The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 28, 1932, Page 10

Ff Page Six DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 1932 Learn to Know the Workers’ Most Intimate Needs and Desires Through | ‘Close Personal Contact; Make OUR Par stitutes the chief obstacle in the revolutionary: mass work of the Party, the Party must- car- ry on a consistent struggle against right opportunism as the main danger as well as against op- portunism covered with “Left” phrases. Right opportunism was recently expressed in many places, for example, in the capitulation and conciliatory attitude towards Left social-fascists (Southern Illinois, Lawrence and Pickens). The immediate central task of the Party is the mobilization of the masses in the struggle against the ~ bourgeois offensive and the war danger, organizing the workers in broad united front struggles, in the preparation and carrying out. of strike struggles, in movements against wage cuts and against forc- ing down of the living conditions of the workers, in the extension and intensification of the struggle of the unemployed for immediate re- lief, and for unemployment and so- cial insurance, raising these strug- gles to the level of mighty class battles against U. S. imperialism. In order that the Party be in a position to carry out these main tasks, it must give the most careful attention in all its work to the ap- plication of a correct mass policy. This correct mass policy consists in developing the mass struggle of the workers, the working women and the young workers, on the basis of their immediate economic and political needs, as they arise from their life and work, and con- flicts with the employers, reform-. ist bureaucrats, the staté, ete. This means, furthermore, that these struggles must be carried through on the basis of the activi- ties of the masses, and that the tasks of the Communists are pre- cisely to develop and organize this activity and initiative of the masses. This calls for the most concrete application of the united front from below in accordance with the varying degree of influ- ence of the Communists, the ex- tent of the radicalization of the workers, the influence of the social- fascists, etc., thus applying the line of independent policy not mechan- ically, but on the basis of a careful analysis of the concrete conditions of work and of struggle. This calls also for a greater activity in man- euvering against the social fascists and employers. Inseparably linked up with and as a basic prerequisite of our en- tire mass work, is persistent strug- gle against the fascist and social- fascist leaders of the A. F. of L. and against the Socialist Party, especially their left social-fascists (Musteites). In the A. F. of L., the Party must really start sys- tematic and serious work to organ- ize a widespread opposition under our leadership. The fact that the employers with the collaboration of the bureaucrats of the railroad unions could carry through a wage cut affecting one-half million rail- road workers without the Party being able to develop any serious ‘ resistance, signalizes the ruinous. results of our isolation from the workers in reformist unions. On the other hand, the success in the furriers’ union and some of the building trades locals, etc., shows the possibility for developing mass influence in the reformist unions if we really start to work. In the press and in our meetings there must be a systematic unmasking of the proposals and transactions of the reformists. In work among the unemployed the Party. must concretize its daily work on the basis of the October resolution, and concentrate on the carrying through of the following tasks: (a) The extension and further development ‘of the campaign for unemployment and social insur- ance, linked up with thorough un- masking of the Hoover welfare plan, the various “relief plans” of the democrats and progressives, as well as of the socialists and Mus- teites. (b) The greatest attention must be paid to strengthening and or- ganization of the unemployed through widespread Councils of the Unemployed. Moreover, it is nec- essary- to. develop and organize broad, active and stable cadres and to build up fractions in all unem- ployed organizations, (c) Much greater attention must be given in the struggle against mass dismissals and also against the stagger plan. In this connec- tion we must take into account the various spontaneous movements (anthracite miners, etc.) for “divi- sion of work” (spreading the avail- able jobs among more workers). It must be our task to firmly take hold of these movements, to clearly and patiently explain to these workers that such division of work only aids the bourgeoisie to place the burden of the crisis on the workers in the form of the “stag- ger plan.” In this way we must transform these spontaneous strug- gles into a struggle against the policy of the employers and for a minimum day’s work, a minimum guaranteed weekly- wage, against dismissals and for unemployment insurance. The radical improvement of the situation in the revolutionary trade union is the key task of the Party. The red trade unions have not yet recognized the fact that only by persistent work in the enterprises and by taking up all questions that confront the workers in connection . with the offensive (reduction of wages and piece-work rates, in- crease in working hours, discrim- ination against the Negro workers, worsening conditions of women and young workers, etc.) is it possible to mobilize the masses and consoli- date and expand their red union organizations. They have not yet realized that this is the correct preparatory work for strike strug- gles and still have the tendency of “waiting for strikes.” Within the red trade unions there is not yet real trade union democracy and a narrow sectarian tendency exists with regard to the acceptance of members. We must carry on systematic work in the reformist trade unions, not only where there is no red trade union (railway brotherhoods, build- ing trades, etc.), but also where parallel red trade unions exist (mining, textile, etc.). The Party is responsible that the resolutions on trade union work shall not remain on paper, but that immediate and effective organiza- tional guarantees be created for carrying out this resolution and checking up en its application. The Daily Worker must be made a Communist mass paper through a radical change in and improvement of its contents. This includes: (1) Real popular presentation in detail of the living and working conditions of the workers, working women and youth in the factories and in their homes, giving a clear picture of the ‘situation of the . aah - ty a Party OF the Workers! unemployed. (2) Reacting to all political events and giving concrete guid- ance to the workers. (3) Systematic unmasking of the workers’ enemies and their plans and maneuvers. (4) Greater popularization of the achievements of Socialist con- struction in the U.S. S. R. (5) Building up a network of workers’ correspondents. (6) Popular make-up, pictures, attractiveness of articles, etc. (7) All Party problems must be handled in such a way as to attract the interest of the working masses. . (8) Apress commission must be established by the Central Commit- tee consisting of employed and un- employed workers, who, in close contact with the editors, promote a liye contact between the paper and the lives and fights of the workers. The work of the lower Party organizations. must be _ basically changed. Nine-tenths of all the work of the lower organizations must be concentrated directly on the work among the masses, and not, as at present, in countless in- ner meetings. The center of grav- ity must be shifted to the develop- ment of the lower organizations, to the sections and units. The methods of leadership, assistance and of checking up on the work of the lower organizations by the higher organs must be a method of personal guidance in accordance with the special conditions of the given field of work, of the given enterprise and not simply the send- ing out of circulars. In all lower organizations, committees must be formed which actually work. col- lectively, and a stop must be put to the state of affairs in which the work is concentrated in the hands of a few comrades. The main basis of the work and development of the lower Party or- -ganizations is the work in the fac- tory. Up till now the Party has not, found the fit methods for car- rying on this work. The content of this work is not merely organi- zational detail routine, but is the whole struggle against the capi- talist offensive and against the pol- icy of reformists. The first essen- tial condition for successful work in the factory is daily contact with the mass of workers in it and thor- ough knowledge of the position of the workers in the factory and of the concrete conditions for strug- gle. The Communists must firmly grasp all the countless conflicts of a minor and major character aris- ing daily with the employers, fore- men and trade union bureaucrats, spies, etc, such as disputes, inci- dents, demands and grievances of the workers, including the women and youth, discrimination against Negroes and foreign born, with re- gard to wages, hours of work, working conditions, rationalization measures, infringements of work- ers’ rights, dismissals in case of arrests of workers, etc. It is the task of the Communists to investi- gate very carefully the causes of any failures in its efforts to pene- trate the factories and to continue ‘he work with renewed energy on the basis of carefully considered measures to overcome the previous shortcomings. The Central Committee must cut down considerably its own appa- ratus as well as those of the Dis- trict Committees and of the mass forces thus released on the build- ing up and further development of work in the most important indus- trial centers and big enterprises. The Central Committee must de- vote particularly careful attention to the development and proper utilization of Party cadres. The Central Committee must take steps to carry through the directives of January, 1931, on con-. centration. The Central Commit- tee must immediately give con- crete form to these directives, se- lecting a certain number of big en- terprises and locals in the respec- _tive districts and branches of in- dustry, sending suitable forces there and systematically checking up the work in these points in con- junction with the District Commit- tees. In the course of the next six months, a number of well-function- ing lower organizations (sections and factory nuclei) must be built up as a result of this work. In carrying out this concentration the Party must not for an instant slacken its attention from import- ant mass struggles wherever they may develop. The Party must take special measures to combat the spy danger and for carrying on work under semi-legal and illegal condi- tions. 4 The Party must pay special at- tention to work among the youth and to the situation of the Young Communist League, which despite certain growth is still in a very un- satisfactory condition and isolated from the young workers. The Party has not yet begun to carry out in practice the directives of the Secretariat of the E. C. C. I. of May, 1931, concerning the Par- ty’s execution of the Eleventh Plenum decisions on the youth, These tasks must immediately be carried out together with sharp struggles against sectarianism and Right opportunism in the League and League leadership. The first beginnings of mass work of the Party in the struggle for Negro rights, for uniting white and black workers in the struggle for their needs, and for leading the liberation struggle of the Negro masses, must be further improved and broadened by (a) populariza- tion of the full Communist pro- gram on the Negro question in con- nection with the partial struggles on every-day demands and events, which must be intensified; (b) thorough popularization of the solution of the national question in the U.S. S. R., Socialist construc- tion in the autonomous Soviet Re- publics, mobilizing the broad Ne- gro masses for defénse of the So- viet Union; (c) broadening the re- cruiting of Negro workers into the Party and trade unions, making red unions the real channels of Negro work; (d) a broad campaign within the Party as well as in the mass organizations against white ‘chauvinism and all forms of jim- crow practices, ruthlessly exter- minating within the Party, not only the open, but also the half-hidden and conciliatory forms} (e) carry- ing out some concrete measures guaranteeing the next half-year or. year period for a real beginning of penetrating the Black Belt, build- ing the Party and mass organiza- tions (first of all, trade unions) for work among the Negroes in the Black Belt; (f) dramatization of the demand for equal rights as an outstanding issue of the election organizations, concentrating the ! program, i