The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 6, 1934, Page 5

DATLY WORKER, EW YORK. WEDNESDAY, JU? Connecticut District Examines | ene Reread rite | Work in Light of Convention Correct Methods Gains in Shop Work By I. WOFSEY HE Connecticut District is one of the smallest dis- tricts in size in our Party. It received very little attention fromthe Party up to recent months. However, now with the danger of war becoming more and more imminent, its im- Por‘ence is being réalized to some extent Connecticut is the center of the munitions industry, and produces more munitions and war materials than any other state in the Union. In Bridgeport we have the Reming- ton Arms Co.; in New Haven, Win- chester Repeating Arms Co.; in Hartford, Colts Firearms and the Pratt and Whitney Co., manufac- turers of bombing planes; in New London, the Electric Boat Co., now building two submarinés for the U. S. Navy. Aside from this every im> portant brass plant in Waterbury, as well as elsewhere in this district, | is producing war materials. While unemployment rages in this state, the war plants are busy. In these plants employment is on the increase. They are hiring help and are working two or three shifts. A good example is the Flectric Boat Co. in New London, where they now employ close to 1,000 workers, whereas last year only four to five hundred worked. At numerous district, conventions and conferences the importance of work in the war industries was stréssed, but was always postponed for lack of time, due to the fact that all activity was carried on in @ general manner everywhere, but not in the shops. Examination of Our Work The open letter to our Party, adopted at the extraordinary con. ference, stressing shop and trade union work as the most important mass activity for the building of a mass Communist Party, stimulated the district to critically examine our work with a view to bringing about a definite change. Especially did we realize that the section of the Open Letter which says: “Talk about the defense of the Soviet Union and struggle against im- perialist war is nothing but empty phrases unless systematic work is carried out in the war industry plants and in the ports” applie Particularly to our district. We decided, therefore, to concen- (Ss RECENT STRIKES CONFIRM CORRECTNESS OF 8TH COMMUNIST PARTY CONVENTION POLICIES AND DECISIONS ON DEVELOPMENT OF STRUGGLES IN BASIC INDUSTRIES By JOHN WiLLIAMSON N RECENT weeks we have seen a complete verification of the resolution and per- spectives of our District and National mventions, in which we stated: “The main outlook everywhere, including the auto industry, if we work intcnsely enough, is for the immediate continuation of the strike wave, All of the conditions for it exist. The workers are not satisfied. Their central demand for wage increases to meet the in- creased cost of living has not been granted. We can look to a spreading of the strike wave in metal, textile, some sections of steel, and possibly rubber. Spe- cial attention must be paid to the auto industry.” A strike wave is sweeping the State of Ohio, which has involved especially the auto, chemical, metal, textile, oil and other less important industries. These have involved some of the largest shops in the City of Cleveland. The majority of these strikes were led by the A. F. of L.; only a few by the Revolutionary unions. It would be pretentious to say that the agitation and work of the Party and T. U. U. L. unions was one of the main forces responsible for stimulation and starting the strike wave. At the same time we should not bend so far backward in our correct main line of self-criticism as to ignore the agitational and or- ganizational work in the factories by the T. U. U. L. unions and the Party. In all cases where the strikes were led by the A. F. of L., they were declared over the continued active opposition of the A. F. of L. leadership. The workers were de- termined to make use of the union they had in most cases recently joined, in the belief that it was an instrument of struggle to protect their shop conditions and lowering Standards against the ever-growing offensive of the New Deal. Lessons of Strike Struggles These strike struggles have many lessons for our Party and the working class: First, they. show clearly the de- termination of the workers to struggle, despite much confusion in their minds, In Fisher Body, al- though the strike was prevented by the A. F. of L. leadership and Roosevelt’s maneuvers, at the height of the production season, when it would have hit the in- dustry the hardest, one month later, even though the conditions were not so favorable for a sttike, the workers broke through and for a week over 8,000 workers struck 6olidly. In Toledo in the auto parts in- dustry, where two months ago the strikers voted for Roosevelt, for the N. R. A. and went back with a 5 per cont increase and a promise of more later, six wéeks later there Weré recurring strikes in these very shops. In the Gas Attendants’ trike in Cleveland. where the char- Gave | trate on the most basic war plants! District in the district, to build shop nuclei there, to issue shop papers, and to | carry out planned activity. We