The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 1, 1934, Page 5

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1934 Systematic Activity Urged | In Company Unions by C. P. Page Fi A.F.L. Rank and File Seethes in Protest WALL STREET’S CAPITOL By SEYMOUR WALDMAN : a, emawaen! = WASHINGTON, Aug. 31—The'! forget it. But, sir, there's som ainst Oo ea ers oe ae Se <eieas political representatives of that sec-| thing higher. oble in life— Scores Passive Policy| For instance, Charles R. Hook,| placed nominations on the ballot| Proposes Methods for 2 of the American ruling class | humanitarian nanitariane ‘ 5 : “| President of the American Rolling|and then elected the Tepresenta- | - bs : of bankers, in rialists and ism arrayed a | S Bons, m4 - in Dealing with Mill Company, declared: “We don't | tives in each department, thereby| Winning Over Men in qaaitiarae 90; oom iol the: Fepaib-| Aiepas (0s i mepey: kul eee 7 i ab ‘i ¥ ” at ji % A te rty are s ing every |g ch th orabl 2 Members Have on Many Occasions Taken Affairs Big Problem Diahied why they doctt wane “labor | use were ty fea ee 2°| Boss-Run Unions —. |nerye to coavince works and|A. Parley, Postmaster Genaat into Their Own Hands, Over-riding Policies and Actions of Reactionary Officials By MARTIN YOUNG The ranks of the American Fed- eration of Labor are seething with discontent against the policies and actions of their leaders. Against the will of their bureaucratic officials, the membership of the A. F. of L. hajve on nummerous occasions taken thf: affaira of their organization into thyeir own hands and fought for the improvement of their conditions aha for the rights of their union y ‘ganization. The boss class sees this taking place and is afraid of it. The cap- italist press is seriously discussing how to meet “the growing ascend- ency of ‘rank and file’ workers, their distrust of their older leaders and their increasing suspicion of goy- ernmental boards and _ function- aries... York Times of August 5, 1934). This same Louis Stark, who is the ” (Louis Stark in the New/ i prohibit workers from striking, and establish greater government con- trol of trade unions. The New York Telegram of August 22 carried the following dispatch of the United Press: “Organized employers are planning a drive at the next session of Congress to place legal restric- tions on the activities of labor unions.” The strike-breking Man- ufacturers’ Association is circulariz- ing the British Labor Disputes Act which illegalized general strikes, to serve as a model for similar legisla- tion in the United States. The cap- italist class of the U. S. knows that the Communist Party will throw all its energies into mobilizing all mem- bers of trade unions, all workers to defend their unions from govern- ment attack, to defend their rights to strike and to uphold the consti- tutional rights of the workers and theirr organizations. The bosses know that to defeat the workers they must first of all fight the Com- By BILL GEBERT One of the outstanding results| of the policies of the Roosevelt New| Deal is-the growth of the company) unions. There is no available data on the exact number of workers in the company unions, but the figures run somewhere between 3,500,009 to 5,000,000 workers. The company unions have been | organized with the introduction of the N-R.A. in such basic industries as steel, metal, auto, railroad, min-; ing and have been strengthened in: the packing industry. That is, in the basic industries the capitalist class undertook to organize the workers into openly controlled! unions dominated by them. It is} clear to everybody that these com-! pany unions are the base for fas- cist organizations in the shops. 1 It is true that the company unions existed before the introduc- tion of the N.R.A. But they em- bodied a smaller number of workers and existed in fewer and less basic industries, We can very definitely plained why they don’t want “labor | disputes” and especially trade unions, because, quoting Mr. Hook, “Labor Unions depend upon co- ercion to force the highest possible wage rates.” Ernest T. Weir, Chairman of the National Steel Corporation, is also for company unions because they are “promoting industrial peace,” and “co-operation between Ployers and employes and not an- tagonisms.” So, the objective set by these two steel magnates as the tasks of *the company unions is well defined. The company unions are to main- tain “industrial peace,” which means exploitation and misery for the workers, fat profits for the bosses. This is the main objective of the company unions. The company unions are fully controlled by the respective cor- poration or enterprise. This has also been openly proclaimed at the said hearing, We will here quote John Larkin, General Chairman of the Employes’ Representatives of em- | | penses were paid by the company. At the first formation of the com- Pany union there were some clauses that limited election of representa- tives to the men employed by the company only. Then, to comply with the N.R.A., the company in- troduced some amendments to the | original constitution of the com- pany union and openly proclaimed | through the General Superintend- ent of the Illinois