Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was well known for his work as a civil rights activist. However, this was just one piece of his advocacy efforts. Much of Dr. King’s fight for civil rights intersected with the labor movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1961, just months after meeting with President John F. Kennedy and pushing him to make racial segregation illegal, Dr. King spoke at the AFL–CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) annual convention.
During his address to the convention, Dr. King said that the needs of people of color were “identical with labor’s needs — decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community.”
Setting a Trajectory of Fairness
Dr. King’s final act of advocacy was to speak on behalf of striking Black sanitation workers in Memphis, TN. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) organized the 1968 strike. The workers were protesting unsafe workplace conditions and discrimination. Black employees were promoted at lower rates than white colleagues and did not receive equal income compared to their white peers.
The day after speaking for AFSCME and declaring that “all labor has dignity,” Dr. King was assassinated by James Earl Ray.
Dr. King’s work advocating for fair wages, workers’ rights and economic equality remains influential in shaping labor movements and policies.
In 2023, Fair360 Top 10 companies explicitly committed to supporting better opportunities for people of color and detecting and correcting pay inequity. Indirect efforts to expand fairness for Black employees can include accountability systems that encourage leadership to prioritize inclusion and equity. Executive Diversity Councils, for example, have their compensation tied to DEI metrics at all Top 10 companies and 82% of Top 50 companies.
Companies also engage in philanthropic giving to support opportunities for people of color outside their organizations. Among Top 10 companies in 2023, 20% of philanthropic donations were directed to organizations that formally support people of color.
Some have argued that these workplace practices, which explicitly target the development of underrepresented groups, constitute discrimination of a different kind: bias against white men. However, a thorough analysis of Fair360’s data revealed that DEI initiatives do not discriminate against white men. Fair360’s research has shown that white men experience more fair representation in the workplace compared to women and men of color.
A Future of Inclusion
In 1982, 14 years after Dr. King’s death, Black employees held just 4% of managerial positions at U.S. companies, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s despite 10% of the total workforce being Black. Pew Research noted that in 1980, Black men on average earned 73% as much as their white colleagues.
In 2023, Black employees held 7.3% of senior managerial roles at Fair360 Top 10 companies. That same year, 8.6% of promoted employees were Black. Those increases compared to 1982, though small, come despite Black employees at Top 10 companies representing the same 10% of the workforce in 2023 as they did in 1982. In addition, in 2023, more than 4% of the 10% Highest Paid individuals at Top 10 companies were Black.
Though progress has been slow, the expanded diversity of organizational leaders reflects efforts by employers to target diverse talent. Ninety percent of Top 10 companies require a diverse slate approach to promotions regarding race and ethnicity. The diverse slate system begins with an intentionally diverse talent pool, increasing the visibility and promotion chances for minority candidates. All Top 10 companies use a diverse slate approach to hiring.
Targeted recruiting is one tool for improving Black representation in the workforce, but it does not guarantee long-term inclusion. More is needed to ensure the future of fairer workplaces. Organizational leaders can work to address the same kinds of structural discrimination that motivated the AFSCME strike in 1968.
As the striking workers demonstrated, Black employees often face systemic barriers to advancement and promotion. Strict numeric representation targets do not mitigate these obstacles, but initiatives such as sponsorship programs can create a leadership pipeline that expands opportunities for aspiring Black leaders.
These programs also build resiliency into workplace fairness. They allow future efforts to build on each other through long-term leadership equity. This can create forward momentum that ensures companies continue to make progress in their journey toward fairness and inclusion.
The 55 years since Dr. King’s death have seen expanded efforts to pursue fairer workplaces. These represent only the first steps toward true inclusion. The future of workplace fairness should reflect the ideals of both the Civil Rights movement and the coexisting labor movement. Together, labor and civil rights activists advocated for equal opportunity, not just equal representation. Such values have the potential to shape future workplace practices that are fair for every employee.