The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-09-01

establish greater government con-
troll Of trade unions. The New York
Telegram of August % carried the
following dispatch Of the United
Press: Organized employers are
planning a drive at the next session
Of Congress to place legal restric-
tons on the activities Of labor
unions" The strike breking Man
ufacturers' Association is circulariz-
ing the British Labor Disputes Act
which illegalized general strikes, tc
serve as a model for similar legisla-
ton in the United States. The cap
italist class of the U. s. knows that
the Communist Party will throw all
its energies into mobilizing all men,
bers of trade unions, all workers to
defend their unions from govern
ment attack, to defend their rights
to strike and to uphold the cousti-
tutional rights of the workers and
their organizations. The bosses
know that to defeat the workers
they must first of all fight the Com
munists. This is one reason that
the A. F. of L. leaders, as true serv-
ants of the master class, have
chosen this moment to fight the
Communist Party.
Furthermore, on Oct. 1, the Fifty
fourth National Convention of the
A. F. Of L. will take place. william
Green and the A. F. Of L. bureau
cracy want to be assured of absolute
control of the convention. They
want to stamp out every opposition
to their leadership. They want to
stifie every voice that will expose
their treachery and corruption.
These leaders hope that with the
expulsion of Communists from the
unions they will escape the criticism
of their membership.
Then there is also this fact to con-
slider! For the last fifteen months
hundreds of thousands of workers
have joined the A. F. of L. unions.
Hundreds of Federal locals were Or
ganized. They have joined in the
hope that the A. F. Of L. will lead
them in the struggle for better con-
ditions and maintenance of their
rights as union men. Today, many
of these workers are disillusioned.
Some locals, disguised with the A.
F. Of L. are sending back their
charters. Whatever gains they have
made, whatever rights they have
won, were because the workers took
leadership into their own hands and
fought against the bosses, the police,
the National Guards and the strike
breaking A. F. of L. leaders. From
the ranks of the workers came for
ward new trade union leaders, sin
cere fighters for their class, many
of whom are still working in the
shops. The bourgeoisie and the A.
F. Of L. bureaucracy looks disdain-
fully on their militant rank and file
leaders. Louis Stark of the Times
expresses this when he writes,
Wherever the leaders spring up
from the rank and file and rub ell
bows with their fellows in the mills
and factories they tend to look ask
ance at the slow, perhaps plodding,
methods of their older mentors, and
seek for quick action and short
cuts"
The A. F. of L. leaders know that
new union members and their rank
and file leaders, and the old mem
bers of the Federation will fight
them and will not permit them
selves to be continuously betrayed.
That is why they are afraid of them.
This is why the Executive Council
of the A. F. of L. at its recent meet
ing in Atlantic City spoke of the
trade union discipline in which the
new membership will have to be
trained. In practice it means the
new A. F. of l.. members will be told
they must obey the leaders, they
must not object when they are sold
out. This is the bureaucrats' con-
ception of trade union discipline.
In this question the role of the
Communists is very much involved.
These new trade union members in
the A. F. of L. not having any pre-
vious experience with the A. F. of
l.. bureaucracy, not being fully fam
liar with all their tricks and pol
icies, are often easy prey for these
reactionaries to whom the workers
even at times entrust their leader
ship. Likewise, the new militant
rank and file leaders are very often,
because of their inexperience with
the A. F. of L. bureaucracy, won
over with all sorts of promises as
well as threats, and while the robot
reactionaries take over the leader
ship OF the struggle, they are re-
legated to the background and kept
as sort of window dressing.
However, when Communists are
active amongst these new trade
union forces, the determination of
the workers is unshakeable, their
struggles are most militant and the
A. F. OF L. takers are kept out of
their affairs. This is another reason
why Green and the A. F. of l..
bureaucracy are now making their
attack upon the Communists.
Will the A. F. of L. succeed in
expelling the Communists from the
unions and thereby betray the
struggles Of the workers and deprive
them of militant and honest leader
ship. which leads their fights for
higher wages, shorter hours and the
protection of their interests? No,
they will not. Because the Com
munists are becoming more and
more entrenched in the unions. Be-
cause ITO an increasing extent they
(the workers. are fighting shoulder
to shoulder with the Communists
for militant trade unions able to
win concessions from the bosses"
From the statement of the Com
munist Party. Not the Commu-
IL