TRADE: union democracy
Taft, Philip
TRADE: union democracy By Philip Taft H/1TH tiM growth ia the power of .abor unions, " the sssssHSSiint of their internet affairs be-cmm of greater concern to industry, tha rank-,nd-nle worker,...
...Anyone familiar with the record of the Stalinists knows that despite their temporary verbal repudiation of Bolshevism, the followers of the Third International remain a far greater danger to demo, racy thsn the followers of the Fourth International But the severe treatment of the Trotskyists contrasts dramsticslly with the leniency shown to Stslinists...
...Under a Trotskyist "dictatorship of the proletariat" the Inexorable trend would be toward stateism, and those who believe in the preservation of "bourgeois" democracy would have short shrift, treated as enemies of the working class, sgt-nts of imperialism...
...Occasionally an additional appeal 'o tha membership by referendum is provided...
...The legal doctrine that tabor unions at* private organisations seems, in the light of changed conditions, to be economically untenable ami socially indefensible Not only to the •varw helming power of labor unions demonstrated S,ily, but the protection given to labor unions by federal and state laws shows that American society regard, the survival and prosperity of labor unions as a social rather than aa a private matter...
...It is significant that in the trisl of these eighteen revolutionists, the prosecution relied hesviiy on their literature, including The Communiet Manifeeto and other writings of Karl Msrx snd Friedrich Engels, ss well ss those of Lenin...
...I disspprove of what yon aay, but I will defend to the death year right to say it" We should therefore petition the President of the United States to rectify an injustice by granting immediate and unconditional pardon to the eighteen Trotskyists now in jail for their opinions...
...But under the Smith gsg law, the prosecution held that it was unnecessary to prove any imminent danger of revolutionary action...
...On the whole, it seems, that with few exceptions, labor unions tend to become less democratic rather than more democratic with age, and this may be due to the rise of a bureaucracy having a common interest in perpetuating itself in office and in repressing opposition...
...An attempt in this direction would run counter to the anti-slander doctrine, and also against the prohibition, found in many union constitutions, sgainst circulating documents dealing with union business except with the permission of the International officers...
...IT is a virtual platitude to state that whenever power is transferred from the individusl and the smaller group to a central agency, there is danger of its abuse...
...Philip Taft, Prefoeaer st Brown University, waa asked to comment aeon thie program, and this article to his analysis and conclusion with regard to the entire problem...
...The ideas of neither group of sectarian fanstics are on trial...
...Jailing of Trotskyists Is a Clear and Present Danger to Civil Liberties By LISTON M. OAK CoMareat shsil make no loic . . . abridging the free-dam of ipeech or of the press...
...The Bill of Rights is on trial...
...You hsve the right to get up on a soapbox and say you think Roosevelt is s dictstor snd a scoundrel...
...opponents...
...Congress violated Article I in 1798 when it passed the Alien and Sedition Laws...
...bat you may not urge your audi | once to organize a mob to go and lynch him...
...It seems therefore that the labor movement will have to devise an Impartial body to which an aggrieved member can carry his sppeal, at least in serious cases...
...Obviously a couple of thousand Trotskyists do not constitute any such danger...
...The whole history of the struggle for civil liberties proves that it is the treatment of such minorities as the Trotskyists or Jehovah's Witnesses that is important...
...Consequently tha existence or absence of democratic processes within the unions is of some public importance...
...II teem* to me thai time will not remedy thie eitualiov...
...The reasons, for this development are many and varied...
...The argument thst only a few abuse their power has no validity, for it Is not how many are undemocratic hat rather whether the conditions are such that undesirable practices can be easily introduced...
...An appeal from the International President to the General Executive Board is a purs formality, because the International President is usually s member of the General Executive Board and most often dominates that body...
...I do not believe that democracy would long survive any revolution led by Bolsheviks, either Stalinists or Trotskyists...
...Organisations which can strangle the life of an industry, and (Taa of tha entire nation, cannot claim immunity from publicly accounting for their acta...
...THE disciplinary or judicial procedure in many unions needs attention...
...Ia examining the problem ofa democracy within labor unions, It to necessary to bear in mind that labor unions aso primarily agencies for the improvement of tha bargaining position of their members...
...The latter have in msny cases acted as unofficial agents provocateur sgainst their politics...
...This act of Congress was an issue in the elections of 1800 when Jefferson, who opposed the "gag" laws, became President...
...Moreover, many union constitutions contain prohibitions against slander and against acting contrary to the interest of the union which can be used effectively to stifle any protest against official abuse...
...But these facts should influence liberals, in this case, as little as our rcorn of the religious doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses in defending their rights to distribute propagands...
...Having completely suppressed sll vestige of democracy and freedom in the nation they control, the Stalinista would likewise introduce GPU methods of totalitarian terror into other countries, If they had the power...
...Comprising about jjtfifsTO members, tha conduct of labor unions cannot at regsrdod any longer as a private matter...
...fHUS resds Article I of the Bill of Rights of the American Constitution...
...2. To darner ratie participation in the conduct sf the anion...
...If the labor movement faila In putting its own house in order, the government will inevitsbly be forced to do so...
...They both exploit the civil liberties of democratic countries, but their philosophy and program are essentially opposed to democracy...
...The unions are interested in fitting members in, rather than driving them out However, the ability of a rank and tie member to defend himself when charged with in offense by the trained union officer is highly doubtful, although virtually all unions allow another member to act as counsel...
...Now the Supreme...
...With the growth of the closed and preferential shop some outside agency is necessary to review expulsions or other forms of serious discipline...
