Page SOCIALIST APPEAL February 5, 1998 UMW Gives Progressive Slates Win Lundeberg Party Resolutions In Lundeberg Victory Blank Check Hits Back TRADE UNION MOVEMENT and the To Roosevelt At Charges West Coast Seamen Show Their Determination To Follow Militant Leadership By Casting Huge Vote The following is the first installment of the resolution on the trade union question adopted by the convention of the Socialist Workers Party.
District Autonomy Is By Glen Trimble The Stalinists chief figure in Denounces Slanderous the Al Quittenton, ran SAN FRANCISCO. As usual for three offices and failed to The most important single field of activity of the revoluBlocked By Lewis Accusations Made Lionary proletarian party is the trade unions. Unless the party on the West Coast, the Sailors make the grade even as a trustec, Union Machine Union of the Pacific has taken though five were elected.
Against Seamen is deeply rooted in the basic economic organizations of the workthe lead in blazing the progres.
ing class, and is inseparably associated with them in their daily WASHINGTON, Thesive trail. The results of the an Election Results struggles, it can be, at best, a literary propagandist group but United Mine Workers convention nual elections overwhelmingly not a living revolutionary political party of the proletariat, able The annual elections in the WASHINGTON. Appearing to lead the latter in the decisive struggle for power. The party held here has adopted policies favor amalgation of the unlicens.
that is divorced from the trade union movement and its daily posesor John Lewis and the trial union afiliated to the Mari Oilers, Watertenders and Wipers Copeland Committee Harry Lun. work, is doomed to storility and disintegration. This is especi reflecting the basic aims and pur od samen into a united, indus. Pacific Coast Marine Firemen, recently at the hearings of the leadership. They indi timo Federation of the Pacific Association have also resulted in deberg, militant head of the ally true in the United States at the present time.
The outstanding characteristics of the working class movecate the trends that the Coast.
movement will follow in the com. standing in a general landslide a crushing defeat for the Stalin. Sailors Union of the Pacific, revigorous protest ment in the United States in the recent period are the enormous ing period.
for the progressive candidater ists and for the Stalinized gistered growth of trade union movements which now embrace millions Although over 200 resolutions and policies backed by the mili top staff on the West Coast. All against the establishment of a of workers never organized in the past; the development of the were introduced asking for the tant group headed by Harry coastwise officers. Secretary, Maritime Mediation Board as Assistant Secretary and Treasur. proposed in Senate Bill 3078. He as the moyement of the workers in the basic key and right to district autonomy (the Lundeberg.
one of the largest votes ever. branch agents at the three scored the flood of false propa contrasted with the classie of form of craft unions: the mass production industries, organized in industrial unions, as right of districts to elect their own officials) the Lewis admini cast. the West Coast Stalinized aside from San Francisco Head ganda charging American sesstration was able to forestall the took terrific dubbing quarters whose officers are the men with being undisciplined violent conflict between the of and the and the recent trend towards the unification of the two bodies; and the expansion of the powers and role of the federal government as democratic procedure by pushing and vicious campaign which in union heads) San Pedro, Port and inefficient, declaring it to through a spurious compromiso nived the expenditures of thous. lty of port patromen were releet: be not only untrue, but cumour mediator in the conflict between the workers and the emJands of dollars on radio broad led by the progressive seagoing lage to cover up the real reason ployers.
In the compromise resolution custs, leaflets, pamphlets, masy Giremen group. Stalinists won for the sickness of the American Most significant and promising of all recent phenomena in passed, the majority of the dis meetings, and on very the Agent at Honolulu and a San shipping industry.
the working class is the speedy growth of the movement tricts which are in dispute were ounce of talent was Francisco patrolman, chiefly be among the hitherto unorganized workers.
given the right to elect vicc. mustered but the mem cause of six and seven candi Lundeberg said, the seaman In the last few months, Essentially the of always was and today especially presidents and other minor off bership again proved its title to date fields.
