The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-11-19

stantial wage increases, as well as an eight hour day ana better working conditions. At present the packing industry is strongly organized.
 William 2. Foster, now secre- tary. of the National Committee for Organizing the Iron and Steel Industry, conceived the idea of organizing the packing industry, and was the secretary of that campaign. He is a self-educat- ed man, barely in the prime of life. Although born in Massa- chusetts, his activity in the labor movement had been confined to the far and midwest. He had travelled and studied labor condl- tons abroad, and had "knocked' around considerably in this coun- try. He is a natural born stu dent, modest, retiring, with a practical grasp of labor theories and tactics. At one time he was a member of the l. W. w., but abandoned that organization be- cause he came to view 1t as too sectarian and impractical.
 He considers that it's denial of membership to non-revolu- tionary workers narrows it's func- ticn of propaganda purposes only. An organization, he now holds, that aims to better the economic conditions of workers should include all bona f1de wage workers regardless of their re- hgious, political and social be- Hefs. Of the whole, this is the aUI-ude of the A. F. of L. Fur thermore he is out of sympathy with the lax methods of the I. W. W. It's Encouragement of the accumulation of large strike funds and it's inability to disci- pline the rank and file has, re- gardless of it's theories, kept it from becoming a stable labor organization.
 The A. F. of L., on the other hand, has these qualities and is therefore able to serve the work CTS. Neither is Foster in sym pathy with the one big union idea which would scramble together the workers of the various crafts and industries into a half dozen . tation department, amusement trades department, etc This he regards as artificial and vision ary. He has identified himself win the structural organizing methods used in the packing and steel industries.
 Upon leaving the I. W. W. he joined the union of his craft, namely, the Brotherhood of Rail- way Carmen. Because of his in- telligence and organizing ability he was soon made a national. or ganizer. It was in the course of work as an employe in the Stock Yards that the idea of carrying on a concerted organizing cam pafgn in the packing industry occurred to him. He took it to John Fitzpatrick, president of the Chicago Fedora tion of Labor, who immediately recognized it's possf- bilities and undertook to secure it's endorseme ment by the Chicago Federation of Labor and the in ternational unions affected Fitz- patrick has been president of the Chicago Federation of Labor for over fifteen years and has an en- viabIe record as a capable leader and honest champion of labor. He is a burly Irishman with the faculty of putting things across" He is regarded as a liberal or progressive labor leader in that he favors independent labor and political demands. Last spring he was candidate for mayor on the new Chicago Labor Party ticket and has been instrumental in calling a conference in Chica- go this fall for the formation of a national labor party. In con- trast, the leaders in control of the American Federation of La Dor have consistently frowned upon indepedent labor political action. At it's last convention, many of the blanks of the inde- pendent labor parties were re- fused endorsement when present.