as- signed comrades repsonsible for the | work, and for the first time were able to record some progress in our shop and trade union work. Twelve | shop nuclei were established up to the district convention, most of them in war plants, As yet these units are small and lack the know edge for this work. They are learn- ing, however, and are accomplish- ing results. First the | How were they organized? of all by bringing together Party members working in the same | factori econd by utilizing the| | mass organizations under the in- fluence of the Party; third by ap- | proaching sympathetic elements. } We had to explain to these com- | rades what we wanted to accomplish by this work, how to work, win their confidence by convincing them | that we were not interested in hav- ing them lose their jobs. Wherever this was done work kas begun, and it was demonstrated to the. entire Party that not only is shop work possible, but that this work cor- rectly carried out puts our few comrades in a position of leadership in the shop, and in the building of union organizations under our in- | fluence. 1 How Company Union Was Smashed | In two of the plants, employing | nearly two thousand each, company | unfons existed up to recently. Now! | in both these factories the company union is disappearing and in their place independent industrial unions are being organized. The company union was defeated not only by in- side and outside the shop agitation, but by raising the grievances of the workers through the company union representatives. In one place, due to the standing and popularity of our comrade, he was elected to rep- resent his department and then to an executive position in thé com- pany union. The company union| constantly refused to. give satisfac- | tion to the workers’ demands and | each time the comrades would ham- mer away at the idea that only an outside union could get them their | demands. The resentment against. the company union grew to such} | heights that the partments resigned. In the move- ment for an outside union our com- rades were not strong enough at first. to expose the reformist lead- | ership of the A. F. of L. and to| | urge the formation of a class-| struggle union. In but a few weeks | | five to six hundred joined the A.| | F. of L. on the promise of getting | Rooting Itself in Big Metal Shops a federal union charter. Our comrades joined this union and advised their folio’ to “do likewise. After a riod the A. F. of L. bureaucra refused to give them a federal union chart and advised them instead to o1 ize about half a dozen unions. Every leading worker joined in the fight against these splitting tactics and in the movement for an inde- pendent industrial union. Many of these workers realized the correct- ness of the line pursued by otr comrades and gladly followed - it. Today this small shop unit influ- ences this broad union movement is building the union and influ- encing many of the best workers to join the Party. Practically the same was done by another small unit in a second shop.. The company union was smashed, an independent trial union organized, and quite a few workers recruited into the Party. Another -dustrial Union Formed Another shop nucleus working in a plant embracing 2,500 workers was originally organized in the A. F. of L. After a period of a few months these workers left the A. F, of L. and organized their own industrial union. Although small in number this shop unit was in strumental in defeating the split- ting tactics of the A. F. of L. and in guiding the workers in the direc- tion of militant industrial union- ism. These are some of the concrete experiences of a few of our shop units. These accomplishments dem- onstrate clearly to us what a power the Party could be if more of these shop nuclei are organized and if they will receive careful attention | Remington. }on the part of the leading com- | rades, indus- | Form a New Local of Steel, Metal Union By a Worker Correspondent MONROE, Mich., June 5. — A meeting of the newly for Steel and Metal 1 Union will be ‘day, June 9, 2:30 which the i last + trolled ent file, of 22 workers be Office elected t least 100 are expected to join at the meet- ing. are quite infiuential. They are read and many grievances are ad- justed in the shops after the shop Papers expose conditions and raise demands for the changing of these conditions. These shop papers are edited locally by the comrades. They obtain the shop ne’ from Party comrades and contacts, who gladly furnish them with inside in- | formation. Very frequently these shop papers bring to light im- portant information, causing head- aches to the bi These papers have many shortcomings, but they show gradual improvement as the | experiences of the comrades in dif- ferent cities is being exchanged and as the comrades learn from the comments of the workers, Work In Munition Shops In bri our ng down the resolutions ighth Convention to the district has the task of mobilizing the entire membersh’ for mass work, especially in the munitions shops. These few achieve. ments illustrate the great. possibili- ties for the Party, provided this will units our | be taken up not by a few comrades, but by every comrade working in the metal and textile industry in Connecticut. A very serious short- coming is also the fact that in the two biggest plants manufacturing munitions, namely, Winchesters and we were as yet unable! to organize any units. These are| two plants for which the district | For the first time we are also| bureau is responsible. gaining some valuable experience In line with the decisions of our on the importance of shop papers.