The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-10-23
The MOYbMnd
A. F. of L. IN
A Western City
By E. G..

geles affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor is doomed to
die because of lack of activities on
the part of the members and strong
weight of suppression on the part
of the so-called leaders because edu-
cation will create class-consciousness
which may mean curtains" for the
leaders.
Nothing new takes place at the
meetings throughout the year. The
same routine of business which is
very uninteresting for members to
listen to. is followed. The only kind
of excitement the members are given
once in a while is an order from the
big chief to expel one or more Com
munists, or even those who dare to
raise their voices against the mis-
leadership of the members.
The system of class collaboration
which plainly means licking the
boots of the bosses and letting them
have their way for the return of
smile and pat on the shoulder, I
demoralizes the workers in the shops
because it means that the burden of
sacrifice falls on the shoulders Of
the workers.
What Is Union For?
The only kind of increase that the
members hear of is more money for
the leader and as result the state
ment is very often heard made by
the workers, what are we getting
out of the union? We are ordered to
pay heavy dues and assessments and
in return for that forced by the
leaders and the bosses to receive a
cut in pay from time to time"
The writer has often heard an
other statement made by very many
trade unionists: "Why should we go
down to the meeting and listen to
the same clap-trap reports which,
mean nothing to US and the same
reading Of communications which
last for two hours sometimes, things
which we cannot understand and
which do not get US better condi-
| tons"
The labor movement in Los An
geles has lost hundreds of members
because every organization seems
dead. The leaders instead of telling
the members the truth that the boss
wants a cut in wages tell the work
ers that it is merely readjustments
that have to take place because of a
heavy defalcation of business, that
the boss cannot withstand the heavy
pressure of competition which would
mean humiliation of the boss; there
fore, the workers, in order to save
their jobs and keep from walking
the streets and starving, must CO.
operate with the boss, advertize his
business and as much as they can
help him to readjust his business
for the market and save the poor
boss and themselves from destruc-
ton.
Too, Much REIMBURSEMENT"
But the workers are getting dis
gusted with these frequent readjust-
ment periods and getting tired of
biting the bait from time to time.
They become restless and demand
that fight must take place in order
to save the little bit that is left of
their weekly wages. Then the takers
become busy and begin to concoct
new answers such as you're not in
good standing and have not paid up
your entire assessments therefore
the big chief cannot sanction your
strike"
When it gets busy in the trade
and the boss begins to make money
this same angelic person will give
them anything they want providing
they will be good boys and pay up
their assessments and dues and build
a strong treasury in the union and
everything will be OK in time. It
sometimes happens that the workers
will not stand wage cuts any more
and precipitate walkout. Then the
takers get busy Immediately to
patch things up at the expense of the
workers.
The workers have stood for it long
enough, but instead of fighting and
kicking out the leaders they leave
the unions. 1t won't be long before
there will be hardly any members
left in the unions. The same takers
are against organizing the morgan
lied, claiming that the unorganized
are unskilled and semi-skilled work.
ers. AS result of not organizing
the unorganized and the methods Of
class collaboration losing the old
members, conditions cannot be kept
up in the few organized shops as
the unorganized workers in turn dis
organize the organized because the
unorganized make up 80 per cent of
the workers in the industry, making
it impossible for 10 per cent of So
called skilled men to function in an
organized body and better their con-
ditions.
The takers evade the question Of
unemployment because they are not
able to solve it, and when pressed
hard for an answer, instead of telling
the truth that unemployment is per-
manent, say that it is temporary
and that it soon will pass over when