The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-23

into new unions of the unorganized,
at a time when at least there were
still some possibilities that the A. F.
of L. could be used to organize the
unorganized, in the later stages fol-
lowing the death of the founder of
the Party, Conrade Ruthenberg, the
elements around Foster were already
pressing for the formation Of the new
unions, while the group then led by
the renegade Jay Lovestone stood
opposed to the formation of new
unions.
The third phase of the trade union
policy was marked by the struggle
for the line Of the Comintern and the
Red international of Labor Unions in
the U. S. as laid down at the fourth
RILU Congress and the Sixth Com
intern Congress. This lire was re-
sisted by the Lovestone group. The
elements around Foster and Browder
fought for the line, although not
without some hesitation among some.
The Party as a whole was slow in
seeing the turn in events. Thus in
1926-27 the thousands of Passaic tex
tile workers who were led by an in
dependent union under the leader
ship of the Party were turned over to
the A. F. of L. on the theory of "at-
taching them to the main stream of
the labor movement" OF course the
A. F, of L. quickly nquidated the
entire organization. Similarly we
missed the right moment in organ
izing the new unions in the mining
and needle industry. After the bu-
reaucrats betrayed and split the
ranks of the workers, we waited until
the workers were defeated in struggle
by the employers and only then in
1928 and 1929 did we organize the
unions in these industries.
With the expulsion of the Lovestone
and Cannon renegades from the
Party, the Party was able to move
more rapidly in the direction of the
line laid down by the Red Interna-
tionaI Of Labor Unions. The new policy
took firm shape in the fall of 1929
with the transformation of the Trade
Union Educational League into the
Trade Union Unity League as the new
center of revolutionary unions and
revolutionary oppositions in the re-
forrnist unions.
I'VE did not entirely escape one-side-
W e dness and sectarianiSm with the
official adoption Of the policy laid
( down by the Comintern and the
! RILU. We again not in words so
much but in deeds swung to another
4 extreme. This resulted in serious
4 neglect in the work in the A. F. of l..
/ unions from which to this date we
have not completely recovered. But on
the whole we have not only a better
( understanding but more correct prac-
| tice. Now while we realize that our
main task is to organize the unor-
ganized in the basic industries into
the TUUL unions, we are at the same
time fully conscious Of the necessity
to work among the millions of work
ers organized in the A. F. of L. and
similar organizations.
The question may be asked: If
4 the present policy is correct, why
then are we not succeeding in or
ganizing more workers into the T.U.
UL. unions, and more workers into
the A. F. Of L. oppositions? There
are a number of reasons for this,
The new unions were formed after
defeated struggles. The new I'M
ions almost from the very beginning
OF their existence were faced with
the severe crisis and unemployment
when all other unions were on the
decline. 1t took some time for the
workers who were under attack to
reform their ranks and enter the
| fight for economic demands.
We're we more experienced in
meeting such situations, we might
have even under these difficult con-
ditions made more Roadway. Fur
therrpore, it was inevitable that af-
ter the sharp struggle against the
opportunist elements that were ex-
PEELED, some leftist moods should be
carried over in mechanical way
into the unions. This, of course.
also initiated against the rapid
growth of the unions.
/ But above all the main reason lies
in the failure to master the new
methods of work that we're required
to meet the new situation. We car
ried over the old methods of the
A. F. Of L. into the work of the Red
Trade Unions. There was not the
understanding on how to organize
in the shops, how to carry through
the policy of concentration, how to
develop the united front. There was
not a sufficient understanding how
to win over or even approach the
strata Of unorganized workers,
among them the Negro workers, the
women and young workers.
The mistakes were open right wing
mistakes, the methods of the old A.
f. OF L. unions, but at the same
time there were leftist mistakes, es-
pecially in the questions of organi-
cation. There was too much the
tendency to make the union dupli-
Gates of the Communist Party. Now
we are in the process of correcting
these mistakes. And we already can
see progress where the weaknesses
mentioned above are being overcome.
Finally we should not forget that our
young and inexperienced organiza-
tons from the very beginning had
to face the combined attacks of the
I Government, the employers, the A.
f. Of l.. bureaucrats, the Socialist mis-
leaders, the Musteites and the re-
negade groups.
Is our present policy correct in
the face of the latest developments
in the labor movement? Some
would question this. The rene
gades are especially busy calling
for the liquidation of the new
/ unions ord g.. II