Labor's Critics Criticized

...Why were our t r a d e union federations formed some fifty years ago...

...P a y N o A t t e n t i on (From the Wisconsin Leader) f \ U R Communist friends seta U ^ have launched another pregrant of misrepresentation throughout the state...

...ary in their effects insofar as they mitigated misery, strengthened thej fighting' capacity of the workers, J increased the numbers of those participating in the battle, en- j ha need the resistance power of the trade unions, and facilitated the chances of victory...

...Experience had shown that the efforts of local organizations, although not devoid of some successes, had been, on the whole, rather unproductive and inadequate, and that the unification of all forces under one organization would make possible greater and, above all, more lasting achievements...

...To the newcomers in t h e movement, however, we m u s t s a y : study what t h e t r a d e unions h a v e accomplished through decades of effort aad s t r a g g l e ! Try t o acquire a clear understanding of what all this means, and s u b s t i t u t e united action, firm conviction and the considered deed, possible only through unity, for uncontrolled emotion and ill-considered acts...

...THERE is much talk in radical circles nowadays about the necessity of a "new, revolutionary labor policy...

...Heroes of the Phrase The secret of this success lies in the fact that there was system and method in the manner in which the trade unions pursued their struggle...

...Later.—Eight of the tsfcotasA were given prison sentences ef sac to fourteen years each after a motion for a n ew t r i a l was denied...

...Next day he met J a c k Warnick, acquitted defendant, and Norman Mini's f a t h e r and Herbert Solow Of the Non-Partisan Labor Defense, to whom he told the same story...

...t h e officials and the hundreds oi members of the unions...

...To make clear to these thousands t h e dangers of such radically sounding phrases and to lift them to the level of schooled and clearheaded trade unionists is one of our most important i m m e d i a t e tasks...

...If the industry takes t h e same position it did last September, there certainly will be another strike, and we have no information up to this point that they intend to change...

...Hence, their efforts to undermine the old and trjed policies of the trade unions, to which t h e organized labor movement owes its present great influence and power, and to substitute planlessness, unbridled adventurism and boundless passion for measured reason...

...Hdrse TralT Back of Calif...

...The old is finished and moribund, we are told —counter-revolutionary...

...Any such transition would entail grave injury to j t h e social interest...

...How else are we to characterize the many strikes, the countless wage' movements, l o c k o u t s , struggles against blacklists and other punitive measures, the collective bargaining battles, the constant fight against employers and the powers of government for freedom of movement for the working class through the trade unions...

...Must We Have a Textile S t r i k e ? " The industry has it in its power to make a strike unnecessary...

...Tie Critics The very smallest successes in these difficult struggles are to be regarded a s of revolutionary sig-j nificance, successes that bring ps nearer, step by step, t o the final goal...

...I a our opinion, t h e Administra-1 tion cannot permit t h e cloth textile industry to pursue its existing suicidal policy, t h e mills might t ry to defend wages, but t h e Government of the New Deal cannot condone or accept...

...These penalties and sufferings heaped upon us will make us stronger in t h e cause...

...It speaks for itself and we take keen pleasure in presenting it to our readers...

...Hence, t h e efforts of neophytes a n d visionaries to make t h e movement serve the political purposes of t h e Communists...

...They are concerned so much with the "ultimate aim" that they cannot perceive the day to day achievements if the trade "unions as the essential prerequisites for the attainment of the final goal...

...They can evict us from our homes and stop our relief, h u t they cannot stop the growing consciousness of men and women that they are struggling for t h e right against might...

...days after the verdict Mclatfsj sought out Solow and Warnick, declared he wished to undo hie action, and swore out t h e statement which he gave to attorney Goldman...

...The developments of t h e next three or four weeks will tell the story...

...These unions have a g r e a t responsibility...

...And these policies we are now asked to abandon...

...Be on guard against those who seek to teach yon "new" t a c t i c s! More than 6.000,000 American workers are today combined in t r a d e unions, the t r a d e unions of t h e American Federation of Labor and the r a i l w a y brotherhoods...

...calls upon t h e masseof sympathizers and friends of th« labor movement to aid them ii t h e i r struggle and to draw a lim between the accusations again...

...Yet, despite this wealth of experience there have always been critics in t h e ranks of labor who assailed the policies of the trade unions, policies which have repeatedly shown themselves justified is practice, and which remain always in process of development...

