Railroad Employment and Labor Unions

The Fight Against Workplace Discrimination

Despite the widespread employment of Black workers by railroad companies, African Americans were excluded from White railroad unions that represented station employees, shop workers, track laborers, and dining car employees. African Americans faced inequities in railroad job opportunities, wages, and working conditions and had no voice in labor matters.

One of the first organizations for African American railroad workers was Colored Trainmen of America, founded in 1912. It reorganized several times, and in 1936 became the Association of Colored Railway Trainmen and Locomotive Firemen.

It was not until 1943, following hearings of the Federal Fair Employment Practices Committee established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, that there was recognition of the discriminatory racial policies of railroads and labor organizations. During the same time period, Black workers sought legal recourse from the unfair discriminatory practices. Several civil rights lawsuits were filed by the NAACP on behalf of Black railroad workers.

Two of the important court cases were Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. (1944, Alabama, U.S. Supreme Court) and Tunstall v.  Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (1946, Virginia, U.S. District Court of Eastern Virginia). Both of these cases determined that railroad labor unions governed by the Railway Labor Act must represent all employees, Black and White, in collective bargaining, fairly and without discrimination.

Rufus L. Edwards (1887-1965) lived at 415 Gilmer Avenue. He was a brakeman for the Norfolk & Western Railway and active in the Association of Colored Railway Trainmen and Locomotive Firemen, serving as national chair and vice-chair. In the 1940s he was a pioneer labor leader and advocate for Black railroad workers.

Rufus Edwards was also a friend and early childhood neighbor of attorney Oliver White Hill. The two worked together to further the court challenges by the NAACP that ultimately required labor unions to include African Americans as members and to represent them fairly in labor discussions.

In the Tunstall case, Thomas Tunstall was a member of the Association of Colored Railway Trainmen and Locomotive Firemen headquartered at 408 Gainsboro Avenue, NW, Roanoke, Virginia. He was represented by Oliver White Hill and Spottswood Robinson of Richmond, Virginia, and Charles Houston and Joseph Waddy of Washington, DC.

In 1948, officials from five Black labor organizations united to form the Negro Railway Labor Executives Committee which collected information regarding Black railroad employees and determined the best recourse. The five organizations were the Association of Colored Railway Trainmen and Locomotive Firemen (Roanoke, VA), Colored Trainmen of America (Kingsville, TX), International Association of Railway Employees (Memphis, TN), Dining Car Railroad Foodworkers Union (Chicago, IL), and Southern Association of Railway Trainmen and Locomotive Firemen (Savannah, GA). Frequently, the Committee presented testimony in court and public hearings, and supported lawsuits filed by organization members.

See Also

Sources

Drummond, Traci. (February 12, 2010). African American Labor History: the Association of Colored Railway Trainmen Records. University Library News. Georgia State University. https://blog.library.gsu.edu/2010/02/12/african-american-labor-history-the-association-of-colored-railway-trainmen-records/

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. (n. d.). Blacks in the railroad industry collection [Finding aid]. The New York Public Library. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://nyplorg-data-archives-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/collection/generated_finding_aids/scm20950.pdf

Negro railroad unions organize their strength. (1948, Jul 06). Atlanta Daily World.

Hudson, Mike. (May 1, 2004). Brown v. Board of Education decision traces its roots to fromer Roanoker. The Roanoke Times.

President of colored trainmen hails victory in firemen’s case. (1945, Jan 06). New Journal and Guide.

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopedia (2014, September 10). Fair Employment Practices Committee. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fair-Employment-Practices-Committee

The Negro in the Railway Unions. (1944). Phylon (1940-1956), 5(2), 159–164. https://doi.org/10.2307/272460

Justia U.S. Law. (n.d.). Tunstall v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginmen, 69 F. Supp. 826 (Eastern District Virginia, 1946). Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/69/826/2265834/