Citrine Calls World Labor To Spur Boycott on Fascism
Citrine Calls World Labor To Spur Boycott on Fascism Intensification of Economic War on Hitler and Mussolini Demanded to Hasten the D o w n f a l l of All Dictatorships. • y Sir Welter...
...In that year progressive trade unionists and Racialists organized the Conference far Progressive Labor Action...
...sad S.P...
...Obviously, some canA Former Warning hi the Whiter number of the later i c an Socialist Quarterly 983) the writer classified the wogressive Miners" with all •hers formed through outside sferf erence...
...The proposal, which was in the nature of a "fishing expedition" by the enemies of democratic in* stitutions was defeated largely through the efforts of the powerful Socialist Party...
...The Socialist movement is the 6W" 'Sependable and unshakable bulwark of democracy...
...Affairs are in no better state in...
...Now that a decade's vicious onslaught on the Labor Msraiaal has got the Communists nowhere, they Begin to think they may got somewhere if they can clamber en to Labor's back...
...Herling, executive secre-1 **y of the relief headed by Tho5...
...This rnansf he imposed from the outside...
...A few months ago Spate uniffed with the Trotakyites aad founded another Communist janaaiiHion...
...Moreover, that group has given an example of the danger cited in the last quotation above and thereby has disregarded the policy laid down by the party, which is the historic policy of the Socialist movement of the world...
...To this means a coordination and intensification of the efforts now being made through the various organizations which have taken up the struggle against fascism...
...5. John A. Fuller, Typographers...
...The only proven instances of collaboration tended, in fact, to advance fascism...
...President Thomas F. McMahon announced that the organization is demanding increases in wages in view of the increased cost of living...
...There was no other trade union body there with which they could amalgamate...
...IX.G.W.I...
...Popular election of all judges...
...No one challenges that right, he said...
...Because of these things there is, perhaps, a tendency to forget that the mass oppression of whole populations is going on steadily day by day, with more and more cruel effects on the minds and bodies of the victims...
...Of organised groups the statement declared: •> The Party's Position "We do not regard any outside committee or group, whether it be Socialist, Communist...
...The candidates, however, will net be permitted to held membership in other parties, bat it was intimated that in case the Socialist Party sapports the Labor Party this rule would not be enforced for the Socialists on the ticket...
...County Clerk...
...y Sir Welter Citrine . General Secretary of the British Trades Union Congress and president of the International Federation Trade Unions...
...By the end of the week over a hundred members had resigned their membership in disgust and in the succeeding days other resignations were being received by the union...
...parallels the stand of the American Federation of I abac The rejection of the Pro fin fin's united front was by an "searp o ^ t h e * i n d 2 ifif^&kntL This action was ia line with that taken bv the lnernational Federation of Trade I'nions, I cpreeenttng virtuall* all trade union* hi the leadinr industrial countries of the world...
...Fascist Barbarism Millions of men, women and children are being treated as if their very existence were an offense to their persecutors...
...fs) mad* sat reply, and sevea reserved their decision...
...The J ^ i e a a i v e Miners" became the w|eer eg fry thing in unionism ever Jgaited in this country...
...i . Agitation for a Labor Party in New Jersey is'strongest-In Essex, Hudson and Passaic Counties, largest industrial areas in the State...
...I The document declared that "Communists seek control of unions through intrigue, attacks upon members and officials, attempts to destroy their character, seeking to place their own followers in official positions because they are Communists...
...An important boost for the' Labor Party proposal was given by the executive council of the United Textile Workers of America, with a membership of 400,000, at its meeting in New York City this week...
...but since then "militant" Socialists have a p p e a r e d , Toe "militants" have not followed the policy again explained by the party to the Teachers* Union last November...
...The labor movement...
...Was the assumption that by allying themselves with groups and sections associated with the Communist party they would prevent the advance of fascism in this country...
...His campaign of aggression against Abyssinia is a hut desperate gamble to avert consequences which are now looming only too clearly for the peace of mind of Italian fascists...
...That picture has been reproduced and is known to tens of millions of people throughout the world, but not the California authorities...
...Zurich, dominated by the Socialists, gave a vote in opposition of 108,316 as against 24,994...
...10,000 N EW READERS IS GOAL SET BY UNIONS IN N EW LEADER DRIVE A DRIVE for 10,000 new New Leader readers among the trade unions of New York was launched last Monday when a committee from the Trade Union '• New Leader Conference appeared before the United Hebrew Trades and made an appeal for more ! widespread circulation of The New j Leader among the organized workers...
...And what of Austria, the latest imitation of the Italian model...
...T o the British or American public, for example, the tale of cruelties and stupidities (some of the worst are, of course, practically untellaMe) perpetrated under fascist rule, wears a nightmare aspect which to some extent serves to rob it of the appearance of reality...
...Q N E of the difficulties of dealing with a subject like the fascist terror is that the plain facts of the case seem almost incredible to people without firsthand knowledge of what is taking place...
...Their sufferings have already taught them that under their present rulers the worst may always be yet to come...
...negative oppositions, heaawa important, if thaw sorts aney aha at moulding the future...
...The Labor Party ticket is composed entirely of trade union and Socialist Party members...
...Because of the swamp, insects are plentiful...
...We would net tolerate the policy of a union favoring non-partisan political action and instructing those of its members who are members of the Socialist Party to organize as a clique in the party and carry on agitation for the support of Democratic and Republican candidates for public office...
...The report shows that Negro workers on various sections of the TVA projects — numbering some flSrfwthe f^eV^ack^rwigS and are barred from skilled labor and high wages...
...The heavy majorities against the fascist proposal came almost exclusively from the cantons in which the Socialists are the dominant political force...
...to elect special committees to visit every union in New York with an appeal' for support for The New Leader...
...The I writer helped organize i t He was a member of its executive...