Steel Company (subsidiary of the U. S. Steel Cor- poration) that the changes proposed are “deemed desirable by the recent interpretations of the N.R.A.” That is, changes were introduced for the purpose of making the company union apear as the wish and desire of the workers, the Communist Party and the locals of the Steel and Metal Workers In- dustrial Union in the steel mills in the Calumet Steel Region, espe- | clally in the Illinois Steel, in Gary | and South Chicago undertook a real |campaign of exposure and called | | upon the workers to vote “No” and Against this fakery shop units of | company ordered new elections, we felt that we were already suffi- ciently strong to defy openly the wishes of the company. | We issued a slogan this time not | | to vote and not to place candidates. Out of nearly 600 workers, only about 150 participated in the elec- tions, very definitely showing that we won the majority of the work- ers, at least against the company union. In the Chicago Hardware Foundry Company, the local of the Steel and Metal Workers’ Industrial Union issued a leafiet on the experiences of the workers with the company | union which we cite in full as one| of the examples of methods of| struggle against company unions. The leaflet reads as follows: “After a year’s experience with Mr. Sherven’s company union we are worse off today than ever be- | fore. Layoffs increasing, speed- | up intensified, low wages and ir- regular hours are our lot. If the job does not pass the inspection | farmers not yet conscious of their revolutionary task and position that Franklin Delano Roosevelt is tear- ing at a breakneck speed in the direction of Kark Marx. Their appeals to support the Con stitution and to oppose “regimenta- tion” are but camouflaged slogans for what is intrinsically a back- to-Hoover movement. Picturing the New Deal as a wild, radical, ter- ribly expensive venture is the tac- tic designed to entice employers now happy under the beak of the predatory Blue Eagle. “Regimenta- tion” is the cafchword intended to frighten into the Republican fold those of the lower middle class, the intellectuals and professionals, and workers not yet free of the anti- Soviet poison injected into their veins for so many years by innu- merable capitalist propaganda or: gans, Farley’s “Humanitarianism” Roosevelt's and Jim Farley's Democratic Party, the rival group desirous of continuing to represent America’s ruling class, repeat tire- Chairman of the Democratic Nae tional Committee and former boxe ing mogul of New York, sees ope posed to the New Deal, in the ine numerable speeches uttered by him. A Farley speech may mark the laying of a post-office cornerstone Hogwash, Mississippi, or it may imply be intended to “ackn edge my appreciation of the dri spirit, the firm, courageou: loyal leadership of your own M Prank Ha: of Jersey City,” Democratic National Com: man w conducted the police Tor in his city against workers’ peaceful picketing. But, whatever e occasion, Fare ley, Roosevelt mouthpiece and pows erful New Dealer, is always glad to have the cogs of his machine “on our side, fighting with us against @ common enemy—the selfish forces of money and power and greed— the blind react hat today r the o tion day labor “expert” of the Times, after | A : declare that with introduction of| the Weirton Steel Company. He|to paste stickers h | many times it is scrapped ana | ‘¢S*ly that it has the proper respect | that the examining the labor situation in the| munisis, This is one reason that| tne R.A. more workers have been| was asked the question “How inane ey ere ae 6, pes maine athe tis we for property and all that that liberal 1 country, comes to the conclusion) the A. F. of L. leaders, as true serv-| rorceq into the company unions.| your organization (the company! forms of company unionism. 1| put in. To complain about this |°*°'e Cow signifies. Yes, sir. Don’t Party is more that “undoubted signs of revolt,) ants of the master class, have|1, tact more have been forced into| union) financed?” Mr. Larkin an- stand for the right of the workers| to the company union, as indi- | _ gs ___|it will bring you S surging up from the bottom, give/chosen this moment to Aight the/ company unions than have wil-|swered: “It ts finanoed by $85 pald|to join genuine trade urine ‘vida is freien ~|that here at last is a philosop evidence that the ‘rank and file Communist Party. lingly joined the A.F.L., inde-|by the company per month for) In this campaign we received “Tomorrow the company union | ‘UCch problems as wages. In addi- oF government that nee members of many unions are ‘on &| Furthermore, on Oct. 1, the Fifty-| pendent unions and the Trade | every representative that is elected.” | port from a lerge’ number of trol will haves meeting, FELLOW | tion to this, social and sport activi- | values first.” (August 25, 1934, Sea i Tampage.’| These signs continue to} fourth National Convention of the|~nion Unity League in the last|He was asked the question “Who workers, including those organized| WORKERS! Get together in | ‘ies are well developed by the) Sirt, N. J., speech) i multiply, but are perhaps more evi-| A. F. of L, will take place, William | period. Naturally, this presents | pays-the expenses of printing bal-|into the Amalgamated Association| every department, discuss your |COMPany unions. There are base-| What the N.R.A. Has Done Gent in the mass production and| Green and the A. F. of L. bureau-|to our Party and the revolutionary | lots and other expenses of the com- of Iron, Tin and Steel Workers.