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musicians' drive, demurred. Local 543 pressed, and Apple reversed himself. Next
all the union members in the City Colored Orchestra withdrew, decimating the
body. Director Wilson fumed about how the show would go on, but the struggle
continued. Dr. Wood's committee called meetings and attempted to find a middle
role for itself, but was entirely ineffective.
With the situation deadlocked, Frederick Huber announced that there
would be no concerts for Blacks during that season, and his announcement was met
with an outcry from segments of the Black community. Finally, in mid-1938 after
over six months of controversy, Baltimore Mayor Howard Jackson stepped in and
agreed to provide the funds to cover the union wage demands. There was,
however, one remaining issue: the union's closed shop demand. After further
controversy, Local 543 agreed that it would not insist on a full closed-shop contract
and would allow union musicians under some circumstances to play with non-union
musicians. However, the local announced, it could not afford to play in an orchestra
with a non-union director: Llewellyn Wilson would have to join the union or resign.
Wilson fumed and blustered and refused to even consider the issue. So the battle
continued.
The other incident where union organizing provoked class struggle in the
Black community was the attempt in 1938 by the CIO Newspaper Guild to organize
the staff of the Afro-American newspapers. According to Juanita Jackson Mitchell,
the moving force behind this union drive was John Murphy, nephew of Afro
publisher, Carl Murphy. John Murphy had worked on the Washington edition of
the Afro and had become involved with the left-wing circles in the Black Freedom
movement, ultimately joining the NNC. At the Afro, when the unionization effort
started to take hold, the management moved to nip it in the bud by firing several
union members. The CIO complained to the NLRB and, in early 1939 the NLRB
ordered the fired workers be reinstated with back pay. The unionization drive.
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