The Jewish Labor Committee was formed in February 1934, in response to the rise of Nazism in Germany, by Yiddish-speaking immigrant trade union leaders, including leaders of established groups such as the Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring, the Jewish Labor Bund, and the United Hebrew Trades.
At the urging of B.C. Vladeck and Jewish union leaders, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) came out in favor of a boycott of Nazi goods at its 1933 convention.