...Host of the examples of fascist terrorism revealed to us in our own pre*s are, though Uluminatderanged mentality by which they are inspired...
...Democratic or Republican, as capable of directing the affairs of a union, anymore than we believe that a group of trade unionists should sit oatside of the Socialist Party and attempt to direct its affairs...
...George H. Goebel, nationally known New Jersey Socialist, was invited by the promoters of: the Labor Party to sit in with them from the outset and has a place on the Advisory Board...
...Citrine declared, was duty bound ts protect its organizations against these activities...
...Over a large part of Europe today it is, in effect, a crime to be a Jew, a Roman Catholic (or, indeed, a votary of any religion worthy of the name), a Freemason, a Socialist, or a trade unionist: a Word, or even a glance, may earn a fate in comparison with which the life of the convicted malefactor in other climes is happy and rational...
...He recalled that the Swansea congress of 1928 had instructed the General Council to institute an inquiry into disruptive elements m the trade union movement and that a report was submitted at Belfast A supplementary report was submitted last year at Weymouth, sad this year the congress had before it a final report presenting a picture of continued destructive, "rule or ruin" activities by the Communists...
...Essex delegates, who led the fight for a Labor Party, charged unfair methods were used to defeat the project...
...I considered that point of view last week and showed that the very document Comrade Thomas referred to mentioned antiunion activities as a reason for excluding members from a union whether they are Communists, Socialists or of other political views...
...It is not surprising that, despite the savage repressive measures of the Government, there should be uprisings among the workers...
...I know that the straggle will not be in vain...
...He cited the Saar as an example...
...fascist Italy, where state credit has been shaken to its foundations...
...Dangers Stressed C l i q u e Organizations in Unions Inevitably Pro tkice Conflicting Sovereignties, Which Lead to Dissension and Ruin...
...rS t * » indictment drawn in the J****"** of that conference reads P Ssectioa of the Dewey report ?.«*e troubles ia the Teachers' •j**6 8 in 1933...
...AlsJ Ficjftters for Freedom Prevention is better than cure...
...Louis Stanley had been the spokesman for this group into 1932 in which year he left the party and completely disappeared from the movement In the bourgeois "liberal" Nation (Oct...
...Negroes Fight Discrimination On TVA Project National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Reveals Jim Crow Conditions in Tennessee...
...Now it is the "militant" Socialists...
...outlawing of the company union, the yellow dog contract and the use of injunction in industrial disputes...
...It is not progressive...
...By lames Oneal f\»»CE more in the history of " t h e Socialist movement the -jsseuirion has become an issue in it, It emerges out of the crisis aiijc Teachers* Union...
...Announcing the program to be submitted by this organization to the convention -of the American Federation of Labor, the council declared that "the union is on record ' in favor of industrial organization and the formation of a Labor Party...
...Secondly we have to use every endeavor to render support to the thousands of brave men and women who, in fascist countries, are taking their lives in their hands in order to speed up the day of deliverance...
...The Chest for Liberation of Workers in Europe maintains an office at S West 16th SU, N . Y . C , where contributions should be addressed, Editor...
...The Chest for Liberation of Workers of Europe...
...that certain labor leaders "obeyed orders" from Frank Hague, Democratic boss and "Czar" of Hudson County...
...expression of sentiHuey Long, and in recent snaths the "Progressive Miners" aandaced a bill in the Illinois Legablare the most reactionary in law history...
...Engineers., Chemists and Technicians...
...S. Fred C. Reiner, Socialist Party...
...This body, of which I have the honor to be...
...The white houses range from three-room bungalows to sixand seven-room houses, modern in every respect...
...tt is a fact that the wages of the fully employed workmen in Germany today are little higher than the scanty benefit paid in Great Britain to the unemployed worker...
...I N writer bad mt the C. P. L. A. Bithin two months after it was fcunded as he knew that early plut was' to . happen...
...And throughout it should be our object to render double service to our own democratic institutions, the bulwarks of defense against the new barbarism...
...The houses have only half screens, with no windows in the kitchens...
...The Platform The Essex Labor Party's platform is a good working class program for immediate demands...
...Communists Excluded By 1,944,000 votes to 539,000 on a card vote the Margate congress rejected a motion disapproving the issue by the GeneralGouncil (analogous to the Executive Council of the A. F. of L . ) of circulars proscribing members of Communist, fascist and other disruptive bodies...
...lac whole article baa been comm «iy verified by the dead sea j III reaped by the "militant" conVMoa of the relations of the So*Jwt Party to the trade union •painut...
...which is occasionally heard which in plain words regards the members of the unions as a lot of saps whose leaden "work against the best interests of the working class.'' Incidentally, this whole ideology stems from the central idea of Lenin regarding 'leadership' which Rosa Luxemburg subjected to devastating criticism in the pamphlet quoted in the New Leader last week...
...Mussolini is realist enough to, know the strength of the resentment accumulating against his regime...
...but despite the growing sentiment the State Federation of Labor convention at Atlantic City last week declined to sanction a state labor party...
...which one we travel will determine whether we will beesati a repudiated Sect or march in fraternal cooperation with the organized working class...
...it is thoroughly reactionaryLast November when the Teachers' Union was battling with organized groups that organization sent a letter to the Socialist Party asking what was tile attitude of the party toward the trade unions...
...In the course of the hearing Tom Mooney expressed his social philosophy as follows: "The historic object of the struggle of the working class has always been to free itself from exploitation of all kinds...
...James Myerg of the Federated Council of Churches of Christ in Amenee* and Dr...
...W. and in 1919 it was the Communists...
...Hading Nelson, Machinist...
...another third leas than Sfi a week...
...Not until Mnste turned-his batteries against ft in December, 1931, did "militants" Philadelphia, Buffalo, Chicago and other cities publicly ainounce their resignations from Me C.P.L.A...
...If the trade union movement vants to change its present policy, then it must be changed by discussion and understanding and agree ment inside the constitution of their organization...
