Colorblind unionism

Labor unions have historically been one of the most significant political forces urging progressive wealth redistribution. The AFL-CIO has conceived of income inequality in colorblind terms, as a social injustice around which racially and ethnically diverse workers can be organized. Professor Crain argues that the AFL-CIO's unionism has been anything but colorblind; instead, unionism has nurtured a class consciousness that reflects the white experience of class oppression, organizing workers around white identity in occupations dominated by whites. The labor laws reflect and reinforce the fiction that class solidarity is race-neutral, treating occupational identity as the only relevant factor in constituting worker groups formed for the purposes of bargaining with employers. Professor Crain asserts that labor's colorblind organizing ideology is not adequate to the challenge of dismantling the racial caste system in employment, and urges reformulation of the labor law doctrines concerning bargaining units to permit explicit consideration of race where employers have de fact segregated workers along racial lines. Such a reform would allow unions to surface race in organizing campaigns and to press for racially homogenous units where it was advantageous to do so.