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AFL-CIO Convention 11/13/89 [OA 6344] [7]
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AFL-CIO Convention 11/13/89 [OA 6344] [7]
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Speech Backup Chronological Files
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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
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Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
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Speech File Backup Files
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Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13695
Folder ID Number:
13695-006
Folder Title:
AFL-CIO Convention 11/13/89 [OA 6344] [7]
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26
19
5
1
Grundlace
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A half-million people take part in protest march in Leipzig, the largest of several rallies demanding democratic reforms.
German Migration Worrying Bonn
Mass Influx Is Seen Posing Housing, Employment Problems
East Germans might move to West
permit some travel to the West for
By Robert J. McCartney
Germany. "We could not handle
those who wish to continue living in
Washington Post Foreign Service
such a situation, nor could [East
the East, the country's loosely or-
EAST BERLIN, Nov. 6-As
Germany]," he said.
ganized political opposition move-
thousands of East German refugees
In the Communist state, mean-
ment declared today that the meas-
continue to pour into West Ger-
while, there was little sign that lib-
ure fell far short of fundamental po-
many, politicians and labor leaders
eralizing intitiatives announced by
litical change.
who must cope with the influx
the government have begun to sat-
In the last three days, about
warned today that a massive new
isfy widespread demands for great-
25,000 East Germans have fled
immigration would be hard to ab-
er freedom. A half-million East Ger-
west via Czechoslovakia, pushing
sorb and would aggravate West
mans marched in a cold rain in Leip-
the number of East Germans who
German unemployment and housing
zig tonight to demand democratic
have migrated to West Germany
shortages.
*changes, and tens of thousands of
since the beginning of the year to
Egon Bahr, a prominent figure in
others demonstrated in at least five
more than 180,000. An even larger
Bonn's opposition Social Democrat-
other cities.
number of ethnic Germans from Po-
ic Party, said he believed that be-
While some East Germans wel
land and the Soviet Union have also
tween 1.2 million and 1.4 million
comed a proposed law that would
entered West Germany this year.
Ernst Breit, leader of West Ger-
Family of six reaches border by rail, foot, stroller and taxi. Page A21
See GERMANS, A21, Col. 1
Photocopy-Preservation
"The passport nobbet part"
Breeht
THE WASHINGTON POST
TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 7. 1989 A21
Wet and Hopeful, the Sickerts Walked West
East German Family Joins Flood of Migrants Seeking Better Lives by Fleeing Homeland
By Blaine Harden
come to believe over the weekend
people are being housed in military
of new East German leader Egon
Washington Post Foreign Service
that there is a brighter future in
barracks.
Krenz. And like his fellow Germans
being a refugee in West Germany
At this rain-soaked Czechoslovak
who have fled a state that pinned
POMEZI, Czechoslovakia, Nov.
than a worker at home.
border crossing today, sputtering
them behind the Berlin Wall for 28
6-Just a few steps from the
Since Friday night, when East
East German Trabant and Wart-
years, he said Krenz's words have
checkpoint, two wheels fell off the
Germany announced it would allow
burg automobiles-most stuffed
not persuaded him to stay.
baby stroller. A cold rain was fall-
its citizens to emigrate to the West
with clothes and household belong-
"I simply don't believe in these
ing. The border guards had sub-
by way of Czechoslovakia, 25,000
ings, a few pulling overloaded trail-
changes Krenz talks about," Sickert
machine guns and sour faces. The
East Germans have come to a sim-
ers-rolled across the border at
said. "I listened to the radio on Sat-
Sickert family had one umbrella.
ilar conclusion.
about a hundred an hour. A three-
urday night and heard I could leave.
Ricky Sickert, aged 2, a squirm-
West German police and the of-
mile-long queue that formed here
It took me a day to believe it."
ing refugee in a stalled stroller,
ficial Czechoslovak news agency
Sunday night because of confusion
The factory in which he worked,
was howling. His sister and two
said that 23,500 had crossed the
on the West German side had van-
Sickert said, had equipment that
brothers were shivering and shar-
border by car, foot or train as of
ished. It was clear sailing for car-
was 16 to 20 years old, and there
ing cookies from a clear plastic
late tonight. Two more "freedom
borne refugees.
were no plans to modernize it. But
bag as they walked west on the
trains" carrying about 1,500 East
Klaus Sickert, who worked for 10
he has a friend from the mill who
shoulder of the road. Their moth-
Germans who had gathered at the
years in the same textile mill and
got out of East Germany a couple of
er, Anita, had been too excited to
West German Embassy in Prague
earned the equivalent of $183 a
years ago and who now works in
eat anything at all this morning.
left there tonight for Bavaria. That
month, could not afford a car. With
the textile business in Heidelberg.
REUTER
Fumbling with cold-clumsy hands
brings the number of refugee trains
four young children, a dead-end job
At least that is what Sickert has
Some fleeing families carried all their belongings in handbags and backpacks.
Photocopy-Preservation
to put errant wheels back on the
from the Czechoslovak capital to 12
and a wife who works part-time as a
heard.
stroller, she snapped at the chil-
since Saturday.
cleaning woman, Sickert said he
So this morning, he and the fam-
dren to be careful of cars.
Since the beginning of the year,
thought he would never be able to
ily took the 7:10 train from Karl-
ily here at 12:30 p.m., just a few
they would have to wait-just for
"This is the biggest moment in
more than 180,000 East German
afford a car-if he stayed home.
Marx-Stadt to Plauen, a 100-mile
minutes before the wheels fell off
a minute or two, he said-because
my life," said 38-year-old Klaus Si-
immigrants have flooded into West
He waited 10 years for his apart-
trip. From there they took a taxi
the stroller.
there was a backup of pedestrians
ckert, wet, bareheaded and carry-
Germany, both legally and illegally,
ment. His wife cannot afford to buy
another 20 miles to the East Ger-
That problem fixed, the family
ahead.
ing the children's clothes in a back-
taxing the Bonn government's as-
fresh fruit. "I saw people in my daily
man border town of Bad Brambach,
started moving again. As he walked
Ricky Sickert, in the stroller,
pack.
similation procedures. West Ger-
life who were kicked around," he
where they walked across the fron-
toward the border, holding hands
continued howling. He asked his
If he had not packed up his family
man police said 51 refugee recep-
said.
tier into Czechoslovakia. Sickert
with two of his children, Sickert
mother why they all were walking
and abandoned East Germany this
tion centers across the country are
Like many of those who have
described the East German border
said he will start looking for the
in the rain.
morning, he would be working as a
quickly filling up, and there was a
come through this border crossing
police as unfriendly but indifferent.
Heidelberg friend as soon as he can.
"Hush up," his mother said.
weaver in a textile mill near Karl-
hurried search today for more ac-
in the past three days, Sickert had
In Czechoslovakia, he hailed an-
At the first checkpoint, a Czech-
"You are not walking. We are
Marx-Stadt. But he said he had
commodations. More than 12,000
been listening to the reformist talk
other taxi, which dropped the fam-
oslovak border guard told them
walking."
Massive E. German Emigration Seen Creating Labor, Housing Problems for Bonn
GERMANS, From A1
Kohl said. Vogel also appealed to
said that policy would last until the
that the government failed to say
then for all 365 days in a year, or
spending on housing by $5.5 billion a
East Germans "to examine carefully
new travel law takes effect.
how it would make available the hard
not at all."
year because of housing shortages
many's principal labor union feder-
whether they should not stay in
Over the weekend, Protestant
currency most travelers would need
Leaders of the nation's fledgling
brought on by the surge of immi-
ation, said East Germans should be
East Germany to support the pro-
church officials, disaffected politicians
to travel to the West.
opposition movement said that the
grants. West Germany's Federal La-
aware that they could face jobless-
cess of democratization."
and ordinary East Germans welcomed
"It's good that the right to travel
new law barely begins to address
bor Agency noted further that more
ness and difficulties finding housing
East German newspapers today
the proposed law as an important step
is now placed on the basis of law,
the issue. "Travel is not the primary
than 61,000 former East Germans
when they come west. "We have to
published the text of the draft law
toward a more open society.
but it is unrealistic because of finan-
make it clear to them that West Ger-
problem in East Germany. Too
now living in West Germany are un-
that for the first time would grant
many is not paradise," Breit said.