...Davis is a continuation of his investigations which were reported in an article, " T V A : Lily-White Reconstruction," appearing in the Crisis magazine last year...
...The Red International was nothing mere nor less than a puppet of the Communist party of Russia, as indeed the trade unions of Russia were also...
...He said that a number of strikes in various parts of the country are the result of the employers attempting to "chisel" on the workers and he expected further strikes from now on...
...The big union delegate conference was held on December 21 and the trade unions adopted a burning manifesto against the disrupters...
...a similar number of organized workers in the needle trades, together with many thousands of Others affiliated with A. F. of L. organizations, the army of organized toilers pressing for independent political action by labor is growing in numbers...
...Sere the "dubious alliances and questionable deals" the party warned against became a fact...
...American labor's valuable contribution to the cause of labor solidarity and organized labor everywhere, is in the forefront of this great humanitarian struggle...
...Is it possible to learn from aferience...
...6. Peter Tablonsky...
...This left wing leadership proved its fatal defects net only in the in - com net tat a of individuals but ia the fundamental tansies of the Communists...
...It is important to recall it again...
...British Labor Rejects United Front Proposal Of Soviet Trade Unions jprofintem's Offer Gets Summary Rebuff at Margate Congress — Cooperation With Communist* Characterized as H e l p i ng F a s c i s m , A.F.L...
...council reaffirmed its former action in authorizing all local unions to strike immediately if an attempt is made to increase hours, reduce wages or lower the standard of working conditions...
...We face two roads...
...Vice-Presidents William F. Kelly, John A. Peel, Horace A. Riviere and Joseph R. White, representing the Pennsylvania and Southern District, New York and New England, were authorized to initiate a campaign in support of the Textile Bill presented to Congress in the last session...
...on any essential points of iuiaaed iate trade union policy...
...All the machinery of employment is set up so that Negroes do not have even an opportunity to apply for skilled work, Mr...
...is expected at the forth a il tng convention of the A. F. of L. in Atlantic City...
...Rightly or wrongly," m the General Council's considered opinion, the policy of the Communist oarty in this country is a mistaken one...
...He was right then or wrong now, or wrong then and right now...
...The martial law resolution, referring particularly to control of Vigo county by the military authorities after a general strike at Terre Haute, July 22, "strongly protest to the Governor of TmK»?if against his usurpation of power in declaring martial law and making the civil authorities submissive to the military authorities...
...A heated two-hour debate followed and the motion was defeated two to one...
...Freeholders...
...Had Socialists reasoned with him the party would wjre been brought into conflict *tta the trade union movement f ^However, ;the "atiTitamts" then decided to get into the Illinois lowers' bloody internal fight in the .afjef that they were going to do JJfct Must* failed to do...
...The action of the British Trades Union Congress rejecting the united front proposal of the Communist Trade Union International was well summarized ia the following editorial in the Daily Herald of September 5: » Doily Herald View "A resolution which advocated the 'United Front* was summarily rejected by, the Trades Union Congress yesterday...
...A special meeting of the Local on Sept...
...The fact is, the Teachers...
...Fascism, as all f reliable observers agree, carries within itself the germs of its own decay...
...only to l i t . Peftttt and his Communist*, hag also to millions of Conservative* and Liberals...
...Citrine Opposes Front The rejection of the Profintern's united front proposal at Margate, which came in the form of a telegram addressed to the congress from Moscow, followed a debate in which spokesmen for what the Daily Herald terms the "tiny minority" sought to defend the proposal on the ground that unity j would promote resistance to fascism and war...
...In the first place, it has for more than a century done a tremendous amount of work, through bad times and good, in msi"**'T"I'Pr the ideals of democracy and freedom...
...The labor movement throughout the world has a special and tragic interest in the fate of all these victims of our modern Neros...
...The nearest store is two miles away and prices there are exorbitant...
...It is fatuous to express the hope of retaining all members...
...9. Repeal of the salsa tax...
...Moreover, if it is so aaaBt ability that it consents » •-aw by an outside 'strategist,' * may be easily misled by that irrategigt' or by- seme ether one...
...It was charged that approximately 200 "ringers" were seated by the credentials committee and their votes swung the result...
...Fascist Debts It is interesting to note, in this connection, that Germany's adverse trade balance is giving serious con-: corn to the Nazi dictators, under whose rule the indebtedness of the country has increased by at least $5,000,000,000...
...County Registrar...
...These circulars asked trades councils (analogous to Central Trades and Labor Councils in this country) not to accept members of such bodies as delegates and asked trade unionists to bar such members from holding office...
...The candidates are: State Senator, Hairy Wendrich, Allied Printing Trades Council...
...The Executive Committee consists of fifteen, ten of whom must be A.F.ofL...
...Walters and Coosa...
...Last week the "militant" Social, ist group in the Teachers' Union held a joint meeting with the Rank aad File (StaUnitea) and the Progressive Group (Lovestoneites) fa what is called the "United Committee to Save the Union...
...There are ao Communists on the ticket...
...I do not think that they would trouble to issue a circular on the matter...
...Carpenters...
...He dedp* d that 'The fight in Illinois * a fight fqr a progressive, militant organization of miners and theu- families, instead of for an inJJaehed officialdom...
...The United Hebrew Trades voted to appeal to all unions in the U.H.T...
...There •« no twilight zone between the two.- It is one toad or the other...
...In any discussion with the Red International they would be speaking to an ostensible body of trade najons, who, in tarn, were taking their instruction from the Communist party of Russia...
...When a man has deceived you day ia and day out, adopting the policy to get inside the anions to vilify them, and has decried the possibility for e m a n c i p a t i on through the Trade Union Movement, and suddenly comes and wants to pat his arms around your neck, you have some reason to be suspicious.'" While the Daily Herald reports that rejection of the united front proposal was by an "overwhelming majority of voices," the Manchester Guardian emphasizes the significance of the action by adding that the proponents of the united front were so overwhelmed that they did not even venture to demand a roll call...
