The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-05-07


means the creation of lever that will rock
capitalism to its very foundation.
This is difficult task that requires day
by day attention, that requires the closest APP
plication of the Red International of Labor
Unions class struggle policy laid down by the
4th World Congress and the 9th Plenum of
the RIL.U. for this period of imperialist
wars, mass class struggles and proletaran
revolution.
1t is quite natural that the opportunist ele-
ments should hesitate, should shrink from this
difficult task, should fight against the turn
in the class struggle that demands action, and
try to divert the rising offensive of the
workers into mere protests and class collab-
Grafton channels Opportunism fears the
working class, recoils from the sharpening of
the class struggle, looks with horror on
March 9th or May list struggle for the streets,
retreats before the marching workers, tries to
stop the rising tide, and eventually lands into
the enemy camp.
This has been the road travelled by those
who fought against the program laid down by
the RIL.U. and are some of the considera-
tons that, consciously or unconsciously, are
in the background of the opportunist prac
tees and vacillations in our trade union work.
Overestimation of Strength of Imperialism
Overestimation of the strength of American
imperialism, denial of rehabilitation of the
workers, orientation upon the vacillating strata
of skilled workers organized in the old unions,
united fronts from above instead of from be-
low, was the basis of Lovestonesm. And al
though defeated as an organized expression
this false line still expresses itself as ten
dency in trade union work and must be con-
tinuously combatted exposed and destroyed.
1t is difficult enough to organize the masses
in trustified industry even if one does not
overestimate the strength of the capitalist APP
paratus of coercion, and has full realization
of the readiness of the workers to struggle,
recognizes the obsoleteness of the old trade
union methods, and the whole movement fully
Orientates itself upon those decisive layers of
the proletarat, the semi-skillel and unskilled
workers who now typify the American work
ing class. One can readily see what happens
if the Lovestone perspective, or tendency IN
that direction enters into our trade union
work. 1t has a paralyzing effect upon the
movement, stunts the growth of the new
unions 1t means left phrases and right deeds,
Mysticism, old trade unionism covered with a
left phraseology, propaganda overshadows ac-
ton, and the workers left unorganzed are
driven through desperation into unorganized,
unprepared spontaneous, defeated strikes.
Opportunists Find Difficulties
The opportunist finds all the difficulties in
the way of organizing the workers: there are
so many unemployed, the workers are afraid
to lose their job etc. They picture favorable
conditions for organizing the workers for
struggle as difficulties in order to evade
struggle. 1t is these disastrous tendencies
which retard the advance of the revolutionary
industrial unions that the revolutionary forces
must be modified to fight against and demand
the development of new and broader leader
ship. In this article l wish to deal with some
of the past and present opportunism in the
needle trades, which has not yet been elm
mated.
In the needle trades opportunsm could hide
behind many excuses, in certain branches la
dies Garment and Fur) such as: the bulk of
production is in the small shops-a reason ad-
vanced by the opportunists to deny in prac-
tice the organizing of an industrial union, and
after the union was organized to continue its
craft union practices.
Those familiar with the left wing struggle
know that the program in the needle trades
called for industrial unionism and the setting
up of the shop delegate system and that under
the opportunist leadership of Gitlow, thinner
man, Gross and company this was never
realized. Even today is not yet fully accom-
plished A close scrutiny of the policy of that
period will show that the corrupt and class
collaboration policies of the Zigman bureau
crazy was brought by these leaders into the
left wing, into the new union, and hidden from
the rank and file by revolutionary phrase
ology.
Amalgamation, Shop Delegate System.
The left wing was committed to the organ
izing of revolutionary industrial union
based upon the shop. Yet it was only three
months ago, over year after the new union
was organized, that the largest section of the
union, New York, was formed upon a shop
basis and a shop delegate council set up. This
was only accomplished after the right wing
policy of Gitlow, Zimmerman and Gross, was
defeated.
Collaboration With the Police
The left wing was, of course, committed to
struggle against the grating class collab-
Grafton, police loving, A. f. of L. bureaucrats,
yet collaboration with the police flourished
among the leadership of the left wing and of
the new union, and produced such jewels as
Shapiro, who's itching hand and ool-pgeon
proclvties were allowed to flourish under a
left wing leadership, and in revolutionary
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