The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 15, 1934, Page 3

| At NRA Contab Gives mn Baltimore Morgan Trust Head Anti-Labor Program Daily Worker Bureau that time, both industrial and bank- Gives Facts Boss Press Suppressed Note: This is the second in a series of six articles by Marguerite Young exposing the development towards fascism of the N.R.A. Based on first hand information gained at the “Business Congress” of 4,000 leading exploiters held re- cently in Washington, these arti- cles show how the new develop- ments in the N.R.A. speed the at- tacks against the workers. They bare the rapid growth of a war machine, through the N. R.A., and particularly the new maneuvers to make the company unions more flexible instruments in the hands of the big trusts against the gen- uine unions of the workers and against the right to strike. By MARGUERITE YOUNG (Daily Worker Washington Bureau) WASHINGTON, March 14—Ger- ing leadership had fallen, in the public mind, to complete and utter disrepute ... What I want to recall is that, at that time and in tha’ atmosphere—and in the teeth of that furor—regardiess of clamor and by the strength of the candid faith |that was in him, one man turned {over to American Industry what it | Roosevelt had clamored for for many years— Industrial Self-Government.” So! . Says Johnson, President “in the teeth of that furor” of the nation for relief from the oppression the capitalists of in- |dustry had spawned — President ard Swope, president of the com- | pany union General Electric Com- pany, left the Congress of Industry in which more than 4,000 leading industrialists re-shaped the National Recovery Administration last week, smacking his lips over this declara- tion: “There has never been such a meeting anywhere except possibly in (Fascist) Italy.” And no wonder! In that Con- gress of Industry the N. R. A. was ecavted to four major provisions of the plan Swope himself designed with the aid of N. R. A. Adminis- tretor Hugh S. Johnson to set Amer- jean industry's first bosses squarely on a short path to fescist control of all the economic life of the United States. Further. that Congress of Industry heard highest authorities confirm that the N. R. A. is nothing but a plunderbund. As Johnson himself put it, the N. R. A. devel- oped from many industrialists’ plens—nlans among which “the dis- tinguished feature of nearly all was to restore 1929 profits.” And, instead of any suggestion of 's of how they can be fur- ceveloped. On these matters tre Congress actually voted on gov- “rent policies, as the members ce” that half-forgotten Congress on itel Hill vote. It was the first in history that this happened. J+ wes the firsts time industry en r---se onenly voted on orders to be nmediately through their ‘nt of the United States— promote particularly the n of profits at the expense Boss’ Press Suppresses Facts. The boldness with which these facts were laid bare in the Congress of Industry was equalled only by the vigilance of the capitalist press in suppressing them. That press naturally contended itself with streamer-headling the demagogic pronouncements which were formu- lated by the Congress of Indusiry. Of these there were many, for the industrialists devised a new dema- gogy to cover up at the same time they formulated each successive step of a new advance against their workers. I only wish these millions of work- ers, for whom the employers fash- joned a straightjacket, could have seen them at work in their public sessions. The workers wouldn't have needed to know what under- cover work went along with these events, they wouldn't have needed interpretations of the events, to see in. them the immediate threat of open capitalist dictatorship and wer! It was all set forth quite boldly—with Wiliam Green and other till-keepers of the American Federation of Labor, taking- part and smiling blandly upon it. Concealed Fascist Guidepost. Through it all ran the unmistak- able principles of the infamous Swope-Johnson plan, as the Daily ‘Worker predicted they would. In fact the Congress of Industry made tt obvious that this plan for months had been what I forecast it would be, in the Daily Worker of Novem- ber 7, 1938—“a concealed guidepost for those colossal powers pushing the trend towards American Fas- cism.” To appreciate what the fusion of N. R. A. and the Swope-Johnson plan means it is necessary to recall that the N. R. A. from the outset has been what the Communist Party and the Daily Worker said it was — a plunderbund. This how General Johnson, standing be- fore the assembled hosts of the in- gene confirmed