Black Workers for Justice

Black Workers for Justice (BWFJ) is an organization of Black workers that promotes social democracy, economic justice, social justice, and racial equality within the United States.[1] BWFJ has worked closely with United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE).[2][3]

Black Workers for Justice
Formation1981 (1981)
Region
United States

History

In 1981, Black workers in North Carolina organized to boycott a K-Mart in Rocky Mount, North Carolina,[1] where the all-White management had fired a Black employee.[4] The first meeting in that campaign drew 400 people.[4] The BWFJ was formally created on December 11, 1982.[4]

In 1985, BWFJ created the Black Workers Unity Movement (BWUM) to attempt to expand beyond North Carolina.[3] In 1996, BWFJ participated in the creation of the modern Labor Party.[5] In 1998, BWFJ participated in the Black Radical Congress founding convention.[3]

Organizing

In 1990, BWFJ helped organize the 1600 workers of Cummins Engine in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.[2] In 2006, BWFJ helped City of Raleigh Solid Waste Division employees unionize.[6] In 2008, BWFJ helped 50 Smithfield Packing slaughterhouse employees in Tar Heel, North Carolina unionize.[6] In 2022, BWFJ helped 4000 Amazon fulfillment center employees in Garner, North Carolina to form Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE), a step toward unionization.[6]

In 1991, after the Hamlet chicken processing plant fire, BWFJ members repeatedly spoke for justice at community meetings.[6]

See also

References
  1. "About Us". Black Workers For Justice.
  2. Elk, Mike (September 20, 2022). "Rest in Power: Saladin Muhammad, Founder of Black Workers for Justice & UE Veteran, Dies". Payday Report.
  3. Muhammad, Saladin (December 2002). "Black Workers for Justice, Twenty Years of Struggle". Against the Current.
  4. Dillahunt-Holloway, Ajamu Amiri (2023). Black Workers Take the Lead : The Southern Freedom Movement and the Building of Black Workers for Justice, 1981-1988 (Thesis). Michigan State University.
  5. La Botz, Dan (August 1996). "Founding the Labor Party". No. 63 (July/August 1996). Against the Current.
  6. Gordon, Brian (February 28, 2023). "Black workers fueled the NC labor movement's past — and are guiding its future". News Observer.
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