The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1943-05-27

tIletlC dlllIuue' tOWdIu tiie SIi'Su AhihS
Workers is reflected in the second
paragraph of Mr.. Green's statement
Labor Solidarity
"The Executive Council interprets
the application of the United Mine
Workers for reaffiliation as response
to its repeated appeals to those organ
izations originally chartered by the
AFL which had withdrawn to return
and for unity and solidarity within
the ranks of labor"
The AFL now has a membership of
6,225, 600. The CIO membership is esti-
mated at 4,5OOOOO. The United Mine
Workers has membership of 100000.
Reaffiliation of the miners with the
AFL will thus make the score 6,S25 600
to 100000. 1t is believed some other
units may leave the CIO and join the
AFL along with Lewis, because it is
known that all is not harmony within
the CIO.
All of this has a bearing on national
politics in 1914, but so far it is
matter of anybodys guess as to what
will have happened by then. 1t does,
however, lend strength to the ALL
warming to Congress that it must not
be treated with disdain when it makes
Il formal declaration on legislative
matters affecting labor
Labor leaders see no relationship
| between the request for reatliliation
| and 10 f.1,r. IiSnlItp nf thp
United Mine Workers with the Ma
tional War Labor Board. If anything,
it may mean pressure from the AFL
upon John l.. Lewis to support labOrS
nO-strike pledge There are many ALL
leaders who have endorsed the United
Mine Workers in their demand for
wage adjustments. Furthermore, the
Presidents Executive Order of April
8 calling for infeXible wage and job
freezes brought all labOr-AFL, Go
and UMWA and the Brotherhoods--
into one camp in opposition to its pro-
visions, and emphasized mere than al
rmost any other thing the threat to
voluntary procedures in labor relations
from government.
A committee of three will be named
by Mr. Green to take up with Mr..
Lewis some of the possible barriers
that stand between the appliction and
its approval While no predictions were
made it was regarded as quite pos
sible that Mr.. Lewis would be back
i'm the AFL by October, when the next
| animal rnnVnptin IL nnnnpI in ItnStn1l
or even by the time the council CON
cudes its next quarterly session in
August.
The United Mine Workers was the
spearhead in the movement for indus
trial unioniSm inside the AFL. This
movement reached its peak in the 1889
convention when Mr.. Lewis and his
associates were defeated. Soon after
ward, they formed the Committee for
Industrial Organization, presumably to
foster campaign of education for in
duStrial unioniSm inside the federation
However, the AFL council demanded
that the ten unions headed by the
miners disband the committee. This
was refused and in September these
ten unions, with an Approximately
l 100000 were suspended by the fed
GRAFTON, and within two years they
were expelled.
Mr.. Lewis, however, went on with
his campaign and, as Il result, the CIO
changed its name to that of the Con
gress of Industrial Organizations in
November, 1888
Lewis and CIO Part Company
Last Summer Mr.. Lewis and tn,
ClO parted company, and since that
time the miners union has played al
Independent role in the labor move
ment.
The chief of the miners union has
some accounts to square. He has sym
pathiZers in the United Aulomobil,
Workers of America (CIO) and it may
be expected that once he is back i'm the
, AF'L he will use his efforts to weal
away this union or Il large part of il
from the CIO. Also it is believed that
he will seek to bring back into tn,
: Federation other unions, such as tn,
rubber workers and others dominated
by middle-of-the-road groups
Mr.. Lewis hatred of certain CIC
leaders, whom he now regards as head
ing ''the Communist wing" of the ClC
. is likely to lead him to make every
possible effort to cause the dSintc
grafton of the organization led bN
Philip Murray, his old cOmladc i'm tn,
miners union and also president of tn,
United Steel Workers of America.
In any possible fight Mr. Lewis may
make to isolate the left wing an,
Communist dominated ClO unions ht
will have the support of the AFI.
Mr.. Lewis also has sympathizers i,
the auto workers union who are firmly
of his opinion concerning the left win.
and Communist leadership of some OF
the Clo organizations. These group.
he will seek to use as Il lever to eithe,
spit the auto union or to win it over
to the AFL.
I'..tt Z. ..... a