...IT there ate real differences of principle, then net all tin) sentiment in the world can submerge them...
...Sir Walter Citrine, one of Great Britain's foremost labor leaders, visited the United States last year and addressed the convention of the A merican Federation of Labor in San Francisco as welt as many labor meeting* throughout the country...
...Norman Thomas defends their activities...
...Either attempt at outside direction and control must in the sad produce friction, misunderstanding, resentment and, finally, bitter conflict between the two organizations that should more aad mere cooperate for mutual ends...
...Charles Dukes, members of the General Council, maintained that "the Council was defending democracy against those who would break it down merely to substitute their own nostrums...
...It is expected that the 12th plank will call for support of the Hillquit Workers' Sights Amendment...
...A goal of 10,000 new subscribers was set as the first objective of the drive...
...Now the "militant" Socialists join With these two Communist grottos in vitflatian of the spirit of the party's statement to the Teachers- Union last November...
...There are no Negroes housed at Norris Dam and workers there must go from seven to twelve miles to and from work...
...Terre Haute Terror Bitterly F l a y e d by Indiana F«d of I nkftr l _ f UNCIE, Indiana.—The Indiana * * * State Federation of Labor in annual session here adopted a strong resolution denouncing martial law in Terre Haste and Vigo county...
...Berne, also, showed its Socialist strength by 73,647 to 18,601...
...The debate on the question was opened by Citrine, who reviewed the history of Communist disruptive activities in the trade unions and the defnse measures taken by the labor movement against them...
...Which is i t? Clique Organization Paul Porter in his statement to the press last week expressed the hope.that the union would retain "every present member...
...That report was based upon four months of investigation and testimony under the direction of the leading educational authority in this country...
...It is our task to check the destructive inroads which this savage cult has already made into modern civilization, and to aid the millions of hapless people now, languishing under fascist rule to recover their liberty...
...At Wilson Dam there are two villages for white, and one for Negroes...
...By John Po P M P H A T I C rejection of a united front proposal from the Communist Trade Union International (Profintern) and approval of action closing the doors to fascists and Communists as officers of trade union bodies and delegates to trade union conventions marked the sessions of the British Trade Union Congress at Margate September 4 and 5. • Detailed reports of the proceedings reaching The New Leader this week confirm the determination of British labor to fight both fascism and Communism to the bitter end as enemies of democracy and the labor movement...
...Here, under the sly and savage dictatorship of a clique among whom Goring, the drug addict, and Gobbels, the moral pervert, are shining lights, the masses of the German people have felt the full force of an oppression designed to r e d u ce them to complete economic slavery...
...The churchmen are Rabbi Sidney Goldstein of the central conference of American Rabbis, the Rev...
...And with what calamitous results to the masses of the people now languishing under the lash of the fascist bosses Let us glance at an abstract of the facte and figures which have a bearing on the subject...
...That bill weald have taccd all amiana in the state unlet the direct control of Illinois •asta^The Chicago Federation of BWttves" and waged a systematic caanugn to hill the bill...
...Fascism is a "back to the jungle" movement...
...1f aiiaattlah to war ami fascism provided a ground fee association, thee the Labor Movement ought to be throwing- MS doors opea not...
...As to international unity, the only country where the Red International had any recorded membership outside Russia was France...
...7. Bones -Vitis...
...I. Edward E. Miller, Carpenters and S. P...
...5. The establishment of a state insurance fund for the injured workers under the Workmen's Compensation Act...
...Swiss Socialists Lead in Defeat Of Reactionaries D Y an overwhelming majority the people of Switzerland have rejected a fascist-sponsored referendum for a revision of the Constitution at an election at which close to three-quarters of a million citizens cast their votes...
...8, 1930) the caption of an article by him reads: "The Collapse of the A. F. of L." For some reason the A. F. of L. refused to collapse and it was Stanley who collapsed two years later...
...In December of that year the local YPSL in annual convention in a resolution on the trade unions declared for "a militant struggle" and added: "Reactionary elements in control of the American Federation of Labor . . . work against the best interests of the working class...
...It is important that the party as a whole ahonld remain adamant against a dangerous policy of clique organization in the unions if the good relations between them and the party in nanny cities end states are not destroyed within the next few months...
...The "militants," Stalinites and Lovestoneites are already in the same sack by the united front they have formed...
...We hear nowadays a little less, perhaps, of the beatings up, shootings, and tortures of individual Germans and Italians and Austrians, largely because (apart from the fascist censorship) such occurrences have become as much of a commonplace under fascist rule as road deaths are elsewhere...
...The fact that it sent the letter shows that it was necessary for the party again to state its position becaass of the activities'of some Socialists in tt*'tmkkm> We quote some of the leading sections of the answer sent to the Teachers' Union...
...If his report is to be impeached it should be by showing where it erred...
...George Hicka said...
...I hope that everybody who reads this article will resolve to do their utmost—and to do it now— to save their fellow men and women from the misery which, through no fault of their own, is inflicted on them by the agents of the cruellest anti-social cult of the century...
...Let us consider the state of affairs in Germany, since the Hitler regime perhaps deserves some slight precedence in the hierarchy of fascist persecutors...
...Emanuel PfelSer, Labor Attorney...
...In Janu**y, 1933, Norman Thomas sent an appeal for fund* to support -*y "Progressive Miners...
...The...
...It grew, out of organized Communist g r o u p s which had brought rain into the unions...
...The New Leader appeared on December 25 with a big story of the uprising...
...Labor Party Organization This party is an alliance for strong immediate demands only, without at this time deciding for or against capitalism...
...There Must Be a Hart There must be a halt to the suiI cidal course the "militants" are pursuing or- the whole Socialist Party will be placed in the same sack with the Communists and be branded by the trade unions as their enemy...