...Advocates of sny program of this character must bear in mind that the anion meat maintain diaciptine...
...This repsrt rnlmhiatod hi a Bill of Rights, not for anions, hat far antes members...
...Such cases establish precedents...
...However, this is less impressive than it seems...
...Probably the reason is that there is much less opposition to this war—for whatever the clash of imperialist interests involved, the survival of democracy itself depends on victory over the fascist powers which represent a far greater evil...
...The intellectual level of the membership, the rapidity of the union's growth, the rise of an organizational bureaucracy, the nature and the area of collective bargaining, and the will to power of leaders have all exercised a role in undermining the original democratic processes in labor unions...
...The appeal is usually to ths International president, and then to the General Executive Board, and finally to the convention of the union...
...Court has violated its own principles, in refusing to review the conviction In Minneapolis **°ris of eighteen Trotsky ists for sedition...
...Included wore fear specifics tionac t. The right to membership in aa orgaai-satioa...
...Oa December 4 The Now Loader carried a digest af ths report of the Civil Liberties Union oa Democracy ha Trade Unions...
...TRADE: union democracy By Philip Taft H/1TH tiM growth ia the power of .abor unions, " the sssssHSSiint of their internet affairs be-cmm of greater concern to industry, tha rank-,nd-nle worker, ond tha public...
...Many union constitutions virtually prevent the rise of an opposition to those in power...
...Discipline, the obedience to trade union rules, the subordination of the locsl to the International, are tha direct outgrowths of the union's primary need to strengthen itself in relation to the employe) The recognition that irreaponsibility weakens (he entire organisation, and that the weakening or the destroying of a subordinate local in the union enfeebles the entire organisation, both because of the bad ex ample it gives to other employers and because of the competitive advantages the snti-union employer gains, has led to centralisation Of power in the hands of the International officers in msny unions.' It needs to jo recognised that this concentration of power was primarily the result of necessity and not due solely to grasping for power...
...Of course the overwhelming majority of unions allow for one, two and even three appeals, each to a different tribunal...
...Consequently International officers are obligated to prevent violations of discipline or other conduct with conflicts with the law af the International...
...The Supreme Court has ruled Criminal Syndicalist **» of states unconstitutional, because they make ex-9rsssion of revolutionary ideas, or membership in a *»»elutionar* party, unlawful...
...On the contrary, there sre a number of examples of formerly democratic unions thst have been converted into autocracies by strong men who craved power...
...We mast not permit thinking, talking, and Writing to become a criminal activity ia these United States...
...It is true thst few members sre actually expelled...
...Local unions are subordinate bodies and they can claim no more right to disregard the laws of the International than a state or municipality would have to refuse to declare war after such a step was decided upon by the United States Congress...
...Eighteen leaders of the Socialist Workers Parly, enthusiastic adherents of the Bolshevism of Marx-Lenin-Trotsky, sre in jail for "dangerous thoughts...
...not only for its own welfare, hut also to carry on orderly industrlsl relation* The effectiveness of the union must not be blunted Nevertheless some check must be placed upon power which is responsible to no one snd controls the destiny of thousand* of workers...
...We mast reassert the principle attributed to Voltaire...
...I^E Trotskyites were indicted under two counts— onder the Federal Seditions Conspiracy statute, which penalizes sets, and under the Smith Alien and Sedition law which penalizes opinions...
...This case was prosecuted in peacetime, not in the hysteria of war, and it arose out of a struggle for control of a labor union, the Minneapolis Truckdrivers Local 544, CIO, by one group led by Dan Tobin agsinst another led by the Trotskyists...
...The outstanding violation of civil rights in this war is the imprisonment of eighteen Trotskyists for the expression of Bolshevik opinions...
...If such minorities are convicted for ideas disapproved by the majority, other larger minorities may be likewise treated...
...They were acquitted of the first count—they did not participate in any actusl conspiracy to overthrow the government by force...
...This case is particularly important because the courts set aside the time-honored "clear and present danger" principle, which is one of the main constitutional rules safeguarding our freedom...
...Again ia 1940 Congress violated the Constitution with the passage of the Smith Alien and Sedition Act...
...Moreover, an ordinary worker would have little chance in a duel before a union convention with the leader of the union who not only rightfully enjoys great prestige, but is as a rule a trained politician and public speaker...
...That there has been an abuse of power snd thst the democratic processes hsye been destroyed in some labor unions is so Well established that is needs no citing of instances...
...These ultra-left sectarians were convicted for their ideas, not their acts...
...And we must demand that Congress repeal the undemocratic, anti-labor Smith Act...
...Unions must avoid those steps that tend to weaken their bargaining position...
...Although the Communist Psrty has abandoned to the Trotskyists the idess of Lenin, books and pamphlets by Marx and Lenin are still distributed ^by the Stslinists...
...frequently its members are subject to his orders and can even be removed by him between conventions...
...During World War I there was much more abridgment of civil liberties, and persecution of minorities opposed to the war, thsn there has been in World vfar II...
...S. To protection within the anion...
...An opposition must organize around certain isaues and draw a bill of indictment against those in office...
...Yon , "st say ysa consider this sn imperislist wsr, but 1 if Tea urge soldiers to tarn their guns against their - maeera, ysa are taking your speech oat of the realm sf theoretical discussion into the reslm of if»at»nent action...
...It is the idea that expression of opinion is not punishable unless it constitutes a "clear snd imminent danger...
...4. To fair treatment with regard to Job placement...
...slice Holmes in 1919 enunciated the basic principle, which has guided our courts ever since...
Vol. 27 • January 1944 • No. 5