| righth Convention, we will increase Today we are issuing the following shop papers in this district: “Yale and Towne Worker,” in Stamford; the “Live Wire,” in the Bridgeport New Heaven; the “Stanley Worker,” in Néw Britain, and the “Arrow Electric Workér,” in Hartford. At least four more shop papers are in preparation and will be issued in the Remington Arms, Pratt and Whit- ney airplane plant, in Westing- house and in the Fisk Rubber. The shop papers already acter of the work itself promotes individualistic tendencies, a most | militant struggle in which the en- tire industry was tied up solid for | several weeks, the workers, despite many vacillations, withstood for a | time all pressure of employet, gov- |ernment and even threats of local | A. F. of L. leaders to remove the |leadershrip of this local union. It must be clear that the calling of Strike struggles is not solely de- pendent upon us Communists, al- though the successful conduct and winning of strike struggles is de- cisively connected with our being an integral part of the strike, be- fore, during and at the time of set- tlement of the strikes. Secondly, we see that while the Roosevelt demagogy has _ been shaken considerably, it is not yet shattered. The varied forms of the arbitration schemes still have their effect many times. The worker still believes his enemy is only the em- ployer, while the government — if not on the workers’ side wholly— at least is above the class struggle. This is a reflection on our insuf- ficient and poor Party agitation. But more and more the mailed fist of the government is being brought forward openly in the in- terests of the trusts. A wave of in- junctions has been let loose. These have been against, not only the T, U. U. L. unions (Chase Brass, For- mica, étc.) but also against A. F. of L, unions. They have been granted against the Unemployed Councils in Tolédo, to prevent them from joint Picketing With the strikers. They have been granted against the ac- tivities in Cleveland of the Small Home and Land Owners Federation. Terror has been increased: in all strikes, particularly those led by the T. U. U. L. in Cleveland and Cincinnati. In every strike the government through local and national N. R. A. boards has actively intereferd, either recognizing the company union, or insisting upon a return to work with promised arbitration. The result of this in practically every case has been an energetic drive by the company to build the company unions, lay-offs and dis- missals of the most active strike leaders, and in the end, generally no wage increases (Fisher Body, Cleveland, Worsted Mills, Cleveland, Toledo strikes, etc.), Unclear Conception of Party Policy Our experiences in these strike struggles show the lack of under- standing of the Party’s trade-union policy. There is no clear concep- tion of work inside the A. F. of L. as a part of our revolutionary trade-union policy. It must be made clear that our objective is the win- ning of influence over the decisive sections of the factory workers on the basis of a class policy. Wher- ever possible we must organize the revolutionary unions of the Trade Union Unity League, but where masses of workers, for whatever reason, have joined the A. F, of L., or Independent Unions, then it is our duty not to isolate ourselves, but to remain a part of these work- When scabs tried to break our tempe in all mass work. We will give all the help necessary to | strengthen the existing shop papers | more nuclei, issued | and nuclei and to organize many pecially in Reming- ton and Winchesters. We will strive toward the achievement of the slo- “A shop paper wherever we have a shop unit,” and steel these weapons in the fight against fas- cism and wer and for the carrying out of the tasks that the conyen- tion outlined for us. | gan, The “Amer Of the Muste Group At First Praised NRA; Now “Fight” It MARTIN YOUNG ic strike of the Flec- ite workers in Toledo. that won the admiration and support of the workers of country, the American ers Party (A. W. P.) appeared revol pre- tending to * R. A the bloody rike-breaking of the government and their national guards. In an editorial of its offi- cial paper, “Labor Action,” of June 1, the A. W. P. says that in Toledo and in other cities “the strikes are against the N.R. A. and the government boards.” This is| undoubtedly correct. But what has| the A. W. P. to do with this, when | actually it has always supported | the N. R. A. and the policies of | the Roosevelt administration against which the workers are now fight-| ing? Does the A. W. P. believe t by such tri it can fool the workers and hide its supr of the N. R. A.? Only on March, | 1934, when it already became clea to ever larger numbers of workers and farmers th the N. R. A. is not changing capitalism, that it is only strengthening the iron fist of monopoli d trusts, the A. W. P stated in an editorial of Labor Action the following: “Roosevelt has sounded the death-knell of OLD COMPETI- TIVE laissez-faire capitalism. He has made it clear that we live in an era of COLLECTIVISM. He has EXPLODED the ideas of | ‘old-fashoned democracy.’ He has encouraged a psychology of ex- perimentation and activism, the idea that ‘something has got to be done about it.’” While in Toledo, Minneapolis, | New Orleans, Alabama and all over | the country American capitalism | is murdering in cold blood workers | striking for the right to organize, | the A. W. P. is telling the workers that the “old competitive capital- ism” is dead. The A. W. P. does not stop at| that. It wants the workers to be-| lieve that not only can capitalism | be organized in America, but so} can capitalism be organized all over the ca list word and even do away with capitalist rivalries and wars, For example, the fore- runner of the A. W. P., the Con- ference for Progressive Labor Ac- tion, wrote in its official organ, Labor Age, of August, 1931, as follows: \ “The Plan of American Eco- nomic Life must fit into a plan for a world economy, which shall put an end to the rivalries of nationalities, militarists and im- perialists. Thus, and only thus, may war be abolished and the workers of all the earth achieve a sane and peaceful existence. “The plan must put to work soon.” It a long before the into existence. Roosevelt “planning the present leader of t advocated “social plan “controlled economy” in capit America. Yet under the Hoover | regime Muste wrote, “Indeed, some of the leading forces of bus’ and some of the best braii be made and is a matter hat = came ing of the economists have already begun the endeavor to learn how to build acontrolled economy. Labor should not lag in this effort.” And this party calls itself a “revolutiona party, and at times even parades as “communist”! Now as to the more practical| policies of Roosevelt and his ad-| ministration. The A. W. P. pre- sented Roosevelt as a great “lib- | eral,” as an “idealist,” as a presi- dent whose heart “pains” for the forgotten man, but whose “good” work is being sabotaged by the “greedy” capitalists. Just listen to this “Roosevelt went into office with sincerely liberal and idealistic beliefs. . . . There is no reason to doubt that he honestly wanted to help the forgotten man, the unemployed and destitute, that he was indignant of the crimes of bankers and industrialists and corrupt politicians.” Thus writes James Burnham, a shining light of the A. W. P., in the special May First edition of Labor Action. Could a hundred “brain trusters” give more praise to Roosevelt? So, gentlemen of the A. W. P., Roosevelt the wage- cutter, the strike-breaker, the big | navy man, the pfomoter and up-| holder of American imperialism, is| not so “bad.” The trouble is with “the crimes of bankers and indus trialists and corrupt. politicians.” | Roosevelt himself has no relation- | ship to and is not an integral part | of all “the crimes of bankers and industrialists and corrupt politi- | cians”? Roosevelt does not con- done the -strike-breaking, and the shooting of workers in Minneap- olis, Toledo, New Orleans, Ala- bama, etc. ... . ? It wasn't Roose-| velt who legalized the company unions and virtually prohibited the automobile workers from striking? | | have joined trade unions and over wants the work- that it is going A. W. P believe Amer ers to “fight” for Really, the enth W. P. for Rooseve Deal” has no bou gram the A N. R. A. tog of the New tionably brought certain tempo: benefits to certain ion.” so Deal . at sections of the popu does the A Ww P. mean? workers, the farmers, the poor are-croppers, the small produc- ers? In face of the immense strike-breaking. jailing, clubbin and shooting of workers, of company unions, milita be ying power of the masse creased taxation, physical de: tion of products and values, d: of hundreds of thousands of share- croppers and small farmers off their land—under such conditions, | only a Roosevelt agent can speak | of “benefits under the New Deal.” | Of course, there is a section of the | population that did benefit under the New Deal. These are | big trusts and monopolies. why should the A. W. P., whi even calls itself a “revolutionary party, rejoice over it and present it to the masses as an achieve- ment, when it is only making the big capitalists richer and the workers and fa In summin, Roosevelt's fi above-mentioned of ers, the James | Burnham writes, on May Day “From the point of view of the working class, Roosevelt's first. year | can be looked on as a great ex-| periment.” | A. J. Muste, in speaking of the| great blessings bestowed by the Roosevelt administration upon the workers, said in an article in the Modern Monthly of January, 1934. “Workers have been ‘encouraged to organize, though in less meas- ure, are doing so. The government is concerning itself with employer- employe relationships. It is en-/| gaged in carrying out a great federal public works program, It is giving direct relief to the un-| employed.” | True enough, for the last year hundreds of thousands