AFL Hits Occupation Policy

...drain our economy and hinder the ¦Juggle for peace...

...In I...

...Trade Unions and the American Legion Chicago, hi., Oct 25 The National Conference of Union Labor Legionnaires, made up of posts within the American Legion, has started an all out campaign to draw the returning soldiers into its membership...

...Now don't be discouraged about thia, I'm giving you a definite mmgheV , It hasn't occurred to Mr...

...AFL Hits Occupation Policy Elimination of Nasi power ami influence from the life of the (in man people cannot be accomplished l>y an army of occupation alone, the AFL point* out, inxii»if that the German labor movement must be encouraged, as German unionist* can take leadership in rebuilding democracy...

...Any other groups formed will be comparatively powerless...

...not from the lipa, but from the heart...

...Hoosevelt that many Millie** of (•aamusiata are trusting Stalin...

...S. Chamber of Commerce 16 years ago saying, as Eric Johnson said on Monday: I.sImii unions are nsw woven into our economic fabric and collective bargaining a* an essential part of (he democratic process...

...JL_ • The Labor Management l>ige*t will probably he laid up for some time with a severe cramp in its editorial tongue muscles brought on by the following exercises in semantics: "Production of wealth can come only by the labor of the citizens—in othei words, by private enterprise...

...The nation snd ' industry must accept this as a fact...

...Nor would it have been conceivable 15 years ago for the president of the National Association of Manufacturers to say...

...a Legion convention sent an invitation to Mussolini to address it...

...Bis plan to conscript physically unfit youth to be trained for factory work is a plan for slave labor which Truman and the American people rejected as un-American and unworkable even in war thus...

...The AKL stresses the obvious fact that German unions should be actively encouraged and recalls that the Potsdam Agreement gave a clear directive that tlie organization of workers in free trade unions should be permitted...

...They acknowledge that in part the record is bad...

...Mass conscript armies would be helpless against a surprise attsck by rocket-propelled atomic bombs, trad thousands of miles away...

...They ln»i him, and he haa sever let them down, lie has let us down, if "we" mean* the believers in demorrary, oss every •cession and in every country wheit he has the power...

...As Ira Mosher pointed out with startling frankness in referring to the delegates from the two associations of industry and commerce: */» reality, not one of the delegate* Here can make contract* that are binding ea the group or indutty that he repress* fa...

...No less than 60 illegal acts of violence were committed, we are told...

...Kvsry delegate around the labor table is ,h« president of a. union...

...would breed regimentation...

...If our government wants to achieve the purpose for which our boys fought and died," the federation adds, "it should not only permit but actively encourage the organization of German workers In union* and cooperatives...

...tiui tultuit mir way of buunett...

...More serious than any of the sbave, pei haps, is the difference between the management and labor delegations...

...A recent report by the U. S. Bursau af Labor' Statistics show* that ths co-ops produced nenrlf I<I5,0»0,000 in l»44, and the 194* figures are expected In be considerably higher...

...Union funds, which were seized by the Nazi labor front, should be returned to the unions...

...Whether this disparity of powers will be ultimately of great importance i* not ret clear, but it is a point to be remembered...

...The next most optimistic note is that the conference appears to signalize recognition Anally of a new phase in labor-management relations in the I fritted State*: The acceptance by management tf the fact that labor union* are « natural and integral part a/ American induttry...

...As late as 1042 Roane War ing, then National Commander, toured the country denouncing unions and urging that strikers he shot...

...Social insurance funds should be restored and the social security laws, effective before the Nazi regime, should again be put into operation...

...Around the management table there are president* and some minor officials of a number of companies...

...Essentially, this plan for military training is a scheme sponsored by the military to foster their own self-perpetuation...

...Conscription Means Regimentation ly VICTOR ©. ftEUTHEft President, Michigan Labor Committee Aqaimtt Peacetime Contcrlptloii President Truman's proposal for peacetime military conscription, which he calls training, has shocked ths people of America...

...as Ira Mosher said on Monday: "We come |to this conference] unequivocally committed to the principle of free collective bargaining...

...They had written to him calling attention to ths fad that there were no labor men on the list of speakers for the coming convention...

...Conspicuously absent are the owning directors of top American industry...

...I hrtt it mi "ptihapa" about Stmlin Ht it a tmt ihnij...

...Meetings were broken up...

...end thai it why hit follow-tit Knk lu him Fvtry more hi mekti ii thai tit a man to whom what wt cell pern* it a tint* m a irt'tiluttonaty Wat egmmtt (tut giirtinmtnlt...

...It remind, mo sf Sam GoWwyn'a reassurance to an author who had been trying to sell him s sceasrlo...

...But, they ssy, HO percent of our soldiers snd sailors are workingmen...

...For even as Mosher pointed out, it is "a point which may be overlooked in time by those who will be following our progress here with the deepest interest...

...Win ¦slated Recognition FV»K the present the most optimistic thing, perhaps, which can be said of the conference is that it would have l>eeii inconceivable 15 years ago...

...1 mean accept it...

...1* it not ths power to use and enjoy...

...Records of the hearings before the Select Committee on Poat-Wsr Military Policy of the House of Representatives last summer show thst ths major sections <"* our national population are opposed to Trumsn's i ecommendstions to Congress for universal military training...

...This marks recognition by manage ment of the, ending of ths long initial stags in labor unionism in America in which the unions were forced to light for recognition and the security of their existence...