...Some may perhaps shrug their shoulders while underestimating the resulting achievements...

...To h e s u r e , it is possible to achieve some passing successes even under a lack of plan and system...

...It is this that leads some to substitute blind passion for planned movement...

...Conviction SACRAMENTO, Cal A j u r o rs sworn affidavit Chat an . illegal "horse t r a d e " in the j u r y room brought about the verdict convicting eight out of fourteen anion organisers on criminal syndicalism charges, will be a n argument for a new trial by defense attorneys appearing before the t r i a l Judge, Dal M. Lemmon, in t h e Superior Court The affidavit specifically in...

...Bitter experience has shown • all too often that Communists sfl interested in t h e sauted frost ealj as a disruptive maneuver...

...Hence t h e ruling of t h e national and s t a t e committees that there i« to be no united front between Socialists and Communists...

...The statement of the U.H.T., signed by Secretary Morris C. Feins-tone, follows: "At the last meeting of the Executive Board of the U.H.T., a committee appeared from Locals 107 and 717 and declared that because of their strike activities several of the local capitalist newspapers started a terrific attack upon the unions and their leaders...

...Mclntire is an accountant who worked 27 years in t h e State Adjutant-Gene r a l ' s office and is a Past Master of the local Masonic lodges...

...Several Socialist branches have been approach** lately with "united front" propositions, i The story has been spread Get the Rhinelander branch of the Socialist P a r t y was ready to accept this offer...

...Yes, even the most ridiculed { mutual aid services established by the trada unions were revolution...

...recognizes that both locals are entitled to every {mssible aid from the working date movement until they are cleared bv the investigation conducted by the A. F. of L. "The U.H.T...

...To a v e r t defeats a n d loss of ground already gained they must proceed in c o n s i d e r e d , thoughtful measure t o t h e i r aims...

...I t was the application of these very policies that made possible the development and power of the trade unions through decades of struggle and lifted the workers from a condition of helots to a mighty and influential factor in our economic life...

...The socializa! tion of our economic and cultural i life is possible only step by step, j Those who assail the "erroneous" I policies of the t r a d e unions and | demand the radicalization of trade union methods fail to realize this fact, or to perceive the difference between the immediately realizable and unrealizable...

...Woe to the workers of America if they give ear to the heroes of the phrase who today so diligently seek to catch the limelight...

...The committee also demanded t h a t , t h e U.H.T...

...Mclntire shed t e a r s of regret for having, at he termed it, "surrendered...

...All this was distinctly revolutionary in substance and meaning...

...The reply is written in the grand styU and very best tradition of true Socialist thought...

...make its own investigation...

...A s t ay of execution of t h e sentence has been granted...

...Immediately a f t e r the verdict he sought oat Attorney Albert Goldman of the HonP a r t i s a n Labor Defense, which is defending Norman Mini...

...President Green informed the unions that he has ordered the Retail Clerks' International to con* duct such an investigation of the two locals...

...The governmental agencies, selected by t h e President at t h e time of t h e ending of t h e b ig strike last September, are now on the point of making their reports on t h e issues of hours and wages, the stretch-out and compliance with Section 7 A. We have been patient for six months, we realize that these studies t a k e time, but when- Congress disposes of the NRA legislation we should proceed immediately to an adjustment of conditions...

...The U.H.T, asks the public to withhold theii verdict against the members oi both unions until the official ia vestigation by the labor mevemenl publishes its findings...

...Mclntire...

...Only by following the old and tried m e t h o d s of straggle, by adapting them t o t h e wider scope of movement and action made possible by political liberty and newly acquired economic rights can t h e movement be advanced...

...purposeful t r a d e anion activity, founded upon t h e democratic principle, carries with it t h e assurance of permanent success...

...Only planned, constructive work, free of all rhetorical admixt u r e , only clear-cut...

...of the party...

...107 and and "17, are affiliated, unanimously voted at its la{t executive meeting to cooperate with the A. F . of L. in its investigation of charges against the locals made in various capitalist newspapers, and a t the same time urged the working masses of New York to support the struggle of the retail clerks for union conditions while withholding condemnation of the officials of the unions pending the conclusion of the investigation...

...Hence the widespread dissatisfaction, particularly among newcomers in the labor movement, who have not yet perceived t h e complexity of t h e social, political and economic mainsprings at work Within our social structure...

...Only thus wiB the eld revolutionary spirit which always guided the labor mevement continue t o lead as to new conquests...