of workers a million workers were on strike But this is surely not because of Roosevelt's “encouragement,” and not because the N. R. A. “fave” the workers “a chance to organize and fight,” as the A, W. P. says. It is precisely because the workers trike Wave Shows Workers Determined to Resist Boss Offensive through strikers’ lines in Toledo, the strikers met them militantly. The bosses finally had to bring about the murder of two workers, by the militia, in the face of such resistance to their schemes. policy and working to win influence and leadership of these workers and of the local union, Rank and file opposition work on a class program is an integral part of our Party's trade union policy. The resistance and confusion on the question of work inside the A. F, of L., and the necessity of con- necting this up closely wifh our factory work in these shops where the A. F. of L. has influence, has been seen in a hundred ways, when the District Committee began ener- getically to develop this work, after the removal of Comrade Zack for his wrong line and opposition to an energetic policy of broad rank and file opposition movements within the A. F. of L., alongside the main line of building the Revolutionary Unions among the unorganized. The following are just a few ex- amples: 1—In Cleveland while there are Party members in at least 20 A. F, of L. locals, there was not a single functioning fraction or real opposition group functioning. 2—In some locals individual Communists had influence, but no broad opposition groups were or- ganized, because it was argued that this would orientat> the mémbers to staying within the A. F. of L. and “our objective must be to ‘take them out as quickly as possible.” 3—Experiences in the methods of organizing A, F, of L. opposi- tion groups brought out sharply the confusion. In Akron where we had heard much about opposi- tion work, an examination brought out that “the opposition” was a mere handful of workers close to the Party who were brought to the Party headquarters or Unem- ployed Council headquarters for a meeting. Thé person who was the seif-appointed spokesman was the Party Section Organizer, not a rabber worker or a union mem- ets, striving to win them for a class" a ber, The leaflets issued by “the epposition” were written by the Party Section Organizer — were , mimeographed by him and in the | Party office. This was true not | only of the efforts to develop op- | Position work in the Rubber Workers Union but whatever et- forts were made in this same city among the machinists, diamond | workers, match workers, etc. of the same character. In Tu a similar thing was seen. The | automotive workers on strike were gradually getting disgusted with their betraying leadership. The Party set out to organize rank and file opposition greups, Again they calied the workers to the Party headauarters for tbiy pur- pose. At thet some 34 workers came. The Party section organ- izer — not an auto worker, a striker, or member of the A. F. of | L—came and lectured to them. Rut why blame only the comrades in the sections, when only two months ago the then T. U. U. L. secretary in Cleveland vented a | headquarters for the T. U. VU. L. and began labelling one room as | the official neadqua' of the Rank and Fils Oppoziion Center im the A. F. of L.? All of these examples show the narrow sectarian basis on which the comrades try to conduct rank and file opposition work. By their ac- tions they narrow it down only {o the most revolutionary workeis, trying to fit it into such forms. The comrades actually visualized rank | and file opposition groups as made up only of revolutionary minded workers. They did not develop self | initiative and leadership of the workers whose activity must lead them to win influence and strive for leadership of the local unions. All this was stifled. By uniting | openly the rank and file opposition | work and the Communist Party in | such forms, it was preventing the | development of this work on a mass | basis. | This, of course, does not mean} that the Communist Party or its/ policies are taboo. On the contrary, it is only on the basis of a class program that the oppositions will develop and live, but the Party car- ries on its work through its estab- lished fractoisn. Then the fraction must win the opposition and if pos- sible the local union, for the un- anding, acceptance and par- ticipation in the mass struggles and activities iitiated or participated in by the Communist Party. 4—In Cincinnati another ex- ample comes to light. The agenda for a proposed conference of the Steel and Metal Workers Indus- trial Union in that city had as a point “work inside the A. F. of L. metal union—Building of Opposi- tion Groups.” This is obviously not the direct concern of the S. M. W. I. U. conference. It is the concern of the Party fraction inside the S. M. W. I. U., as a part of the entire Party. The proper thing would have been to consider at that conference the Problem of developing a unite: front between the S, M. W. I. U. and the A. F. of L. unions in metal in connection with develop- ing strike struggles. 