The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-02-25
GreenHOldsup
Action in Auto
(COntinued from Page u

bile Workers in Detroit and Flint,
consisting of the elected represen-
tatives of the membership, and
by local after local in Cleveland
and other centers, calling for i'm
mediate strike preparations
around a program of militant de-
mands, with all negotiations to be
in the hands of their elected COM
mittees.
In order to give their high
handed action a democratic" front,
the National Council statement
goes on to say that mass meetings
of thousands Of workers in auto
mobile centers during the past week
had unanimously decided on this
action and that several thousand
petitions had been received from
workers in the Cleveland Fisher
Body Plant electing Green "as their
duly accredited representative"
Green Not Preparing Strike
The statement contains no hint
of possible strike action.
That this open flouting of the
will of the rank and file in the face
of the intensified employers gov
eminent offensive had already been
decided on in advance by the Elk
ecutive Council of the A. F. of L..
was indicated by Green's statement
in an interview with the press on
his arrival from Washington yes
terday morning:
1--WE are not talking about pull
1 ing a strike. We haven't made any
such plans. We are thinking in
terms of peace"
1t is clear that the A. F. Of L.
top officialdom has learned moth
ing from the bitter experiences of
the auto workers during the past
year-not even new tricks to put
their program across-and that
they intend to continue the cap
finland policy of groveling before
the employers and the Roosevelt
government, hoping like Mr.. Mac
awber that something may turn
up"
Strong Strike Sentiment
What the rank and file will say
to this policy Of retreat and sur
render which tramples on their de-
cisions may, however, prove to be
a different story-a story written
on the picket line.
The real sentiment Of the rank
and file was Indicated by the fact
that in his speech last night
Green received the biggest ap-
plause whenever he mentioned
the possibility of strike action.
The A. F. of L. chief was COM
PEELED to cater to this sentiment
even to the extent of saying:
81 wouldn't advise you to de-
pend on your government. Jap
pIause.) He who would be free
must strike the blow himself"
loud applause.)
throughout the rest of his speech
however, Green told the workers to
put their faith in the New Deal
in the proper enforcement" Of
Section TIA, which he called the
magma charta of labor" and es-
pecially in a new Auto Labor Board
organized under the National Labor
Relations Board.
Proposes Majority Rule
Green proposed the holding o.
secret elections outside the plants
with majority rule instead of pro.
portional representation at as pres
ent.
Earlier National Organizer Dillon
who preceded Green, denounced
proportional representation a!
nothing but collective confusion
and "the legalization of the com
pany union"
He did not, Of course, mention
the fact that it was the A. F. o
L. TOP leadership who had accepted
proportional representation as vel
as the Auto Labor Board, in the
Presidents settlement Of last Marcel
U.s. and had tried to palm this of
on the workers as union recogni
tion,' and as victory for thu
workers.
Green completely ignored si1
questions asked by the Communis
Party in a leaflet which was dis
tributed at the meeting. The leaf
let called for mass organization
drive in preparation for a victorious
strike to win the demands of thu
auto workers; the questions con
cerned this vital point and the i'm
mediate policies to be pursued b!
the A. F. of L. in the auto industry
Friend Of Coughlin Speaks
Green was followed on the plat
form by ex-Mayor Frank Murphy
now Governor General of the Phil
ippines, whose trip here is evidentl!
the opening gun in his campaign
for election to the U. S. Senate il
1886. This friend of labor" Whose
police assisted Henry Ford's Dear.
born thugs in numbering five work.
ers in the Ford Hunger March three
years ago, held a lengthy secret con
ference Friday with the radio priest
Father Charles E. Coughlin
Coughlin's notorious anti-1abor poll
cies were unanimously condemned
by the last convention of the Amer.
lean Federation of Labor. Aftel
the conference Murphy praised thu
program of Coughlin's new fascist.
tinged organization, the Nationa
Union for Social Justice.
The National Council of thu
United Automobile Workers vii
continue in session tomorrow. 1t il
clear, however, that If they are tt
prevent repetition Of last year.
experience, the rank and file of tn,
! A. F. of L. together with the mem.
| bers Of the other legitimate unions
will have to take matters into theil
own hands.