...affidavit was given voluntarily to t h e defense in order, he stated, "to get a new t r i a l for innocent people...

...Those radical supermen who guided by emotion are inclined to sneer at this characterization should acquaint themselves with the -history of the innumerable difficult, bitter struggles which the trade unions have waged against employers ever since they came into being...

...Labor Will Get Its New Deal Before Long l y Francis J. Gorman Vice-President, United Textile Workers of America I am expected to answer the question...

...As those attacks have hampered the work of the unions and threw slanderous suspicions upon the leaders of the two- unions, ..they sent a telegram to President William Green of the A. F. of L. demanding an investigation of their activities, and they are ready to withdraw themselves if the investigation ' should find against them...

...Such is not t h e t r u t h . The Rhinelander Socialists told t h e ConGnV niste t h a t I F they thought sues I proposition would advaaos th"fh> t e r e s t s of t h e workers they « p sl go for it in a minute, bat tursoi down the offer...

...We do net want another s t r i k e , but if we a r e forced t o it the employers will receive one more lesson in labor solidarity, compiled with a determination to fight it through until decency anc justice a re They can fire our members for joining t h e union...

...They were formed to facilit a t e the tasks of local labor organizations in raising wage scales and improving the working conditions of labor, to introduce more method into the struggle, and i thereby assure more stable and enduring successes in the future...

...Never before have economic conditions been more pregant with the generative elements of discontent...

...U.H.T...

...Labor's Critics Criticized Trade Union Organ Has Some Pointed Thing to Say to Neophytes and Swivel Chair Revolutionists {In an article which deserves the characterization of fine revolutionary literature, the Bakers' Journal, one of the oldest and most respected labor organ* in the United States, makes reply to those radical critic* of the labor movement who would lead it from the broad highway of historical development into the blind alley of pseudo-revolutionary fulmination...

...A sudden, forcible t r a n s i t i o n from capitalism to Socialism is a Utopian conception...

...But this holds out no hope of any enduring progress...

...In taking this position tat Rhinelander branch is simply following out t h e line laid down kf the national and s t a t e commits...

...The rich store of experience fighters stood t h e masses in good stead and made possible planned, ever greater and more enduring achievements...

...Nevertheless, there are some who refuse to admit this...

...will support both locals in all of their battles, as in the p a s t "The U.H.T...

...Welcomes Inquiry Into Retail Clerks' Unions The United Hebrew Trades, with which the two locals of the Retail Clerks' International, Nos...

...It is significant, however, that the critics have never been able to strike permanent root, not even today, despite the fact that conditions for criticism have never been more favorable...

...The Labor Struggle To be sure, the trade union federations at first left much to be degired...

...Nevertheless, they continued to develop rapidly into fighting instruments...

...But there is hardly a labor organization that cannot point to incontrovertible evidence of effort that has resulted in higher wages, shorter hours, advancement of social legislation and improvement of sanitary conditions...

...Such tirades a r e not without impression upon workers ignorant of the history and substance of the labor movement, workers who heretofore had kept aloof from the t r a d e unions and who have been led into the movement by t h e thousand as a result, in part, of the operation of the NRA...

...Labor will get i t s New Deal before long...

...The affidavit is signed by Howard S. Mclntire who, together with t h r e e other j u r o r s held oat for H hours and 118 ballots after ah eighteen-week trial which received international attention...

...The United Hebrew Trades decided to assist the investigation of t h e A. F. of L. and of the Retail Clerks' International in every way possible...

...Only in t h i s manner can we guard against defeats and disappointments...

...Added to this is the assertion that the trade union policies of the past, coupled with their various mutual aid activities, were almost vitiating, reformist in their effects...

...Responsible for this were their weakness and the discussions that raged about the question of organization forms...

...peaches the guilty verdict in the case of two "of those convicted, Norman Mini and Caroline Decker, and is held by competent attorneys here to invalidate all the proceedings of t h e j u r y as coming under the head of improper methods of a r r i v i n g at verdicts...

...Pay no attention to their propositions...

...The NIRA failed also to bring about what some had dreamed it would make possible, namely an immediate transition from the capitalist state to a Socialist society...

...In the meantime during t h e investigation t h e U.H.T...

...The NIRA undertook to provide the workers of America with unrestrained freedom of action on the economic field, but strikes continue to grow in number, necessitated by the need of improving the fixed but miserable minimum wage scales...