...3. Union wages to be recognized as the prevailing wage ana paid to all workers en public works...
...The Socialists, scenting a scheme to give the enemies of democracy an opportunity to weaken, cripple or paralyze democratic institutions...
...What is being challenged and will be fought uncompromisingly is the right of a minority group, speaking for aa oat side party, ts impose its will upon the •ajsctty by methods and tactics inimical to the organization of the trade smtoa movement and its accepted constitution and procedure...
...We read of a British subject thrown into prison because he remarked, in a private conversation, that one of his best friends was a Jew...
...union members in goad standing...
...Jfary P. CrUly, George homers, Jewelry Workers (short term...
...S. Michael Ceiier, Musicians...
...Summarizing the I debate, Citrine emphatically chal\ lenged this contention, saying that the opposite was true: that unity with Communists has been demonstrated to promote fascism and its militarist program...
...in September, 1934, on "Socialist opposition to witchhunting in the union or the exclusion of Communists as Communists...
...Socialism, reformism, etc Persons joining the Labor Party do not drop membership from other parties, the only qualification being that they subscribe to the principles as expressed in the platform...
...Its prog ran} was one of education for fecial insurance, workers' education, independent labor political auction and other progressive policies.' ' Had its actions been consistent with its*declared aims it would have fulfil led a good purpose...
...had an article in "The World ^"wrrfiw" (Feb...
...While it is true that a majority of the membership of the A. F. of L. is still opposed to a Labor Party and continues to favor the so-called non-partisan political policy of the federation, events are pushing the movement toward a realization that independent political action is necessary and unavoidable...
...A summary of Citrine's remarks is given by the Daily Herald: "Replying to the debate, Sir Walter Citrine said, no proof had been offered that the proposed unity would prevent war...
...Such clique organization or union members m the part y under outside direction «nd control would be parallel to clique organization in aniens under outside Socialist direction and control...
...Delegations from the dyers' department appeared and arrangements for organisation campaigns in those industries were made...
...I. "Proceeding, Sir Walter Citrine said they in that Congress stood for the principle of democracy ia their trade unions...
...The vote was 193,841 in favor, led the fight against the proposal, with 510,014 against...
...He announced he was ready to collaborate with any organization ready to resist fascism and war, and even the much-derided Labor Party was now once again to receive the doubtful support of the-Communist party...
...Assembly, 1. Lee Ella Heed...
...This is precisely the attstsnfo token by the American Federation of Labor...
...It means that Communism is a positive enemy of democracy and of all democratic parties...
...The present study of TVA by Mr...
...I wrote the Ubwing: "The interventionists of all types » not understand thai the union •bam that needs outside leaderamis incapable of inside responaws> If >t is informed aad enaaak it will have no need for outam guidance...
...At the same time we retain the right of minorities to the maximum expression...
...In the "Call" last week part of an editorial reads: "The practice of militant Socialists in demanding that the onion develop a greater consciousness of the function of the labor movement as a whole is endorsed by the Call...
...Affiliation of the A. F. of L. with the I.F...
...The organization is at present on a basis of individsml men^b&Tship...
...21 Public ownership and democratic control of all public utilities, to be administered by a board consisting of wage workers, consumers and technicians qualified and experienced in the particular industry...
...The next highest number are laborers at 45 cents an hour, and the remaining few are scattered here and there at 60 and 75 cents, with less than ten at S 1 an hour...
...2) that the Dewey report is devoted almost exclusively to the activities of Communist groups that were malting the normal work of the union impossible...
...In the first place we have to do everything possible to relieve the sufferings of the victims of the fascist dictators...
...There can be no doubt of the danger of fascism as an inveterate enemy of the free progress and development of mankind...
...15, 1983) on the •Was miners bearing the caption, TtajWrag a Militant Mine Union...
...Prior racy necessitates that the matortty should rule...
...Neither Stalin...
...affirms that the Dewey committee and the union both concede the right of members to hold any political views they desire...
...Various "militants" were with him...
...The chief reason for the increased interest in the Labor Party question was .the failure of the Legislature to pass the-anti-injunction bill and the passage of Bill 861, which, wiped out the prevailing wage law on any State projects where Federal funds are involved and made possible the payment of a security wage...
...Moreover, it is a contradiction for Socialists to oppose clique organization in the Socialist Party and approve it in the trade unions...
...It is perhaps enough to say that here again fascism is running trap to form...
...Ed.] in his recent visit to Moscow, probably under vigorous training, performed some remarkable verbal acrobatics...
...The Convention committee reported unfavorably on the resolutions, but supporters demanded a vote...
...the Socmanrt looks waist same material to shape its •a destiny and regards himself tea educational agent to help it aiiie this aim...
...liter A. J. Muate, Louis F. Budenz aad a few others fell heir to it "Iditar.:" socialists joined it in tan period, joined after experienced Socialists had left it I A "Progressive Union" Must* used it for an adventure in the - Illinois miners' factional firht with the view of showing the •Arid bow to build a progressive anion...
...The requests for skilled labor come from construction bosses and are handed to white personnel directors...
...no employment of police or national guard to break labor strikes...
...Apart from a few wandering Communists, the tiny dissentient minority seems to approach the problem in a sensational spirit which does credit to its heart bot not to its head...
...Seeking a means of settling the strike at the Columbian Enameling and Stamping Company at Terre Haute, which led to the general walkout and the martial law, the .convention accepted' a resolution from the executive committee to invite three noted clerics to investigate...
...Hundreds of trade union leaders have been murdered offhand...
...24 will finally decide this question...
...Bar Evidence ot Innocence at the Mooney Hearing OONVINCING evidence that Tom Mooney was not within a mile of the scene of the bomb explosion that killed ten people during a "preparedness" parade and for which he and Warren K. Billings are serving life sentences was not admitted when America's most famous political prisoner came before an assistant states attorney in San Francisco on habeas corpus proceedings...