"One can say today with great
cial problems," said Dankward
many have left the country al-
employed.
There are currently 1.87 million un-
people here the right to travel and
emphasis that we see the first sign
Brinksmeier, a leader of the month-
ready," Sebastian Pflugbeil. a
But despite concerns about absorb-
employed West Germans, more than
emigrate. Under its terms, citizens
of a real turn and a start along a
old Social Democratic Party.
founder of the reformist group New
ing the refugees, there was no indi-
8 percent of the work force.
would no longer need a special rea-
path on which we want to go fur-
"I don't want to travel abroad as a
Forum, told West Berlin's RIAS Γa-
cation that West Germany intends to
West German Chancellor Helmut
son to journey abroad, and they
ther," said Bishop Werner Leich, a
beggar," he added, referring to the
dio. "The leadership must take oth-
try to stanch the influx. Under its
Kohl and Hans-Jochen Vogel. leader of
would be blocked from doing so only
leader of the nation's Lutheran
dependence of many East Germans
er steps to prove it is serious in its
1949 constitution, West Germany
the opposition Social Democrats, also
in "exceptional" circumstances.
Evangelical Church, which has be-
on West German relatives or
reform effort. The tension between
does not recognize East Germany of-
urged the East German government
On Friday, the Communist East
come a voice of moderate dissent.
friends for hard currency when they
the people and the [Communist Par-
ficially. As a result, Bonn automat-
to move more quickly on reform as a
Berlin government announced that
But there also was widespread
cross the border.
ty] has never been as great as to-
ically grants citizenship-complete
means of slowing the exodus.
it would allow citizens to emigrate
criticism of important restrictions in
One middle-aged woman, object-
day," he said.
with generous unemployment, health
"We hope that things will change
legally to the West-via Czechoslo-
the bill-notably that citizens would
ing in principle to the limit of 30
In West Germany, meanwhile, mu-
and welfare benefits-to any East
so that people will not have to leave
vakia-for the first time since the
be allowed to travel for only 30 days
days of travel per year, told East
nicipal leaders today called on the
German who reaches West Germany
their homeland to find happiness."
Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. It
a year-and there were complaints
German television: "If we travel,
federal government to increase
and asks to stay.
THE WASHINGTON POST
E. Germans
Pour Across
The Border
GERMANS, From A1
ing to West German radio news Sat-
urday night. She left East Berlin
two hours before dawn and crossed
into Schirnding, West Germany, 8½
hours later. She was meeting a boy-
friend in Bremen.
"I never thought they would
[open the border], she said, refus-
ing to give her name for fear that
the government would punish her
parents. "I hope that one day I can
came back to a better country. I
would be really sad if could not see
my family again."
The embattled East German
26-0
leadership, which appears to have
concluded that the only way to keep
its citizens from giving up on the
country is to give them the option
AGENCE
of leaving it, clearly had failed to
East Germans in Trabant automobiles form a three-mile line at the Czechoslovak border to cross into West Germany.
persuade the people queued up here
at the Czech border that there was
All the refugees would need, they
North:
Sea
luxuries, to eat bananas or drive a
any point in staying on and working
said, would be a passport. Czecho-
Sea
better car. We didn't want to live in a
to build a new Socialist Germany.
slovak officials today seemed to be
EAST
jail."
Krenz, who took over from hard-
following these instructions to the
NETH.
GERMANY
Freiteger, his wife and their two
line Communist leader Erich Ho-
letter.
POLAND
children came to the border in his
necker 18 days ago, made that plea
They were moving East Germans
WEST
Berlin
across the border here at Pomezi
GERMANY
mother's blue Trabant. She came
on television Friday night as he
Pomezi
with them as far as the border cross-
sought to address both the mass ex-
faster than they could be received in
Bonn
odus and the almost nightly demon-
West Germany. As a result, what had
Prague
ing, getting out of the car a few
Schirnding
strations by hundreds of thousands of
been a brisk evacuation turned into
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
yards before the police check.
East Germans throughout the coun-
an immobile queue, and by 6 p.m. the
FRANCE
There, she kissed her son, daughter-
try demanding democratic reform.
line of Trabants was more than three
in-law and grandchildren and started
Here at the border, East Germans
miles long and lengthening at the
AUSTRIA
walking back to East Germany. They
said they were not buying his prom-
rate of about 40 cars an hour.
SWITZ.
HUNG
drove west in the car.
ises.
Many of those in line said they
As she walked away, two other
ITALY
"Yesterday, I attended a demon-
feared that East German authorities,
YUGOSLAVIA
middle-aged East German parents
stration in my town," said a 30-year-
seeing SO many people leave today,
THE WASHINGTON POST
were saying good-bye to their 26-
old bricklayer who walked across the
would close the border. Late today,
20,000 people who crowded into the
year-old son, an offset printer. "He
border today with his wife and two
with an announcement from the In-
West German Embassy in Prague
has wanted to go to West Germany
small children. "We wanted dialogue
terior Ministry, the Krenz govern-
over the past two months-and were
for five years; he is engaged to a girl
with the Communists, not just words,
ment appeared to be trying to allay
sent to West Germany by special
there," said Katherine Pfutzner of
but actions as well. It was a disap-
these suspicions and perhaps calm
"freedom trains"-many of those
Zittau, her face wet with tears, in the
pointment." The family carried only
some East Germans who might be
who queued up here today were
moments after her son strode toward
one suitcase, full of toys.
panicked into driving to Czechoslo-
young people with small children and
the border. "When my son applied for
"My wife and I, we heard the news
vakia.
marketable skills.
emigration five years ago, he lost his
on the radio about being able to go
New travel rules, the Interior
They said that the exodus of
job. No printing company would hire
through Czechoslovakia. We stayed
Ministry said, would allow all East
many as 170,000 East Germans to
him. He was drafted into the army
up and talked about it all night. This
Germans to travel anywhere for 30
the West so far this year has crippled
for four years. He just came back
morning we made the decision," said
days a year. They also would guar-
social services and damaged industry
home last Thursday."
the bricklayer. "Krenz had to let us
antee that emigration requests
in the Communist state. Hospitals
Her husband Manfred, an engi-
go. He simply couldn't have kept us
would be processed in three to six
are severely understaffed, they said,
neer and a member of the East Ger-
jailed."
months. Finally, the announcement
and it is nearly impossible to got
man Communist Party, was also cry-
The bricklayer also refused to give
said, current law mandating criminal
car repaired.
ing. The flight of "all these young
his name, fearing authorities in his
punishment of those who have ille-
Ulrich Freiteger, a 27-year-old
people" is a tragedy for East Ger-
small town would confiscate the
gally emigrated from the country will
construction foreman from Meissen,
many and for the Communist Party,
apartment and property he left be-
be changed. No details on this were
said part of the reason he was leav-
he said. But he added that the free-
hind that he hopes to recover one
given.
ing was because he could not find
dom of East Germans to leave is "a
day. He and his family arrived here
The new rules would be intro-
qualified workers or decent building
little flicker of hope.
The people
at the border, after a 138-mile trip,
duced in the East German legislature
materials. "There are a thousand
have achieved this by their mass
by East German taxi.
by Dec. 20, the announcement said.
reasons why we are leaving," Freit-
demonstrations. I hope now that [life
East German authorities promised
In the meantime, East Germans ap-
eger said. "We never became a part
in East German] will be better."
on Saturday that Czechoslovak bor-
parently will be free to drive through
of the system. You can say we are
He and his wife then walked away
der guards would make the process
Czechoslovakia into West Germany.
anti-Communists. We are not going
from the border, got into their
of leaving for the West very simple.