5—Only a couple of days before | the calling of the Fisher Body | strike, the comrades inside the | A, F, of L. union wanted to print and then actually printed leaficts | for the holding of a mass meeting in the name of the Auto Workers Union. These specific comrades should have had as their main conozra the winning of influence over the 4,500 workers in the A. F. of L. union, who two days later were to call such a tremen- dcus strike, with cur comrades at that moment not sensitive to the moods of the workers until the strike actually was called. As @ recuIt of our underesiima- tion of the importance of work in- sid- ALF. of L. as a nécessary organizational task alongside the; building of the T. U. U. L, unions, | bureaucracy we see that in all these A. F. of L.- led strikes, called by the rank and file over the heads of the leaders, we are not an active force. The possibilities existed in each of them, | if we had worked in the factories | and inside the local unions and de- veloped prestige through champion- | ing the demands of the workers and being active union members, and above all had organized a broad| rank and file opposition group, for us to have actually been an active force inside the strike and in some cases in the leadership of the strike. With proper work during t e strike we could have exposed successfully and outmaneuvered the A. F. of L. bureaucracy who in Fisher Body and Cleveland Worsted Mills, broke the strike, as was the consistent policy from the beginning. Only at the end of the strikes were small opposition rank and file groups fin- ally organized, which are now grow: ing, despite a certain demoraliza- tion which has set in among these striking workers after the betrayal. Our absence from active partici- pation in these A. F. of L. unions makes it eesier for the A. F. of L. leaders to defeat the strikes and carries temporary demoralization and disgust among many workers for all unions. The A. F. of L. successfully just what the trusts and goverment | wanted, even though in each strike the method vari d. It was also pos- sible for the Socialist Party mis- | leaders to come forward with “left” phrases, The A. F. of L. Cleveland leadership welcomed these gentry with open arms. In fact the S. P. leaders were placed in charge of the Cleveland Worsted strike. Sidney Yellen together with the chief be-| trayer McWinny visited the Chase Brass Company and offered the services of the A. F. of L. to break {the S. M. W. I. U.-led strike of | tional Chasé Brass workers. The Socialist Party leader Clossins, who visited Cleveland recently, put it very bluntly: achieved | is the excellent contacts estab- | lished within the trade unions. Recognizing the talent of the So- cialists, it is quite natural that the enlightened leadership of these unions (A. F. of L.—J. W.) should welcome our assistance.” Even when certain leaders of loval strikes are not conscious mis- leaders, not to speak of being part of the bureaucracy, our absence of policy and organization among the masses allows such honest workers in local leadership of A. F. of L.| unions and strikes to flounder | around because they have no clear | class policy or experience. They are subject to all the pressure of em- ployer, city A. F. of L. officialdom | and government N. R. A. Boards, This has been seen by us in the| case of some leaders of the Gas| Station Operators Union, a Vice-| President of the Fisher Body local | and a leader of the Barberton strike. Failing to organize rank and file opposition groups which would even include such honest but | for the moment confused and hesi- tating elements, and substitution of talks with these individuals without an organization of the rank and file | cannot lead to victory. These in-| dividuals become problems, one | moment under the influence of “our talks” and the next moment under the pressure of the government, em- ployer and A. F. of L, top leaders. | Positive Role of Opposition Groups In this connéction we have also seen the tendency to think the rank and file opposition is only to take a negative position on everything in- | stead of developing a positive pro- | gram on the basis of shop and in-} dustry onditions of the workers and} conditions within the specific A. F. of L. union, which will rally the| rank and file. Another mistaken| notion is the one that the rank and | file group shall not take local union | Offitials into its ranks. This is wrong. In many of these locals it | is shop workers who have been | elected to the executive. We must | win as many as possible. Dozens of other examples of the result of this disastrous policy of | neglecting to work among the A. F. of L, workers could be cited, such | as thé organizte'on of an Unem-) ployment Insurance Committee by | the Cleveland Fedération of Labor, | within which there was a vote of 14 to 6 for the Workers Unemploy- | ment Insurance Bill, H. R. 7598, al- | though there was not a single Com- | | munist there. also the fact that the | A. F. of L. got its mass support for | | the Wagner Bill and only recently A. F. of L. locals are now beginning to discuss the Workers Bill, and in | some cases adopting it; or the fact; | that militant workers were defeated as delegates to the I. L. G. W. U. | National convention by 10 and 13 | vetes respectively although a third militant worker was elected, and all) jthis without any organized work | | by the opposition. This shows the | | possibili with good organiza- | work. We must further | | stress that in the many Federai!