that descrip- lon: “May we go back together to some of our memories of March, April and May, 1933? (When the N.R.A. was being planned—M. Y.) Let us not mention the depression itself. As a result of it, American Industry was in Washington seeking salva- tion at all hazards. Hotel rooms distinguishing feature of nearly all was to restore 1929 profits immedi- ately... “One proposed that, at govern- ment risk, all industries start on a ae day and hour to produce at | | aside from these aims, the | of Industry heard only; Roosevelt “regardless of popular clamor” against these industrialists and bankers’ ruthless indirect domi- nation over the peop!e—President Roosevelt in the face of all this had the gall to give these same indus- trialists “self-government!” If any doubt remains as to what that “self- government” means, it should be erased by some N. R. A. officials’ statements to come — Johnson neglected to say that a plan for “self-government” of in- dustry, devised by his buddy, Ger- ard Swope, was floating around publicly, simultaneously with, if not among, the plans that developed into the N. R. A. Swope announced this plan some time earlier. A few |months later, when he stepped into |the Business Advisory and Pian- ning Councfl of the Commerce De- partment, a council of business barons, from which Johnson's N. R. A. Industrial Advisory Board is drawn, Swope announced another plan. Sometimes the latter is called the Second Swope Plan. In reality it is an elaboration of the original Swope Plan. A “Joint Announcement.” | On the public announcement by |Swope, last November 1, Johnson |told the press that this was “prac- tically a joint announcement” by himself and Swope because, the General said, he and Swope worked it out together. Johnson added | that “of course” the plan would | mean outlawing strikes. It meant that the relations between employ- ers and employees, production, all the economic life of the country, | would be handled by a super-Cham- |nated by |ment representatives might sit in tinued. They “would be without authority to vote, but would have a veto power.” Now listen to Pierre du Pont, mu- nitions and chemicals king and an- other member of the N. R. A. In- dustrial Advisory Board, speaking before this same Congress of In- dustry last week: generally supposed that the Code Authority, as the administrative body of Code operation, might not be permitted entire self-government. (Several hundred Code Authorities who rule labor and industry under the N. R. A. made up the delegates to the Congress of Industry.—M.Y.) The original conception (of N. R. A—M. Y.) was that of a division of power under which the interests of industry and labor would have sep- arate: treatment. Then when the plan of industrial government thru Code Authority alone was developed (an obvious reference to the publi- cation of the Swope-Johnson plan. —M. Y.), the first and most natural suggestion was to place on Code Authority, an individual, qualified as government representative of in- dustry, of consumer and labor, in order that government might be in- formed at all times and might oc- cupy a controlling position in the affairs of these three si conflicting forces in industry.” In other words, when industria- lists decided to come out openly with absolute control, through the Code Authorities, over both labor and their bosses’ affairs, they decided to put on “an individual” to be in a “controlling”(!) position among the “supposedly” conflicting forces! Pre- cisely as Swope planned. Is it surprising then, that du Pont declared: “You gentlemen of the Code Au- thorities have been given power greater than that allocated even in civil or international war ... You gentlemen are today part of the government. You have been dele- gated authority to minister the gov- ernment of industry.” “This is not the time for govern- ment to step beyond its program in order to promote issues not strictly related to (‘Industrial’—1. e. Indus- trialists’ recovery.” Tomorrow we shall see how the specific proposals of the Swope- Johnson plan behind all this are being carried out. Before that, how- ever, one more general declaration merits attention. Donald R. Rich- berg, the sometime Bull Moose-Pro- gressive, now head of the N. R. A.’s legal staff, had this to say to the Congress of Industry: “There has been a great deal of Joose talk about ‘political control’ and ‘regimentation’ and ‘dictator- ship’ through the N. R. a. But no one knows better than the audience immediately before me that the business men of America have been largely free to work out their own industrial law as the means of their own salvation. No one knows be!