Derrick Johnson and Leon Russell said on July 20 at the NAACP convention in Chicago that the NAACP will deepen cooperation with unions. Johnson tied the effort to MAGA and the Trump administration, while Russell said branches need closer links with local union leaders.
Johnson on labor and pensions
Johnson said the cooperation would be “around more than collective bargaining,” and he argued that labor and civil rights groups have to respond together as workplaces and politics change. He said the right wing is using pension dollars against workers in investments and refusing to invest in homes or businesses of communities of color.
He also told the session, “Let’s keep our eyes on the same prize,” then added that “For instance, now they” are even using “your pension dollars against you.” Johnson followed that by saying, “And as things” “evolve technologically, we have to evolve, too,” linking the labor relationship to organizing that goes beyond contract talks.
Russell and local branches
Russell said, “We can talk all we want here about workers’ rights, but we have to stop talking and start organizing.” He added, “And we have to make sure our (NAACP) branches are connected to local union leaders.” The message put local coordination at the center of the announcement, not just national cooperation.
That call landed after Randi Weingarten and Becky Pringle recently joined the NAACP board. Weingarten leads Teachers/AFT, and Pringle leads the National Education Association. Johnson said the addition of three international union leaders to the board is a recent change in how the organization is linking labor and civil rights leadership.
Bill Lucy and older ties
Johnson’s remarks also pointed to a longer labor tradition inside the NAACP. Before Weingarten and Pringle, Bill Lucy was the most prominent union leader on the board, and he served as AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer. One speaker also cited A. Philip Randolph, saying he forced FDR into integrating defense industries, a reminder that the alliance Johnson and Russell described has deep roots but has not always been as visible at the local level.
The immediate test is practical: whether NAACP branches and union locals turn the Chicago announcement into joint organizing before the November election. The leaders did not lay out a specific campaign in the session, so the next step for local chapters is to build the contacts Russell called for and decide where that cooperation starts.