is the organization of the skilled worker or the aristocracy of cials, but the key posts of pre the rating of most advanced secEven uptown the new line has been constantly accused of labor. With the exception of a few of its affiliates or of certain sident and secretary treasurer tion of the working class in the periods in its history, it pursued a deliberate policy of ignoring are still subject to appointment. Western United States by dis. is getting a working class kick lack of discipline, insubordination, the great mass of the unorganized proletarians in the basic inLewis intends to continue his counting the flood of hostile pro back, Two Stalinist bases of sup. and bad performance aboard dustries of the country. So far as organizing the mass produce iron hand control of the minersacanda and attack and holding Bly for every innocent front and ships. This publicity has been tion industries was concerned the craft union structure of the phoney.
union.
to a genuinely militant course. The Waiters Union, a strong unit carried on through the newsA. of made the achievement of that task practically imposReactionary Squabble For Roosevelt of the powerful miscellaneous papers, leading magazines, and sible.
The amalgamation resolution bloc in the labor council, defeat statements by various people in The o. movement represents a radical break with this Faith in Roosevelt was the key read: Are you in favor of the ed the entire heavily subsidized public office to such an extent note of all political speeches de amalgamation of the unlicensed! Stalinist slate and elected a re that by now the front pages of reactionary tradition. Under the banner of this movement livered and a special resolution seamen as divisions of a single, latively progressive group around the nation papers are covered hundreds of thousands of hitherto unorganized workers have of unqualified support to united, independent industrial Hugo Ernst. The Office Workers with stories about the undiscipswelled the ranks of organized labor, demonstrating the practicability and even the ease of organizing the masses of unapproved by the convention. No filiated with the Maritime Fedehut. overrun with Stalinists which in their language is ruina organized once the doors of unionism are throw open to them.
mention was made of the role of ration of the Pacific Coast!
that the latters election seemed ing the American Merchant MaMoreover, the movement has grown on the basis of the Roosevelt in the Little Steel Two thousand three hundred and sure, defeated every Stalinist rine. We know that these stories organization of the key and mass production industries of the strike betrayal, nor of the action eighty two sailors voted yes; candidate for individual office, are not based on fact but on country controlled by the most powerful financial oligarchs (rubof the miners executive board five hundred and sixty five No. allowing them only three out of assumptions.
ber. auto, steel, packinghouses, etc. Still more, it has shown condemning the role of the Fe. Only slightly less decisive was ten on the executive board in a that the only possible and feasible means of organizing big in deral Government at that time. the rejection of any entanglement proportional representation elecCites Federal Laws dustry and of preserving the unions is the industrial, or vertical The Lewis machine squashed at the present time in the tion. As a matter of fact, the structural form.
any rumors about beginning a of beef, which, on Clearly, the days of Stalinist United States federal laws take third party movement. Labor this coast, has degenerated into disruption in the San Francisco ample care of the handling of Non Partisan League was prais a thoroughly reactionary squabble labor movement are numbered!
Industrial Union an Essential Form undisciplined seamen. If a man ed and its policies approved. The between Stalinists and other rerefuses duty on the high seas on Contrary to the obsolete craft union structure of the American ships he can, accord of which is thoroughly reactionary and divisive, the indusas a buffer force between polis cards and machine control Shiroes Police Terror In ing to the laws, be prosecuted ticians and not for independent voted 2, 203 for Independence.
trial union corresponds entirely to the modern organization of for mutiny, which carries senpolitical action by the working The combined of and industrial life, made possible by the tremendous technological St. Louis Strike votes totaled only 641!
class, the speakers indicated.
tence of from three to five years. progress and consequent levelling workers to the plane The need for fighting against The coast wise referendum on Secondly, before an American of semi skilled or unskilled. Finally, the organization by the seaman goes to sea today, he wage cuts was realized and em coust and branch officers resultC. of the unskilled mass production industrial workers, the phasized by Lewis in his opening ed in a 21 to o victory for the Ford Workers Fight must sign articles before the most poorly paid and the least subject to petty bourgeois inaddress.
progressives and a crushing shut Provocations; Union out defeat for the Stalinists.
government certificate, called the fluences, produced a decisive change in the social composition Men Arrested High, Wide and Handsome Certificate of Efficiency. of the organized labor movement.
