Railroad companies hired African American workers by the thousands. Most of these men and women became porters and maids. White workers formed labor unions in order to protect themselves from abusive employers. However, these unions were segregated. They were not open to everyone and discriminated based upon skin color.

The unions called themselves "brotherhoods." They only allowed those who were "white born, of good moral character, sober and industrious" to become members.1 Most white people in the nineteenth and early twentieth century did not believe that African American people fit this description. This meant that African Americans were excluded or left out of unions.

This did not keep African Americans from organizing their own unions, however. A union activist named A. Phillip Randolph said working as a porter was "miserable," and "tragic," and railroads treated the African American "like a slave." African Americans began to demand better working conditions. A union named the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) organized themselves in 1925. They called for better pay and fewer working hours.2 The Pullman Company, railroad companies, and white unions all opposed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. It wasn’t until 1937 that sleeping car porters, also called Pullman porters, won their battle for better pay and working conditions. This was a victory, not just for porters, but for all African Americans seeking "respect, recognition and influence."3

A. Philip Randolph, the head of the BSCP, planned a march on Washington in 1941 to protest discriminatory federal hiring practices. This contributed to President Roosevelt’s banning of discrimination in federal government and defense industries.