The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-10-10
HOW NOT TO CALL STRIKES

drawing in of longshoremen into the leader
ship of the union, the utilization of the agree
rlsnt to expose more the lila as the agent of
the bosses and the necessary organizational
preparations for the coming struggles on the
waterfront Instead of this the organizers in
sisted that strike be called when the agree
ment expired without having any of the most
elementary organizational preparations for the
strike 1t must be stated that the district
Party secretariat and the secretariat of the
district T.U.U.L., though they had the correct
policy and pointed out the mistakes, neverthe-
less capitulated under the pressure of the union
organizers and the National Office of the T.U.
I'LL. and officially approved the calling of the
strike. The Secretariat allowed a Communist
conception of strike strategy to be replaced
by wobbly one thus completely ignoring the
warning Of Comrade Foster, in his strike STRAIT
egg where he states:
LESS and less can the strike strategist
depend upon the spontaneity of the masses,
to bring them into revolt against their ex-
pIoiters, more and more he has to figure on
substantial preliminary organization,
ceived painfully and carried through almost
like military strategy"
Strike Called"
But as stated above these warnings were
setting up a single committee of the workers
or without even the knowledge of the workers
decided that the time was ripe. The strike
was called. The strike revealed the follow
ing:
l. That while the marine industry has some
peculiar features, the calling of strike, just
like in any other industry necessitates the re-
quired preliminary preparations, the setting up
of committee, etc, etc.
2. Failure to set up committees of action
and the election of a broad strike committee
from below.
g. Because of the failures to set up COM
mittees and to draw in the longshoremen into
the leadership of the union, when the strike
call was issued, we were isolated from the
workers, and there was no one from among
the workers to inspire the others to get off
the trucks.
4. The union overlooked the most funda-
mental law in strike strategy by failing to have
the workers approve the calling of the strike
and not only the organizers.
5. The strike was called completely without
the knowledge of the workers in the industry.
thus taking the workers by surprise on the
morning of the strike.
6. That there was a considerable sentiment
for strike among the organizers, members of
the secretarat and national office of the T.U.
I'LL. but the longshoremen on the waterfront
were not yet prepared to strike.
No Response.
Due to the above mistakes and in addition
the great unemployment and terror prevailing
on the waterfront the longshoremen did not
respond to the call of the union. .,
1t is to be expected that as result of this
the conditions of the workers on the waterfront
will worsen. The lila as is already seen is
taking the offensive. The lila together with
the bosses will and is making attempts to
drive our union off the waterfront in order to
make possible more wage cuts, lengthen the
hours of work, ETC., etc.
The longshoremen will not tolerate this and
will revolt. Our union must take the lead in
actually organizing the workers to strike. To
make possible this we must do away with the
Wobbly-opportunist conception and theories OF
exceptionalism. We must not rely on sponta-
nety. We must abandon those activities which
do not bring organizational results and only
help to victimize the workers. We must begin
from the very bottom, line up the longshore-
men one by one, organize them in groups and
committees Activize these committees and
draw the workers into the leadership of the
union. More attention must be paid to the
seamen. More concentration on the morgan
lied We must entrench ourselves among the
workers, and then, throu I these activities we
must prepare the workers themselves to vote
for strike and not only the organizers. We must
take seriously the instructions of Comrade
Lenin: 'No political party if it desires to avoid
adventurst tactics can base its activities On
expectations, Of such outbursts and complies
tons. We must proceed along our road and
steadily carry out our systematic work, and
the less we count on the unexpected the less
likely are we to be taken by SURPRISE by any
historical turn"