| grievances and demands and | al teams, libraries, swimming| Great numbers of American basic industries than elesewhere. cracy want to be assured of absolute} trade union movement (Trade|pany union?” His answer was:| ‘These methods of struggle against | present them to the company | Pools, tennis courts, etc. Yes, rifle) workers and farmers still believe What are these “signs of revolt”) control of the convention. They/ Union Unity League and opposition| “The company pays an assessment the company unions gave us an op-| union meeting. DEMAND AC- | clubs are also organized. So the that Roosevelt is “radical” in the in the local unions of the A. F. of| want to stamp out every opposition | inside of the AFL. and Railroad|of 50 cents per head. The repre-/| portunity to reach many workers.| TION. Our families cannot live |°°Mpany enters into all fields of | sense that he wants to do some- L.? Why is there “increasing sus-|to their leadership. They want to! Brotherhoods), a problem of tre-| sentatives ask the company to pay| When the nominations and elec-| on loose promises and hot air. activities, drawing the workers into| thing about unemployment insur~ picion of governmental boards”? It ane every voice eae will expose | mendous importance. them for each and every man that! tions of the representatives of the “DEMAND: these activities under the pressure | ance, that he wants to produce the their an is almost universally known how in every struggle the A. F. of L. leaders betrayed the workers, forced them to give up strikes on the verge of victory, disarmed them in the face of open onslaughts of the enemy, disorganized their ranks at times when the workers were most ready for strike action with good assurance treachery corruption. These leaders hope that with the expulsion of Communists from the unions they will escape the criticism of their membership. ‘Then there is also this fact to con- sider! For the last fifteen months hundreds of thousands of workers As to the methods of work in the company unions and the policy toward the company unions. In our Party and even among some leading comrades, there is a tendency to simply ignore the company unions, | or to declare abstractly “boycott the company unions” or “smash the works in the company 50 cents for the fund to finance the organiza- tion.” He was asked another ques- tion: “Why is it that the company pays all the expenses?” He an- swered: “Well, to explain that, there are a lot of men that work in the departments took place, because of our previous activities in some of the departments in the Illinois Steel Mill members of our Party were nominated as candidates. The workers in the departments carried on quite an effective campaign for the election of our candidates on 1, 30 hours a week. 2. 80 cents an hour for unskilled labor. 3. Other trades 30 percent in- crease in wages. 4, Abolition of the company | union and the right to organize and join a union of our own | | that refusal of participation in these activities might mean expul- sion from the job, and especially in this period of unemployment, the workers are not so ready to defy the powerful trusts. 3. In the departments where elec- tions of representatives of the com- better life, that he wants to tilt with evil as personified by the re- pudiated Hoover G.O.P. The bar- Tage of demagogic publicity attend- ing the birth, youth and adolescence of the New Deal was so intense that these workers and farmers be- lieve all this despite the Roosevelt Administration codification of near have Joined the A. F. of L. unions./ company unions.” ‘These are ex-| various mills on laboring jobs, and | the basis of struggle against com-| choosing. |Peny union ocounctis are taking va ages i 2 N, Sremecee T'S wnappened in the | Hundreds of Federal locals were or-| pressions of good desires, but not| such as that, and 1t Mea Gea) iahy anicalnie fe ths Tight to be-| 5. For WORKERS' UNEM. | Pltce, it is possible to elect revolu- | St##vation wages in the N. R. A. automobile and steel industries, in . 7 , the San Francisco general strike and the bureaucrats of the United Textile Workers are hoping to find a way to do. the same in the na- ganized. They have joined in the hope that the A. F. of L. will lead them in the struggle for better con- ditions and maintenance of their solutions to the problem. We can- not have a negative position toward the problem of the company unions. Neither ca nwe have a passive pol- crime to take money off of a man making 40 cents or 42% cents an hour working 40 hours a week to pay to any institution, would it long to unions of their own choos- ing, for formation of department committees, raising also economic demands for the right to organize PLOYMENT INSURANCE BILL | HR7598. | 6. Against speed-up. “Join a real rank and file union tionary workers to the company union council, not for the purpose