...The general poliey of the American Military Government has been to permit union organization with reluctance, and all too often to refuse permission and suppress meetings...

...That "perhaps" is the top of the peak...

...It ran l>e turned into a great, democratic organization to work for the interests of the veteran* and of the whole country...

...Collective tar«minima...

...Nor are these all ths differences that exist...

...It promises an era in which labor unions, perhaps with greater assurance of the security of their status, can devote themselves to the constructive techniques of collective bargaining rather than to the-techniques of fighting for their existence...

...It i* definitely ths regular and recognized organization of ths vstsrsns...

...CO-OPS ADVAHC1 NEW YORK (CPA,.—Consumer Coops now own and operate 1U mills, factories and refineries, as well as IfitU miles of pipe line and 428 oil wells in the United States arid Canada, according to a survey Just completed by the Cooperative League...

...Nothing can change that...

...Robert Kreitman, Nstional Membership Chairman, announced that new union lalror post* will he organized in cities where none exist and that where Such posts are functioning every effort will he made to contact trade unions and to get the union veterans to join...

...All of this the trade union legionnaiie* acknowledge to be true...

...Then how silly is the phrase: 'Production for use, not profit.' l'*e it profit and profit in nne...

...These groups pointed out that conscription would lie useless militarily...

...a profitless system is s useless, s purposeless system...

...And this is what President Truman appealed to have had in mind when he called the conference...

...In (he September issue of their Newt-Letter George C. Danfield ami Maurice A. Frank copy a letter sent out to soldiers a bunt the American Legion and its record...

...We come ronsriou* of the dignity of labor and the right of workers to organize, convinced of the integrity of the gentlemen with whom we are to negotiate, aure of the fundamental soundness of the millions of workers that they represent...

...Ws csll President Trumsn to take the lead in building peace, by asking for the universal abolition of conscription and pro sTossh/a limitation of armament...

...Yet very often," the AFL charge* in its monthly survey, "the American Military Government has refused to authorize union organization or to heed the suggestions of union anti-Nazi committee...

...It is difficult to conceive of a president of the II...

...The acceptance of unions a* an integral part of American industry is belated, but important...

...At about the same time President Alvln Owsley made the statement: "If ever needed, the American Legion stands ready to protect our country'* institution snd ideal- as the Fascists dealt with the destruction ists who menaced Italy.'" The record of anti-lalior activities during the early days is a black one...

...To prove their point they reprint a letter from Edward n. Scheihei ling, ths present National Commander...

...Conscription will not bring us militsry security...

...t*id our way nt lilt...

...Richard Krebs, better know ss Jen Valtin of Out of the Night fsme, Is now out of tht Army after a long stretch in the Pacific and It readying a book Tht Japt We Hartf tor early publics)ion...

...The l-eginn numbers in Its ranks I .Mi,Mm men...

...Church groups, organized labor, educators, fsrm s*roups and other similar organizations were unanimous in their opposition...

...foster a militaristic spirit...

...If we trust the Kussiana, perhaps they would trust us...

...But it will be easy for the trade union soldiers returning from the war to enter it snd take it over...

...so t/stost...

...That offered a revealing contrast with the labor table, where such binding contracts could be signed by every man around it...

...The Legion was definitely one of the main strike-breaking agencies of the nation...

...They are Iruating him to hold .Soviet Russis ss s "bastion" fsv Ihe further advance of what he call* "tht world ('ommunial revolution"—a prom i»e he ha* made aaany times, and it making in book* and articles am sale through out th* world at this moment...

...Adoption of conscription in America would breed even greater distrust than now exists among the United Nations and would aet oh* an armament rare with only one possible end—World Wsr 111...

...The Legion was started by reactionaries, with the svowerl purpose of "offsetting radicalism...

...This policy lias stilled the rebirth of democracy and prevented the elimination of Nazis...

...They could advise and encourage (ierman workers in democratic union organization and greatly speed the work nf denazification...

...resident of the independent Brother-aaso of RaRioad Trsinmen, who now prtsari to regret that he declined to tale part in the conference and is cur-^ntly finding a champion in Murray, ate tried to include him this week as tn "added starter...

...Every law that Curbs private enterprise diminishes the wealth of the people...

...How many times must it be demonstrated to us that pesce cannot he maintained by force of arms...

...Only positive action for peace ran prevent Mother war which will certainly destroy all nations participating in it Ei K\Nf.« ROOSEVELT'S international statesmanship resrhed s new peak in the remark...

...Commtmdtr Schtiberling replied that both William Green and Philip Murray have now bean Invited to address ths gstherlng...

...And what is profit...

...Bona fids union anti-Nazi committees should be fully endorsed by the occupation authorities so they can function effectively...

...Already half a million veteran* of World War II havs joined...

...As a group they are the top executives of the American labor movement...

...But the companies are not the top corporations of American industry, nor are the officials present the top representatives of American industry, The management delegate* are, for tat most part the operating managers sf their companies...

...They called for building peace and security through an economy of full employment and international economic and political cooperation How ironic that the President should lie proposing the military indoctrination of our youth at the very moment he hss urged the sbolition of militsrism in Japan 'o build democracy there...

...In ending the discussion of this particular aspect of occupation policy, the federation survey says: "The AFL, the largest and most representative labor organization in this country, should have the opportunity to send representstlve* to Germany, to work under the Allied Control Council...