Like most of the more than
over to West Germany to have the
Trabant and drove back home.
East Germans Throng West With the Dawn
By Blaine Harden
So early this morning, East Ger-
mans by the thousands-about
lines and waited into the freezing
Washington Post Foreign Service
night to cross into West Germany.
POMEZI, Czechoslovakia, Nov.
10,000 in 24 hours and 300 more
and obtain release from a Commu-
5-It was only after they heard the
every hour-packed up their cars
nist government they say they do
news over West German television
and their kids and their kids' toys
not trust.
and radio Saturday night that they
and motored out of East Germany.
Sitting alone in an aging Trabant,
finally believed what East German
They cut across a narrow neck of
her hastily packed belongings scat-
leader Egon Krenz was promising.
northwestern Czechoslovakia and
tered across the back seat and a
Twenty-eight years after the Berlin
wheeled their noisy, smoke-belch-
wicker basket of sandwiches on the
Wall was put up to keep them all in,
ing East German Trabant cars into
they all were free to go-via Czech-
seat beside her, a 23-year-old med-
backwoods border villages like this
oslovakia.
ical student from East Berlin, tears
one. Here, they formed miles-long
welling in her eyes, said she worked'
East Germany says it will allow its citizens freer travel.
up the courage to leave after listen-
Page A18
See GERMANS, A19, Col. 1
Photocopy-Preservation
10
President should live up to this promise OI
to the Contras if the truce was broken. Is the position the same as
yesterday on possible resumption of arms flow to the Contras?
MR. FITZWATER: Yes, our position is the same. We still
believe the peace process is the best -- offers the best hope of
ending the conflict there and of getting democracy in Nicaragua.
There, obviously, are going to be opinions on all sides of this
issue. We continue to watch it closely and to evaluate the situation
on a continuing basis. But we have not changed our judgment at this
point.
Q
Have Calero or any of the other Contra leaders asked
for an audience with the President to discuss this?
MR. FITZWATER: I don't believe so. Do you know, Roman?
Yes, I don't believe they have.
Q
Is there any intent to meet with them?
MR. FITZWATER: I'm not aware of any, no.
Q
Well, do you have any information on this offensive
that's apparently under way by the Sandinistas?
MR. FITZWATER: The information we have is that the
Sandinistas have been carrying out their threats to conduct attacks
against the Contras. There are reports the Sandinista attacks in a
variety of regions and reports of Mr. Ortega's forces have been using
helicopters and mechanized artillery against the lightly-armed
resistance forces. The Contras have indicated that they will try to
maintain the cease-fire and will respond only when required to defend
themselves. The Sandinistas have clearly stepped up their offensive
operations beyond the frequent cease-fire violations of the recent
past.
As background, I might add, that under the Tela Accord,
the demobilization and repatriation and reintegration of resistance
forces is a voluntary process. This process can go forward only if
there is a good-faith effort on all sides. The resistance has stated
it's desire to lay down it's arm and return safely to a democratic
Nicaragua, in which it's members would enjoy full political and civil
rights. The Sandinistas must create the conditions of confidence
which would allow resistance members to do this.
2
Since your position has not changed since yesterday
and this offensive is now underway and the President has said he'd
reevaluate in a minute the U. S. position toward military funding for
the Contras, what would it take to trigger that reevaluation?
MR. FITZWATER: Well, the reevaluation has obviously
started in terms of our monitoring the situation and evaluating the
situation. But in terms of the conclusion that that might lead to,
we just take it as it goes and we'll have to watch the progress.
MORE
#122-11/02
ATIONAL
TUESDAY,OCTOBER:
BUSH-SENDING TEAM
TO-ADVISE POLAND
Delegation, Led by 3 Cabinet
Officers Will Help Decide
How to Use U.S. Aid
By ANDREW ROSENTHAL
Special 10.The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30- President
Bush announced today that he would
send a delegation led by three Cabinet
officers to Poland next month to help
decide how to spend a package of
American aid that is now stalled In
Congress:
The delegation, which will visit Po
land from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2, will
meet with top officials there to Blook at
Poland's overall economic situation
and at the structural changes needed to
make Poland prosper, Mr. Bush said
at a Rose Garden ceremony held to an-
nounce the mission.
It will be headed by Agriculture Sec
retary Clayton K. Yeutter, Labor Sec-
retary Elizabeth M. Dole, Commerce
Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher and
Michael J. Boskin, chairman of the
President's Council of Economic Ad-
visers. It will also include representa.
tives of business and labor, like Lane
Kirkland, president of the A.F. L.
Our team will meet with the key
ministers of the Polish Government
and others involved in stimulating Po-
land's private sector and recommend
to me how the economic support we
will extend can best be utilized," Mr.
Bush said.
Food Aid Starts
"It will focus on economic sectors
Photocopy-Preservation
where U.S: expertise and cooperation
can indeed make a difference, such as
agriculture and business management
and financial services," he said.
Mr. Bush has started sending $108
million worth of emergency food aid to
Poland. He has also asked Congress for
an additional $320 million in aid, includ-
ing a $200 million contribution to an in-
ternational fund to help Poland stabil-
ize its economy as it carries out eco-
nomic. and political changes. Poland
has requested $1 billion from Western
nations for that purpose.
Congress is considering a far more
ambitious aid program than was pro-
posed by the President But that money
is stalled in the Senate after Republi-
can senators tried to tack Mr. Bush's
proposed cut in the capital gains tax
onto the aid package.
The senators made that move with-
out orior-consultation with the White
House, Congressional and White House
officials said. But Marlin Fitzwater,
the President's spokesman said-last
week that Mr. Bush welcomed the
maneuver since he had been searching
for a legislative vehicle to get the tax
cut through the Senate
Q
Two questions. Who are the leaders in Poland and
Hungary? Communist and noncommunist? And two -- I'm a little
confused. I thought the President here this morning talked about the
allies urging him to this in July.
10/31
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, they did urge him
Pressity
to have a meeting or a summit with General Secretary Gorbachev, yes.
But it was on a general basis and not related to this specific
Background)
proposal. That's my only point. I'm talking here about the genesis
of his idea and his letter. But it is true in the summit, the allies
all thought it would be a good idea if he met with Gorbachev. Let me
go back to --
Q
With the communists or noncommunists?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, communists or
noncommunists. I recall -- of course, the discussions took various
forms. Some stronger than others, but I recall comments to that
effect from everybody; from Lech Walesa to Pozsgay and the President
of Hungary. In fact, all of the Hungary leaders we met with made
that point, in one way or another.
Q
How about Jaruzelski?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I don't know. And I'm
worried recall. there that I missed that, or wasn't in the meeting. I don't
Q
Is there a specific meeting where this was mentioned
that you can think of? For example, when the President had that
meeting -- ceremony where he got the piece of the Iron Curtain, do
you recall -- were there any --
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It was raised in that
meeting.
Q
It was?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes.
MORE
'The Shock Wave
party was losing control of the country.
The solution, he said, lay in eliminating
the "conservative and dogmatic forces"
Has Come From Below'
that were holding back his political and
economic reforms. "The ranks of party offi-
cials need renewal," he told the gathering.
"They need to be renewed at the level of the
Labor unrest imperils Gorbachev's perestroika
shop floor, the district, the city, the region,
the republic, the Central Committee, the
Politburo." But even previous fence-sitters
dared to suggest that Gorba-
N
ight after night, their
chev's reforms might fail. "The
dirty, defiant faces filled
point is that perestroika is truly
Soviet television screens.
not going the way we want it to,"
Their strikes began in the coal-
insisted Politburo member Vi-
fields of the Kuznetsk Basin in
taly Vorotnikov, premier of the
western Siberia, where tens of
Russian Republic. "To put it
thousands of miners demanded
even more bluntly, critical
better pay, more consumer
voices among the people
goods and greater autonomy.
are rising."
