Colored National Labor Union

Established in 1869, the CNLU, like other labor unions in the United States, was created with the goal of improving the working conditions and quality of life for its members.

At the convention, he spoke eloquently for solidarity, saying that white and black workers ought to organize together for higher wages and a comfortable standard of living.

Among the goals of the CNLU, which represented African-American laborers in 21 states, were the issuance of farmland to poor African Americans in the South, government aid for education, and new nondiscriminatory legislation that would help struggling black workers.

[2] During the 1869 NLU convention, a motion was passed claiming that the organization did not recognize color, many local unions ignored this ruling and continued to remain segregated.

"[5] The "Colored" National Labor Union was a post-civil war organization founded in December 1869 by an assembly of 214 African American mechanics, engineers, artisans, tradesmen and trades-women, and their supporters in Washington D.C.

This petition asked for Congress to split public land within the South into farmland to be used by low-income African American farmers.

Over time, the CNLU, became more and more political, to the point where it essentially became a branch of the Republican party, resulting in less trade-union activity and less contact with trade unions across the country.