The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-06-02
BY MIKE ROSS.

| DY conservative trade unions l do
~ not mean those that are politically
class-conscious like the needle trades,
but rather the trade unions that are
opposed to political action entirely.
The Labor Party question presents
itself as two entirely different prob
lens in these two kinds of unions. In
the case of the politically class-con-
scious unions the membership gener-
ally supports the Socialist Party or
the Workers Party. In this case it is
necessary to carry on a fight for a
united labor ticket and develop a
movement for labor party based on
af1liation of political parties, unions,
and other workers organizations that
believe in independent, working-class
political action, thereby unifying the
political power of the working class.
In the case of the conservative
unions the main problem is how to
develop political class-consciousness
and for this the labor party slogan is
more effective than all'the tactics that
were ever used by the socialists or
any OLner pOllJlcal sect.
The reason is that this propaganda
and slogan is so broad in scope that
all fractional lines, political antagon-
isms, party prejudices and other jeal-
ousies are obliterated The labor
party on the political field is of the
same importance as amalgamation on
the industrial field. The masses of
workers are easily convinced of its
necessity. The methods of propa-
ganda must be very simple and ex-
amples given that the workers are
well acquainted with and easily un-
derstood.
DOR the teamsters we can point out
= how Hylan used the police to
break their organization drive. For
the building trades we~can explain
the struggle carried on for a large
number of years to force the city to
pay the union scale of wages to build
ing trades workers DIETER known as
the prevailing rate of wages"O. Al
tho there is law that the city must
pay union wages, it is openly VIC
lated. Thousands of dollars have been
and still are being spent in court by
the unions to no effect. Hylan's sue
cessor, Walker, is continuing the same
policy, as shown in his answer to the
Central Trades and Labor Council
committee when he said he couldn't
do anything for the building trades
men.
HOW to develop sentiment for a la
Il Dor party in the conservative
unions is of the utmost Importance,
as they embrace the great bulk of or
ganized labor The building trades
alone number nearly two million work
! ers.
The general methods are the same
in all industries; viz, pointing out
how courts issue injunctions, how la
Dor legislation is defeated, how police
are used to break strikes and Jail
union leaders, how the government re-
pudiates union wages in government
employ, court decisions in labor, ETC.,
etc. Then how the A. F. of L. policy
of "rewarding friends" and furnishing
enemies" reduces the political power
of the workers to zero. All these
things must be explained and propa-
gandized in simple workers language.
giving examples of cases in his trade
and ending by showing how labor
party unifies the interests of all sec
lions of the working class.
Some of the international unions are
even more reactionary and backward
than the A. F. of L. bureaucracy it.
self. The policy of rewarding friends
and Furnishing enemies is already
recognition of political action, even
tho it leads effectively to support of
capitalist politicians. At the last con-
| vention the carpenter bureaucrats
even ruled out of order a resolution
endorsing the A. F. of L. policy, as
this war mixing in politics.
TT is, therefore, necessary to use diff
ferent tactics in different unions
and in different situations, depending
largely on trade union constitutions.
the psychology and tradition of the
workers of each trade, and many other
circumstances. Tho the comrades
who are active in the trade unions