Montana labor news., 1936-08-06
A. F. Of |. Will Not Aid
Clio. Steel Drive, Green
ent Indicates

~ASAiA4N0A O%NNiA W. upon
from the executive council OF the Am
erican Federation OF Labor will be
given the II A. F. OF L. unions COM
posing the Committe for Industrial Or
ganization in the drive to unionize
steel workers.
This was made abundantly clear in
a statement by Vim. Green, president
OF the A. F. OF l., on the eve Of a
meeting of the executive council Of the
A. F. of L. to discuss means Of dis
ciplining the II unions. Green's state
ment wa made in response to a de-
mand by newspaper reporters and is
his first comment since the announce
ment by the American Iron and Steel
Institute that the entire force OF the
s., O00,000,000 steel industry would be
pitted against the unionization cam
paign.
1T is to be seriously regretted that
the c. |. 0. thwarted the purpose Of the
A. F. OF l.. to ~inaugurate an organic
ing campaign in the steel industry, be-
hind which the A. F. OF L. would have
modified the united support and pool
ed resources Of organized labor. A
very serious if not fatal mistake was
made when it flouted the decisions of
the last convention Of the A. F. Of L.
and prevented the executive council
from carrying out the conventions in
structions to inaugurate, manage, pro-
mote, and conduct an organizing cam
paign among the iron and steel work
ers at the earliest possible date"
In a counter statement, John L.
Lewis, chairman Of the c. l. O. dec
Jared that the executive council never
had a plan to organize the steel in
dustry." The instructions Of the con-
vention, referred to by Green, were
never executed" according to Lewis.
THE executive council" Lewis
statement read, "contented itself with
heavy thinking on the subject while in
the meantime not a single organizer
was sent into the steel industry. At
the present moment there is nothing
to stop the A. F. OF L. from joining
wholeheartedly with the C. l. O. in the
fight to establish the right to collec-
tive bargaining and the right to or
ganize in the steel and other major
industries
Green's statement contained a blist-
ering attack on the c. l. 0. and allay-
ed rumors that the executive council
would be conciliatory in its attitude
toward the c. /. o. when the council
meets here. Instead OF making pos
sible the concentration Of all material,
moral, and economic forces Of the or
gained workers and all their friends
behind an irresistible organizing CAM
paign in the steel industry" Green
said, its &C. L. o. recognized spokes-
man denounced the A. F. OF l., charg-
ed it with pursuing a dog in the man
ger policy and portrayed it as a bar
rier blocking the efforts of the steel
workers to become organized.
Finally, through submission of alb
usive communications and kilograms to
the officers and delegates in attend
ance at the convention of the Anal
gamated Association Of Iron, Steel and
Tin Workers, the chairman of the c
l.. O., charging the leaders Of the A
F. of L. with incompetency and with
being guilty Of staying the progress Of
the labor movement, influenced these
officers to make unconditional surren
der. They deserted the A. F. of l., re-
jected its offer and its plan to organize
steel workers, joined the c. |. O., and
signed an agreement which subjects
them and the organization they repres-
ent to the complete domination and
control of the chairman of the c.. l. O."
Green continued saying that mem
bers Of the c. I. 0. now find that their
real enemy is not the A. F. of L. and
its executive council which they SO
vehemently denounced but that the
real enemies of the steel interests,
Green said, "can only be interpreted as
meaning that they understand no Ian
guage except the language of force"
Turning again to the c. |. 0. Green
asserted that "the sum total achieved
thus far is nothing but division, dis
cord, and confusion within the ranks
Of organized labor" He asserted
members Of the c. I. 0. had been re-
peatedly warned and had been request
ed to "desist, follow democratic pro-
cedure, to be governed by majority
rule, to respect the authority of the
A. F. Of l., and to maintain unity and
solidarity" These requests, he an
nounced, were answered with blank
refusal and in some instances ridicule
and denunciation.
when the executive council meets
July 8 it will give a consideration to
the status Of the c. I. 0. and will take
into account all its activities since it
was organized on November 10, 1885"
Lewis statement commented, IF the
executive council elects to join the
American Iron and Steel Institute in
fighting the c. 1. o., now engaged in
this major effort %(unionizing the steel
Industry, the shame Of such dishon-
orable action will lie on the heads of
Mr.. Green and his i%rreconcilable as
eocio+ae