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Today in History, December 6th

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December 6, 1869

Drawing depicting NCLU convention

This drawing in Harper's Weekly depicted the founding convention of the Colored National Labor Union.

The Colored National Labor Union met in convention for the first time in Washington, D.C. Some 214 delegates attended. They included African American mechanics, engineers, artisans, tradesmen and tradeswomen, and their supporters in Washington D.C.

This union was a counterpart to the white National Labor Union. The CNLU sent a petition to Congress requesting direct intervention in the alleviation of the "condition of the colored workers of the southern States" by subdividing the public lands of the South into 40-acre farms and providing low-interest loans to black farmers.

In subsequent decades, both the Colored National Labor Union and the National Labor Union declined, giving way to the Knights of Labor, which opened its ranks to nearly all workers, regardless of race.

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Workers organizing

Workers are organizing through unions and other organizations to improve their lives. Union representation provides a voice on the job and the opportunity to improve wages, benefits and working conditions.

Update: Minneapolis school custodians vote to join SEIU 284

Cartoon supporting recertification

Iowa workers choose to stay union

Photo of flag that says "Organize the South"

Labor still lacks coordinated approach to organizing the South

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