Evening star., 1937-02-07

TO CONVINCE HIM.
nois being ascribed by Lewis directly
to the Vaccinations Of Moscow.
Eventually, Lewis succeeded in
quelling the disorders within his own
organization, stamping out all but one
rival group, the Progressive Miners
who operate in Illinois.
Face Evil Days.
Along about 1924 the Mine Workers
began to fall on evil days. Thousands
of men were thrown out Of work; con-
tracts were broken and for nearly a
decade things we're going from bad to
worse. Lewis kept his shattered lines
together as we'll as he could. and from
this near-debacle emerged with an
even tighter grip on the union ma
chinerp
Because of the collapse Of so many
Of the district organizations into
which the Mine Workers are divided.
the International Union put its own
representatives in charge. AS a re-
suit, something less than half of the
districts today are autonomous, the
activities of the others being directed
by leaders sent in from headquarters.
This Is irksome to minority, but the
centralized control will stay where 1t
Is until Lewis is satisfied change can
be made without stirring the inevitable
rivalries that local elections would
bring.
The labor-minded Roosevelt ad-
ministration was boon to the Mine
Workers. First the national recovery
act. with its collective-bargaining pro-
vision, and later, the Guffey act, gov.
erning the bituminous industry, gave
the organization badly needed boost,
and though both pieces Of legislation
have been outlawed by the Supreme
Court, their effects still are reflected
in the growth of the mine union. AS
a result, 1t now claims 550,000 mem
bers. constituting substantial pillar
for the industrial union structure.
The strike that the Lewis forces now
are holding in the automotive industry
climaxes a campaign the miners head
launched in 1888. For years the
unionization of the mass production
industries has been the goal Of labor.
During the lifetime of Gompers he
sent Lewis into the Pittsburgh district
in an effort to organize the steel
workers, but without success. AS the
infant automobile industry expanded.
another attractive labor vista was
opened, but here, too, although indi-
vidual crafts obtained recognition, the
sum total Of results was not satisfac-
tory. Elsewhere in the industrial set
up there also were gaps in the lines
of organized workers.
Lewis Launches Drive.
Encouraged by the labor upswing
in the new administration. Lewis went
into the convention of the American
Federation Of Labor here In 1888 with
his plan for a concerted drive to Or
ganize the mass industries, just as the
coal mines had been, with every worker
a member of the same union, rather
than as afihate OF an individual craft.
Only with such solidarity, he argued,
forts to proceed along craft lines,
Lewis added. had demonstrated their
futility.
No headway was made then, but
year later a plan was decided on at
San Francisco that promised to bear
fruit. It did not work out that way,
for the craft union element, control
ing the federation, did not propose to
see any infringement In their own
jurisdiction, and wien Lewis sought
to force the issue the following year
at Atlantic City, he was defeated. The
battle ragged SO bitterly there that
Lewis was involved in q physical en-
counter with one Of the principal lead
ers Of the opposition, William Hutche-
son, president of the carpenters.
So Lewis started his one-man drive.
The first step was the formation
Of the Committee for Industrial Or
ganization. in which the miners were
joined by the International Typo
graphical Union, Amalgamated Cloth.
ing Workers, Ladies Garment Work.
ers. Textile Workers. Oil Field, Gas
well dllu ktclLlcIy WOIhcIS, cap ana
millinery department Of the Hatters,
Cap and Millinery Workers and Mine,
Mill and Smelter Workers. There
have been other affiliations since.
Lewis then started burning his bridges
by vacating q vice presidency and
| place on the Executive Council of
the American Federation Of Labor,
and, finally, made the break complete
by defying Green at the Constitution
Hall convention, when Green re-
peated the demand Of the federation
Executive Council for dissolution of
| the c. I. O.
Since then the miners and some
of the others have been suspended
by the federation, q seemingly useless
gesture, as Lewis has ignored the
major labor group.
Announces Program.
When Lewis embarked on his Or
ganization crusade he asserted it was
his intention to form unions Just as
big IS the corporations" He still
sticks to that plan.
Some Of his opponents see IN his
efforts . desire to become the over.
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