The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-06-22
Trade Union Work and
Party Work
BY F. r. (Los Angeles

TRADE union work is the most important
work of the party" but our comrades do not
know it. Certainly if the section committee
members were asked point blank if trade union
work we're not the most important work, they
would say yes" But unconsciously even our sec
ton leaders continue in the rut of making par
ty work" one thing and trade union work an
other thing. This is the reason that the Trade
Union Unity League, in practice, is still treated
as of secondary importance instead of as of pri-
mary Importance.
In our section the leaders claim that the
charge of underestimaion of TUUL, work is
not true Didn't we assign go per cent of the
membership to TUU.L. work?" they say. They
did, but then they Immediately and continually
assigned the active individuals of this so per
cent to any and all other work whenever they
needed some one. typical example of one of
these active workers assigned to TU.UL. work is
one: He is organizer of one of the T.U.UL.
groups; he is member of the special COM
mittee on unemployed work; he is Negro direc-
tor of his unit-a member of the unit buro; he
is an executive of an lid branch; he IS MEM
Der of the Council for the protection of the For
eign Born, and he did active work in the last
local election campaign. He is a new party
member and very conscientious so he took
somebody's suggestion that he be responsible for
distribution of the back numbers of the Daily
Worker.
Another phase of this underestimation of this
party work is this: unit was to be assigned to
concentrate on certain shop, but it was agreed
that shop group would be formed that a nu-
cleus of the party could not be established yet.
ooh, a grievance committee?" said the Section
Committee. well, that is T.U.UL. work-the
TU.U.L. will have to be responsible for this"
In other words the work was of too low level
for the party-in other words if shop nucleus
of the party cannot be formed, the party unit
should merely continue distributing Daily Work.
some place in the factory district, and should
wait till the T.U.UL organizes the shop How
horrible that will sound to the section commit
tee! But it is exactly what happened in prac-
tice The section does not see the grievance
committee as the opening wedge of the Party ap
piled by the Party through the units, for estab-
fishing the Party organizationally inside the
shop This does not mean the T.UU.L. does not
give guidance in this work. it must, for the next
step in this shop is to draw as many of the
workers into the TU.UL as possible. But the
chief aim of the Party continues to be to estab-
lish shop nucleus of the Party in that shop.
What are some of the results of this attitude
of the section leaders toward the T.U.UL? The
T.UUL. groups do not grow and remain artifi-
cial groupings for NON-PARTY work Continu-
ally one hears the rank and file members OF the
units say in disgust: I'm not going to do TU.
UL work. I'm going to confine myself to Party
work..
Another reflection is this: when the TU.U.L.
organizer asked the Young Communist League
member put in charge of work in a certain fac
tory for list of her contacts, she refused to give
it, This League member is commonly regarded
as one of the most advanced politically of the
YCL in the section-yet she regards request
for contacts in the shop of concentration as an
infringement by the T.U.UL organizerl Con-
facts of the Y.CL. are private property of the
VOL!
sharp turn must be made in the attitude
toward T.UU.L. work by the Party members, es-
pecially the section functionaries, and an espe-
cally sharp turn must be made organizationally
in regard to Cur old friends, careful assignment
of individual comrades to their work and check
up. Comrades will be continually assigned to
special work, but this special assignment must
be planned in advance, and few comrades
should be left free as a sort of shock troops for
this special work.
("RevoIutionary Competition" by Comrade
Annter will appear in tomorrow's Party Life
column.)