Black Workers Congress
The Black Worker’s Congress (BWC) was created in 1971 in response to a manifesto written by the League of Revolutionary Black Workers (League). The BWC would be a separate organization that would be used to expand the League across the United States. The BWC was also used to coordinate Revolutionary Union Movement and Black Workers caucuses.
The mission of the BWC: “Our objective: workers' control of their place of work, the factories, fields, offices, transportation services, and communications facilities, so that the exploitation of labor will cease and no person or corporation will get rich off the labor of another person. All people will work for the collective benefit of humanity.”(http://lists.village.virginia.edu/lists_archive/sixties-l/4167.html).
The BWC brought in 500 people at its first convention, but was not able to exceed that number as time went on. It accepted Hispanic, Asian, and Native American affiliates. While the BWC was getting a firm foundation, the League of Revolutionary Black Workers began to split apart. The culmination of this split was the BWC being composed of intellectuals while the League continued on with the workers. The BWC never achieved its goals and was never able to establish itself with membership or influence in the great society.
My Notes
After the BPP broke up around 1974, I started working with the BWC. The BWC eventually formed a coalition with the RU (Revolutionary Union). I left the organization and joined the RU. The RU mainly worked in the auto unions in Dayton Ohio. After working with them for a year, I left the organization and started a local community paper in Dayton Ohio. The local leadership were mainly white students who had no experience working with black and white blue collar workers. Below is a copy of Manifesto of the BWC.
The mission of the BWC: “Our objective: workers' control of their place of work, the factories, fields, offices, transportation services, and communications facilities, so that the exploitation of labor will cease and no person or corporation will get rich off the labor of another person. All people will work for the collective benefit of humanity.”(http://lists.village.virginia.edu/lists_archive/sixties-l/4167.html).
The BWC brought in 500 people at its first convention, but was not able to exceed that number as time went on. It accepted Hispanic, Asian, and Native American affiliates. While the BWC was getting a firm foundation, the League of Revolutionary Black Workers began to split apart. The culmination of this split was the BWC being composed of intellectuals while the League continued on with the workers. The BWC never achieved its goals and was never able to establish itself with membership or influence in the great society.
My Notes
After the BPP broke up around 1974, I started working with the BWC. The BWC eventually formed a coalition with the RU (Revolutionary Union). I left the organization and joined the RU. The RU mainly worked in the auto unions in Dayton Ohio. After working with them for a year, I left the organization and started a local community paper in Dayton Ohio. The local leadership were mainly white students who had no experience working with black and white blue collar workers. Below is a copy of Manifesto of the BWC.
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