...Sheriff, Herman 1. Dumpert, Metal Polishers...
...only one per cent earn more than S10 a week...
...Hundreds of thousands of dependents, women and little children, hate had to mourn (in secret, for fear of reprisals) the plight of husbands, fathers, brothers and sons, whose ultimate fate has only been revealed by the discovery of their mutilated corpses ia the mortuaries...
...Ia the Call last week Norman Thomas criticizes The New Leader for running an article by Abraham Lefkowitz the previous week and refers to the statement I drafted for the N.E.C...
...Here is what be said about the activities of the organized Communist groups in the unions: "In general the I.L.G.W.U...
...The "Leadership" Obsession All this correlates with the ideology that led to the two abortive ventures in the Illinois miners' dispute, which brought the crisis in the needle trades anions in 1926 and in the Teachers' Union today...
...meat between Labor and C o a a n - ism is absent, association is honestly impossible...
...The Dewey report piled evidence mountain high to show that the Stalinites and Loves-toneites, by their actions were tearing down the union...
...That is the issue in the Teachers' Union...
...In the villages constructed for the housing of workers on the projects, Negroes have been excluded entirely, or else provided with inferior housing, the report states...
...The fascists, seconded by reactionary clerical elements, secured the constitutional number of signatures submitting a referendum to the people for a complete revision of the Constitution...
...That is the beginning and end of the matter...
...Coupled with it is the sentiment of the Y.P.S.L...
...8. Higher income tax in the higher brackets, placing the burden of taxation upon those better able to pay...
...With the number of organized workers favoring a Labor Party assuming impressive proportions it is expected that the issue will occupy a prominent place at the convention of the A. F. of L. and that any vote taken on the question will reveal a growing and powerful sentiment for a Labor Party...
...Hi JOOgK'jNMpy without exception...
...Since the seventies it has appeared again and again in- one form er another and wherever R became influential R has condemned the Socialist movement to isolation from the organised working dans...
...Bat the human suffering far which it is responsible cannot be too speedily relieved...
...Seventeen responded, to a special call •J 400 delegates representing fMM workers adopted a blister•t indictment against the disDelegates also earns from rjetge, Philadelphia aad Boston, m* w»5 the beginning of the jWd decline of special organizaby Communists in the needle «5J» unions...
...Socialist Trade Union Policy Again Issue in Teachers' Controversy Former Cases R e c a l l ed Which Brought the Party Near to Conflict with the Labor Movement—Some Revealing History That Socialists Should Know...
...4. Restoration of all salary reductions to public employees...
...Once more" the Socialist movement faces two roads, one leading to irate mat cooperation with the , trade unions, the other to secta- < -an isolation from them...
...They have separated themselves from the other Socialists in the anion and now constitute a special group cooperating in a united front with the two Communist groups in the union...
...In the resolution on Labor offered by the "militants" in New York City before the Detroit convention they declared: "The American trade union Movement in as definitely at tarn end of aa era ss is capitalism itself...
...A snapshot, showing Mooney, his wife and Billings watching the parade from the roof of a building Over a mile from the scene of the explosion, with a clock clearly indicating time within five minutes of the explosion was not evidence...
...Figures given in the Deutsche Arbeit*front (the official paper of the German Labor Front, which is, of course, now under Nazi domination) show that one-third of the German workers earn less than $2 a week...
...seems to be making good progress in cleaning up the mess created by the LEFT WING LEADERSHIP...
...B. S. * A. V...
...Some 5,000,000 workers are unemployed, while the' wages of those still in employment have been cut to starvation level...
...That is JJ^tiy the pretense for the fight in W Teachers' Union now...
...That is precisely what the party will again reap if this policy is not checked...
...Aargau'a vote was 46,761 to 13482...
...It was rather amusing to see the acrobatics of some of those who a few years ago were denouncing democracy...
...6. Every worker to be protected in his right to join a union of his own choosing with no interference by his employer...
...Political Party • Hiini.ifHti UY Labor in Newark Essex County, N. J., Central Labor Body Backs Ticket...
...With the Wisconsin and Oregon state federations officially committed to a Labor Party and labor in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and other leading organized states moving rapidly in the same direction, the movement ^ o r a Labor Party, a bona fide Labor Party backed by the organized workers of the nation, is making greater progress than opponents of the idea appear to perceive...
...Almost threefourths of the men employed in the Wilson Dam area are laborers at 37^ cents an hour...
...Supporters of the resolution contended that the circulars were an interference with the democratic rights of the unions and that the individual unions themselves were equipped to deal with the question...
...Moreover, ''Save the Union" committees is an old demagogic maneuver of Communists In unions' after they have brbnght them near to ruin...
...They had unity in this country in the Trades Union Congress...
...Thousands more, in prisons and concentration camps, have expiated, in their endurance of unmentionable tortures, the crime of having devoted their Uvea to the service of their fellow workers...
...Seal Socialists will travel the road to cooperation...
...As the other ventires began in single unions and iismad, so this one begins in the feaeaers' Union and threatens to W^JSiXBk^*0* <ww*ivin*" ' •Twice »iivce 1929 Socialists came ajar being brought into conflict wta the trade unions...
...Utopians v S march to sectarian isolation...
...The two constituencies that make up Basle and surrounding country gave a vote of 33,065 to 6,755...
...Stand Upheld Affiliated Bodies Instructed to Keep Fascists and Communists From Acting as Officers and Delegates of Organizations...
...So were Linville and Lefkowitz of the Teachers' Union, Frank Crossuaith, James H. Maurer and other progressive...
...p&ign for Ibe coming elocfcioxx...
...H claimed that, in its action, Iks General Council was seeking ts preserve the right of union meSSbers to control their own affairs without interference from outside forces taking their orders from Moscow...
...First the strike issue wag decided in the light of PARTY rather than UNION tactics: sad second, the strike was ronductad by men who bad to ran around to a party committee for in ansa...