~ ter than the audience before me that while many men have brought this task an unselfish devotion to the public good, it has been ac- cepted as the ted to his care, and not to make any greater sacrifice of a private in- terest to the public interest than seemed absolutely necesary under the compulsions of present-day con- ditions.” (To Be Continued.) ber of Commerce, absolutely domt- | industrialists. Govern- | on their discussions, Johnson con- | “pelee to Deceraber. 1098, % WAS | ditions in OCC camps 45 and 46. | | | | | 5 Day Strike Negro Longshoremen Led to Victory by M.W.LU. BALTIMORE, Md., March 14.— The five-day strike of one hundred and fifty Negro longshoremen was | Settled yesterday with the demands of the strikers being met by the bos SEES. The men forced recognition of the Marine Workers Industrial Union, a rotary system of hiring to be con- trolled by the men themselves, and a wage increase of 10 cents an hour, with a promise of the full wage in- crease as demanded by the men within two weeks. The men have been working for 30 cents an hour and struck for 75 cents. ‘These workers were never organ- ized by the officials of the Interna- tional Longshoremen’s Association, who practiced a jim-crow policy and also used the lie, “we can’t do any- thing on account of the Negroes, who won't fight or organize,” to jus- tify their sellout of the white long- shoremen here, a ae NEW YORK.—The Rank and File Action Committee of the I. L. A. | through its secretary, Howard Farm- er, stated that the victory of the Baltimore longshoremen, under the leadership of the M. W. I. U. was “proof that the I. L. A. leaders are playing the game of the bosses.” “These formerly unorganized Negro workers have proven that a militant policy is the burning need of the longshoremen. Our brothers in San Francisco are voting on strike ac- tion,” said Farmer. “We call on the longshoremen, both organized and unorganized, to take supporting ac tion with them if they vote to strike. Today we can strike a blow for the winning back the conditions of a few years ago and the wage in- creases needed to meet the rising costs of living. We favor unity of action of all longshoremen, against | the shipping bosses and their agents | in our ranks.” YoungN Y.Workers. Protest CCC Camp Work Conditions Demand City Jobs at Union Rates of Pay NEW YORK.—John Little, dis- trict organizer of the Young Com- munist League, headed a delega- tion of young trade union workers which visited Mayor LaGuardia, in protest over the intolerable con- ‘The delegation, made up of elected workers from trade unions and workers’ organizations, was flatly refused admittance by LaGuardia. The delegates left a statement of the findings’ of an investigation committee which had visited these camps on March 4th. The delegates were from the Steeband Metal Workers Industrial Union, and the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union, the Fur- niture Workers Union, the Food Workers Industrial Union, the CCC Boys Protective League, the Young Communist League, TUUC Youth Committee, National Stu- dent League, and the Red Front Fighters. The delegation demanded that all boys be given jobs in the city tearing down firetrap tenements and building workers’ apartments at union rates of pay. They also demanded the immediate with- drawal of army rule and admin- istration in CCC camps. DABLY WORKER, N Industrialists Made Big °33 Gains Under N.R.A., Report Shows NEW YORK. — Profits of 810 industrial corporations amounted to $440,000,000 for 1933, the year of the “New Deal,” according to the industrial survey made by || the National City Bank of New || York, | In the year 1932, in order to evade tax payments of 5 per cent | on net earnings, the same group of industrialists piled up huge || surpluses, and reported a “net || loss” after charges, interest, rent, |! ete. of $45,000,000. While Roosevelt's N. R. A. has sent profits soaring, his price- raising program has cut the purchasing power of the doHar in half, and resl wages have been reduced drastically. Bridgeport Police Continue Arrestso ‘Jobless Workers. Sam Krieger, Jailed by | Socialist Mayor, to Be | | Tried Mareh 17 | | BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Maroh 14. | —The cases of the six workers, in- | chiding Sptvack, the secretary of the | Unemployed Council, who were ar | [Tested by the Socialist Mayor Mo- | | Levy's police for distributing leaf- | | lets, were thrown out of court by| Judge Hugh Lavery on the ground | that the ordinance which the work- | |eFs were