American Labor at a Glance (11 April 1936) (original) (raw)

Farrell Dobbs

574 Leader Gives His Impressions

of Industrial Union Movement in the East

(11 April 1936)

Source: New Militant, Vol. II No. 14, 11 April 1936, p. 2.
Originally published: Northwest Organizer, Vol. 1 No. 50, 1 April 1936, p. 2.
Transcription & mark-up Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).

The most pleasant surprise experienced by the Local 574 committee which was sent east to visit the national leaders of the industrial union movement was to learn of the popular national support which 574 enjoys. Wherever we called – and we talked with many important labor figures – we found that the General Drivers’ Union was known and admired. All inquired not about what we have done – this they knew – but what the union intended to do next They expressed satisfaction with our account of the present healthy condition of 574 and its excellent prospects.

In every big industrial center we found the workers and the progressive union leaders in very good spirits. All are highly enthused over the new possibilities of effective union organization now opening up for them through the strong movement for industrial unionism. Every sincere, intelligent leader and the overwhelming majority of the workers in the heavy industries are completely convinced of the ridiculousness of craft unionism. They tell you convincing stories to show that their beliefs are not based on pure theory.

Craft Unionism Disastrous

A union is created in a steel plant, an automobile factory, a rubber plant – it matters not where, for the story is the same. All the workers band together in one embracing unit. They prepare to do battle with the employers, to fight for higher wages, shorter hours, a decent living. Then, on the eve of action, the craft union officials sweep down with their paper claims of jurisdiction, their program of division. It matters not that they have been unable to organize in these plants. They poise, motionless, like birds of prey, until they see a good opportunity, and then they swoop down for the kill. It is a sorry sight that they leave in their wake. They gain a few members for the various crafts, but most of the workers are driven back into the ranks of the unorganized, embittered by the experience.

The bosses seize the chance and intensify their anti-union campaign. Active unionists are fired. No organization remains to defend them. The cloak of a special “labor board,” which the government has obligingly provided for the craft union officials, quickly proves its impotence. The union is gone and with it the rights of the workers. We were shown the spot where a year ago the Akron rubber workers made a huge bonfire of union cards after such an experience.

But now the whole picture is changing. Hope has taken the place of despair. “Get these craft union leeches off our backs,” say the workers in the basic industries, “give us a free hand to organize industrially, and we will show the world a union movement the likes of which has never before been seen.”

Workers Want Action

And these are not mere words. Beginning with a series of sit-down strikes, the workers in the Goodyear plant at Akron have shattered the fetters which restrained them, and, swarming to the picket lines by the thousands, they have demonstrated the value of industrial organization combined with militant struggle. Nobody scabbed on a craft union card in this strike.

One union for all and all on the picket line. The craft union leaders would have liked very much to pluck this union, but they did not dare. All eyes were on this strike. The lessons to be drawn from such action would have been too obvious.

The strike of the building service workers in New York is a second example. Here again the sweep of the movement was tremendous. The strike spread like wildfire. Elevator operators, caretakers, janitors, over one hundred thousand workers fighting as one, and fighting very effectively, against the real estate czars.

The craft unionists do not like these manifestations; they do not like the zest with which the workers take to the ideas of industrial unionism; they do not like the manner in which the workers apply the power which is theirs when they are organized industrially. But the workers do like it; they have enjoyed the thrill of the first taste; they hunger for more. The craft unionists are finally beginning to understand that they are sitting on a powder keg. The discovery has shocked them deeply.

“Rule or Ruin’’

The craft union controlled Executive Council of the A.F. of L. has ordered the Committee for Industrial Organization to dissolve. The C.I.O. has refused. What action will the Executive Council take at its next session? Will it expel the International Unions affiliated with the C.I.O.? This is very doubtful. As a matter of fact, the order to dissolve was issued to the C.I.O. only with great reluctance on the part of most of the members of the Executive Council. Not because of any sympathy they might have for industrial unionism, but because they were well aware that the demand would meet with refusal, that their bluff would be called, had to be called, by the C.I.O.

