The Black Trade Unionists Leadership Committee grew out of the city-wide strike by the United Federation of Teachers in 1968. The dispute arose out of a school decentralization plan that gave communities more control over schools. The Community School Board of Ocean-Hill Brownsville, a school district in Brooklyn, allegedly violated a key section of the UFT's contract by transferring nine teachers out of the district. The long strike put the district in a state of turmoil, with passions running high in the community and among union members.

In 1968 A. Philip Randolph brought together black trade-unionists in an attempt to develop support for the teachers' union. The group decided to meet intermittently to discuss issues of mutual concern and to seek solutions that would benefit black workers both in and out of the labor movement. At its inception the group worked as an ad hoc committee and had no permanent officers. One of its first efforts was to develop a "big brother" program, whereby trade-unionists counseled young workers who had no previous employment experience.

The committee was formally organized in 1971 as the Black Trade Unionists Committee of the New York City Central Labor Council. Its first president was John Burnell of the Transport Workers Union. Toward the end of 1973 it changed its name to the Black Trade Unionists Leadership Committee. The group's objectives were to foster good relations between the black community and the labor movement, to increase the political involvement of black trade unionists - both in the field of civil rights in general and to advance the interests of black workers specifically, and to advance the goals of the NYC Central Labor Council.

The Committee makes use of educational conferences, voter registration drives, community service projects, and scholarship awards to advance its program. Its educational conferences and awards dinner-dances became annual events beginning in the early 1970s.