Lundeberg 2, 496 to 453 election He cited the Merchant Marine Up to that time, the latter was dominated overwhelmingly The salary of Lewis was rais ing but still typical of the vote Act of 1936. This in itself, he by the labor aristocracy, closely interwoven with the bourgeois ed from 12, 500 a year to 25. Of confidence given the entire up between the management of undisciplined crews. In fact, in ST. LOUIS. The vicious tie pointed out, takes care of any political parties, and presided over by a venctionary burenucracy 000, while Vice President Phillip which never encountered any really perilous proletarian opposithe St. Louis plant of the Ford our opinion, as we stated when Mas Kennedy get increases and Secretary Treasurer progressive slate.
Motor Co. and the St. Louis po we appeared before the House proletarian elements into unions drastically alters the relationtion in the ranks. Now, the organization of several million truly SO. CALIFORNIA lice and relief agencies has been committee on Merchant Marine Ship of forces in the organized labor movement. The unskilled, sent pay of 9, 000. At the last convention Lewis dramatically FIGHTS FOR ANARCHIST Striking Auto Workers here by law. We maintain that the truly moletarian forces are the predominant element in the refused a wage increase because union movement for the first time, and thus constitute a formi. 12, 500 was enough. The time forced on the union by company pection Service has more than dable power not only against the conservative labor bureaucracy for that sort of demagogy up of the American Civil Liberties workers in vehiring, has been on line under this act, and that The Southern California branch discrimination against militant enough power to invoke discip.
but also against capitalism itself.
parently has passed.
This is already indicated by the fact that, immediately upon The reactionary of Union has started a campaign since the last week in November, thereby anyone accusing the sea their organization into unions, and despite the fact that their put in behalf of Marcus Graham, Bert Gantner, personnel direct men of lack of discipline, is in squarely on the spot by Lewis well known philosophic anarchist or of the Ford plant, accompanies reality accusing the Department geoisie (or rather, precisely because of that fact. these masses employer represented the most powerful groups of the bourin his offer of unity between who after 18 years of persee the police every time the union of Commerce of failing in its the and the of tion by reactionary officials of headquarters are raided and se luties.
in the basic industries adopted the most advanced fighting tacLewis said the would the Department of Labor lects for arrest whatever memtics, encroaching directly upon the sacred property rights of be willing to march as a whole is now being threatened with bers he wants detained. He then Grounds of Opposition the bourgeoisie (sit in strikes. and conducted their struggles into the of on Feb. prison and deportation. directs the examination and in the most militant and aggressive manner, often disregard with of charters given Graham was first arrested in questioning of the arrested men Union of the Pacifie to the MeThe opposition of the Sailors of the restraining hand of the bureaucracy.
to all unions at once; or, 1919 and ordered deported to at police headquarters. It would diation Board was based, he said, It is indicated also by the fact that, scarcely having entered if the of wanted, il Canada, but the Canadian author be superfluous to say that the on the following reasons: the field of economic organization, they already showed their inclination to arm themselves with independent political organC. which would give charters 1921 he was arrested by New about warrants in making their. 11. It takes from the workers izations as well, to break with the traditional bourgeois parties immediately. convention of the York iniquitous Bomb Squad illegal raids.
their most important means of protection: strike action. which are also the traditional alternatives of the of united labor movement would land, after brutal third degree Provocateurs At Work It delays for months the political policy. and to create their own party. This highly then decide any question raised treatment, turned over to the authorities, settlement of grievances.
immigration by Juri etional claims, etc.
significant political tendency is weakened or checked but its The Labor Department jailed him for Strikers applying for relief It will ultimately put the existence is not disproved by the attempts of the o. lead.
Unity Approved six months.
are forced onto WPA jobs, sailors in the same category as ership to direct it back into old party channels or to distort it The next stage in the hound, though ordinarily relief appli the seamen of Italy, Germany The convention approved this when the Labor Department had cants are not handled in this and Russia, whose right to eco offer of unity.
him arrested on the trumped up way. This method naturally di nomic action has been completely Revolt Crystallizes The size of the convention and charge of having crossed the minishes the number of strikers taken away from them and conthe power of John Lewis were United States border into Mexico available for picket duty, and sequently their conditions are In Newsstand Union impressive testimony that the without a permit. The only evi active union work.
are not what they want, but NEW YORK. During the number of acid throwing what have been forced upon them last two weeks rank and file miners union. was intact and the fact that he was found in cases, in which new Ford cars by edict.