Daniel J. Tobin came into the Miami session of the Council with his usual self-centered, narrow-minded, hard-boiled attitude. He demanded the immediate expulsion from the A.F. of L. of the affiliates of the C.I.O. (Tobin, the charter revoker, who probably still thinks that 574 is smashed because he revoked its charter. 574 has done better without him than it ever did with him. The A.F. of L. will probably some day enjoy the same pleasant experience.) There are other Tobins in the Council who also believe in “rule or ruin,” who are drunk with imaginary power – Hutchinson of the carpenters, for example. They support him. The slightly more intelligent of the craft unionists opposed this program. They understood better than Tobin the weakness of their position. The order issued was a poor compromise which will return to haunt them at the next session of the Executive Council. There will be much bluster and tall talk, biit their efforts to “purge” the C.I.O. will be as ineffective as were Meyer Lewis’ efforts to “purge” 574.

Another development in the fight at the top is the quiet, unadvertised and methodical manner in which the International Unions are paying per capita tax to the A.F. of L. on additional members. It has long been a recognized custom for International Unions to pay a tax on only part of their membership. Even Tobin that great exponent of the sanctity of per capita tax, has followed this practice. Voting strength in the A.F. of L. convention is based on the paid-up membership of the International Unions. Hence the campaign to pay in for every possible member. There is a vital issue at stake; the jobs of the craft union office holders vs. the welfare of the workers of America. Every vote counts.

Role of the C.I.O.

To properly understand the role of the Committee for Industrial Organization, we must first recognize the background of the committee members. None of these men can boast of a clear record of progressivism. Some of their past actions are downright reactionary, and to say the least, undemocratic. This is a matter of record. True, they are now supporting a progressive cause: the movement for industrial unionism. But their prime motive is one of personal ambition.

The members of the C.I.O. have one distinct advantage over their fellow officeholders, the craft unionists: they have been able to correctly estimate the mood of the working masses. They realize that the workers are determined to have industrial unionism, that they will sooner or later unseat every leader who stands in the way of this objective. Understanding this, the members of the C.I.O. have declared themselves for the industrial form of organization. They are assuming the leadership of this movement in a cautious and hesitant manner. They stand with one foot firmly planted on the old; with the other foot they feel gingerly about for a safe place to implant themselves in the new.

Many workers look upon the C.I.O. as a messiah. There is a strong tendency to render it blind allegiance. This is a dangerous attitude which can very well detract in a large measure from the ultimate gains to be made through industrial unionism. We need something more than industrial unions. We need a democratic freedom of action to apply the power which this form of organization creates.

The workers should support the C.I.O. in its stand for industrial unionism, but, at the same time, they must constantly put forward demands for the elimination of the machine control which now exists in the A.F. of L. and the restoration of true democracy in the local unions.

Our long conversation with John Brophy, director of the C.I.O., gave us a very comprehensive picture of the present activities of this group, the principal work of the committee is confined to the educational field. Books, pamphlets, news releases and editorials sent to labor editors, speeches, and other mediums of expression are being used to clarify the issues throughout the national labor movement The C.I.O. has not however, taken the initiative in solidifying the industrial union groups in the various industrial centers and co-ordinating the movement on a national basis. As yet the strong feeling of the workers is only a seething ferment, evidencing itself in sporadic heat lightnings, which give warning of the impending storm. Organized action to rid the movement of the evils of craft unionism is yet to come.

Through the medium of its participating International Unions, the C.I.O. has lent aid and direction to the local unions in important strikes; a notable example is the Akron rubber strike. The proposals to organize the steel industry. put forward by the C.I.O. proved a great embarrassment ‘to the craft unionists.

On the other hand, the craft unionist Executive Council has set about a deliberate campaign to eliminate the Federal Unions. This type of local was created in an attempt to forestall industrial unionism. It has since become a staunch supporter of and a potential springboard for the industrial union movement. Federal Union charters are no longer issued. The Federal Unions are being dissolved into the craft Internationals wherever this can be done. These charters are being revoked on a wholesale basis on the slightest pretext.

The very air is charged with a feeling of impending change. Events are moving at a rapid pace. The next period will see many significant happenings. Labor is preparing, in its gigantic, lumbering way, for a tremendous stride forward. Local 574 can look ahead with complete confidence. We are on the side of progress.

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