Willard Saxby Townsend Jr.

Willard Saxby Townsend (December 4, 1895 – February 3, 1957) was an African-American labour leader. He worked to improve the working conditions of African-American baggage handlers in railroad terminals, and was the first African-American to serve as vice president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. He was inducted into the National Railroad Hall of Fame.

Early life and education Townsend was born Cincinnati in the year that Booker T. Washington delivered his Atlanta Compromise speech. He was the son of William Townsend and Cora Beatrice Townsend. After completing high school he worked in the Cincinnati Union Terminal. In 1916 Townsend joined the United States Army, and served as a lieutenant in France in the army 372nd Infantry Regiment during World War I. He moved to Canada, where he worked as a waiter in a dining car to pay for his university studies. Red caps are railroad station porters, and were predominantly African-American in the early 1900s. Townsend was elected president of the AFL in 1936, and formed the international United Transport Service Employees from 1940. He was supported by Leon M. Despres.

Townsend became politically active, and lobbied the United States Congress for improvement in worker conditions. This success arrived in 1940, when it was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that red caps would be paid ten cents for each parcel or piece of luggage carried to and from trains. He ensured that members of his union had their salaries protected under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

In 1942 the UTSE became affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and Townsend became the first African-American to hold office in a national union.