of improving the company unions, not for the purpose of democratizing codes, des ite the increase in profits accomp! ng the appreciable drop of wor! real wages, despite the sacrifice of the little to the big farmer, despite the imperialist war : Tights as union men. Today, many icy such as is implied in the slogan| not? Would not it be better to |and the right to strike. —the STEEL AND METAL, | them, bout for the purpose of work-| preparations, despite the leading tional textile strike which is to be-| of these workers are disillusioned. | “noycot;. the company unions.” Bet somebody to finance a thing | On the basis of this camapign, in) WO R KER S$’ INDUSTRIAL | ‘8 toward the destruction of the| part played by it in the fascist ter= gin tonight. | Some locals, disgusted with the A-| hat we are against the company like that? If they had to pay |a number of departments our can-| UNION.” company union. Through these| ror which helped the business exec The workers also know that in|F. of L, are sending back their every instance where the A. F. of L. officials forced them to turn over their just demands for settlement and arbitration to the various gov- ernment boards they were always forced to return without any gains. From their own experience the workers learned that section 7-A of the N. R. A. is not the “new charter of rights for labor” so widely her- alded by the A. F. of L. leaders. They have seen the N. R. A. as a strikebreaker and promoter of com- pany unions. The capitalist class bemoans the inability of its governmental strike- breaking machinery to prevent the struggles of the workers. In the weekly magazine Today of Aug. 11, the unofficial mouthpiece of the New Deal, R. L. Duffus writes as charters. Whatever gains they have made, whatever rights they have won, were because the workers took leadership into their own hands and fought against the bosses, the police, the National Guards and the strike- breaking A. F. of L. leaders. From the ranks of the workers came for- ward new trade union leaders, sin- cere fighters for their class, many of whom are still working in the shops. The bourgeoisie and the A. F. of L, bureaucracy looks disdain- fully on their militant rank and file leaders. Louis Stark of the Times expreses this when he _ writes, “Wherever the leaders spring up from the ‘rank and file’ and rub el- bows with their fellows in the mills and factories they tend to look ask- ance at the slow, perhaps plodding, unions, that our objective is to de- stroy and smash company union- ism we don’t need to argue, The problem is how to go about it. That is, shall fe only in a general way speak against the company unions or shall we develop methods of work that will really lead toward the destruction of the company unions as such? Before we attempt to answer and analyze this question on the basis of concrete experience, we want to say in a few words what the company union really is. In April, this year, a public hearing took place before the U. S. Senate Committee on Education and Labor on the so-called “Wagner Labor | Disputes Bill” to which hearing heads of the large trusts and repre- into that institution it would be just robbing them.” This explains very clearly that. the company unions are body and soul controlled by the bosses. It also exposes the starvation wages paid to workers in plants controlled by the company unions. We will now examine some of the concrete expereince in struggle against the company unions in the Chicago District. In the steel mills of the Calumet Steel Region, com- pany unions were introduced in June, 1933. These company unions were formed more or less in the following manner: The fireman in the department Picked a group of workers in whom he had complete confidence and called them to a meeting. He told didates received quite a large vote and in one department a member of the Party was elected as repre- sentative of his department to the company union council. This com- rade is quite active in his depart- ment and strengthened the workers around him organizationally and politically. This is not our only experience. We have a few others, In a large metal shop in Chicago employing 6,600 workers a little over 6 months ago, when the plan for a company union has been introduced, over | 90 percent of the workers voted in the company union. In this elec- tion, because of our activities, a | number of Party members and close ympathizers were elected. They influenced others, and as a result we We wish to conclude this article with drawing the necessary con- clusions: 1. The company unions are being built by the respective corporations because they feel that the leader- ship of the A.F.L. will be unable to control workers if they join the AF.L, , Although they have com- | plete confidence in the Greens, Lewises and company, they fear the workers below. There are good reasons for this. There have been a number of strikes lead by the newly organized locals of the A-F.L. Therefore, in the basic industries, | the bosses are depending upon both | the leaders of the AFL. and the company unions. They do not ex-| clude each other, but rather supple- ment each other, means we are able to and will be able to undermine, yes, and