The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-05-28
Explosions IN THE
INTERNATIONAL


The struggle of the membership
against the reactionary forces in the
Union began as early as 1912, when
the Administration machine forced
out of office the beloved leaders of
the workers, A. Bisno and DR.. Issac
l. Hourwich, who had incurred the
enmity of the employers by cham
pioning too vigorously the rights of
the workers.
In the case of DR.. Hourwich, prac-
tically the entire membership rose
up in arms and rejected his resigna-
ton in referendum vote. Neverthe-
less the officialdom of the Union
joined forces with the employers
against him and he was compelled to
give up his position as Chief Clerk of
the Joint Board.
With the growth of the Union the
masses of the workers took a more
and more active part in its affairs.
They began to demand certain re-
forms in the Administration of the
Union, and progressive and opposi-
ton sentiment grew up in many To-
Gals. In 1917 the Administration re-
sorted to the Reorganization" of a
local as a means Of crushing this
opposition.
Expulsion of Local 1.
Although the constitution provides
that there shall be only one local of
given craft in city, there were at
this time three cloak operators To-
Gals in existence in New York. Cloak
Operators Local 1, the largest single
local in the International, had
membership of 10000 and held the
charter for women's cloaks. Two
small locals, whose members also
worked on women's cloaks, were al
lowed to exist by the International,
however, because the Administration
machine found their support useful
in maintaining its hold on the New
York Joint Board, as each local was
entitled to five delegates. Members
of Local II, originally chartered to
work on infants coats, were allowed
to work on adult garments. Local
IL was maintained as a Brownsville
local, although most of its members
worked in shops of New York.
Local protested vigorously against
the practice of the International in
allowing the two superfluous locals
to exist and in giving them juris-
diction over many shops that should
have come under Local l jurisdiction.
This obvious injustice was source
of great dissatisfaction among the
membership of Local /.
In 1917 the members Of Local
elected a progressive Executive
Board, whereupon the General Execu-
tive Board of the International decided
to seize control of the local. Under
Morris Sigman, who was then Man
ager Of the Cloakmakers' Joint Board,
the local was "reorganized," and
many members expelled, over the
united protests Of the workers, in
much the same way that locals 2, 8,
%, and 35 are being "reorganized" to-
day.
1t might be noted, in passing, that
the demand Of Local 1 that inter-
local dispute be eliminated by the
amalgamation Of the operators To-
calls, was carried out by Sigman in
1924. In spite Of the "reorganiza-
ton" amalgamation sentiment in
creased in the Union, until finally,
yielding to the pressure of the men,
bership, Sigman Joined Locals 1, II,
and II into Cloak Operators Local
2, which he has since twice expelled.
Expulsion of Local %.
The next great internal struggle
within the international was the ere
organization" and splitting into three
locals Of the powerful Waist and
Dressmakers' Local rs, which at that
time had more than 10000 members.