The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-01-06


workers, in the big factories, In the
important Industrial sections. II
Is idle to talk about the necessity
Of new cadres without deTelvpirs
them from among these very SEC
tionS Of the workers"
This paragraph Indicates tins basic
tasks: the need for establishing 4
solid base among the decisive sec
tons of the American workers; the
building Of the Party among tne
steel workers, the coal miners, the
railroad, auto, marine and textile
workers; the setting up Of Party
units IN the biggest factories, mines
and docks Of these industries; the
building OF the class struggle trade
unions there; the building Of Oppoei-
ton groups In the refornlists unions
"a. ?. Of L. and independently; the
development OF new leading forces
these workers In the basic industries.
ANY growth In tbs Party, any In
creased activity cannot be really de-
cisive, cannot mark . real turn In
our work, unless It represents in
creased activity and growth In the
! coal, steel, marine, auto and textile
industries and In the major indus
trial districts, Chicago, Detroit,
Cleveland and Pittsburgh. This is
the spirit Of the open Letter. These
are the tasks that stand before Us.
More Important Today
Since the Open Letter Of last July
the importance of these tasks has
not diminished. These were not the
tasks OF a few weeks or months.
They embody the permanent orien-
tation Of the Party.
Furthermore the new attacks on
the living standards of the workers.
precisely in these basic industries. BY
the government and the bosses, I'M
der the N R. A., with the co-opera-
ton Of the A. F. Of L. bureaucrats,
has greatly added both to impor-
lance and the urgency Of these
tasks. Without attempting gener-
ally to estimate the work Of the
Party during the past period (and
there have been gains In these basic
lndustr1eS), We must state that we
have not kept up with developments
This applies to every one Of the con
centration districts. In no case can
we claim the unquestioned leadership
OF the workers In one single decisive
factory. The Job Of penetrating the
factories, now more than ever be-
fore, remains the most important
task OF the Party.
Work in the A. r. oSL.
Penetrating the factories, particu-
larly now, Is inseparable from the
task OF building the revolutionary
unions and revolutionary opposite
groups in the A. F. Of L. unions. T
latter task, because OF past negl
and recent A. F. OF L. growth.
companied by the complete swallo
ing up Of the A. r. OF L. barea.
cracy into the strike breaking N. r.
A. apparatus, becomes one OF cen
trial Importance.
The past period has seen O STRIKE
wave sweeping through practicall
every industry, and involving mort
workers than In any period since
that Immediately following the war.
In all Of these strikes our CONFESS
have, of course, been active, In many
cases doing excellent work and in All
cases showing the greatest heroism
and self-sacrifice. But Just imagine
what more decisive role we could
have played, and even the course
that these strikes could have taken.
II We had been firmly rooted in the
factories and In the reformist trade
unions.
In mining, for example, sectarian
tendencies clearly hampered our
comrades, tendencies that should now
be decisively combatted in our ef-
forts to unity the forces Of the
miners In accordance with the special
resolution adopted at the recent
Pittsburgh Communist conference.
In shoe, also, it is clear that more
could have been accomplished at the
recent Boston arnalgamation confer
ence, If our work had been stronger
in the shoe factories and the inde-
pendent unions of New England.
From all this It is clear that every
District, and in the first place Chi
cago, Detroit, Cleveland and Pitts
burgh, the trade union work, with
work in the A. F. Of L. unions IN
derlined, must be placed, together
with work in the factories, as the
major job. In connection with this
We again emphasize the need for
training and promoting leading Party
and trade cadres from the American
workers in the decisive industries.
Strengthen Unemployed Work
This emphasis on factory and trade
union work cannot, however, lead to
neglect Of work among the unem-
ployed, particularly now with winter
on, with no adequate steps by Roose-
welt to meet the needs Of the unen-
ployed, with the Unemployed Con-
vention to be held in WASHINGTON
on Feb 3, etc. On this the Open
Letter states
The necessary concentration Of
our work on the most important
factories does not, Of course, IN
any way mean that we should allow
our work among the unemployed
to slacken- In carrying out this
main task we should not for an In
slant lose sight Of the fact that we
represent the interests Of the en-
tire class, and that, especially un-
der the present conditions, the un-
employed constitute = factor Of
greatest revolutionary importance.
One of the chief tasks Of the Party
is the organizing and mobiIizing 81
the millions of unemployed for
immediate relief and unemploy-