An Assist to the Union Reformer
G, E.
A little imagination can go a long way. Just when it seemed that the issue of trade union democracy was to be smothered by the fatuity of the CIO-AFL Ethical Practices Committee, and...
...Democracy will not solve the problem created by automation...
...After all, there is still the matter of getting union members to take an interest in the internal affairs of the union, attend its meetings, or otherwise participate in policy-making...
...Awareness may be more accurate...
...Democratic institutions can also decay if they lose purpose, or if they fail to measure up to their responsibilities...
...There are young sociologists working in the field, and there are dedicated students who want to work on labor's side of "labormanagement...
...One of the saddest phenomena of the union movement today is that it seems to have lost its appeal for young radicals...
...But the sense of mission and attraction, the understanding that the labor movement must be enriched in common with sit-ins, freedom rides, and broader community issues—these are missing...
...Box 62, Knickerbocker Station, New York 2, N.Y...
...It rests on the premise that "the union movement is an important force for social progress and for democracy in sociey," that the unions must reach out to all of labor, that democracy cannot be imperiled without injury to the highest interests of the union...
...That is, who wants to, or can be made to, unless there is the excitement of participation, of cause, of men like Cieply and Rappoport who are willing to give it that little bit extra that inspires others to give some of their own...
...Now, the problems before the labor movement clearly do not begin and end with democracy...
...Union Democracy in Action, No...
...Assisted by a few friends like Jim Peck, one of CORE's leaders, and an occasional dollar bill from others, Benson got the idea—so simple that its bigness is only now becoming apparent to more than a few—that local reformers could hang on and fight better if they were assured of moral, financial, and legal support...
...And I suppose there are some to whom expertise is a matter of training for a pie-card career...
...3 for 10 issues...
...This may not be of the same order of importance as organizing the unorganized, but it is nevertheless a challenge to the conscientious labor leader...
...It also records the creation of the United Federation of Teachers on a democratic structure, as well as the latest facts in the Cieply-Rappoport case cited above...
...Union Reformers in Action," edited byHerman Benson...
...He secured the intercession of Norman Thomas, Professor Clyde Summers, and the American Civil Liberties Union, and generally made unionists and friends of labor aware of the case...
...Essentially, it is of the labor movement, and this is very important...
...Appeal...
...that they do is tribute to their own convictions, and the quiet work of Benson's labor "reprints...
...All of these would be well advised to send in their small contribution, get on the mailing list—and take it from there...
...In the current issue,* there are reports on situations in the house painters' union, the garment workers' union, the United Papermakers and Paperworkers' union, and several maritime unions...
...And yet the labor movement possibly needs the young radical as much as it needs an answer to the weightier problems of its erosion...
...Benson, who has for many years been an active socialist, wrote about the case, reprinted his article, and mailed it to two hundred people...
...There's something in Union Democracy in Action for the young radical —as for the middle-aged and older radical, liberal, civil libertarian...
...More precisely, what he has done is give heart to those rank and filers and local leaders—the "Jimmy Higgins's" on whom the vitality of the unions must ultimately rest— who are committed union men, and who as committed union men believe that freedom cannot be sacrificed without sacrificing the union as well...
...But they continue to fight...
...Complacency, lack of self-confidence as a union member, hence thinker, are involuntary enemies of democracy as bureaucracy is an organized enemy...
...Just when it seemed that the issue of trade union democracy was to be smothered by the fatuity of the CIO-AFL Ethical Practices Committee, and general indifference, Herman Benson came along with a creative idea that has done much to regenerate an interest in democracy in the labor movement...
...Hayes, chief Ethical Practicer, has spent huge sums (not his, the union's) to defeat Cieply and Rappoport...
...In fact, it could reasonably be argued that the one would measurably ben efit the other...
...It started a couple of years ago when A. J. Hayes, president of the International Association of Machinists, and head of the AFL-CIO Ethical Practices Committee, ousted Marion Cieply and Irwin Rappoport who were opposing a corrupt local leadership in Lodge 113...
...Who wants to intrude on leisure for a crummy old meeting...
...Working-class suburbias with their distance from plant and union hall, shopping centers and, paradoxically, increased leisure—all these are factors too...
...In any case, the "reprints" became a regular publication, Union Democracy in Action, reporting on many situations, and encouraging support for union reformers everywhere...
...In reporting specific cases, it has also stated the broader terms and relevance of democracy, speaking as well of those unions where democracy is more than a constitutional piety...
...A little imagination can go a long way...
...I don't know whether Benson and his few associates sought out other union reformers battling corruption, or whether they found him...
...Union Reformers in Action" shows that there are such people, and that there can be more...
...4, January 1962...
...Nor will democratic procedures by themselves ensure democracy...
Vol. 9 • April 1962 • No. 2