accused of violating was | unconstitutional. Despite this rul- | ing, police arrested a young worker |for distributing leaflets soon after | | this decision was made. The leaf-| lets were distributed after McLevy’s | | attack upon snow shovelers who | | demonstrated at City Hall for wages | | owed them. | | This action made it very clear | | that the only purpose of the arrests | was to break the militant struggles of the snow shovelers and the un- | employed and to prevent their or- |ganizing under the leadership of the Unemployed Council. | The case of Sam Krieger, Trade | | Union Unity organizer, “and two| | other workers charged with riotous | assembly, refusal to disperse and | breach of peace, was postponed to! | Saturday, March 17. These work- | ‘ers were arrested by McLevy at the City Hall demonstration. | The court was again packed with | workers and again they were driven | out, of court by the police, who/ claimed that it was their orders to | allow only defendants and witnesses |back in greater numbers, and, if \refused admittance, to put up a/ | fight for their rights. Milton Rosenbloom of the Inter- | national Labor Defense of New | York represented the workers. Workers’ Enemies Exposed | Sam Isralsky, of New York City, |has been expelled from the Com- munist Party for secretly aligning himself and working with the Love- stone renegades against the Party, | | against the Party cloakmakers’ frac- | {ton and against the left wing groups in the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. When he realized that the Party was becoming aware of his treach- ery and that he will not be able to play his double-faced role much longer, he issued a statement (ap- parently written up for him by the Lovestoneites) full of calumny and falsifications as to the work of the Party, of the left wing groups and of the leadership of the Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union, In Haverhill Shoe Strike Jonas Company Signs | Agreement; Strikers | Give N.R.A. Gate | HAVERHILL, Mass., March 14.— The second week of the general shoe strike finds the ranks of the strikers solid and determined to carry on their good fight to victory. Mean- while the manufacturers are mobil- izing every force possible in an at- tempt to break the strike Officials of the Boot and Shoe in an attempt to herd the workers back to the shops has issued an appeal to the National Labor Board to hold a ballot in the plants. Joining the! general attack of the bosses against the strikers, is Bill Ryan, renegade | from the Communist Party, who is writing tn the manufacturers’ paper, the Haverhill Gazette, attempting to discredit the demands of the work- ers. fee Regnad 5.1 | Score Strikebreakers Two mass meetings of strikers were addressed today by Sam Ziebel. | He exposed the conspiracy of the Labor Board, the manufacturers. the| A. P. of L. officials and Ryan. The) workers heaped a storm of protest | against the strikebreakers. To organize the gathering of re- lief, take care of publicity and or- ganize the picket lines, the strikers have formed an action committee composed of rank and file workers. ‘The manufacturers will meet am iron wall of determined strikers, strike | leaders declared today. | Another victory for the strikers was chalked up today when the| Jonas Shoe Company, where 350 workers were striking, signed an agreement with the union. The owners of the plant are important members of the Manufacturers As- sociation. | It was reported that they will | caH a hearing on the strike. The workers are ready to give the proper answer to the N.R.A. of- ficials. They demand hands off the shoe strike. Workers all over the country have sent messages stating their interest in the strike and pledging to give the utmost support to the strikers. Hit Graft in A. F. of L. Tron and Bronze Union YORK, THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 1934 “Except in (F ascist) Italy, Never Ke ies Win t RALPH HOLMES A leader of the striking shoe workers in Haverhill, Ralph Holmes le candidate for general secretary and treasurer of the United Shoe and Leather Work- ers Union. CP. Calls Meeting Tonight to Discuss LL.G.W.U. Elections Stachel and Bedacht To Speak te Dressmakers NEW YORK.