that talk by of burcav possession of a copy of An and even some Ford scabs have We, as seamen, believe we revolt has begun to crystallize crats that the is a mere Anthology in Local 906B of the of Revolutionary been the targets, have occurred should have the same right as Retail Newsstand Employees passing phase, is sheerest non. Poetry which he had compiled recently and naturally have so other American workers, the Union against the Stalinist is still the and edited. nation wide pro riously injured the union po right to have a direct voice in leadership.
powerful, historically progres, test by well known authors and pularity. There is little doubt the determination of our own Discontent has been created sive movement and the miners educators forced the Labor De that these incidents are the work working conditions.
by the manner in which the union is its stronghold, partment to dismiss the proceed of agents provocateurs, and the Defends Union Power Stalinists precipitated the unings.
union members are leaving to (Continued from page 1)
prepared strike against the Widick Flays Hague Then followed official harass stone unturned to find the actual Seamen are entitled to the they did not take part in the Collier Service Corporation ment of the monthly publication, aggressors. Naturally, each such on the and Continued from page Man, of which Graham is event is the signal for mass ar prompt adjustment of grievances Unity Conference in San Franlines, fostering false illusions editor. Subscribers were visited rests of union members. Abso by means of direct negotiation cisco on January 17. Therefore and faith in the State Labor support to this struggle since it by immigration inspectors and lutely no evidence has been found But all experience has shown we will have to force them to Relations Board until the strike spells the beginning of Hague threatened with prosecution un to link any unionist with these that negotiations can be fruit unite with us.
ful only if the unions have the These arguments were squel was lost.
end as the pompous, am the less they cancelled their sub. tacties.
power and freedom to back up ched by proof that men The Stalinists have been oflaw political over lord, Widick scriptions.
Publicity Backing reasonable demands by strike sail from the halls; that fering no opposition to the emphasized.
In October, 1937, Graham was action. This proposal would tie seamen from all unions were on wholesale firing by the Inter Hagueism is a classic ex again arrested. Immigration ins Unfortunately for the cause of up the adjustment of the most the beach because of the depresborough News Company, and ample of American politics. pectors searched and ransacked the strikers, the strike bulletin pressing grievances in so much sion and because winter is the refuse to prepare for a strike Hague is a supporter of Roose his home without a search war which was published for two red tape and involve so many de worst time of the year for ship despite the coming expiration velt, along with most reaction. rant and seized his personal paweeks has been allowed to drop, Jays as to be tantamount to a ping: that because the of the closed shop contract.
ary democratic politicians. His pers as well as correspondence and the union, taking no advan virtual stoppage of the right to wanted unity of the men on the outrageous political activities and articles belonging to Man. tage of the lessons of the big gas strike. The American reamen job they went independent so as are possible because he has the Deportation proceedings against house strike here a few years can never agree to such an in not to take part on either side majority of 356 to 101, a victory passed by overwhelming united support of the Chamber Graham, based upon an order ago, has been forced to see its fringement of their rights.
of Commerce and sweatshop dated more than 18 years ago, fight presented to the public only Furthermore, the adoption the and on the for the Union, a defeat for the owners, who are willing to pay are now under way in an effort by the capitalist press, where of this proposal, with its provi Pacific Coast, and that the Communist Party.
a high price to keep Jersey City to stifle the publication, Man. the facts are consistently sensasion for endless delays would in u. has always united in action labor unorganized so they can The which has tionalized and garbled.
MEET ME AT volve the industry in prolonged with all seamen against the continue to exploit them merci taken issue with the authorities The necessity of active pub periods of unrest and uncertain. bosses or the government.
ENVOY DAIRY lessly.
on the ground that the new move licity presenting the union case ty injurious to normal function. The final motion that passed RESTAURANT The answer to Hagueism is a against Graham is a threat to correctly, both for the sake of ing and to the morale of the sea was to rescind the civil war union organization drive conduct freedom of the press has furnish the morale of the men and that men. Drawn out delays in the resolution, ask for a statement Most Modern Dairy Restaurant ed on the lines of the Crucible ed counsel to Graham and is of the union sympathizers, has the adjustment of grievances from the on their policy and Luncheonette strategy, and independent politi sponsoring a civil suit for da not yet been grasped by the would tend to demoralize the toward men on West cal action of the working class mages against the immigration union leadership, which other workers and lead to all kinds of Coast ships, and refer any 4312 13th Avenue to combat him on the political officers based on their unlawful wise is waging a courageous sporadie actions beyond the con action on this matter to a roferfield, Widick said.
search of Graham home. hight against serious obstacles. trol of the unions.
