The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-06-11

pOrJance cOnITOnGlnS every IIdut
union member is the rise Of in
dependent trade unions in all sec
lions of the country-unions neither
affiliated to the American Fedora
ton Of Labor nor to the Trade
Union Unity League.
The question Of the policy Of the
TUUL. unions towards these or
carnations, which now have APP
proximately 25O,000 members, the
relation Of these unions to the A. F.
of L., the line to be pursued in unit
ing workers of the T.U.U.b., IN
dependent unions and A. F. of l..
into a united front of class struggle
and the question of an independent
Federation of Labor-all these
problems are dealt with by Jack
Stachel, acting secretary of the T.
JUL, in an article on the indepen-
dent unions appearing in the June
issue Of Labor Unity.
Development of Independent Unions
Stachel explains how the indie
pendent unions arose:
THE growth of the independent
unions is part Of the great move
ment for organization among the
workers, taking place side by side
with the increasing strike struggles.
The Overwhelming majority OF the
workers in these independent unions
are in unions that have been organ
lied since the beginning of last year.
They consist Of workers who did not
wish to Join the A. F. of L. because
they are dissatisfied with the pol
icies and leadership Of the A. F. OF
L.. but who did not join the unions
of the TU.UL. either because they
do not agree with the program OF
the T.U.U.L., fear the label OF REQ
unions. or because the T. U. U. l..
unions have not been able to reach
these workers. In general, they can
be characterized as militant work
ers already 10 the left of the mass
of the workers in the A. F. of l..
Other of these unions are a split
off from the a. F. of L., as for eX-
ample, the Progressive Miners. Here,
certainly, these workers were in dis
agreement with the A. F. Of L. to
the point of leaving it.
Some of tn Sc independent
unions have existed for some time,
as for example, the Amalgamated
Food Workers, or the Shoe Work
ers Protective, most Of the members
of which became merged in the in
dependent United Shoe and Leather
Workers Union. The mass Of these
workers who in many cases still
suffer from backward pTejudices,
despite their militancy, and whose
organizations are in many cases
dominant by various types of re-
fomists of the type of Matthew
Smith of the Mechanics Educational
Society, or Pearcy of the Progress
sive Miners, do represent g leftward
moving force in the labor move
men seeking to free itself from the
domination of the reformist bureau
cracy, and willing to carry on q
militant struggle and build mill
tant class trade unions"
The tendencies making for the
further growth Of the independent
unions "have been further strength
ened by the role played by the A..
F. of L. leadership in the mass
strike movement and the eX-
perience and disillusionment of in
creasing sections of A. F. of L..
workers, especially the newly or
ganized workers in the federal locals
in the mass production industries, -
Stachel points out.
'These tendencies within the A.
F. of L., the failure of the A. F. of l..
to carry on struggle and win recog-
milton in the basic industries, such
as auto and steel, and the capitula-
ton of the A. F. of L. leaders to
company unions Gas symbolized by
their acceptance of the Presidents
agreement in the auto industry,
which legalizes company unions)-
all these factors have also had their
effect in further increasing the ten
denotes among the unorganized to
join unions outside of the A. F. OF
L."
There are different types of in
dependent unions, however: those
whose policy and leader are no diff
ferent to the A. F. Of L., and q
larger number which have adopted
H. ..o1in.r Of olorc cfr11nnIc hut