He was a trade unionist from 1938 to 1983 and served as vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

In the 1950s, he raised funds for Martin Luther King Jr.'s voter registration drive in the South.

He was a civil rights leader who worked closely with King in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the 1960s.

Later, he was one of major labor leaders arrested during the 1980s anti-apartheid protests that eventually won the freedom of Nelson Mandela.

His candidacy for renomination in 1992 to the 103rd United States Congress was unsuccessful, as he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Bobby Rush, partly due to the House banking scandal.