Then they spread: to the Donets
Economic chaos: The Soviet
Basin of the southern Ukraine;
leader was walking a very fine
to the Don and Dnieper rivers;
line. On the one hand, he could
to Vorkuta in arctic Russia; to
take pleasure in strikers' signs
the Karaganda fields in Cen-
proclaiming "Perestroika in
tral Asia. Faced last week with
Deeds, Not Words." "This is the
the prospect of economic stran-
breakup of the administrative
gulation, Moscow meekly sur-
command system," Aleksandr
rendered to the strikers' de-
Melnikov, a party official in Si-
mands. The threat to the nation
beria, told reporters. "And this
was "very acute," said Soviet
time the shock wave has come
leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who
from below. I don't see any con-
sought to divert the blame by
tradictions between the strik-
hinting at a purge of his conser-
ers' demands and the ideas
vative critics. "Work stoppages
[Gorbachev] is putting forward
could have far-reaching eco-
today." On the other hand, the
nomic, social and political
Kremlin leader was aware that
consequences."
repeated strikes could lead only
Those consequences were al-
to economic chaos. He specifi-
ready apparent as thousands of
cally warned of the possibility
triumphant strikers began re-
of a strike in the railroad indus-
turning to the mines, and thou-
try, a walkout that could turn
sands of others continued to
shortages into privation and
mull over the settlement. The
again halt deliveries of coal.
temporary loss of nearly half of
"We must say to the people,"
the country's coal production
Gorbachev declared, "This is
threatened "catastrophe" in
not the way'."
the steel and power industries,
It was difficult to deny the
said the Soviet news agency
legitimacy of the miners' com-
Tass. Of longer-range signifi-
plaints. Life expectancies in
cance was the threat that the
the Kuznetsk Basin are 10
easy victory in the coalfields
WHITE-SYGMA
years lower than the Soviet av-
could lead to greater militancy
'People have lost patience': Striking miners in Prokopyeusk
erage; according to the youth
among the country's 83 million
daily Komsomolskaya Pravda,
workers. "The number of strikes
Soviet Strikes
some 10,000 miners have died of work-
is definitely increasing," says An-
related causes in the past nine years.
drei Shugayev, a labor specialist
Vorkuta
Moscow
Speaking to miners in the Siberian town
at Moscow's Institute of State and
Chervonograd
of Prokopyevsk, Gorbachev's special rep-
Law. And now, in the wake of the govern-
Dnepropetrovsk
U.S.S.R.
resentative, Politburo member Nikolai
ment's cave-in at the mines, predicts Mos-
Makeyevka
Slyunkov, acknowledged the industry's ex-
cow labor organizer Valery Korolyov, "we
Rostov-on-Don
Kemerovo
traordinary problems: "People have lost
will see much more evidence of labor ex-
Kiselevsk
patience and composure," he admitted.
pressing itself. This is a great step forward
Prokopyevsk
What was particularly disturbing was
in self-awareness."
Karaganda
the degree to which the miners' grievances
The strike also heightened the political
mirrored those of ordinary Soviet labor.
divisions within the Kremlin. At a stormy
The miners are relatively well paid, earn-
meeting of Communist Party leaders, Gor-
ing roughly twice the salary of the average
bachev rebuffed angry complaints that the
worker. But like all Soviet citizens, the
NEWSWEEK : JULY 31, 1989
41
miners suffer from a lack of goods to buy.
Basic items like meat, sugar and toilet pa-
per are chronically out of stock. Until last
week, miners in the Donets Basin received
less than half a pound of butter a month; a
single bar of soap had to last each grimy
miner for three months. But as part of the
settlement negotiated by Slyunkov, Soviet
miners will receive immediate deliveries of
butter, meat, boots, household appliances,
television sets-and thousands of tons of
soap. It did not go unnoticed that the min-
ers obtained those luxuries by simply de-
ciding to strike.
That was a precedent the country could
hardly afford. The coal strike was "really a
LARRY DOWNING-NEWSWEEK
showdown, because it [was] a response to
the deteriorating economic situation,"
Candid dialogue: Crowe and Akhromeyev in conference aboard a U.S. carrier
says Marshall Goldman, a Soviet specialist
at Wellesley College. "I think it's just going
to
spread
The workers seem to be say-
From Cold War to Odd Couple
ing, 'If this is the way we're going to have to
get attention to our needs, let's do it'."
In the open: Until recently, the notion of a
The top U.S. soldier is friends with the marshal
Soviet strike was regarded as an ideological
contradiction: a rebellion of workers
against the workers' state. But last week
E
ven in this glasnost-giddy era, the din-
grad. Schooled in the Soviet doctrine of
the Supreme Soviet was preparing a law
ner Adm. William J. Crowe threw in
direct attack, he is known as a soldier's
that would explicitly recognize the right to
Washington last week was an unlikely
soldier: straitlaced and straightforward.
strike. The legislation, wrote Sergei Shish-
event. The United States' top military man
The 64-year-old Crowe missed out on World
kin, a legal scholar at Irkutsk University,
had as his guest of honor Sergei Fyodoro-
War II entirely, and did not have a combat
would be a formal acknowledgment of
vich Akhromeyev, marshal of the Soviet
command in Vietnam. His specialty is
"worker alienation from authority and the
Union, member of the Communist Party
statecraft; he holds a Ph.D. from Princeton
means of production." Gorbachev and his
Central Committee-and Mikhail Gorba-
in politics. But the two share a belief that
fellow reformers seemed to agree that it is
chev's closest viser on security policy. is
politics is too important to be left to politi-
wiser to bring workers' grievances out in
Akhromeyev's second American trip in a
cians. Akhromeyev has been the operation-
the open. To that end, Gorbachev was espe-
year, and comes on the heels of a Crowe visit
al architect of Soviet arms-control policy
cially critical last week of the state-sanc-
to the Soviet Union, the first ever by a
since leaving his post as chief of the armed
tioned "trade unions" which remained
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Out of
forces general staff last December, while
largely passive through the wildcat strike.
these contacts has grown perhaps the most
Crowe is, according to a civilian admirer at
The walkout, he suggested, was at least
candid East-West dialogue since the late W.
the Pentagon, "the best strategic thinker
partly the result of the complacency of
Averell Harriman's long talks with Joseph
the military has produced since George C.
union leaders who had allowed working
Stalin in postwar Moscow. The difference is
Marshall."
conditions in the coalfields to deteriorate.
that these two are friends. Says Crowe sim-
Crowe's strategic view is at once forward
The goal was to create a more represent-
ply: "I enjoy the man."
looking and cautious. It holds that security
ative labor movement-not one that is at
The relationship has already borne fruit.
policy on both sides reflects outmoded post-
political odds with the state. But the threat
Last Crowe and Akhromeyev negotiat-
war realities. With the Soviet economy in
of a confrontation was clear. Last week
ed agreements to facilitate contacts be-
crisis and the United States militarily over-
strike leaders in the Ukrainian city of
tween U.S. and Soviet forces. Last week
committed, both sides would benefit from a
Chervonograd reportedly demanded the
three Soviet ships docked in Norfolk, Va.,
radical drawdown of forces in Europe. Ulti-
formation of an independent national
only the second such call in a U.S. harbor
mately, both Crowe and Akhromeyev see
union modeled on Solidarity-the organi-
since World War II. During his 11-day tour
NATO and the Warsaw Pact as guarantors
zation that helped spread economic tur-
of Soviet military installations in June,
of political stability rather than war-ready
moil in Poland and brought the communist
Crowe himself signed a "Prevention of Dan-
coalitions. At the same time, Crowe says all
authorities there to their knees. That is
gerous Military Activities" protocol on be-
U.S. moves should be "reversible," so long
clearly more than Gorbachev wants or will
half of the United States. The consultation
as the ultimate fate of Gorbachev's reforms
allow. But perestroika offers little immedi-
has even become a diplomatic conduit.last
is unclear. When George Bush contemplat-
ate promise to the working class, particu-
summer Akhromeyev gave Crowe advance
ed announcing U.S. European troop cuts of
larly those without technical skills. Mar-
word on unilateral force cuts the Soviets
75,000 in his Brussels speech in June, it was
ket reform will bring rising prices, while
planned in Eastern Europe. Crowe duly
Crowe who argued him down to 30,000.
restoring industrial efficiency could cost
told top Reagan officials-only to be chided
This is less than his friend Akhromeyev
workers millions of jobs. That may be Gor-
for trusting a communist. "I'm always
might hope for in the short term, but as
bachev's most daunting challenge of all.
amazed when I'm in that kind of dialogue
Crowe reminded an audience at the Sovi-
For unless its basic needs are satisfied, la-
with the Soviet military," says Crowe. "It's
ets' Academy of Sciences: "We are literally
bor may ultimately become the vanguard
not the environment I grew upin."
members of a transitional generation,"
of a crippling Soviet opposition.