—To clarify the strikebreaking role of the N. R. A. Dressmakers’ Code and to open up & broad campaign of militant struggle for union conditions in the | dress trade, the District Committee | of the Communist Party has called a mass meeting of all dressmakers at Bryant Hall, 42nd St. and Sixth | Ave., at 6 p.m. tonight, where the question of the coming elections in Local 22 of the Internationtl La- dies’ Garment Workers will be dis- cussed by Party and trade union leaders. All members of Local 22, Womens Councils, I. W. O., Freiheit Singing Society, Mandolin Orchestra Group, members of the Communist Party and Young Communist League and members of mass organizations are called on to be present at this im- portant meeting. The administration of Local 22, |led by Zimmerman and Lovestone, | |are working hand in hand with the | |N. R. A. officials, assisting them in the job of putting over the Roose- yelt starvation program. The pur- | pose of the meeting tonight is to mobilize the dressmakers in support jof the Left Wing opposition, which is determined to maintain the gains made during the recent strike and NEW YORK.—Tiring of the graft and phoney assessments which J. O'Connor, the organizer, has used to extract sums of money from them, the members of the Archi- tectural Iron, Bronze, Structural jin the courtroom. However, the | workers Union, an A. F. of L. affili- | workers have promised to come ate, have approached the Steel and | Metal Workers Industrial Union for organizational aid Although O'Connor over five months ago, collected $2 each from 154 workers of a metal foundry to secure an A. F. of L. charter for them, no charter as yet has been forthcoming. On the pretext of organizing a committee to go to Washington for a hearing on their code, O'Connor | called a meeting of the membership, and mulcted each of them into giv- ing him $3 to defray expenses for the committee. After securing the money, O'Connor left without giv- ing any accounting. which statement he stooped to send also to the Tammany “Day.”. His lies were so palpable that even the “Day” was reluctant to print them, but gave only a general men- tion to Isralsky’s “resignation” from the Party. By his actions Isralsky stands openly exposed as an agent of the renegades and capitalists, and as an enemy of the revolutionary movement of the working class. which is carrying on a struggle |against all those who are betray- ing the interests of the workers in | the trade. | Leaders to Speak The role of the Zimmerman- Loyestone clique in betraying the dresmakers and the program of the Left Wing group will be discussed |by Jack Stachel, member of the) | Central Committee of the Commu- | nist Party, and Max Bedacht, gen- |eral secretary of the International | | Workers’ Order, and other Party and trade union leaders. |900 Philadelphia Men Strike for Wage Raise PHILADEL PHIA, March 14.— Nine hundred workers of the S. K. | F. Bearing Co. voted to strike Tues- day, following the refusal of the company to sign a new contract with their union, the Anti-Friction | Ball Bearing Workers’ Union, Local | No. 1. The new contract calls for a | 10 per cent wage increase, right of the union to question any discharge, right to recommend employment and the right of the business agent to contact workers in the plant at any time. Workers of the Nice Ball Bearing Company are also seeking renewal of their contract, and threaten to strike if it is refused. as Such a Mee ing, : ’ Says Swope Page Phree Local 22 Funds Used byZimmerman toPut Over Scab Dressmakers Urged te Vote for Left Wing | and Smash Clique By K. ABRAMOWITZ Before we go to elect a new Bxecu- tive Board and other officers Local 22 of the Internation Garment Workers Union it while to see what Zimmerm Lovestonite, and his exect with the grace of Dubinsky have done for the membership of Local 22, Dressmakers Union since he is in Office, | Right after Zimmerman was elected, the Left Wing Group pro- posed that the local should initiate} @ campaign for unity of both| unions, but Zimmerman instead, answered demagogically, “Let them come into the International we will then have a united front.” When the general strike came, the left wigers in Local 22 asked to be rep- resented on the strike committee but instead of that no meetings were held with the workers and no demands were worked out together with the dressmakers; instead | meetings of the top, Dubinsky, | Hochman, Zimmerman were held secretly, and only the militancy of the workers led by the left wing made it possible to get the agree- ment signed. After the strike was) | settled <jnd the agreement signed we asked Zimmermann what about the demand of limitations of con- tractors. His answer was that there are finishing touches to be made in Washington when the code will be worked out. The dressmakers code was to be signed and Zimmerman knew that we were not going to have any limitation. Again the Left Wing called to his attention that the dressmakers must