sooner and later to smash the company unions. logical, agitational and organiza tional attack upon the company unions directly by the Communist Party unions of the Trade Union Unity League, independent unions and opposition movement inside of the AF.L. As a matter of fact, the struggle against the company unions gives us an opportunity to establish the broadest possible united front in the shops against the company unions, especially with the members of the A.F.L. But only to speak against the company unions, without working from with- in will cut us off from the workers. | the general strike from the Pac This work from within does | not replace our correct main ideo- | utives’ Industrial Association sw ep 1c Coast after the signal was given by N. R. A. Administrator General Hugh 8. Johnson. This is the stage on to which the popular dissatisfaction with the New Deal, resentment toward the |fascist deeds of the Roosevelt Ad | ministration and of the California | employer class, and a strong feeling |for a real change dropped Upton |Sinclair, former Socialist Party |luminary who effected his change of political habitat painlessly. We need not discuss the monu= | mental demagogy of a capitalist ;party nominee who promises to |“end poverty in California,” to end ‘a disease inherent in capitalism within the framework of a capi ist state. a navel We will drift into passivity instead Nor the contradiction in- snnigne ‘ sentatives of company unions ap-| them that the company plans to or-| were able to undermine the com-| 2. There are some workers in| lithe pare a at gt Sone: aes ie Revonel Soria Mie ee ie a pea peared to give testimony. Thei*) ganize a company union. The com-| pany union to such an extent that|shops who are influenced by the om, RLY t ae Nein a prorekin nebetatt iy ae aiing the THE an Gstanda ct cue © testimonies are really illuminating | pany then issued a call for elec-| we built quite a powerful local of|company union. We already indi-| 4: The weakness of our work in Br ee labor and capital sufficiently to pre- vent widespread industrial warfare.” Nor does the bourgeoisie think that the strike wave is already over. On the contrary. This R. L. Ruffus keeps on repeating in his articles “we are likely to have more strikes before we have fewer.” Only when we take these facts two recent statements of William Green. The first “threatening” the employers for their inability to solve the crisis, and the second which is a declaration of war upon the Com- munists, Of course, no intelligent worker who knows the record of William Green and the other A. F. of L. leaders takes Green’s demand for “nationalization of industry” seri- The A. F. of L. leaders know that. new union members and their rank and file leaders, and the old mem- bers of the Federation will fight them and will not permit them- selves to be continuously betrayed. That is why they are afraid of them. This is why the Executive Council _ of the A. F. of L. at its recent meet- into consideration can we realize | the purpose and significance of the ing in Atlantic City spoke of the trade union discipline in which the new membership will have to be trained. In practice it means the new A. F. of L. members will be told they must obey the leaders, they must not object when they are sold out. This is the bureaucrats’ con- ception of trade union discipline. ‘ In this question the role of the Communists is very much involved. These new trade union members in the A. F. of L, not having any pre- as to the character of the company unions, STATEMENT OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY, DIST. 9 After a period of more than five weeks of militant struggle and great sacrifices on the part of the strikers and the working class sympathizers, the Minneapolis truck drivers’ strike has been called off with the accept- ance of P. A. Donaghue’s and the Regional Labor Board’s proposals for arbitration. “The Peace Agreement” Elections. The very heart of this agreement is contained in the pro- ® tions. These picked workers then became agents for the company, the Steel and Metal Workers’ In- dustrial Union. When recently the cated in this article that the com-| pany unions do take up sometimes Costmainiat : Party Analyzes ‘Minneapolis Treek Seriice | Conflict Could Have Been Won, But Was Defeated) tiance and Governor Olson raised by Its Leadership, District 9 C. P. States young workers in the industry by the following provisions: “It is un- derstood that the minimum wages herein specified do not apply to boys temporarily employed on small package delivery trucks and they shall not be submitted to arbitra- tion.” and cowardly leadership, they will land in defeat. This is why the Communist Party of Minneapolis has from the very first day of the first truck drivers’ strike in Minne- apolis up to the last minute warned the workers against the Dunne- Skoglund-Trotskyite leadership of | to victory pointed out by the Com- the “red scare” for the specific pur- pose of preventing the workers of Minneapolis from taking the road munists. The leadership of Local 574 gave a helping hand to the “red scare” by themselves howling against the Communist Party and the Daily Worker. All this