The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-01-10
PARTY CONVENTION DISCUSSION SECTION
Whittier the Workers Communist Party

years the A. F. of L. unions have
steadily expelled left wing elements.
At the same time, Left wing groups
have abandoned the A. F. of L. and
formed new unions of their own"
Have we really abandoned the A.
F. of L.? Is it only slip of the
pen on the part of the author of this
report, or is he expressing the actual
situation? / am afraid that he does
express the real situation regarding
our work among the organized
workers. I want to repeat again
that as far as words are concerned,
we have never abandoned the A. F.
of L., that we are still for "boring
from Within" but in practice we are
abandoning it very fast. Only dras-
tic measures against this dangerous
tendency can prevent us from a
complete abandonment of the old
trade unions and save us from being
isolated from the organized workers.
AS / understand we also did not
have single militant at the conven-
ton of the Illinois State Federation
of Labor. This is even worse than
not having Left wingers at the con-
vention of the A. F. of L., because
state conventions are composed of
the delegates from the local unions
and therefore it is much easier to
elect rank and filters. Are we already
so completely isolated from the work.
ers organized in the A. F. of L. that
we could not succeed in sending at
least handful of militants from the
local unions to the convention of the
Illinois State Federation of Labor?
To me this fact is very surprising
and discouraging. What did the T.
U. E. L. and our Party do in Chi
cago and other cities Of the state of
Illinois? Is it possible that our COM
rades over there have even forgotten
that the convention will take place?
Is it possible that the militants in
that state have no leadership even
over single local union? If this is
true then our industrial department
have led US much further away from
the organized masses than we have
ever dreamed or suspected.
Can the Communist Party of
America afford to abandon its strug-
gle for the "soul" of the masses in
the old trade unions? Is it worth
while to struggle within these con-
sentative organizations? Should we
leave these masses to the Greens and
Wolls?
There are at least three and half
million workers in the old trade
unions. They are betrayed and mis-
led. They are in the shambles of
the class collaboration policy of their
corrupt misleaders. Their organiza-
tons are turned over to the imperi-
alists of the United States. This is
perfectly true. It is also true that
the old trade unions are composed
mainly of the upper strata of the
working class. They are conserva-
tive to the extreme. They are COM
pletely in the clutches of the worst
labor takers that have ever infested
the labor movement of any country.
No matter how much one would
say about the old unions along these
lines, too much would never be said.
Navar{ a1ocS }ha foof rop,a;,S 4L,+
there are over three and half mil
lion workers already organized. They
are being pitted against the great
masses of the unorganized. They
are made the bulwark of American
imperialism. But what should we,
the Communists, do about it? Leave
them in the hands of the agents of
our imperialists? Can we declare
them enemies of the proletarian re-
volution and fight them as such?
Have we really no message for these
millions? Are they so completely
bribed by imperialism in the form
of higher wages that the Communist
movement has nothing to offer them?
do not agree with those who
maintain that all of these millions
of organized workers are hopeless
labor aristocrats. The Communist
Party cannot afford to abandon its
struggle even for the "soul" of the
skilled workers. They are not class
enemy of the unskilled and semi
skilled workers. The Communist
movement has a message for these
workers too. We are out not to cre-
ate friction and antagonism between
the skilled and unskilled, between
those who are already organized into
the unions, though they are craft
unions, and those whom we expect
to organize and are already organ
izing. We are fighting the Wolls,
Greens, Hillmans and Schlesingers,
but not the rank and file members
of the A. F. of L., the Amalgamated
Clothing Workers Of America, or the
Railroad Brotherhoods.
To underestimate the Importance
of the old trade unions is to commit
a grave error. / disagree with the
comrades who minimize the power
and influence Of the American Fed
Grafton Of Labor in the class strug-
gle. l do not agree with the view
that the old unions are about to dis
appear from the surface of the earth
or that they are bound to be wiped
out of existence in the near future
completely. Their membership may