• The Organizer
• New Leader in America
  

A. Philip Randolph learned early in life that there was dignity in honest labor. Therefore, when a small group of sleeping car porters approached him to help them organize a union, he accepted. Sleeping car porters were black male employees of the Pullman Company which owned and operated sleeping cars on overnight railroad passenger routes. The sleeping car service was introduced by George Pullman in the 1860's. Pullman cars were rolling hotel rooms built in railroad cars. The service was very popular and profitable. The porters were unhappy with the Pullman Company and wanted Mr. Randolph to help them organize a union which would represent their concerns about working conditions and wages. It was the job of the porters to care for the passenger's travel needs, which included handling baggage, making beds, and keeping the sleeping cars clean.  Pullman porters shined shoes and performed other services requested by passengers for which they were not paid. The porters felt that they were treated more like servants rather than as employees of the railroad. The men who worked as porters were paid wages far below the wages of other railroad employees. Porters had to depend largely upon tips. With a union, it was felt that working conditions, wages and benefits could be greatly improved. This was the task Randolph had accepted. Mr. Randolph knew unions had been successfully organized for other workers. White employees of the railroad had organized and won wage increases. Randolph felt it was possible for a group of black workers to do the same. In the summer of 1925, Randolph and the leaders of the New York branch of Pullman porters met to plan the organization. The group named their new union the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. On August 25, 1925, in Harlem "the brotherhood" had its first meeting. At this meeting Randolph announced that the new union would work for an increase in the minimum wage, a shorter work week, payment for free services, termination of the Plan of Employee Representation, "a company controlled union," and company recognition of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. This meeting marked the beginning of one of the most dynamic and successful organizational efforts for the rights of workers in America. Working together, Randolph and the Pullman porters designed a campaign which resulted in the Pullman Company signing a contract with them. The campaign lasted twelve years, from 1925 to 1937. It was a long, tough campaign, but it was a great and worthwhile victory. During this same period (1925 - 1937), Randolph organized thousands of black workers, and got them included under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act of 1926. Randolph also gained membership in the American Federation of Labor for his union.