led to} defeat for the strikers. What Must Be Done? The workers must learn the great | lessons of this strike to assure them the company unions was and still is that we don’t sufficiently utilize the struggle against company union- ism for building of the unions of the TUU.L. or opposition movement inside of the A.F.L. (naturally de- pending on the conditions In a given factory or department), and we are not always skillful enough and able enough to carry the strug-| gle against the bureaucracy of the A.F.L. and exposing it to the work- ers, but the experiences obtained by us already in a number of steel and metal shops, where this work has been developed to some extent, shows clearly to us that it is abso- lutely necessary to work within the company unions for the purpose of their destzuction, with the possibili- | ty of winning over the majority of the workers, as was demonstrated signed to efface poverty. “A Good Democrat” At this time it is important to | Stress to the thousands of work- jers and farmers who voted for Sin- clair the ridiculousness of a pro- gram which professes to seck “to bring the Democratic Party (nest- jing place of Vincent Astor, Teagle of Standard Oil, the Harrimans, |Gerard Swope and others of their | kidnmey—S. W.) of California into j line with the forward looking prin= | ciples of the New Deal.” | Of course, the press report that |Sinclair changed his registration |from Socialist September be- | cause he believed in the determina- |tion of President Roosevelt to make the New Deal a reality,” and Fed- jeral Relief Administrator Hopkins’ | statement, “What do I think of it? I think it’s great stuff. Sure, I'm in one metal shop in Chicago. |for him. He's on our side. A So= ously. The capitalist class took this) vious experience with the A. F. of| Visions for a so-called “fair” elec-| Minimum Wage. The agreement | Local 574. at itizens? of victory in future battles. The| ‘The company unions as yet ace|cialist? Of course net! He's a statement for what it was worth.|1, bureaucracy, not being fully fam-| tion to determine the right of Local| Completely ignores the question of) The employers and the Citizens’| fundamental truth is that only not fascist organizations in the|Democrat. A good Democrat,” ile The A. F. of L. leaders wanted to 574 to represent the drivers, helpers| Minimum wage, which was origi-| Alliance used their open agents,| Communists, fearless workers and scare those obstinate rulers of in- dustry who as yet do not call for their services and do all the strike- breaking themselves and in their own way. This statement was de- signed primarily to have the rank and file membership believe that the A. F. of L, leaders have also some “criticism” to make of the capital- ists and the capitalist system. It was aimed to conceal the close tie- up between the A. F. of L. leaders and the bosses. It was aimed to white-wash the past strike-breaking of the leaders. Green knows that his position on the San Francisco general strike, his strike-breaking role in the threatened auto and steel strikes have not made him too popular with the Federation mem- bership and the workers in general. The recent textile workers’ conven- tion indicated it. What Was the Statement? The second statement of William Green is a call to the A, F. of L. to drive all Communist from its ranks. In its reply to William Green, the Central Committee of the Communist Party correctly said: “The attack of Mr. Green is proof of the fact that his policies are not meeting with success, that the work- ers are more and more taking the path of straggle against the cap- italists.” Green’s attack upon the Communists is really an attack upon the workers, upon the members of the A. F. of L, who refused to let the bosses destroy their union or- ganization, who refused to see them- selves betrayed by the A. F. of L. munists established the rights of the workers to organize in trade unions, who won higher wages and improvement of workers conditions. There are, however, a few other factors to consider. In the next ses- sion of Congress the bosses and the pect to iliar with all their tricks and pol- icies, are often easy prey for these reactionaries to whom the workers even at times entrust their leader- ship. Likewise, the new militant rank and file leaders are very often, because of their inexperience with the A. F. of L. bureaucracy, won over with all sorts of promises as well as threats, and while the robot reactionaries take over the leader- ship of the struggle, they are re- Jegated to the background and kept as a sort of window dressing. However, when Communists are active amongst these new trade union forces, the determination of the workers is unshakeable, their struggles are most militant and the A. F. of L. fakers are kept out of their affairs. This is another reason why Green and the A. F. of L. bureaucracy are now making their attack upon the Communists. Will the A. F. of L. succeed in expelling the Communists from the unions and thereby betray the struggles of the workers and deprive them of militant and honest leader- ship, which leads their fights for higher wages, shorter hours and the protection of their interests? No, they will not. Because