#local22

[awolf31]

Good morning folks, good monday to ya, this off day is brought to you by the good folks at the #uaw #local22 #local160 😁👌🏾👌🏾👍🏾👍🏾

[civilrightsunionism-blog]

Commemorating the Movement

Pictured above is the historic state highway marker commemorating the Local 22 union that challenged the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company throughout the 1940s in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The movement began on June 17, 1943 with the initial sit-down and refusal to work protest following the sudden death of worker James McCardell. From then, the movement fought for wage increases and improved workplace conditions, led by African American men and women. This marker was dedicated in a ceremony held on April 20, 2013 at Fourth Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Photo Credit: Bruce Chapman, Winston Salem Journal. April 20, 2013.

[civilrightsunionism-blog]

Velma Hopkins: Women in Leadership

Velma Hopkins led the permanent Local 22 Organizing Committee and developed as a crucial community leader in mobilizing African Americans workers to unionize. Integrated within the black middle and working class, Hopkins utilized connections through her involvement with the Shiloh Baptist Church and with other black working women and mothers.

(FTA News, Civil Rights Unionism p. 248)

[civilrightsunionism-blog]

Honoring Local 22

Above is a link to an article in the Winston-Salem Journal reflecting upon Local 22 and the union movement that swept the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Factory in 1940s Winston-Salem. The article recounts the Local 22 organizing history that is remembered in 2013 through the April 20 dedication of a new historic highway marker in Winston-Salem.

[civilrightsunionism-blog]

April 20, 2013: Local 22 State Highway Marker Commemoration 

This video outlines a brief history of the Local 22 tobacco workers union that challenged the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Factory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Union organizers not only mobilized factory workers to demand worker rights such as equal pay and improved working conditions, but also influenced the later Civil Rights Movement. The highway marker commemorating the efforts of Local 22 was dedicated on April 20, 2013.