American Federation of Labor

“ The question of creating revolutionary cells and groups within the American Federation of Labor and the independent unions is of vital importance. There is no other way by which one could gain the working mass in America, than to lead a systematic struggle in the trade unions. ”

“ You do belong to the American Federation of Labor and its affiliated organizations. But, if you believe, as I believe, that the working class have economic interests of their own, separate and apart from and in conflict with the economic interests of the capitalist class, then you should, and sooner or later will have to, sever your relation with the old trade union and join the Industrial Workers, the only union organized upon the basis of class struggle. ”

“ The Knights of Labor began to split, and the unions, organized as the American Federation of Labor, began to take their place with a less radical membership. President Cleveland broke with precedents in 1886 by sending in the first message on labour, in which he advocated, without success, a labour commission to settle controversies. A national bureau of labour to collect statistics had been established in 1884; state legislation increasingly provided for arbitration of labour disputes, and regulation of factories and child labour. ”

“ The preamble of the Constitution states: “We therefore declare ourselves in favor of the formation of a thorough federation, embracing every trade and labor organization in America under the Trade Union System of organization.” The Knights of Labor had endeavored to subordinate the parts to the whole; the American Federation is willing to bend the whole to the needs of the unit. It zealously sends out its organizers to form local unions and has made provision that “any seven wage workers of good character following any trade or calling” can establish a local union with federal affiliations. ”

“ In no other phase does the unparalled conservatism and backwardness of the American Labor movement come to light more strikingly than in the latter’s relations to the labor organizations of other countries. At present there are two great world labor movements; one, the International Federation of Trade Unions, with headquarters in Amsterdam, and the other, the Red International of Labor Unions, with headquarters in Moscow. ”

“ In the development of industrial unionism out of the original unorganized condition of the working class the labor movement passes through three distinct phases, which may be roughly designated as isolation, federation, and amalgamation. In the beginning the workers almost always organize by crafts. ”

“ We want to save the porridge; we want the dishes to be so large that labor will get its full share, we know that capital will take care of itself. In these industrial contests there are other interests at stake than labor and capital—the general public, greater in numbers than either of these. The Civic Federation believed that if it organized a machinery which contained within itself the representatives of both the laborers and the employers, and associated with these two the representatives of the general public, it would have the true basis for the solution of the labor question. ”

“ His Federation is powerful but not rich. Its demands upon the resources of the trade unions have always been moderate, and the salaries paid have been modest. 2 When the Federation erected a new building for its headquarters in Washington a few years ago, it symbolized in its architecture and equipment this modest yet adequate and substantial financial policy. American labor unions have not yet achieved the opulence, ambitions, and splendors of the guilds of the Middle Ages and do not yet direct their activities from splendid guild halls. ”

“ That after the workers achieve unity in a Federal Union the capitalists take charge of it and divide it up to suit their own interests. You, as a worker, would desire such a union as is implied in the Federal Labor Union—all workers in one union. An employing group, or even an individual employer, would want them divided up, and bound by rules and agreements, so that they could not act together. The Federal Union and what becomes of it demonstrates the difference between a working class conception of a union and a capitalist conception. ”

“ That was a marvelous chance to organize the great body of the working class and to unshakably intrench the trade unions. The workers were most strategically situated and enjoyed wonderful political and industrial power. Had there been even a mediocre organizer, instead of a "labor statesman," at the head of our movement, great armies of toilers could have been drawn into the labor organizations. A general national organization campaign should have been mapped out and intensive, systematic drives for members started in all the industries. ”

“ During this period, economic change in the United States and globally, technological developments, and the failure to modernize Federal organizing and labor-management relations laws to respond appropriately to the reality found in American workplaces, have made worker organizing exceedingly difficult. ”

“ It must suffice for me to say that the judgment of Congress that trade unions which are guided by officers who are committed by ties of membership to the Communist Party must forego the advantages of the Labor Management Relations Act is reasonably related to the accomplishment of the purposes which Congress constitutionally had a right to pursue. ”

“ One of the aims of the Labor Movement is to secure such changes in the run of things that “the workers should own their jobs.” Well, some of the unions of the A. F. of L., bakers, printers, etc., have secured such a hold upon their trade in certain localities that they succeeded in putting into their contracts with the employers provisions that the union is to act as the employment agency for the employer, and the latter, whenever he needs help, must take whomever of its membership the union will send to him. ”

“ The conditions to which a "good" labor union ought to conform are more easily definable than the conditions to which a "good" trust ought to conform. In the first place the union should have the right to demand a minimum wage and a minimum working day. ”

“ The workers organize in the industrial field not because they hold certain elaborate social beliefs jointly, but because through united action they can protect their common economic interests. Labor unions are built upon the solid rock of the material welfare of the workers, not upon their acceptance of stated political opinions. In the very nature of things labor unions at present must consist of the many sects and factions that go to make up the working class, Republicans, Democrats, Socialists, Communists, Anarchists, Syndicalists, Catholics, Protestants, etc., etc. ”

“ The agreement between the employers and the union should also provide for the terms upon which men would be admitted into the union. The employer, if he employed only union men, should have a right to demand that the supply of labor should not be artificially restricted, and that he could depend upon procuring as much labor as the growth of his business might require. ”

“ The central problem presented by the enactment now challenged is the power of Congress, as part of its comprehensive scheme for industrial peace, to keep Communists out of controlling positions in labor unions as a condition to utilizing the opportunities afforded by the National Labor Relations Act, as amended by the Labor Management Relations Act 1947. ”

“ The program of labor and social legislation included the limitation of the use of the injunction in labor disputes, prohibition of child labor, minimum wage standards for women, the establishment of minimum standards as to health and safety of employees and conditions of labor generally, the creation of a labor department at Washington, and the improvement of country life. ”

“ But here we are still floundering in the mud of craft unionism, and progressing at only a snail's pace. Disregarding the rapid consolidation of the employers and their wonderful increase in strength, American Labor plods along with the 19th century condition of from 10 to 15 autonomous craft unions in each industry, [5] and considers such a primitive state of unorganization as the acme of trade union accomplishment. There is hardly a breath of progress anywhere. ”

“ In the long run the state could hardly impose by law such a method of labor organization upon the industrial fabric. Unless the employers themselves came to realize just what they could fight for with some chance of success, and with the best general results if successful, the state could not force him into a better understanding of the relation between their own and the public interest. But in so far as any tendency existed among employers to recognize the unions, but to insist on efficiency and individual opportunity ”

“ The employers are usually fighting not for the purpose of developing good labor, but for the purpose of taking advantage of poor, weak, and dependent laborers.
How far the central, state, and municipal governments could go in aiding such a method of organization, is a question that can only be indefinitely answered. The legislatures of many American states and municipalities have already shown a disposition to aid the labor unions in certain indirect ways. ”

“ In harmony with its undeveloped social viewpoint and its infantile political organization, American Labor's trade unions also are in a very backward state. Whether considered from the standpoint of numerical strength, type of structure, or general spirit of progress, they fall far behind the unions of many other countries. Even a casual glance over the world's labor movement confirms this statement. ”

“ Here we have the basis of labor organization which will "correctly represent the working class." It combines all wage-workers "in such a way that it can most successfully fight the battles and protect the interests of the working people of today in their struggle for fewer hours, more wages and better conditions." It also offers "a final solution of the labor problem—an emancipation from strikes, injunctions, bull-pens and scabbing of one against the other." ”