the Com- munists are more and more entrenched in the unions. Be- cause “To an increasing extent they (the workers) are fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Communists for militant trade unions able to win concessions from the bosses.” (From the statement of the Com- munist Party). Not the Commu- nists alone will meet Green’s de- ship who see the Communists as the most far-sighted leaders and militant fighters for their interests. To accomplish this task, all Party members must immediately respond to the call of the Central Commit- tee “to increase their efforts to win the A. F. of L. workers for class struggle trade union policies.” and inside workers. In this elec- tion, the employers have reserved for themselves the upper hand and a practical guarantee for company unionism in most of the establish- ments. The election will be super- vised by the Regional Labor Board headed by Mr. Cronin, and an in- stitution already well known to the workers in Minneapolis for its faith- ful service to the employers. The employers will provide the list of those eligible to vote according to the payroll or list of employees as of July 16, 1934. But there can be no doubt in the minds of sensible workers that this list will be padded, that it will include scabs and friends of the bosses. The agree- ment provides that “representatives chosen by the majority shall bar- gain for all said employees eligible to vote.” which means that in the establishments where the union membership will find itself with a minority vote, which the employers will make certain in the elections, that no representatives of the union men will be recognized by the employers. This scheme of elec- tions in the shops, under supervi- sion of the employers and the N.R.A. machinery is a guarantee of victory for company unionism and for the employers. Wages. This agreement consents to the wages previous to the strike, throwing overboard even the piti- ful raise of 2% cents an hour laid down in the original Haas-Dunni- gan proposals, and it attempts to chain the workery down to this wage of 50 and 40 cents an hour for Inside Workers. It gives the recognition for inside workers to only 22 firms. It excludes the vast majority of more exploited workers in other firms even from a@ guaran- tee of the miserable 40 conts an hour and the right of union repre- sentation. Discrimination Against Youth and Package Delivery Men. It slaps the nally set by the union to be $27.50 and $22.50 per week, This provides the best weapon in the hands of the employers to drive workers into acceptance of their company union policy by dishing out only few hours’ of work during the week to those who will remain true to the union. Re-hiring and Blacklisting. The so-called preferential list for which this agreement provides will turn out to be nothing else but a list of those preferred by the employers. The employers are already refusing to give back their jobs to the most militant strikers under the excuse that there is not enough work. Arbitration. All disputes in re- gards to wages and working condi- tions are left to arbitration under the authority of the Regional Labor Board, just as in the May strike of the drivers. The drivers can expect nothing from arbitration except further attacks of the employers sanctioned by this labor-hating agency that was condemned even by the weak-kneed strike bulletin, the “Organizer.” . The only difference between this “Yeace agreement” and the original vicious proposals for settlement made by the employers, dominated by the Citizens’ Alliance, is a change in wording of the para- graphs dealing with the breaking of Local 574. And this is the agree- ment which the treacherous leader- ship of Local 574 recommended to the drivers for acceptance and even dared to call it a partial victory for the drivers. ~° Why is it that the drivers, the most militant section of Minneapo- lis workers, men who were ready to sacrifice their lives, as some of them did (H. Ness and J. Belor), have to submit to thase terms of the Citizens’ Alliance? The an- swer is plain. No matter how mili- tantly the workers fight, if they submit themselves to treacherous murderous Bainbridge and Jo- hannes to crush the strike by open terror. They celebrated Bloody Fri- day, but the strike was still solid, and the determination of the strik- ers to win was increased by the sacrifices they had made on Bloody Friday. But what the employers and the Citizens Alliance could not accomplish through Bainbridge and Johannes, they have succeeded in accomplishing through the actions of Governor Olson and his lieuten- ants in the Central Labor Union and in the State Federation of La- bor, the Roy Weirs, Cramers, Nel- sons, Cunninghams and Halls and the Dunne- Skoglund, Goldman leadership. Stabbing the Workers in the Back With nice phrases and words of friendship to the workers, Olson tok from the strike:s their main weapon by prohibiting pick- eting through martial law. He established the military permit sys- tem for scabbing. He threw into the military stockade the most mili- tant fighters, the leaders of the picket line. Under these condi- tions, only the proposed program of the Communist Party of Minneapo- lis to