes and White workers but they proved to be resilient and got most of their demands met. The Dockworkers strike was successful. The working conditions in the company improved. They got shorter working hours and overtime pay. They also showed the people it was possible to refuse to conform to racist ideologies. The workers unity caused the employers to agree to their demands.
Works Cited
Daniel Rosenberg, Daniel. New Orleans dockworkers: race, labor, and unionism, 1892-
1923. New York: State University. 1988. Print.
Dodd. Jed. “New Orleans, November 1892: One city’s heroic general strike defies racial
divisions” Pennyslvannia Federation, 2010. Web. 9th May, 2011. <http://www.pennfedbmwe.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=95506>
McWatt, Author ““A Greater Victory”: Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters St. Paul”.
Minnesota History n,d. Web. 9th May, 2011. <http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/55/v55i05p202-216.pdf>
Santino, Jack. Miles and Smiles. Years of Struggle, Stories of Black Pullman Porters.
Chicago: University of Illinos. 1989. Print.
Wilson, Joseph. Tearing Down the Color Bar: A Documentary History and Analysis of
the Brotherhood of Sleeping Cars Porters. New York: Columbia University Press. 1990. Print.
