united-states discrimination labor-law unions equal-protection
Could members of a minority use collective action to negotiate with racist employers?
<p>Some employers are more frequently accused of committing unlawful discrimination. Since union membership can encompass multiple businesses and since union membership does not have to include every labor employee in a department, could members of minority groups form a union that only admitted members of their own race and forced employers to collectively bargain when racism was being alleged?</p>

<p>This is explicitly prohibited under <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/2000e-2" rel="noreferrer">42 USC 2000e-2(c)</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(c)It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor
  organization— (1) to exclude or to expel from its membership, or
  otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race,
  color, religion, sex, or national origin; (2) to limit, segregate, or
  classify its membership or applicants for membership, or to classify
  or fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual, in any way
  which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment
  opportunities, or would limit such employment opportunities or
  otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee or as an
  applicant for employment, because of such individual’s race, color,
  religion, sex, or national origin; or (3) to cause or attempt to cause
  an employer to discriminate against an individual in violation of this
  section.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>It seems very unlikely that this scenario is legal. A press release from the EEOC in Feb. 2019</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it has resolved its race discrimination lawsuit against the Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters, Local 122, IAFF. The EEOC's lawsuit against the union was a companion case to the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the City of Jacksonville (Case No.3-12-cv-451-J-32MCR), which alleged that the city's promotional practices for various positions in the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964's prohibition against race discrimination.</p>
</blockquote>
