The National Brotherhood of Workers of America (NBWA) was the largest body of organised

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

workers in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

in 1919.

First congress

The organisation was formed by T.J. Pree and R.T. Sims. A. Philip Randolph was also on the board.Your History online
accessed 17 August 2010 The NBWA held its congress in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, from 8–14 September 1919. There were 115 delegates primarily from the South. Three delegates were from the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

and fifteen from the Society for the Advancement of Trade Unionism among Negroes. No delegates were accepted from the American Federation of Labor.

Resolutions

They passed resolutions to the effect that: ". . . The combination of black and white workers will be a powerful lesson to the capitalists of the solidarity of labor. It will show that labor, black and white, is conscious of its interests and power. This will serve to convert a class of worker, which has been used by the capitalist class to defeat organised labor, into an ardent, class-conscious, intelligent, militant group." "and be it further resolved, that we recommend to all the working people of our race, that they immediately make themselves acquainted more in detail with the aims, objects and methods of said organization, the National Association for the Protection of Labor Unionism Among Negroes, in order that we may, as speedily as possible, align ourselves with and join the industrial unions that have already organized, and help to organize new industrial unions in such industries where they do not yet exist. "and be it further resolved, that we shall henceforth devote all our energies to building up the new order of society along lines above indicated, to the exclusion of efforts hitherto expended in other directions." The NBWA functioned as an independent Union, drawing most of its support from shipyard and dock workers in the

Tidewater region of Virginia Tidewater refers to the north Atlantic coastal plain region of the United States of America. Definition Culturally, the Tidewater region usually includes the low-lying plains of southeast Virginia, northeastern North Carolina, southern Maryl ...

area.''Crisis'', November 1951, p626 The union dissolved in 1921, under pressure from the American Federation of Labor.

References

{{reflist African-American leftism African-American history between emancipation and the civil rights movement Trade unions established in 1919 Trade unions disestablished in 1921 African-American trade unions