At first the two old warriors seem an odd
and smooth transitions don't happen on
HARRY ANDERSON with CARROLL BOGERT
couple. Akhromeyev, 66, won his stripes at
hurried timetables.
in Moscow
19 in the brutal trenches around Lenin-
JOHN BARRYI in Washington
42 NEWSWEEK JULY 31, 1989
World
SOVIET UNION
Revolution Down Below
Striking miners take Gorbachev's call to action seriously
BY BRUCE W. NELAN
trary control over the mines and were
oal miners walking off their jobs
c
NOVOSTI AGENCY
holding back the bulk of their profits.
Many local officials openly sympathized
from the Ukraine to the Arctic
with the strikers. "Why not? They
Circle. Ethnic gangs battling in
breathe the same air we do," said Timuras
Georgia. Thousands of other dis-
Avaliani, 57, of the Kuzbass regional
satisfied workers threatening strikes.
strike committee.
"The situation," said Soviet President
The strike soon spread to nine other
Mikhail Gorbachev last week as he sur-
cities in the Kuzbass. Grimy miners com-
veyed the turmoil rocking his vast coun-
plained that when they came up after six
try, "is fraught with dangerous political
hours underground, they could not find a
and economic consequences." The ques-
bar of soap to wash with; the ration is one
tion for Gorbachev: Will the "revolution
bar every two months. "Who can tell us
from below," which he has been urging on
what to feed our husbands?" shouted a
his laggard countrymen, help accelerate
woman protesting empty shelves in the
his/ambitious plans for reform-or tear
stores. Many called for complete indepen-
the U.S.S.R. apart?
dence from central planning, insisting the
At a meeting of national and regional
miners could run things themselves.
party leaders last week, he proposed his
Moscow quickly dispatched a high-
own partial answer. If the party was
level delegation to meet the strikers, led
blocking change by clinging to conserva-
by Politburo Member Nikolai Slyunkov.
tive attitudes, he lectured, then "a purge
Mikhail Shchadov, the minister in charge
should take place, a purge was needed."
Minister Shchadov addresses protesters
of coal mines, had earlier told the workers
He called for "an influx of fresh forces"
that they were not prepared for the inde-
affecting every level from factory collec-
FINLAND
o
400
pendence they were demanding. But after
tives to the Politburo. Vowed Gorbachev:
miles
STRIKE
negotiating with local strike leaders into
"This concerns everyone."
Moscow
MTS.
the early hours of the morning, the Mos-
The Kremlin was plainly alarmed
STRIKE
Kuznetsk
cow delegation finally agreed to sign a
that the strikes were eroding the party's
Basin
Donets
protocol promising that the region's
control. Since the 1930s, no one had per-
Basin
U.S.S.R.
mines could decide on their production
sonified the state's ideal Soviet worker
Black
Aral Sea
levels and investments. The state would
Sea
Georgia
better than the propaganda hero Alexei
CHINA
raise miners' pay for night shifts by $50 a
TURKEY
Stakhanov, the coal miner who reputedly
Caspian
Sea
month, a 40% increase, improve food sup-
produced 14 times the daily norm. But
plies and spend more of the mines' profits
IRAN
there were no Stakhanovites in the Soviet
TIME
by
Paul
Pugliese
AFGHAN.
on local housing. Slyunkov also promised
Union's biggest coalfields last week.
to increase supplies of food and soap.
Wildcat strikes by more than 300,000
eventually swelled to almost 150,000 from
Sensing victory, the Mezhdurechensk
workers paralyzed some 250 mines and
94 mines. Far to the east, in the Kuzbass
miners went back to work, but the strikes
factories in the Kuzbass and Donbass ba-
in Siberia, the numbers were even greater.
were just beginning elsewhere in the Kuz-
sins, resulting in a 6 million-ton loss of
About 180,000 miners abandoned their
bass and the Ukraine as workers pressed
production. The walkout spread as far as
pits to occupy central squares in nine cit-
for assurance they would share in the gov-
the coalpits in Vorkuta in the far north
ies, plastering reviewing stands with
ernment concessions. At week's end the
and Karaganda in the Kazakhstan Re-
homemade signs proclaiming DOWN
strike in Kazakhstan was winding down,
public in Central Asia. And there were
WITH BUREAUCRATS and KUZBASS:
but workers in the Donbass still held out
rumblings that railroad workers might
CLEAN AIR, MEAT FOR EVERYONE, WE
over pension questions, prompting a gov-
join in on Aug. 1, an action that could par-
DEMAND SOCIAL JUSTICE.
ernment pledge that all the issues would
alyze the country. "Such developments
The strike spread with electrifying
be considered without delay.
create a threat to the realization of the
speed. The first 77 Kuzbass coal miners
Strikes are not technically illegal in
great plans we have decided upon,"
walked off the job in Mezhdurechensk on
the Soviet Union; the Marxist tenet that
warned Gorbachev, referring to his eco-
July 10. The following day 12,000 workers
they are unnecessary in a proletarian par-
nomic-reform program.
from five mines in the area joined them.
adise has not kept them from happening.
In front of Communist Party head-
They drew up a list of demands, including
Until the Gorbachev era, Communist rul-
quarters in the Ukrainian city of Make-
better pay, more vacation, higher pen-
ers used bullets or gifts of consumer goods
yevka, 5,000 miners in battered helmets,
sions. Their overriding complaint: despite
to quell unruly workers. But under the im-
their faces and overalls black with coal
Gorbachev's calls for greater local auton-
pact of perestroika and glasnost, work
dust, staged a sit-in to demand better
omy in managing the economy, bureau-
stoppages have become part of the eco-
working and living conditions; their ranks
crats in Moscow continued to wield arbi-
nomic landscape.
22
TIME, JULY 31, 1989
SOVIET
NOVOSTI PRESS AGENCY
No more Stakhanovites: Kuzbass miners refuse to work until living conditions improve and they gain control of the coalpits
As he pushes ahead with reform, Gor-
sounded a warning that labor unrest
troika, which has until recently been a
bachev is having to contend not just with
"could damage everything we are doing,"
'revolution from above,' is getting strong
strikes but also with constitutional revolt
he spoke almost admiringly of how the
support from below."
in the independence-minded Baltic states
strikers were behaving "in a responsible,
Yet no matter how pleased Gorba-
and a wave of ethnic violence in the Cau-
organized and disciplined fashion."
chev may be to see a political awaken-
casus and central Asia. Only last week
In fact, it would be difficult for Gorba-
ing among the indifferent Soviet citi-
bloody rioting that left 20 dead erupted
chev to oppose the workers' calls for
zens, he must recognize that some of
between minority Abkhazians and the
greater independence from the dead hand
their economic demands are potentially
Georgian majority in a Black Sea region
of Moscow ministries. That is a central in-
threatening. In addition to their attacks
of western Georgia. Some 3,000 Interior
gredient in his plans to revitalize the Sovi-
on the bureaucracy, the strikers
Ministry troops were dispatched to help
et economy by encouraging local initia-
are demanding better food and housing
local police quiet the unrest. But the auda-
tive. But to be effective, the idea of self-
and more consumer goods. The govern-
cious mining walkout has presented Gor-
reliance and experimentation had to
ment has responded by flying in tons of
bachev with the most serious labor chal-
evolve into more than just a prescription
supplies as a palliative, setting a costly
lenge he has had to face, and casts in
issued from the Kremlin. Gorbachev can
and hazardous precedent. Most of the
graphic terms the cruel dilemma of peres-
take satisfaction and possibly draw some
Soviet population eats poorly and lives
troika: how to raise productivity and liv-
political strength from the evidence in
in inferior housing. If workers every-
ing standards at the same time.