At 43rd St. Brooklyn, lendum vote of the This in the form of petty bourgeois Labor and Farmer Labor parties.
All these considerations underline the fact that, on the whole, the has been and remains the more progressive force in the organized labor movement.
The growth of the movement has not, however, eltminated the of as a factor in the labor movement.
Quite the contrary. The of has not only succeeded in maintaining virtually intact all the forces it had after the departure of such o. organizations as the United Mine Workers and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers but has even registered an increase in membership, in vitality and even in strike activity. The unionization of the American working class in the recent period has not, by and large, taken place in one section at the expense of the other, but has proceeded along parallel lines, both in the which has recorded the greatest and most significant gains, and in the of The preservation and even growth of the of is accounted for by a number of important factors. In the first place, it still remains the organization primarily of the skilled workers, the aristocracy of labor. The of furthermore, is the traditional organization of union labor, with strong eraft traditions. In many industries and trades, its solidity is based upon the fact that it has regular contracts with the employers.
Moreover, its main basis is constituted by more or less stable unions of long standing, having a strong apparatus, regular dues systems, and ample treasuries, a firm bureaucracy, regulated local and national organizations, with their own regular meetings, conventions, constitutions, elected officialdom, etc. etc. of Also Using Industrial Form In addition, under the irresistible influence of the patent successes of the industrial form of organization, certain sections of the of and its bureaucracy have relented from their stiff insistence on the craft union form of organization and or ganized new unions on an industrial basis. Finally, the fact that the once apparently unhalting sweep of the has been checked, and even driven back by the employers, has served to strengthen the feeling among certain sections of the working class that the of is not outlived and can be utilized as well as or even better than the for the defense of labor interests. The flagrantly undemocratie system of leadership instituted by the in the new unions organized by it, has also been skillfully exploited by the of bureaucracy to its own advantage. whole series of cireumstances has now brought prominently to the fore the question of the unification of the of and the The main responsibility for the split two years ago unquestionably lies on the shoulders of the of bureaucracy. By its reactionary control of the labor movement, the Executive Council of the of sought to stifle every attempt to modify the obsolete craft union structure upon which it is based, and actively sabotaged all efforts to organize the unorganized, especially in the mass production industries, on an industrial, that is, on the only conceivable basis.
The formation of the its fight against the GreenWoll Frey machine, its decisive plunge into the work of organizing the masses of the unskilled in the key industries, were progressive steps and more than warranted the active support given by the revolutionists to the as the progressive section of the labor movement. In its fight against the the leadership of the of played a disloyal and reactionary role. Instead of facilitating the work of organizing the big industries of the country, it stood in the way at every turn, joining in the union breaking chorus of the employers and their apologists. In many cases, the of leadership even resorted to downright strike breaking in an effort to stem the sensational advances made by the However, notwithstanding the wide rift that developed bet.
ween the two sections of the labor movement, there are now strong forces at work for their unification. The setbacks suffered by the various sectors of the union movement in most recent times has strengthened the feeling that one united organization, instead of two antagonistic ones, would make it easier to win labor battles against the employers. The defent registered by the workers in the Little Steel and similar strikes, has only served to emphasize the need of putting an end to the division in labor camp.
On top of this is the ominous deepening of the new crisis, which weakens labor hold on industry and foreshadows an employers offensive to reduce the workers standards of living, annul all the gains made in the past period, and wipe out what ever union control has been established. The dangers of the crisis are reflected in the mounting sentiment among the organized workers throughout the country for a speedy unification of the of and the so that labor may be able to present a sorely needed common front against the capitalist class.
Pressure from All Side for Unity Contributing to this inexorable trend are a number of subsidiary factors. The Roosevelt regime is not antagonistic to (Continued on page 1)
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