LABOR & COMMUNISM
Revell, Aldric
Labor & Communism AMERICAN LABOR LEADERS, by Charles A. Madison. Harper & Brothers. 474 pp. $4. Reviewed by Aldric Revell THIS is a book with a bias. The bias shows plainly. The author, a book...
...The CIO purged itself of its Communist-line unions after Madison had written his book...
...Both are based on the theory of the class struggle and both seek the ultimate replacement of capitalism by a socialistic form of society...
...He himself denied the charge...
...This bias is also shown in his chapter on Harry Bridges, who, according to the author, is a firm believer in the class struggle, no Communist, and indeed a deep-seated pacifist...
...At the same time he has left no doubt in anyone's mind regarding his militant radicalism...
...Perhaps he feels this was a mistake and an example of red-baiting of a party only "allegedly traitorous...
...and his record for forth-rightness and veracity is such as to make many men give him the benefit of the doubt...
...He knew better than to believe that the labor movement would be destroyed by the political dissension of a few unions or that the leaders of these unions were agents of a foreign power...
...Here is a typical comment on Bridges: "Whether or not Bridges is a Communist—the presumed cause of the relentless attacks on him—is essentially pointless...
...If one were to strip Communism of its recent allegedly traitorous taint [sic!] there would be little essential difference between it and Bridges' radicalism...
...Both are therefore equally repugnant to the beneficiaries of the status quo...
...As a professed democrat and protagonist of labor he tends to weaken the foundation he stands on by his relentless war against open and alleged Communists within the unions...
...author refuses to face up to the challenge labor unions faced in fighting Communism in the ranks, he can hardly expect a reader to go along unquestioningly with some of his interpretations of the motivations which guided American labor leaders from the inception of the labor movement in this country...
...After describing how Reuther defeated R. }. Thomas for the presidency of the UAW in 1946, the author says about Reuther: "In reports, speeches, and articles he magnified the dangers of Communism in the labor movement and attacked its adherents by means of insinuation and vilification...
...This flaw in interpreting how labor got the way it is, and this soft and seemingly naive attitude that labor should work with the Communists since they want only what labor wants, distorts and makes unacceptable an otherwise trenchant book on labor leaders and labor history...
...It is all the more regrettable then, that in interpreting what has made the American labor movement a major factor in our economy, Madison ignores the prime motivation of the Communists — their unquestioning allegiance to Soviet Russia on all matters, even including how the American labor movement should be guided...
...I cite these passages on Bridges and Reuther—there are others equally revealing of the author's bias—to show his incapacity to deal with the realities of the labor movement in recent years...
...The author, a book editor with Henry Holt and Co., seems to feel that Communists in the labor movement are indigenous radicals with a kind of grass-roots belief in the class struggle, much misunderstood by American labor leaders...
...For a man of his broad social vision and practical intelligence he is following a dangerous course...
...Since the...
...Clearly it is his point of view that instead of "red baiting," of which he accuses them, labor leaders, such as Walter Reuther and David Du-binsky, should realize that American Communists have no ties with Russia and are solely interested in furthering the best interests of the working class through a sort of Tom Paine radicalism...
...The book is well written and makes good reading in spots...
Vol. 15 • January 1951 • No. 1