...Francis J. Gorman, representative of the organization in Washington, reported the progress of the hill and the confidence being displayed in its passage...
...to secure willing and fraternal cooperation between the unions and the Socialist Party in all political and economic straggles of concern to the whole working class...
...An effective weapon against Hitlerism is the boycott of German goods ami services, in which our trade union and labor movement, and the International Federation of Trade Unions, of whfeh I am president, have taken a t—Jhig part...
...Hitler, nor Msav soKni wawM be satisfied with a circular if any attempt was made to impose on their unions aa alien policy...
...Will Comrade Thomas read the Dewey report aad deny the following: (1) that it expressly...
...A quotation from that ttacle regarding all such futile aasoj.es is now timely...
...JJ^at were the results...
...10 a resolution was overwhelmingly adopted which declared that the Party shall rile its complete ticket of candidates for the coming election, with the understanding that it will withdraw this ticket, with the exception of two assembly candidates, the withdrawal to depend on the actions of the State Federation convention on the development and progress of the Essex Labor Party, and on the approval of higher Socialist Party authorities...
...Making a complete mess of the job, Muste turned against tile Socialist party, late that year...
...Socialists are content to serve as an educational force "and ultimately...
...The prisoner, taken to San Francisco for the hearing, insisted upon pointing to the time shown in the big street clock, but because he had not been asked about it that piece of absolutely convincing proof of hi a innocence was not admitted...
...John A Ryan of the National Catholic Welfare Council...
...It is the old story of the outside "strategists" directing their insiders and assuming that the membership of the union is to be tricked into approval of Socialism or that they will respond to a "demand" .that the "union develop a greater consciousness...
...To it we may add some "militant" quotations...
...Harry Pollitt [British Communist leader...
...A united front of Socialists with rssamaaiata Is a united front against the organized workers aad will be so interpreted by the trade anions...
...The Tennessee Valley Authority, popularly known as the TVA, and regarded as the most significant and far-reaching project of the New Deal, has meant little to Negro Americans thus far, according to a report filed with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People by John P. Davis...
...NO O t t t t A N T Z A T I O N , UNION* OR OTHERWISE, CAN STAND THIS CONTROL FROM OUTSIDE ITS OWN RANKS...
...4. John J. Crowley, Socialist Party...
...Budget deficits have to be reckoned, not in millions, but in billions of marks...
...For that reason, the document concluded, "unless the utmost tact and judgment are employed by our comrades in avoiding mistakes and the temptation to use the leagues as pressure groups to obtain official jobs or to obtain decisions by dubious alliances and: questionable deals, the leagues may come into conflict with the union members whom our primary purpose is to educate on Socialist lines.'' A United Front Experienced Socialists in the Teachers' Union have followed the policy outlined in this document but the "militant" group has not observed it...
...A ray of light is the striking development of the "illegal" trade unions which, in spite of every effort of intimidation and repression, are now credited, by the fascists themselves, with a membership of 300,000—nearly half the membership of the trade union movement before it waa forcibly dissolved more than a year ago...
...His opinion was in the other direction...
...The American Federation of Labor will be petitioned to support these proposals," the announcement stated...
...At the special membership meeting Sept...
...The position takes hy the British Trades Union Conft-resa, analogous to the A. F. of L. ia this eeamtry...
...Complaint is stifled by a vigorous terroristic regime, under which the mere expression of opinion may earn a prison sentence of 21 years...
...Old-age pensions for all men and women over the age of sixty...
...Is it surprising that such methods -"of "government"- should lead to economic ruin...
...The manifesto de"For years we bad suptaat members of this group * * * e reasenrd with..-.-We nave 9?Metf reasons aad facts, argaa a<i persuasion, but to no g****- ^11 these methods by eiviUzcd people adjust their Z*******" of epiniaei have been S j * w e have been answered "awnhtuun slander, atrocious |^J^b...
...Dictatorship is bound to g o" The issue, Hicks emphasized, was not the right of Communists to be members of trade unions...
...For that, a common agreement upon objective and method is essential...
...Union is ruined and any Socialist tolerance of organized factional groups is for the Socialists Party to become an ally of those whose activities destroy organizations of the working class...
...The Negro houses are all old bungalows which were moved from near the white village to a swampy spot adjacent .to a railroad track...
...anlustified attacks and J ' * 1 ' "be "miliumf' eoneep| t w * trade unlonsT In part mnaed ia my reference to • outside leadership in the Socialist Quarterly...
...In a number of industries there.have been strikes against the ruthless cutting of wages in the interests of the Nasi exploiters...
...It is a tragedy that, following a peace agreement within the party that promised harmony, this new issue should arise to disturb the party members...
...The council members, coming from all parts of the country and every division of the industry, reported an increasing breakdown of code standards throughout the textile industry...
...Norman Thomas had something to sayi about it in that lsaue...
...A Parallel Situation I have mentioned a parallel situation in the needle trades unions in 1926...
...Not a single German newspaper dared to say a word about these strikes, but knowledge of them is spreading among the workers of Germany, whose spirit of resistance is mounting daily...
...But to the victims of an abominable system nothing is too terrible or fantastic to be apprehended...
...Indications are that Tom Mooney does not expect justice in the California courts and that the case will have to go back to the United States Supreme Court...
...And they ought, they say, to he accepted be canoe they, toe, oppose war and fascism...
...And yet the cost of living is rising...
...The whole purpose of the united front proposal was to get the Trade Union Movement, to use it as a vehicle for the propaganda of Communist principles...
...In the nuunil place, it has seen its champions in fascist states singled out far specially virulent forms of persecution...
...Added to the 400,000 textile workers, and...
...The capitals are anfkssv-J...
...They regard Communists as men an the side of justice whom it is unkind to exclude from the 'family.' "No association si men aad women can be effective aad genuine unless it shares principles ia common...
