American Notebook: The Unions and the 5th Amendment
Lens, Sid
The AFL-CIO, troubled by moral decay and a deep conflict of union philosophies within its ranks, has adopted a "code of ethics" to rid itself of such practices as milking health and...
...He did this over the question of representation in the industrial union department, when he demanded at the merger convention that his whole million and a half membership be voted into that department...
...This position is clearly aimed at Dave Beck, Jimmy Hoffa and their associates who are first on the list for questioning before the McClellan committee, and who have already indicat ed that there are some subjects on which they prefer silence...
...Corruption and stagnation have darkened labor's reputation...
...The merger laid down certain pre-conditions for altering this state of affairs—not towards what a socialist might consider the most desirable form of unionism, but towards more socially-oriented forms nonetheless...
...American labor officialdom is the only one in the world which endorses capitalism and plays capitalist politics...
...The fact that Walter Reuther and George Meany yielded ground on these matters is indicative of their desperation: they see Beck and his friends as so powerful an obstacle that they do not feel capable of handling them without some government help...
...Reuther and his allies have therefore finally begun to take the initiative...
...It gives credence to the false notion that recourse to the Fifth Amendment is automatically an admission of guilt...
...So long as such dubious organizations receive support from the teamsters—particularly pledges not to cross their picket lines—they will be able to survive outside the AFL-CIO...
...The building trades are insisting on their craft jurisdiction even in construction and repair work long covered by industrial unions...
...Beck considers himself the leader of the business unionists, and he has been hunting for issues on which to mobilize what was formerly the AFL (excluding the machinists and Dubinsky...
...The hostility between union groups is so intense that at least three international unions are suing each other for alleged slanderous remarks...
...As a result they pass by the fact that their ruling on the Fifth Amendment —coming at a time when the quiet corrosion of civil liberties in the United States remains as serious a problem as the dramatic attacks upon it a few years ago—helps to reinforce the cynical view that expediency warrants the automatic punishment of those who resort to constitutional rights...
...It is a reversal of the sound union principle that labor must clean its own house...
...To suspend the laundry and distillery unions will mean very little unless their allies, particularly within the teamsters union, are dealt with...
...The fact that business morality can play so dominant a role as to finally require a "code of ethics" is indicative of the problem...
...He did it when he offered a loan to the independent —and corrupt—longshoremen...
...cannot mix...
...Where the conflict will end no one can as yet foresee...
...Its level of social responsibility is consequently lower than anywhere else...
...So far, this has led to the suspension of three small international unions and two locals...
...The Federation has been immobilized for fourteen months...
...As a first step, the AFLCIO Council ruled that unionists who take the Fifth Amendment before a congressional committee should be expelled...
...While few people will shed any tears over the prospect of embarrassing Dave Beck, the AFL-CIO ruling on the Fifth Amendment is fraught with extreme danger...
...They are also wary of new organization efforts by the Federation because in almost all cases these must be conduct ed along industrial lines...
...The major battle, therefore, is still to be joined...
...In taking on the team sters the Federation proceeds more cautiously...
...So far Beck's estimate has proven correct...
...In the final analysis the question of labor idealism is really at the root of the present difficulties...
...Behind all this lies his belief that old line business unionism and the more socially-conscious (though far from socialist) unionism of Reuther, Carey, et...
...BEHIND the corruption fight is a broader conflict of union philosophy, and we can expect that from now on this conflict will intensify...
...Still to be considered are the more significant sources of corruption within segments of the building trades and teamster unions...
...The AFL-CIO, troubled by moral decay and a deep conflict of union philosophies within its ranks, has adopted a "code of ethics" to rid itself of such practices as milking health and welfare funds, accepting bribes and granting charters to acknowledged crooks...
...Almost none of the outstanding disputes prior to the merger have been resolved, and so far no important rival unions have consolidated ranks...
...The merger, however, has not yet resulted in unity...
...He is doing it now when he and his building trades allies jettison attempts to unify the major city and state federations of labor...
...As for Reuther, he and the ex-CIO forces (augmented by Hayes' machinists and the ILGWU) feel they have now served their apprenticeship in the re-united federation and must come to grips with the disputed issues...
...Its original goal of organizing millions of new workers has been stymied by jurisdictional quarrels...
...That still remains to be forged—through struggle within the ranks, and organizational, economic, and political action...
Vol. 4 • April 1957 • No. 2