| | Unions, organized on a shop basis jaud made up of workers belonging to the A. F, of L. with a belief that a “One outstanding achievement the Page Fivé ican Workers Party”---Backers New Deal in Labor’s Ranks Blue Eagle’s Supporters Cannot Lead Struggle Against It fo for truck and to organize own in 5 breaking. and the I the of Ameri Want Government Arbitration The A. W. P. also wants the American workers to rejoice bee cause ernment is concerns ing itself with employer-employe relationships.” Some time earl the A. W. P. said, in of April 15, 1933, w! endorsing Senator Black's stagger bill, “Yes, t ynamite in it It h a prece edent for government regulation of hours and wages in the interest of workers and not profiteers.” What benefits have the workers gained from this fatherly “cone cern” of the government with. the struggle against their bosses? When, if ever, has the American capitalist government regulated “hours and wages in the interest of kers and not profiteers’? when do people, not o calling temselves “revoll- ionists,” but honest trade union- favor “government tion of h s and wages"? Is this not precisely what the American workers are tod ing against over a wide strike front? The A. W. P. pretends to differ with—and at times n “eritie cizes”—the corrupt and tréacheroug policies of the Socialist Party and A. F. of L, officials. This it does in order to decoy the leftw moving masses from their tion—towards the Com Party. Its left phrases are it cial manner of doing what évery other brand of social-fascism is doing, namely, supporting the cap- italist system. As a supporter of Roosevelt, the “sincere” gentleman, of the “good” sides of the N. R. A., the A. W. P, maneuvers with the Roosevelt ad- ministration and the N. R. A. The A. W. P. cannot be trusted with leadership in the struggle of the workers against Roosevelt and the N. R. A. Those who were—ard still are—the advisers of the New Deal in the ranks of the workers cannot be the fighters against it. Behind the radical and revolu- tionary words of the A. W. P. hiddén their reactionary treacherous phrases are and union is an instrument of struggle, there is every opportunity to develop real mass work and win not only influence but leadership over such masses. As yet there is no real rooted bureaucracy there, although we must see the consciotis policy of Green & Company to de= velop a new crust of the bureauc- racy, if we do not act quickly. lecause of continued betrayals of many strike struggles by the A. F, of L. some workers begin to quaé- tion whether strikes can be won. We must answer definitely that strikes can be won. We must popu- larize the strike policy of the T. U. U. L. unions and show concrete ex- amples of winning strikes and how to conduct strikes. In such casés as Chase Brass, where because” of a series of events including extreme government terror, injunctions and the role of the A. F. of L. and S. P., including some shortcomings of the Party and T. U. U. L. leadership (which requires a separate article) Wwe were not able to win the strike, we must show the policy pursued in the interests of the strikers. In A. F. of L.-led strikes we must popularize the need of rank and file strike committees, mass picket- ing, daily meetings of strikers, the need of spreading strikes, no ar- bitration, and refusal to go back to work until demands are granted, and no acceptance of N. R. A, Board intérference. No splitting of the ranks of the strikers by sending back one group while others remain out on strike, or the raising of the cry of “Reds” against the Commu- nists who are the best fighters in the interests of the workers. During this past period the Party has reacted to the strike struggles better than previously. Some small steps towards mass work within the A. F. of L. are being started. As yet the reaction has been too much from the leading committees alone, without the entire Party being ac- tively involved and conscious of this work. Our revolutionary army is still too much separated from the masses of factory workers—still too sectarian. The District Convention resolu- tion and Control Tasks stated sharply the problem before the Party as follows: “The central task of the entire Party—with particular emphasis. on initiative by the units and sec- tions and a drastic change in the orientation of the language bu- reaus—is to speedily adjust itself. to leading these workers in these developing struggles, particularly. strike struggles. The key task is with the Communists in the face tories and A. F. of L. unions ... In c through the central task of leading the strike strug- gles in the shops, we must be ag= gressive in organizing the T: U. U. L. unions, but wherever the A. F. of L. or independent unions have a foothold, the revolutionary duty of each Communist is to join such locals and become a leader on the basis of championing 1 interests of the workers,” This is the central task that—wn must be determined to, carry through, a