The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-10-05
On the Carrying Out of the
18th Plenum Decisions
ESTABLISHING CONTACTS AND BUILDING ORGANIZA-
TION IN THE SHOPS

ter WhaJ-We must approach MIN by ASKING MIN
his opinion of this question and what he thinks
we workers in the shop can do to change4it. II
he is receptive then we can explain to him that
several of the workers have already decided to do
something about it and as first step they are
organizing committee of trusted workers to
work out ways and means of struggle against the
grievance. This must be our method Of APP
proach in the shop.
Frequently our comrades in the shop make
contacts they think are pretty good but that they
are not yet sure of. Therefore they themselves
correctly hesitate to come out openly and ask
such a worker to join the grievance committee.
How are such workers to be approached? First
we must use comrades from outside the shop.
If there is a TUUL or union organizer in the
section he is the man for this job. Names and
addresses of workers in the shop should be
turned over to him to visit These workers when
first approached by the union organizer "a
stranger to them will be suspicious. Particularly
when he speaks of organization they will suspect
he may be a spy sent around by the company.
How can we overcome these natural suspicious?
The organizer must tell the worker who he is
that he is an organizer for the union. The work.
er will ask how the organizer got his name To
tell him our conrade in the shop turned it in
will mean exposing our comrade and we are not
YET certain now GTuSGNOIJIly GIlS WOIkGI lS
Therefore our organizer must tell the worker
frankly that his name was turned in by one of
our members in the shop but that we cannot tell
him who this member is as we aim to protect our
members This in itself will give the worker
a certain confidence in our organization and our
methods of work.
If we are organizing a grievance committee
our union organizer should not necessarily ask
tJ,av IN +I,o atO Roth he
should tell the worker that the union has men,
bers in the shop and that the union is working
to organize broad committee of both its own
members and non-union members and members
of other unions in the shop, for the purpose Of
conducting a struggle against concrete griev-
ances. In other words the worker should be
urged first of all to join the grievance COM
mittee.
The difference between the union itself and
the grievance committee should be made clear.
One does not conflict with the other We can
and must build both broad grievance committees
that unite the workers for struggle against spe-
cfic grievances irrespective of union utilization
or lack of it, and the shop organizations of the
unions at the same time. 1t must be our aim to
recruit the grievance committee members for the
shop organization of the union as the workers
learn more about organization and themselves
become ready to join more permanent and dis,
ciplined organization. The grievance committee
is necessary exactly because many workers are
not ready to join such a formal organization as
a union with regular dues payments, certain
amount of discipline, ETC., but they are ready to
join hands with their fellow workers in loose
organization for struggle against specific griev-
anes.
Editors note-Another article to appear
soon will deal with the organization and func-
tionng of the grievance committee in the shop,
how to conduct the meetings of the committee,
how to activize the members, etc.