The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-04-13
Pittsburgh, Detroit and
Cleveland Lag in Work
in the A. F. of /.
BY CARL REEVE

National convention Of the
Communist Party recorded
the rapid and tremendous
growth of the mass cam
paign, led by the Party, for enact
ment of the Workers Unemployment
Insurance Bill CHR. 1899. 1T is no
accident" said Comrade Browder
that the only serious project fol-
unemployment insurance that has
come before the Congress of the
United States is the Workers IN
employment and Social Insurance
Bll (HR. 1899, which was worked
out and popularized among the
masses by the Communist Party
Only the Communist Party has made
a real fight for unemployment in
surance and by this fight finally
forced before the Congress the first
and only bill to provide for real I'M
employment insurance"
Weak In Concentration Points
Since the National Convention
Against Unemployment, held in
Washington on Feb. 4, the increased
widespread demand of the masses
for the enactment Of the Workers
Bill, has been striking. In the two
months Of February and March, one
hundred and twenty three local
unions Of the A. F. of L. have en-
dorsed the bill and written Congress
calling for its enactment. Sixteen
city councils and ten Central Labor
Unions with around TOO local unions
affiliated, have gone on record in
these eight weeks, for the enact
ment by Congress of the Workers
Bill. The sweeping deYsnd of the
masses for security has drawn hun
dreds Of thousands of additional
workers into the fight, led by the
Party, for real unemployment in
surance, However, serious weaknesses
and shortcomings of the Party'S
leadership of this campaign are still
evident. The weaknesses must be
brought out especially in view Of
the demagogic campaign Of Roose-
welt for the fraudulent Wagner Bill
One important weakness in the
campaign, as shown by the two
months endorsements, is the weak
ness revealed in the concentration
districts and basic industries, show
ing failure Of these Party districts
~ xr-N,-iy .o,.;A,NeI,y oyo0,,11, ~, fI,a A
F. Of L., and TO bring forward the
campaign for Unemployment Insur-
snce among the masses of workers
in their districts.
Only One Local in Detroit
OF the one hundred and twenty
three A. F. Of L. local unions en-
dorsing the bill, only one endorse
ment was secured in these eight
weeks in the Detroit district, and
this endorsement was not in a basic
industry, and not in the city Of
Detroit, but was secured in Grand
Rapids from the teachers local
union. This one endorsement, in an
eight weeks period, shows that the
directives of the National Conven-
ton Against Unemployment were
not followed up in the Detroit dis
trict and that work in the A. F. of l.
locals certainly is tagging behind.
in the Pittsburgh district, we find
the strange situation Of the strong
est unemployment movement in the
country, leading many struggles for
relief, against evictions. etc, with
thousands organized into the IN
employment Councils, and at the
same time not a single endorsement
reported in eight weeks from the
entire district, by an A. F. Of l.
union for the Workers Unemploy-
nnent Insurance Bill.
The fact that in this period two
city councils, that of Swissvale and
Glassport, Pa, endorsed the Work
ers Bill in the Pittsburgh district
indicates the mass demand for the
enactment of the bill in the district
and that we must examine our work
inside the A. F. of L. in this district
Eight In Three Districts
In the Cleveland district, eight
local unions endorsed the Workers
Bill In these two months. The fact
that the city councils of Toledo,
Canton and Lindale, all industrial
cities, endorsed the bill, shows that
the Cleveland district is leading a
mass campaign for social insurance.
Also, Of the eight local unions en-
dorsing the bill, the majority are
in the basic industries. They include
one mine local CUMWA). three
International Association of Ma
chinists locals, one important auto
local, and one printing local. These
endorsements show proper oriental
ton towards basic industry. But in
Cleveland also, it must be said that
the good work done merely shows
the tremendous possibilities in the
district and the insufficient atten-
ton paid to the A. F. of L.
The endorsement in these three
concentration districts, Detroit,
Pittsburgh and Cleveland, with a
total of nine for the three districts,