be mobilized for the demand, but Zimmerman in-| stead spoke at Madison Square | Garden on the same platform with Whalen who hailed the N.R.A, Defends Wage Cut Code | With the signing of the code, the | most important gains were gradu- | ally done away with; with the in- sertion of a clause in the draft code, providing that dressmakers who are subnormal in production are not entitled to the minimum, the basis was laid for the abolition of the minimum wage scale. The maxi- mum hours have been changed by giving another hour to the sample makers. The Left Wingers started a campaign against the breaking of the agreement, but our dear manager only defended the code, hailing it as a victory, and only when the Left Wingers called for a protest meeting against the} | code. Brother Zimmerman made a gesture and called a so-called pro- test meeting against the length- ening of hours, although in the ‘Women’s Wear’ a day before the meeting it was stated that it was| with the express agreement of Local 22 leadership that such concession | should be granted to the bosses. All | parties agreed to this clause. But }even at this protest meeting the |dressmakers and their so-called leaders were divided in two. The dressmakers stormed against the |code and Zimmerman with his |henchman bulldozed the dressmak- lers and adopted a resolution with only a few hands raised. The in-| | creased wages that we got began to ; be cut and in some cases they are | now as they were prior to the strike. | |The Left Wing group exposed this and warned the dressmakers against | the wage cuts, but Zimmerman in- stead of taking up a fight against | the bosses and the Joint Board, sent, | out a slanderous letter to the mem-/ bers with money used from the| treasury of the union against the) Officials Left Wing group which stated in part “Do not listen to the insidious Propaganda carried on by some elements within the union. These People under the cloak of high sounding phrases, call themselves tne “Lett Wing Group” and im practice carry on a campaign im- tended to demoralize our ranks, which, indeed, amounts to a cam- paign for the reduction of wages. In this effort they reveal them- selves as the best allies of the bosses.” Flat Price Scheme This is the kind of fight Zim- merman is carrying on “to main- tain the conditions in the shops.” The bosses feeling that the workers won't take any bluffs this time, demanded that some kind of scheme must be worked out to stem their militancy and eagerness to hold on to the conditions they have won The scheme was “FLAT PRICES,” whereby the workers cannot de- mand pay for the workmanship in the garment but have to take a fixed price, according to the selling price of the garment. Zimmerman hailed this plan while the dress- makers protested against it. This Was not sufficient Complaints Ignored Hundreds of minimam wage com- plaints were brought im. Im the agreement the jobbers are to guar- antee these minimums, but very few were ever adjusted and here again the responsibility was shifted. The complaints were sent to the impar- tial chairman and were never an- swered. Workers were told by the Love- stonite business agents that they cannot stop working at any time. but that they must leave everything to the impartial chairman, Zimmerman saw that the Left Wing gained influence among the dressmakers at the section meetings. The Left Wing elected officers. He had to do something about it. His grievance board then started tp call in workers on charges, not be- cause of bad union behavoir, but because the workers differed with Zimmerman's policies. Some work- ers who complained against a busi- ness agent were fined, others who exposed his policies were suspended from the union. Examples of Betrayal When Local 9 administration was framed up by the Dubinsky clique for fighting for union conditions and against class collaboration, the whole Left Wing executive board was not permitted to run in the elections, and the Zimmerman clique supported the splitting tactics. With @ record such as this Zimmerman wants ta be re-elected to office again. This so-called progressive Love- stonite group, uses the union office and its treasury to elect themselves to office, The business agents who are paid officers, and are supposed to adjust complaints of work came to the shops and with threats bulldozed the workers to vote for the Zimmerman clique. In one shop the Bell Day Dress, 102 E. 178th St., the business agent, Rabinowitz told the workers that they must come to vote for the Zimmerman group, threatening them with a $2 fine if they don't. On March 22, when