violate the martial law, to continue mass picketing, to broad- en the strike by calling cut all Lo- cal 574 men and by appealing to the rank and file members of the American Federation of Labor over the head of the A. F. of L. leaders could have saved the strike, could have re-established the right of picketing for Local 574 and won the strike. But the leadership of Local followed the shameful path of truce with Olson, refused to expose the Cramers and Roy Weirs and apzeal to the rank and file of the A. F. of L, for symvathy action. They have joined with the Central Labor Union bureaucrats in the strangl- ing of the development of sympathy general strike with the drivers. The employers, the Citizens Al- militant fighters against the capi- ta’jst class can give loyal leader- ship to workers in their struggle for higher wages, for union rights, for better working conditions, for more relief and for the final vic- tory of the workers. ‘We call upon all drivers, helpers and inside workers to reorganize their ranks and prepare for further struggle for their demands. Re- organize your ranks around your original demands, the $27.50 mini- mum for drivers, the recognition of Local 574, for the immediate re- instatement of all blacklisted work- ers, against the discrimination of the young workers and the pack- age delivery men. This cannot be done without building in your union a strong and militant opposition movement to the treacherous lead- ership of the A. F. of L. and their Trotskyite lickspittles. This cannot be done without placing at the helm of Local 574 those workers who showed their fighting ability on the picket lines, who were determined to break the Olson Farmer Labor forces stand- ing in the way of victory. Build your union on a militant program; make Local 574 the fighting union of the drivers; vote against the company agents and company unionism; vote fer Local 574 in the elections. We call upon all workers, mem- bers of the A. F. of L. unions, to build groups of militants within their organizations to take these unions out of the hands of ‘the bosses agents and place them in We call upon the most militant workers, the fighting pickets of 574 | and their syenath renks of the the Daily Worker, the workers’ pa- per in the United States. COMMUNIST PARTY, U.S.A, District. No. 9, 213 De Soto Bldg., Minneapolis, shops in the sense as we see fascist organizations in the shops in Italy and Germany, where they are com- pletely dominated bythe state and the bosses. We don’t have that situation here. We have the com- pany unions dominated by the em- ployers and not yet by the state. But there is already close working between the State and the employ- ers in this direction. We sce it clearly in the decisions on the Weir- ton and auto situation, where the Roosevelt New Deal Government gave not only objective, but direct support to the company union. We must see this clearly, and in work- ing in the company unions we must strengthen our struggle not only against the employers, but against the capitalist state as personified today by the Roosevelt administra- tion, lustrates how nicely Sinclair fits into the Roosevelt scheme of things. They also illustrate that the only way out for the workers and farm- ‘ers in California and the other 47 states is a workers’ and farmers’ ;government, the program of the ;Communist Party—genuine unem= pioyment insurance as provided for }in the Workers Social and Unem- 'ployment Insurance Bill; the rights {of assemblage and free speech sups posedly guaranteed under the con- stitution; and measures against capitalist terror and imperialist war. As far as the interests of the working class are concerned, Sin- clair is also a “good Republican,” despite yesterday's rush of Senator Hastings, co-chairman of the Re- |publican Senatorial - Congressional | Committee to broadcest the state= ;™ment that “Mr. Sinclair is a Soe | cialist and a disciple of Karl Marx.” THE SPIRIT OF THE U. $ S% Re IS CONCENTRATED IN MOSCOW NOVEMBER Perhaps no one syribol of the U.S.S.R. the tremendous parade through Moscow's Red Square which marks each anniversary of the Soviet Union. It is an immense review of achievements, U.S.S.R. at all times offer scenes of unusual vitality to mem and women who must see for themselves... but Moscow on November 7 presents an intense concentration. and inspiring eluded. The Soviet Union is one country where the travel Round trip steamship fares doliar is preetientiy at par. from New York to Leninezed are as low your Joeal travel agent or write for INTOURIST, Inc. U.S. Representatives of the Travel Co. of the U.8.S.R,, 545 Fifth Avinue, New York is more foreeful then Moscow and the ‘You may isit Moscow and Leningrad for as little as $5 = day i st leaders, It is a war upon those mili- @ period of one year with the cost | The Strike Could Have Been Won; | 574 i a ye i was too yellow and treacherous|the hands of the rank and file| special class, and $8 a day tourist class. Meals, hotels, anos Tanase iS lk ieee er ek oe eee of living steadily rising. It_was Defeated by Its Leadership/to take such steps. Instead they | workers. sightseeing and transportation on tour in the U.S. In- as $170. Folder Consnlt 36, to on