...The statement also admitted that while "it may be advisable to call party members of a union together in the best interests of the union and to promote progressive policies, there is a danger of oar group being charged with constituting a political clique interested solely in obtaining administrative power in the interest of oar group's partisan...
...Million A.F.ofL Members Now For Labor Party ; — • ; ?iiil>Mi mtttt ffsTfcam • 1 -1 a. Political Action Shows ^TM^^jrowihyn M O R E than one million- mem„ bers of the American Federation of Labor, or approximately one-third of its membership, favor formation of a Labor Party...
...The Communist Party, in its current program, continues to declare its faith in a 'workers' revolution' and 'civil war.' "That not only makes agreement impossible...
...This circular, he said, bad been approved by 283 trade councils: 13 were against...
...chairman, has already done effective work in operating and intensifying the boycott...
...la- the early eighties it was the anarchists, and in the nineties the 3. L. P. In 1906-1912 it was the L |T...
...Of 26 members of the executive, 18 were out by 1931...
...In ease these contingencies are so met as to satisfy the party members the party actively to support the Labor Party in the coming election...
...The members had endured years of disruptive activities and their endurance had reached the breaking point...
...Issue at Convention The executive council of the United Textile Workers was in session for three days...
...T.U...
...Desiring "every present member" to retain his membership is to urge disrupters to remain aad the disgusted to return, both to continue the civil war...
...The most obvious illustration was the Saar...
...7. Unemployment insurance as provided in the Lundeen Bill...
...The position of Comrade Thomas in 1926 cannot be reconciled with his position .new...
...let us not forget that a sitaa% like that in the Teachers' •1M* came to an acute crisis in •*» needle trade anions in New :«k City hate in 1926 and it "Wght a mass rising of the l l » trade union movement gnat those who had organized 'faflnal groups inside...
...These officials weed out the requests and turn over to their colored assistant personnel directors only the requisitions for ordinary labor...
...Albert S. Waltac, Federation of Architects...
...Thousands of workers are receiving only S3 or $3.25 a week...
...Davis, sent into the T V A area by the N.A.A.C.P., reports that not only are the Negroes now at work on the T V A subjected to discrimination and segregation as to type of jobs, wages, housing, and citizenship training courses, but that the future of T V A as an experiment into better living holds little of promise for Negro citizens...
...Bat antstder looks upon the human attreisl of the union an clay to be •antsy Um...
...Local Essex County has spent two full local meetings in debate as to how best this matter should be handled...
...There is a progressive breakdown of internal and external trade...
...The finances of the German state today are in a desperate condition...
...by the gangsters of the fascist government are the order of the day...
...We hear of the kidnapping of a two-year-old boy in the hope of luring his parents to torture and death—a strategy which the lowest type of American gangsters probably noted with interest...
...President McMahon was authorized by the council to call into conference leaders of the various, Unions throughout the country in preparation for she Congressional public bearing on the Textile Bill...
...V By Simon Smith Special to The New Leader NEWARK, N . J.—The Essex La. bor Pasty, sponsored by the Essex Trades Council, the most populous and highly industrialized county in New Jersey, is the answer in the words of a delegate to the recent State Fed ration of Labor Convention to the "run-around Labor has received from bath the Democratic and Republican parties in the Legi ilsi aSi...
...Marsler « Pastime Successive waves of terrorism have swept more than 100,000 people into the concentration camps, where the shooting of prisoners is one of the cherished pastimes of the guards...
...In Italy, in Germany, and in Austria, the robber bands of the fascist dictators have directed the full force of their attack on the workers' organizations...
...Organised factions on every issue are seeking to tear oar movement assunder...
...As was pointed out at Margate by Sir Walter Citrine, secretary at the British Trades Union Congress and president of tho I.F.T.U., the bulk of the membership of the Communist Trade Union International is in Russia, the only substantial outside group aft ilia ted being the minority portion of the French trade unions...
...General Council's A « M— Supporting C i t r i n e , C serge Hicks, M. P. followed with an explanation of the circumstances which led the General Council to issue the circular to Trades Councils...
...Starvation wages, overflowing prisons, incessant persecution...
...The endorsement of the Socialist Party was openly sought by the Despite the action of the State Federation, the Essex Labor Party is determined to carry on a cshjinew Essex Labor Party...
...Socialists Cooperate, but Communists Are Barred...
...Edito- gRflj i<» official organ included flj^uautiana...
...S. Philip Goodman...
...There can be no industrial peace so long as the bosses exploit the workers...
...Echoes of the convention were heard in the Essex Trades Council when returning delegates charged the convention was "packed...
...Some months ago a "World Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi Council to Champion Human Rights" was formed in order to concentrate international action against fascism...
...Disunion distresses them...
...1. The six-hour day and the fiveday week without any wage reductions...
...it is the negation of everything which has taught civilized man to lead a decent, ordered and courageous life in the interests of the community of which he is a part...
...Davis found...
...a) In 1928 the Socialist Party was united on the trade union question It did its duty by serving the uTsona in that struggle without HMILAFLISM or c o m p r o m i s e. The statement by Norman Thomas in that struggle was good Socialist policy...
...Abe Herschwokits of the Amalgamated, on behalf of tea conference made am eloquent plea for The New Leader and he was ably seconded by Morris C. Finestone, Secretary of the U.H.T., and Joseph Tuvim of Local 142 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union...
...The only large labor organ ization not affiliated is the Amor ican Federation of labor, which does not differ from the I.F T.U...
...The following article was written for the Chest for Liberation of Workers of Europe and its ptign for the relief of all the victims of fascism...
...Henry Hebeier, Engineers ; James R. G eddies, Carpenters...
...They are allowed less than the status of criminals, and credited with no greater rights and privileges than if they were pests...
...4 second adventure into "militajE unionism" had gone up in •Shke...
Vol. 18 • September 1935 • No. 38
