The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-10-05
By TOM JOHNSON

IN order to carry through the central task Of the
1 Party today-the firm establishment of the
Party and the revolutionary unions in the big
factories-the 18th Plenum of the Central Com
mittee called for decisive turn in our methods
of work from top to bottom. I deal here with the
methods of work at the bottom-With the most
important question of how our individual COM
rades in the shop are to work to build grievance
committees, and at the same time to build the
shop organization of our revolutionary unions.
How the political campaigns against wage cuts
and speed up be linked up with the individual
work in the shops.
What is a grievance committee? A grievance
committee is the most elementary form of shop
organization which unites workers of varying
political opinions and organizational affiliations
for struggle against concrete grievances. 1t unites
Communists. members of revolutionary unions,
members of reformist unions, and unorganized
workers in the shop for one specific purpose
struggle against concrete grievances in the shop
felt by all workers alike.
How shall we set about building such a COM
mittee? This means first Of all making contact
with individual workers. Therefore our comrades
working in the shop must first of all be friendly
with the workers they come in contact with. Too
often our comrades are so occupied in the shop
with thinking over the decisions of last nights
Section Committee meeting and mentally work
ing out the agenda for tonight's agitprop de-
partment meetings, etc, that they forget the
workers shoulder to shoulder with them in the
shop Therefore they do not make friends with
their shopmates and therefore they do not build
grievance committees.
Secondly, comrades in the shop must know
their fellow workers. They must study each
worker they come in cantact with individually,
i5oter
etc. Our comrades must know which worker is
honestly ready to fight for better conditions but
has too loose a mouth and therefore, although
honest. cannot be trusted too far, which ones
are friendly with the foreman and may be po-
tential spies which ones have had union ex-
perience etc Ali these things and many more
our comrades must know if they are to carry on
effective Communist work in the shop.
Once we have made friends with shop mate
and have established that he is an honest work
er and not a stool pigeon how are we to ap-
preach him to join the. grievance committee?
First an eSample of how not to do it: A COM
rade working in the largest steel mill in the
world recently told me, TITS impossible to get
any of the workers in my department to join
the grievance committee. They are all religious
and the minute you mention the Communist
Party they run away" But why is it necessary to
mention the Communist Party? ana why IS IL
necessary to carry on open and bitter warfare
against religion with the workers we are trying
to get to join the grievance committee? 1t is not
necessary of course, and therefore we should not
talk communism to every worker we approach to
join the grievance committee. We must not make
him feel that to join this committee he must be
ready support the full program of our Party.
Rather we must approach him on the common
c,round of the concrete grievances he as well as
the Communists in the shop, resents. Whether
the outstanding grievance be wage cut, new
method of speed-up, safety condtions,-no mat