In 1901, the United Textile Workers of America (UTW) was formed as an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

The UTW, which had its greatest strength in the North, called a strike of textile workers in 1934 to protest worsening working conditions during the Great Depression.

In 1939, locals from the TWOC and the UTW merged to form the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA).

The TWUA led numerous organizing campaigns in the union-resistant South, aiming to help textile workers achieve higher wages, health insurance and other benefits, and to ensure fair labor practices.

The unions hoped that by building on the successful organization of wartime industries and using methods proved effective by auto and steel workers, it would be possible to overcome the consequences of the UTW's failed 1934 strike.