Kuzbass and Donbass that workers may
where rise up and demand more and
Gorbachev appears to be attempting
be stirring from the "stagnation" of the
better, the system's stability could be
to turn the strike wave into a deeper popu-
Leonid Brezhnev years. The daily Sovet-
endangered. -Reported by Paul Hofheinz/
lar commitment to his aims. While he
skaya Rossiya put it succinctly: "Peres-
Prokopevsk and John Kohan/Moscow
TIME, JULY 31, 1989
23
FIRST, Solidarity it was that viraloched if -then: your extremely imp. read in Sou history
Sov. col minir - Arst real strike in Rusan Stree laly 20 P
t
trevensloor rent. ofa strike
moventous, in the div. of democr.
commitions willing to borgain
VORKUTA Ist fime Puspian just fard NW byis heranting strikes
(except in beyindest.)
uncertainty around would - oppor.
people have appor.
to voice their
fremen. challeng to forfactor.
want to wash w/ him.
transition to mht-oristatecom
in Sov - Mine worker walking away from Official Amoun
called "Solibuty" (Kohn)
AROUND T
Soviet Coal Miners Rebuff
Plea to Call Off Their Strike
MOSCOW-The Soviet coal minister met yes-
terday with striking miners in the Arctic but failed
to persuade them to end their walkout, which offi-
cials say threatens winter fuel supplies.
Mikhail Shchadov met for three hours with strik-
ers from 11 mines in the Pechora Basin, but did not
adequately assure them their working, social and
living conditions would improve, said Alexander Pe-
trovsky, of the miners, who attended the session.
Miners were promised improved living and work-
ing conditions in July after a nationwide strike.
Shchadov told miners that part of the July decree
pledging improvements was being implemented on
schedule and that the rest was awaiting action by
the Soviet legislature, according to Petrovsky, who
spoke by telephone. Petrovsky said miners were not
satisfied with Shchadov's report and would continue
the walkout.
Photocopy-Preservation
October 25, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR DAVID DEMEREST AND CHRISS WINSTON
FROM:
DAN MCGROARTY
SUBJECT: NEW YORK TIMES' "PERESTROIKA" EDITORIAL (ATTACHED)
FYI on the "unutterable words" uttered by Secretary Baker:
The footnote should go to George Bush, who dared to utter
the unutterable all spring, all over two continents: "We want to
see perestroika succeed " May 1 (Chamber of Commerce speech) ,
May 24 (Coast Guard Acad. ), June 8 (first prime time press
conference), July 6 (Eastern Europe White House briefing) , and
July, 17 (Leiden)
Maybe it's time the NYTimes editorial board got itself a
subscription to NEXIS.
Services of Mead Data Central
PAGE
2
asked Rewas from.
POPE where to camerader: "Gdansk is a bight vato the world 11
said Gdangh:
Popesid
[POLAND]
SECTION: OUTLOOK; PAGE C1
LENGTH: 2396 words
HEADLINE: How We Helped Solidarity Win;
For Nearly a Decade, the AFL-CIO Quietly Aided the Outlawed Polish Trade Union
BYLINE: Adrian Karatnycky
BODY:
SOLIDARITY'S spectacular climb to power in Poland is due to the exceptional
courage of tens of thousands of unsung working men and women. They risked their
lives, jobs and homes by working in the once-illegal trade-union underground.
Yet they might not have stymied the Communist Party's effort to destroy
Solidarity without the material and moral support they received from American
unions.
The 18 months of Solidarity's open existence in 1980-81 generated a great
deal of enthusiasm among American workers. The Polish union embodied everything
that is best in trade unionism -- the fight for worker dignity, the defense of
democratic values, a concern for the poor and a commitment to mass action for
peaceful change. It was natural that many American workers would be galvanized
by the struggle of the Polish unionists. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid
for Poland poured into the AFL-CIO headquarters, as did dozens of offers of
printing equipment and technical assistance.
Providing such assistance to democratic trade unions has been a longstanding
AFL-CIO practice. This policy is deeply rooted in the principle of
international labor solidarity. We provided assistance to German trade
unionists hounded by the Nazis in the period before World War II, and after the
war we assisted German union leaders in building what today is Western Europe's
largest trade union movement. And in the mid-1970s, when the fascist regimes of
Spain and Portugal fell, we assisted democratic trade unions in their
competition with pro-Moscow Communist rivals.
The AFL-CIO's assistance to Solidarity had, of course, caught the
attention of Poland's Communist authorities. Our material support to the union
was used for badly needed printing presses, mimeographs, telexes and other
equipment that could only be purchased for hard-to-come-by Western currency.
Even before martial law, this open assistance was denounced by the authorities
as "direct intervention" in Poland's internal affairs and part of a U.S. plot to
destabilize Poland. AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland was prevented from
traveling to Poland for the union's first national congress in September 1981 --
the only Western trade union leader so honored.
Immediately after martial law was declared on Dec. 13, 1981, Kirkland, his
assistant Tom Kahn and international-affairs director Irving Brown made a
commitment to assist the union in every possible way. The centerpiece of that
strategy was a decision to provide assistance only to the Solidarity
trade-union movement, despite the merits of other non-union opposition groups.
Moreover, they were prepared to provide such assistance over the long haul.
LEXIS® NEXIS® LEXIS® NEXIS®
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3
(c) 1989 The Washington Post, August 27, 1989
In January 1982, I was lucky enough to meet a man who would play a decisive
role in the U.S.- Solidarity relationship. Jerzy Milewski, a leading
Solidarity activist from Gdansk, and a scientist by training, was in the
United States for a conference on lasers the day martial law was proclaimed. I
was then working for the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a civil rights
organization supported by the AFL-CIO, and was able to put Milewski in contact
with the labor federation. Communications with Poland had been broken, tanks
were in the streets, thousands of his compatriots had been detained and some
workers murdered, but he was surprisingly optimistic. Milewski felt that
Solidarity would resurface and that he would be back in the country within two
years.
Within months, Milewski had established the equivalent of a Solidarity
embassy in Brussels. He also had entered into what was to become a close working
relationship with the AFL-CIO and other trade unions in the West. In the years
ahead, Milewski's Brussels office was to become the official voice of
Solidarity in the West. But even more significantly, it was through this
bureau that the AFL-CIO would channel assistance to the Solidarity movement
in its time of greatest need.
By the middle of 1982, hundreds of underground Solidarity groups were
functioning. Scores of underground newspapers and bulletins began to appear -
almost immediately posing a challenge to the state- controlled media, where
uniformed military officers anchored the nightly TV newscasts. Solidarity's
groups were decentralized, but they were united by their fealty to union
chairman Lech Walesa and their loyalty to the union's underground executive arm,
the Temporary Coordinating Council (TKK). In the years that followed, an
elaborate network of assistance and communications operated out of various
locations in Western Europe. Scores of couriers traveled to and from Poland with
new requests for assistance and with inside information on how the underground
was working.
The needs of this gradually widening opposition were diverse. Martial law had
brought with it the confiscation of all the union's property, the seizure of all
its funds and the closing of its offices. American trade-union funds and
millions of dollars from the National Endowment for Democracy, a private,
grant-making body funded by Congress that supports democratic movements
throughout the world, were channeled through the AFL-CIO's Free Trade Union
Institute. The money underwrote shipments of scores of printing presses, dozens
of computers, hundreds of mimeograph machines, thousands of gallons of printer's
ink, hundreds of thousands of stencils, video cameras and radio broadcasting
equipment. In addition, funds helped the families of imprisoned trade-union
activists and defrayed the huge fines that the Polish authorities were levelling
against anyone caught with clandestine union literature.