the dress- makers will have to elect an executive board and other officers they shouid answer Zimmerman by voti for the Left Wing can- didat against intimidations and persecutions, for a fight to uphoid the conditions won; tor demoo- racy in the union; that the unem- ployed be exempt trom paying dues; tor unemployed imstrance paid by the bosses; for a 30 hour week; and for a fight for limita- tion of contractors, Overcome Lagging in For Sharper Fight for Day-to-Day Demands of Negro Workers By HARRY HAYWOOD There can be no doubt that the Party has become a real factor in the national liberation struggles of the Negro masses. Its influence is steadily increasing among the ever larger sections of the Negro popula- tion. It is clear, however, that the successes of our Party in this work 4s not commensurate with the ob- jective possibilities presented in the growing radicalization of the Negro toilers. Our Party is still lagging behind the rapidly rising upsurge of the Negro masses. ‘What is the outstanding weakness in our work among Negroes? It consists in the fact that we still Jack a solid organizational base among the decisive sections of the Negro workers in the most impor- tant industries and factories. An examination of our work will show the following: that we have carried through energetic campaigns of mass agitation and exposure around general issues of the Negro libera- tion movement (Scottsboro, cam- 'Y | paign against lynching). But these have not been sufficiently utilized to build up struggles around specific and local issues and for the strengthening of our organized base among the Negro workers in the shops. Directly from this follows the weak recruitment of Negro workers into the Party and revolutionary trade unions, high turn-over of Party and trade union membership among Negroes and the slowness in bringing forth proletarian Negro cadres in our work. Must Overcome Sporadic Nature | of Work At the same time, this weakness | in our work also accounts, to a cer- tain extent, for the sporadic nature of our campaigns around Scotts- boro and the issue of lynching. These campaigns have not been sufficiently connected up with local issues, with the struggle for the day-to-day needs of Negroes in shops, factories and in the neigh- borhoods. This weakness in our work in a period of growing Fas- cism and spread of white chauvin- ist influences among the masses of white workers, in a period of in- creased activities of Negro reform- ists and petty-bourgeois nationalists — among Negroes, presents a serious | danger if not speedily overcome. Concretely, this situation raises the danger of the weakening of Party leadership in the liberation movement of the Negro masses. This is particularly noticeable in the South (Dist. 17—Birmingham). In this district, we witness a great surge forward in the revolutionary nationalist and agrarian movements, reflected in the phenomenal growth of organization among the poor farmer share-croppers—the Share- Union—and the consider- able development of national libera- tion struggles in campaigns around Scottsboro and the fight against lynching. But at the same time de- velopments are not sufficiently ac- companied by the organization of the Negro proletarians on the shop basis—shop nuclei, and the build-/ ing up of the revolutionary trade | the struggle for the demands of the | trary, to increase in every way the unions. Unless a definite turn is made in the direction of consolidat- ing our work among the Negro and | white industrial proletariat, in the factories, steel centers, etc. our Party runs the danger of becoming merely an adjunct of the rapidly rising revolutionary peasant and nationalist movement. Fight for Day-to-Day Demands of Negro Workers From this brief analysis flows the main task of our Party in the work among Negroes in the present period. This task is the strengthen- ing of the leadership of the work- ing class and the Party in the lib- eration struggles of the Negro masses on the basis of consolidating our movement among the Negro workers in the shops and in the factories, the drawing of Negroes | into our shop nuclei, revolutionary | trade unions, unemployed councils. | This implies the development of | energetic and sustained struggles | for the day-to-day needs of the Negro workers in these fields, in connection with the carrying thru of the concentration policy laid down in the resolutions of the XIV Plenum of the C.C., and the Open Letter of the Extraordinary Party Conference. It means a ruthless fight against all white chauvinistic slurring over of the demands of the Negro