Roanoke Rapids daily herald., 1948-10-08
Pegler Claims
One OF Best
Unions Is Bad
PEGLER
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER

lures Syndicate, Inc.)
New York, Oct. lin this les
son l would like to use one of
our great model unions to show
that the miscalled American la
Dor movement is a racket, poll
teal, financial and otherwise.
The union is the International
Ladies' Garment Workers Union
of the AT .rican Federation of
Labor. Its distinguished presi-
dent is David Dubinsky, who
would take a grim view Of the
crime of dual unionism and/or
disruption by rank-and- file
needleman but has taken his out
fit into and out of the A. F. of
l.. and into and out of the c. l.
o. And back into the A. F. of
l.. again He saw no wrong in
that. In each instance, his con-
duct constituted dual unionism
and or disruption in the first
degree but was convered by the
privilege which permits a union
to flout its own moral laws.
1t is customary in discussions
of the union movement to say
that man is not a thief or
CRATER if he is not, lest it be
thought that by failure to say so
you intend to intimate that he
is. l am not going to say that
because it seems to me to be
like kissing the flag under COM
pulsion. l don't know anything
about Mr.. Dubinsky's morality
in this particular and a clean
bill of health from me would be
worthless.
l do know some things about
the union, however.
l know that it makes great
boast of its vacation funds col
lected from the employers. 1t
Is a strong, firm union with
smart lawyers up to the minute
on union law, tax law and in
terpretations by bureaus and
the courts. 1t is so strong that
it dominates the industry and
can step on an employer and
mash him like bug.
The bylaws of one of the
locals said the fund should
be used for the health, ere
creation" and welfare" of the
workers, under management by
a committee of five members.
These five, however, subject ia
approval by the executive board
were to decide what expendi-
lures would best promote those
indefinite purposes and how the
money should be apportioned be-
tween the purposes.
The union did not promise that
the money would be entirely
spent or distributed each year,
which meant that the individual
simply could not expect to get
exactly all of the contribution
made in his name. The union
was holding some of the money
for reserve and there was moth
ing to forbid it from holding the
entire collection in the reserve,
indefinitely or forever.
The manufacturer who ques-
toned the business said one wo-
man who worked for him had
earned about $1,000 and that he
had paid in against her name
SITS. Nevertheless, he said, she
got only SIS for her vacation
and she and other workers
suspected him of cheating
them. He said they were re-
ceiving about rs per cent in di-
rect payments, the rest of his
payroll tax to the union being
withheld for the reserve or
spent on the other debatable
benefits. He had no right to de-
marnd an accounting even to
clear his name of unjust sus-
picion.
Non-union workers pay was
similarly taxed for a fund to
which they had no possible ac-
cess. And where union employ
ers farmed out work to contrac-
tors in non-union shops, they
were responsible for payments
to the union with respect to in
dividual workers who were total
outsiders. Obviously non-mem-
Der wasn't eligible for any "bene
fit"
Yet when the union recently
threw out picket lines and some
of them had COON trouble and
got scuffed up, the Mayor, the
Police Commissioner and the
District Attorney all hollered
bloody murder. They might have
considered the possibility that
the workers, American people
were fighting to keep out of this
union. But Dubinsky controls
the so-called Liberal Party,
a parasite on the Democratic
Party, and thus controls about
100000 votes through the union.
The union also goes in for
espionage in foreign countries,
And it nonchalantly collect<
money in great hunks from the
sands of workers for its foreign
relief fund.
For example, Sin response to
the urgent needs" of persons in
Europe but subject to certain BIZ
gotries endorsed by Eleanor Ro-
osevelt, the General Executive