Throughout its time underground, Solidarity was also raising funds from its
members. Over a million Polish workers were contributing monthly dues to the
union's factory and regional structures to help pay the salaries of an estimated
70,000 activists of the underground.
By 1985, it was clear that Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski's plan to deliver a
crippling blow to the opposition had failed. There were now over 400 underground
periodicals appearing regularly in Poland, some in editions as large as 30,000.
Thousands of books and pamphlets were being issued each year in editions that
numbered in the thousands. Children's comic books retold classic Polish
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Central
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(c) 1989 The Washington Post, August 27, 1989
legends with Jaruzelski as the villain, communism as the red dragon, and Lech
Walesa as the heroic knight. Alternative video documentary companies produced
popular documentaries seen by millions of viewers in church halls and in homes.
Most spectacularly, using equipment provided by American labor, Radio
Solidarity frequently made bold breaks into the authorities' radio
programming, sending out messages of hope to the broad masses: " Solidarity
lives.' The slogan caught on.
Over the years, the struggle ebbed and flowed. In the first few years after
martial law, imprisonment was the preferred form of oppression. Later, with the
Polish government pressed by the need for Western economic aid, the style of
repression changed -- Solidarity activists faced heavy fines, the confiscation
of automobiles and eviction from their homes.
The union, too, would adopt new tactics. From across the sea, we followed the
travails of the underground, despairing when the leading figure in the
clandestine TKK -- Warsaw Solidarity leader Zbigniew Bujak -- was captured
after more than five years on the run; rejoicing when hundreds of thousands of
Poles turned the papal visit of June 1987 into mass demonstrations for the
union; scrambling to find funds for printing presses, computers and stencils
when these were seized by the authorities.
We had been drawn into the daily drama of Poland's struggle. Much of the
story of that struggle and our role in it will have to be told another day.
After all, there is still the danger of reversal, and the Ministry of the
Interior remains in the hands of the Communists.
But it can be said that as American trade unionists, accustomed to working in
a free society, regular contact with an underground trade-union movement exposed
us to a very different reality: Adam Michnik, now the editor of the Solidarity
daily Gazeta Wyborcza, was incarcerated with a fellow activist, an architect
named Czeslaw Bielecki. In their cell, the two would debate the essays of
Poland's sharpest and most popular underground writer -- Maciej Poleski, all the
while speculating on his real identity. Only years later did Michnik learn that
Poleski was the pseudonym of his redoubtable cellmate. That same Bielecki
remained hidden for years in the underground, while at the same time running his
own highly profitable architectural firm and registering it with the
authorities. He designed buildings and sustained his family in this way until
his arrest in 1985.
Together with tales of derring-do, we came to learn the lexicon of the Polish
underground: Konspira, conspiracy, the term favored by underground activists to
describe their work; sprzet, equipment; gryps, a secret message.
One prominent underground activist instructed us on the importance of
discretion and secrecy. Holding up one finger, he said: "If this many know, only
one knows." Holding up two fingers, he declared: "If this many know, then eleven
know." Holding up three digits, he instructed: "And if this many people know,
then one hundred eleven know.'
In September 1986, Jaruzelski proclaimed a major amnesty that released most
imprisoned underground activists. In return, the United States lifted many of
the sanctions against Poland. The AFL-CIO had been a leading proponent of
sanctions and we remained skeptical of removing all of them too soon, or for
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(c) 1989 The Washington Post, August 27, 1989
too little in return. But more significantly, there was now a palpable change
of sentiments in Washington. Polish affairs experts and opinion-makers were
beginning to speak of a "post- Solidarity" Poland. I recall having a rather
heated public exchange with a leading California-based scholar, who had argued
that Solidarity was no longer a factor. "Only young people are still part of
the underground. And even among them protests are going out of fashion, her
argument went.
Policy-makers, too, were beginning to retreat from an absolute commitment to
Solidarity's relegalization. Wouldn't it be enough to accept the formula of
"trade union pluralism?" AFL-CIO officials began to be asked. But through our
network of contacts in Poland, we had a glimpse of a different situation. We
knew that tens of thousands of people were risking everything for the trade
union fight. And we were confident that Solidarity not only was surviving but
had shown remarkable resiliency and strong public support. We stood firm and, at
the request of the Brussels Solidarity office, began lobbying to increase
assistance to the union. Congress voted $ 1 million through the AFL-CIO's Free
Trade Union Institute that year and followed it with $ 1 million in 1988.
By 1987, Solidarity was looking for ways to function above ground. It
designated some U.S. assistance for medical aid to Poland. Such assistance was
channeled through the International Rescue Committee to the union's
still-illegal Social Foundation to buy ambulances, diagnostic equipment and
medicines. The idea worked. Even the Polish police didn't dare stop the flow of
medical aid to a country facing a health-care crisis. At public ceremonies in
several cities, discomfited local party leaders stood stone-faced alongside pro-
Solidarity clergy and union leaders next to spanking new ambulances adorned
with the "Solidarnosc" logo.
All the while, the Polish economy continued to unravel. Strikes erupted in
May and again in August of 1988. And with each successive wave of labor unrest,
the workers of Poland raised the identical slogan: "Nie ma wolnosci bez
Solidarnosci" ("There's no freedom without Solidarity" ).
In the months that followed, more and more visiting Solidarity leaders (now
free to travel here, although the AFL-CIO continued to be refused visas to
Poland) began to tell us that they would soon strike an accord with the
authorities that would result in the union's relegalization. There followed in
rapid succession the April 7 "round-table" agreement between Solidarity and
the authorities which led to the restructuring of the government, the
parliamentary elections with Solidarity's stunning victory, and last
Thursday's formation of the first Soviet bloc non-communist government. Today,
we watch events unfold with unrestrained joy and admiration. Formerly hounded
underground printers are organizing Solidarity's aboveground publishing
activities. Former radio pirates are now elected members of Poland's parliament,
the Sejm. Writers for the clandestine press have become editors and reporters
for Poland's new independent newspapers. Emissaries from the clandestine union
leadership are today senators in the Solidarity -controlled upper house.
There's a lesson in all this. The 1980s in Poland have proven to be a
successful laboratory in democracy-building. Through persistence and loyalty,
American unions have stood proudly with a democratic movement that has worked
peacefully to transform a Communist society. And while everything has been won
by the sweat and toil of the Polish workers alone, the AFL-CIO is proud that
Solidarity's leader Lech Walesa has singled us out for being there when his
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(c) 1989 The Washington Post, August 27, 1989
union needed help.
But the struggle in Poland is far from over. Now we must help Solidarity
rebuild its union structures, prepare for a big role in the mass media and
develop the skills necessary to function as a labor organization in a setting of
economic disruption and mounting worker indifference. Toward this end, a number
of AFL-CIO affiliates have already begun building union-to-union assistance
programs in such areas as labor education, occupational safety and health and
organizing.
Democratic change in Poland will not last if it is the lone example -- a
political aberration. Our challenge, therefore, is to respond in different
settings and under different conditions to the emerging free trade unions in
Hungary and, after July's wave of miners strikes, in the Soviet Union itself.
This week, however, we watch as the men and women we've known from afar for
so many years begin to shape their nation's future.
Adrian Karatnycky directs research and publications for the AFL-CIO
Department of International Affairs and coordinates its East European programs.