toilers. Chauvinistic influ- ences are most clearly expressed in tendencies to resist the putting for- | Negro masses, lies a deep-seated social-democratic concept which regards the struggle of the Negro toilers against Jim-Crowism and special persecution not as part of the general struggles of the working something separate and apart from that struggle—as a struggle which does not strengthen but detracts from the general class struggle. In the fight against these ten- dencies, it is necessary to bring for- ward and emphasize the formula- tion of the Open Letter placing the Negro peoples in their fight for na- tional liberation as “allies of the American proletariat,” in the fight for the overthrow of capitalism. In connection with the building up of our work among the Negro working class, the draft resolution for the 8th Party Convention, stresses the necessity of a determined fight for the demands of the Negro toilers in the factories, and in the field of unemployment, the necessity of “concentrating on winning the Negro workers in the basic indus- tries (steel, coal, packing houses, marine), organizing them into revo- lutionary trade unions and opposi- tions, fighting all forms of discri- mination, formulating the demands of the Negroes in strikes, and strug- fling for these demands in strike settlements and in unemployed struggles.” Bring Forward Our Full Program Negro ward of the specific demands of the Negro masses in our factory and trade union work. Behind this underestimation of,mean to slacken, but on the con- | ‘The emphasis upon the develop- ment of the economic struggles among the Negro toilers does not Negro Work Must Be Closely Examined in Pre-Convention Discussion struggle around the general de- mands of Negro liberation, such as Scottsboro and the fight against lynching. It is necessary to broaden out and deepen these struggles. bring forward our full program of social equality and the right of self- Negro Work, Smash Remnants of White-Chauvinism Push Fight on 2 Fronts Against White Chauvin- ism, Negro Reformism question, with its chief organ, the Class against capitalism, but as} | Liberator, a popular mass paper, an \organizer and leader of the Negro | liberation struggles and a_ real | weapon against the Negro reform- determination, building up the broadest united front around these issues. Our chief task is to bring these campaigns around genera) is- sues into the shops and factories and among the Negro semi-prole- tarian and farming masses on the | | land, connecting them up with the | everyday demands of the Negro! toilers, making the factories the | | main bese in the struggle for Negro liberation and our revolutionary jtrade unions and oppositions “the |main lever for the Negro toilers.” | ; (Resolution of XIV Plenum). The |revolutionary mass organizations | |and particularly the trade unions |must come forward mote energet- lically for the political rights of the | Negroes. Th must participate more intensi in all political icampaigns around issues of Negro j rights. Build L.S.N.R. and the Liberator | At the same time, to meet the| needs of the rapidly developing na- tional liberation movement of the Negro masses, and to provide ade- quate organizational forms for the | |maximum development of this movement, it becomes necessary speed up the work of buildin, | Negro strugeles for Negro ri | The League of Struggle for N Rights must become a powerful in- dependent mass organization around the Party's program on the Negro! ists. The growing fascist reaction and increased activities of the Negro bourgeois reformists and petty- bourgeois nationalists, demands an improvement in our fight on two fronts on the Negro question. This fight must be conducted in the first place inst white chauvinism among the broad masses of white toilers. A prerequisite for this is the development of a ruthless and sus- tained fitht against all influences of this poisonous ideology within the ranks of the Party and the rev- olutionary movement. At the same time, it becomes necessary to sharpen the fight ageinst Negro re- formism and petty-bourgeois na- tionalism on the basis of more con- crete end popular exposures of their disruptive activities in the ranks of the Negro people. In connection with this, we must combat more energetically all influences of petty- bourgeois nationalism within the Party. Only on the basis of a relent- less fizht on two fronts in connec- tion with the development of our work among Negroes can we forge the unbreakable unity of Negro and white toilers in the fight inst growing fascist reaction the war danger.