In 1959, A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, cited the AFL-CIO leadership's failure to lend full support to civil rights efforts within the organization. A year later, a convention of seventy-five black trade union leaders, headed by Randolph, founded the Negro American Labor Council (NALC) to operate within the labor movement as a political pressure group. Randolph served as president of the organization from 1960 until 1966 when Cleveland Robinson succeeded him. Robinson was a founder and president of the Distributive Workers of America, member of the N.Y.C. Commission on Human Rights, member and director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and administrative chairman of the 1963 March on Washington. In 1974, Parrish, treasurer of the organization since its inception, became president of the NALC. Other officers of the NALC included L. Joseph Overton, secretary (1960-1970), Oliver Montgomery, secretary since 1970, and Joseph R. Brown, treasurer since 1974.

The NALC co-sponsored the 1963 March on Washington with the SCLC, Congress of Racial Equality and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The organization continues to co-operate with other civil rights groups. In addition, the NALC has held several economic conferences in Washington, D.C. to lobby for economic and social programs. The NALC and its local chapters also act on specific grievances of black union members against both unions and industries. The organization's name was changed to the National Afro-American Labor Council in 1968.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the national teachers union affiliated with the AFL-CIO. The union's civil rights activities included the establishment of Freedom Schools in the Deep South in 1964 and the sponsorship of a 1966 conference entitled “Racism in Education.” Dissatisfaction with some of the policies of the union led to a walk-out by 500 delegates at the AFT's 1970 convention and the subsequent creation of the AFT Black Caucus. In 1971, the United Action Caucus was formed and members of the Black Caucus were urged to join. Both groups desired greater democracy in the union as well as the American educational system, and took stands on economic, social and political issues.

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the New York City local of the AFT, was established in 1960 when the New York Teachers Guild and the Committee for Action Through Unity merged. In 1963, a UFT-sponsored contingent of teachers and students established the first Freedom School in Prince Edward County, Virginia. The unity of black and white members of the union, however, was disrupted by the community control issue and the 1968 teachers strike in New York City. The UFT Black Caucus, founded at this time, attempted to begin a dialogue between the two groups and to encourage greater black participation and responsibility within the union.

The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) was formed when the AFL-CIO's leadership declared its neutrality in the 1972 presidential election. Although black caucuses existed in many unions, for the first time these groups co-ordinated their efforts in order to register voters and solicit support for Senator George McGovern. This organization, based in Washington, D.C. and representing as many as forty-five unions, continues to take positions on social, economic and political issues.

The Community Teachers Association (CTA), affiliated with the Federation of Negro Civil Service Organizations, was a local black teachers group dedicated to improving educational standards in neighborhood schools. Founded in 1956 and originally known as the Negro Teachers Association, the CTA helped win an open enrollment policy for victims of segregated schools and initiated a tutorial program under Haryou-Act in 1964.

The JFK Library for Minorities was formed in 1970 in Brooklyn as an educational corporation to collect and provide information about American history and government to minority groups.

The National Education Association (NEA) is a professional organization representing over a million teachers. Although the national organization is not affiliated with any union, in the 1960's and 1970's, some NEA locals merged with AFT locals. The first state-level merger occurred in New York in 1972.

The Negro Labor Committee (NLC) was founded in 1935 by Frank R. Crosswaith at a conference of trade unionists. This organization, with Crosswaith as its long-term chairman, consisted of member unions which selected delegates to the NLC's assembly. The NLC encouraged blacks to join the labor movement and promoted equality of responsibility and benefits for all union members. With its headquarters at the Harlem Labor Center, the NLC was a focal point for community and non-partisan political activities in Harlem. In the 1960's the organization, headed by Robert Russell, sponsored the Riverside Park housing project in West Harlem.

The United Black Caucus of Teachers was founded in 1970 as a local teachers' organization, not affiliated with any labor groups or political party. The organization aimed to become a political force working to prevent discrimination and to improve the educational system for the black community.

The United Black Coalition for Jobs in the Construction Industry was an outgrowth of a 1970 NALC-sponsored conference of forty labor and civil rights organizations. The group worked for the enforcement of and compliance with equal opportunity laws in the building trades.