The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-10-16
The Canadian Trade Unions

to the reactionary character of the
A. F. of L.
Of the 80,127 members of indie
pendent Canadian unions, 1929 are
affiliated with the All-Canadian
Congress of Labor. The largest
union within this body is the One
/ Big Union with a membership of
1900 organized along industrial
lines. This group was itself formed
in 1919 by group of unions seced-
ing from the A. F. of L. 1t pub
fishes a weekly, the Zone Big
Union" which agitates for indus
trial, q as against craft, unionism.
Other unions affiliated with the
! All-Canadian Congress of Labor are
the Canadian Brotherhood of Rail
road Employees with about $4,000
members; the Canadian Federation
of Labor with about 10000 men,
bers, and the Mine Workers of
Canada, with about $500 members.
The All-Canadian Congress of
Labor carries on sharp struggle
against the A. F. of L., and conse-
quently against the Canadian
Trades and Labor Congress. Last
fall this struggle assumed a sharp
form when the A. F. of L. called
strike of its carpenters local in Tor
onto, Canada, in order to destroy
the Amalgamated> Carpenters of
Canada, affiliated with the ALL
Canadian Congress. The strike
failed, however, and both unions
continue to exist, though the A. F.
of L. union continues to regard the
Amalgamated as an OUTLAW" dual
organization.
The growth of the Canadian
unions affiliated with the A. F. of
l.. and the American railway
brotherhoods has not kept pace with
the general progress of the Can
adian labor movement. In 1911
these unions had 119,415 members,
or about 80 per cent of all the or
ganized Canadian workers; now
their membership totals 1s0,755.
This is a gain of 81 per cent in
membership, but constitutes only 62
per cent of the total membership of
Canadian trade unions.
ieftward Tendencies.
The attitude of the All-Canadian
Congress of Labor toward the A. F.
of l.. and it's branches in Canada was
clearly expressed in an article which
recently appeared in it's official or
gan under the heading "The A. F.
of L. and American Imperialism.
The article makes the following
points in emphatic language:
0) The A. F. of L. contains only
a small fraction of Americas work
ers, but the unorganized workers
contain the germ "of the new labor
movement that will grow up in the
United States in the course of time"
(2) Today the A. F. of L. exists
for the benefit of it's bureaucracy,
and is steadily heading toward dis
Indignation.
(3) The A. F. of l.. bureaucracy
supports the imperialist policies of
the United States government. Be-
cause the U. S. government stands
aloof from European alliances, the
A. F. of l.. stays out of the Amster-
dam International; and because the
United States government boycotts
the League of Nations, the A. F. of
L. Boycotts the Leagues labor de-
partment. eve have no illusions
concerning the Amsterdam Interna-
tional and the League of Nations"
the article adds, "but this is another
matter"
(4) The A. F. of L. did not pro-
test against American invasion of
Nicaragua, and instead endorses
the armament and war program of
the American government.
The Canadian Communists are &C
tive in both the All-Canadian Con-
gress of Labor and the Canadian
Trades and Labor Congress. They
have been prosecuted in the latter
and tolerated in the former, but
everywhere they have affected the
Canadian labor movement.