Washington and the Nation
Washington and the Nation The UAW Militant Mood By ROBERT TOWNSEND JR. Special to The New Leader GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan.—The most important fact about the last week convention of the United...
...In terms of rival strength on the executive board, the Reuther caucus gained...
...The majority report favored the retention of the pledge...
...The chief party-liner on the executive board, Leo Lamotte, was defeated for reelection, while Lew Michener, party-liner on the weat coast, who ran the Inglewood strike in 1940, was removed as regional director of the west coast on motion of Victor Reuther...
...Seeking to increase his power, he sponsored Richard T. Leonard, a former Reuther adherent, as a vice-presidential candidate...
...If Reuther can reunite his forces with the rank-and-file group, he can emerge as the strongest figure in the union...
...The leadership, however, has certain political responsibilities which the rank-and-file do not share...
...The leading elements were from Briggs Local 212...
...And in that lies the crux of the impasse...
...If they wish to keep up with the mood of tha union...
...Actually, therefore a majority of the delegates favored some modification of the no-strike pledge...
...The Communists i ante to the convention shouting unity and Teheran, in the balloting, they supported Leonard and went down to defeat...
...In the first balloting, Frankensteon defeated Reuther ami Leonard...
...The victory of Martin Gerber, a militant member of the Reuther caucus, is another indication of the rankand-file trend...
...In the east, Martin Gerber, a vigorous progressive leader, defeated William Blakely as director of Region 9, while Leo Lamotte, one of the two regional directors on Detroit's eaat side was defeated by Norman Matthews, a Reuther man...
...At the moment the independents deaired the status quo among the officers and kept it that way...
...This rank-and-file caucus articulated the grievances felt by the .men in the shops, grievances which ara understood by the leadership, particularly Reuther...
...The rank-and-file group distributed large numbers of yellowcolored handbills which stated "Restore Our Rights...
...This caucus, largely drawn from the Reuther ranks, opposed fhe entire leadership on the policy Issue, but on nominations swung mostly to Reuther, out of a past loyalty and feelings of "lesser evil...
...A compromise report favored the retention of the pledge subject to a membership referendum...
...That put Leonard in the running against Reuther and Frankensteon, of the Addas caucus, for the two vice-presidencies...
...That is why the top figures of CIO, Murray and Hillman, spoke out at the convention against this step, that is why, too...
...Special to The New Leader GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan.—The most important fact about the last week convention of the United Auto Workers, the largest union in America, is that the union leadership barely kept control of the convention...
...This means breaking with tha administration unless some stronger pro-labor steps ara taken by Roosevelt...
...Reuther's future course is cloudy...
...On the major policy issue before the delegates-the no-strike pledge—the administration was beaten on its proposals and was able to save face only through a patched-up compromise which provides for a membership referendum...
...a "super-minority" report, sponsored by the rank-and-file, called for immediate revocation of the pledge...
...The reel significance of the convention, as one veteran labor observer here put it, "ia the restlessness of the majority of the delegates and a rekindling of the stormy spirit of I9.T7-M8...
...The Communists in the union took a strong beating snd showed a further decline of strength...
...On the voting, the "super-minority" report was defeated, then the minority report was defeated, and then the two minorities combined to defeat the majority report...
...Revocation of the no-strike pledge at this moment would provide anti-Koosevelt fuel for the Republican press...
...The next year may see not only Reuther swing sharply to left, as he has already started, but Addes and Thomas as well...
...The election of officers was complicated by power politics factionalism which cut across policy lines...
...in greater part to the fear of a sisable number of delegates that the complete victory of one caucua over the other would mean the rise of a machine-hold on the union...
...Feeling against the no-strike pledge ran high...
...This startling upset was the work of an active rankand-file caucus which emerged at this convention...
...Hundreds of delegates talked only of getting rid of all the officers, a sentiment unheard in union convention corridors in recent years...
...He was ssved because several leaders of the rank-and-file caucus, particularly Yoat of Ford Local 600 and Zupan of Ford Local 400 persuaded caucus to accept Reuther...
...The Resolutions Committee brought in three reports en the no-strike issue...
...In the second round, Leonard ran against Reuther but was defeated by nearly 2 to 1 when about 1600 votes that had gone to Frankensteon swung around to Reuther...
...R. J. Thomas, through his 84 votes as President of the union holds the balance on the executive board...
...It J. Thomas took the extraordinary step of proclaiming that he would not run for re-election if the pledge was revoked...
...William Stevenson, a Reuther man, was displaced by Leonard as regional director for the west side...
...This rank-and-file caucus was not limited tp any area but had representation from all parts of the union...
...Ford Local 400, all of the Flint Michigan General Motors locals, Brewster Local 3G5 from the east and Chrysler Local 4110 The political leadership for this group was supplied by a number of Socialists and leaders of the Michigan Commonwealth Federation...
...On this issue, the Reuther forces defeated Addes and Frankensteon, who backed Michener...
...The convention voted down a proposal to create a third vice-presidency and put Leonard in that post...
...At the convention he was actually fighting a defensive battle...
...a minority report, offered by Victor Reuther, would hold the pledge until the defeat of Germany and then limit strikes to non-war producing plants...
...He knew, however, that his perch is not too secure for the future...
...Actually the decisive element in the voting was not the Reuther or the Addes-Frankensteon vote, but the independents, a large number of whom formed the rank-and-file caucus...
...The handbills proclaimed a 9-point program, the four important ones calling for the revocation of Hie pledge, the withdrawl of UAW members from the War Labor Board, the smashing of the "Little Steel" formula, and the immediate formation of an independent labor party...
...This waa due partly to the fact that tha rank-and-file caucus was late in setting under way...
Vol. 27 • September 1944 • No. 39
