The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-15

to the 54th Convention does not
contain single reference to any
of the strikes that shook the coun-
try: the great West Coast strike,
Toledo, Butte, Minneapolis, Ala
bama and scores of other struggles.
Although the Executive Councils
report records the fact that $133,615
was collected for strike funds, only
81 ,084 was spent in aiding these
struggles, and 81 900 of this sum
went to lawyers in Toledo.
How the Machine Worked
All told, Weinstock reports, So
rank and file resolutions were in
troduced at the A. F. of L. conven-
ton. They called for unemploy-
ment insurance, dues exemption for
the unemployed, for the freedom of
Mooney and Billings, for the right
to strike, for sympathy strikes, for
the right to belong to any political
party, for the endorsement of the
Washington Unemployed Congress,
for the withdrawal of A. F. of l..
officials from the N. r. A. boards
and from the strike breaking Ma
tional Civic Federation, of which
Matthew Vol is acting president,
and many others.
All of these resolutions were
ruthlessly squelched by the A. F.
of L. machine, Weinstock reports.
A report in the San Francisco
Chronicle of Oct. IS gives an unu-
sually candid picture of the meth
DDS used by the ruling clique. The
Chronicle reported:
with the same impatience it
has exhibited toward any Com
munist or radical moves since the
convention started, the American
Federation of Labor yesterday
'railroaded' a series of left wing
resolutions into oblivion.
while resolutions sponsors
sought vainly to be heard on the
convention floor, President Will
lam A. Green and Secretary John
P. Frey of the resolutions COM
mittee formed a smooth working
team to block radical action.
THE system worked the same
in each instance. Frey would re-
port inconvenience of the COM
mittee and move adoption of the
committees report; President
Green would ask if there were
any remarks-and as the resolu-
ton sponsors rose to argue, the
convention would cry-Question,
and it would be put to a vote.
Several times when only
dozen or so hands responded to
the vote on the question, Presi-
dent Green remarked dryly:
It's practically unanimous
Did Not Act for Labor
Summarizing his impressions of
the A. F. of L. convention, Vein
stock said that it did not solve
any of the problems facing the
workers of the country. The A. F.
of L. officialdom gave lip service to
the organization of workers in the
basic industries, but at the same
time they have taken all measures
to safeguard the interests of the
existing craft international who
hate to give up either their juris-
dictional rights or the per capita
taxes which fill the A. F. of L..
treasury and pay huge salaries to
the Federation officials. The fight
in the building trades is going to
continue; the decision regarding the
brewery workers will be rejected by
the membership because their vote
-24,800 against ITO of the Execu-
tive Council-Shows that they are
not willing to surrender their or
gani1ation to the control of the
Executive Council"
The real convention of the A. F.
of L., Weinstock concluded, was
held in Pittsburgh late in October,
when 100 rank and file delegates
unanimously endorsed the program
for the continuation of the strug-
gle for the Workers Unemployment
Insurance Bill, for the building of
rank and file groups in all local
unions, and to unite all workers
irrespective of political affiliations
to fight for trade union democ-
racy, for rank and file control, with
the aim of Kidding the American
labor movement of the Greens and
VOLS, and their kind.