GRAPHIC: ILLUSTRATION, NEIL SHIGLEY FOR TWP
TYPE: NATIONAL NEWS, ANALYSIS, FOREIGN NEWS
SUBJECT: UNITED STATES; POLAND; GOVERNMENT AID TO FOREIGN NATIONS; LABOR UNIONS
ORGANIZATION: AFL-CIO; SOLIDARITY
NAMED-PERSONS: ADRIAN KARATNYCKY
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ADDRESS BY JOHN VANDERVEKEN, GENERAL SECRETARY
OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE
UNIONS TO
CONFERENCE ON
FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION
SPONSORED BY THE AFL-CIO
Washington, November 29, 1988
Let me begin by saying that the United
States is an apt setting, and the AFL-CIO a fitting
host, for this conference. Today, we are celebrat-
ing one of the fruits of our victory in the Second
World War. It was your country's strength and
commitment to freedom that helped bring about that
victory. And it was your vision that contributed so
much to the attempt to build a brave new world from
that victory. ILO Convention 87, which the
Americans played such a vital role in formulating,
is part of that brave new world.
Indeed, to the international free trade
union movement, it could be said to be its very
foundation, both in its structure, and in its
setting.
In its structure, the convention epitomises
the trade union view of freedom. It begins with
the individual, with his or her right to establish
or join a trade union of their own choosing. But
it recognises that though the freedom of the indi-
vidual is the aim of any free society, that freedom
can only be acheived for working people by collec-
tive strength. Experience teaches us -regrettably-
that exploitation cannot be overcome by sweet
reason; the devil does not only have the best
tunes, he also has the most power. Convention 87
gives people the right to gain that power for
themselves by banding together. It gives them, the
power, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, to
"speak softly, but carry a big stick."
The setting of the convention - in the
tripartite body of the International Labour
Organisation - is also crucial. Here, I must again
pay tribute to our hosts, the AFL-CIO. It was at
their insistence that the convention fell within
the competence of the ILO, rather than that of the
Uinted Nations. Convention 87 is much more than a
- 2 -
declaration of principle. It is a bridge from
principle to practice. It recognises that, as the
British theologian, Dean Inge, the former Dean of
St Pauls, once put it, "it is no use the sheep
passing resolutions in favour of vegetarianism, if
the wolf remains of a different view."
Ratification of Convention 87 amounts to more than
a recognition that trade union freedom is " a
consummation devoutly to be wished". It places
countries within a network of legal obligations
and makes them subject to a legal mechanism that
can bring transgressors to book.
It is also worth noting that the Convention
underpins the tripartite structure of the ILO. The
moral authority of trade unions is one of the
pillars of that structure and that authority rests
on their independence and their accountability.
They can only assert that independence and maintain
that accountability if governments and employers
are obliged to leave them free to run their own
affairs.
One can see, therefore, that Convention 87
and the guarantee it brings to trade union freedom
is woven into the very fabric of the ILO. And
trade union freedom is itself part of the very
fabric of the world social order. It is fitting
that Leon Jouhaux, the French trade union leader,
and one-time vice-president of the ICFTU, who made
such a contribution to the work of the ILO, and to
the adoption of Convention 87, was honoured with
the Nobel peace prize in 1951. That honour was, of
course, repeated in 1983, when Lech Walesa was
awarded the prize. Nothing is so destructive of
the prospects for lasting peace in the world as the
existence of tensions within and between countries
- tensions which owe a great deal to poverty, and
economic and social injustice. In fighting against
that injustice, trade unions have a vital role to
play in the struggle for world peace.
Given the importance of the convention, it
must be clear how vital it is for the United
States, with its long tradition as the powerhouse
of democracy, becomes a party to it. I know that
the AFL-CIO has campaigned long and hard for this.
It was a key point at the recent discussions in
Washington between the leaders of the international
free trade union movement, and President Reagan and
Secretary of State Shultz. Under the present
administration there has been some progress. In
February, the Congress ratified Convention 144,
which means that the USA will have a tripartite
- 3 -
body to "review periodically" the question of
further ratification of ILO instruments.
But with the greatest respect, this still
leaves much to be desired. The objection that the
country's federal structure makes ratification
difficult is not a valid one. The examples of
Canand and Australia show that federalism is a
hindrance raather than an obstacle.
There is another objection that on first
sight appears to have some force - namely that the
USA allows trade union freedom in practice; it
observes the spirit of the law without being a
signatory to the letter. There are many
governments who are punctilious in their devotion
to the letter of the law but have crushed the
spirit. The United States' attitude is surely the
more preferable.
I can only answer that yes, it is - but the
question evades the real issue. The arguments that
demand American ratification of Convention 87 are
precisely those that make the convention so
fundamental to the concept of workers' rights.
Firstly, there is the matter of obligation.
It is admirable for governments and employers to
observe trade union rights because they choose to
do so. But the trade union movement has always
taken as a guiding principle, the Biblical
exhortation, "put not your trust in princes" (even
democratically-elected princes!). To put it in the
words of the American humourist, Woody Allen, "the
lion shall lie down with lamb - but the lamb won't
get much sleep". Circumstance can change, and
minds can change with them. A free choice is one
thing ; but a legal oblgation is quite sometbhing
else. After all, you never know when hunger will
get the better of even the most sweet-tempered of
lions.
There is also the point that if the USA is
already observing the spirit of ILO Convention 87,
then it has nothing to lose from ratifying it
anyway. But it has agood deal to gain, and so does
the cause of trade union freedom. Tryants from all
parts of the political spectrum love to don the
cloak of democracy, no matter how ill-fitting it
may be, or how little it may suit them. They are
eager to seize on every lapse in the standards of
free societies to justify their own actions, and to
distract attention from their own behaviour.
Democracies must be, like Caesar's wife, "above
- 4 -
suspicion". This is especially true of the United
States. As long as the world's leading democracy
chooses to remain outside the network of legal
obligations exemplified by Convention 87, then that
network is diminished. All of the trade unionists
here today who have fought, and are still fighting
against oppression in Poland , Chile, South Africa,
in all the dark corners of the world will, I am
sure, bear witness to the importance of the ILO's
legal mechanisms, and to the concern that
oppressive governments have of being pilloried
within the ILO for their behaviour. They will
also, I am sure bear witness to the vital
contribution that the AFL-CIO makes to the battle
for trade union freedom, and to that of the
American government itself. ILO Convention 87 is
as relevant to that battle today as it ever was.
It remains a cornerstone of a humane and
economically efficient society.
It is time, surely, that the United States
took the final step, and ratified the convention.
It would, I am sure you will agree, be a marvellous
way to commemorate the anniversary.
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Copyright (c) 1989 Reuters
The Reuter Library Report
October 23, 1989, Monday, BC cycle
LENGTH: 324 words
HEADLINE: EAST GERMAN WORKERS CREATE INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION
DATELINE: EAST BERLIN, Oct 23
KEYWORD: EAST- UNION
BODY:
A group of East Berlin workers said on Monday they were forming a trade
union independent of East Germany's official labour federation, which is
under Communist Party supervision.
It was the first sign that East Germany's current unrest, the country's
worst turmoil in 36 years, was spreading beyond discontented intellectuals,
students and young people to workers in factories.
In a statement distributed to enterprises across East Germany and released
to reporters, the workers said they had decided to quit the official Free
German Trade Union Federation because it was not defending their interests.
"In the certain knowledge that the Free German Trade Union Federation does
not serve the interests of the majority of workers, lacks their confidence and
sees itself as a partner of the Communist Party, we have
decided to leave the
federation," the statement said.
It said the workers were forming an independent union to be called
и Reform"
The statement was issued from the Wilhelm Pieck engineering and electronics
works at Teltow on the outskirts of East Berlin. The plant employs about 6,000
workers.
There was no indication of how many workers had decided to join the new
union. But engineer Ralf Boerger, one of the statement's signatories, said
that in some departments of the factory all workers had decided to leave the
official union.
The head of the official labour federation, Harry Tisch, who is also a member
of the party's ruling Politburo, said last weekend that unions had to stop
working closely with factory managements and the Communist Party.
East Germany's new leader, Egon Krenz, is grappling with widespread unrest
including street demonstrations for reform by hundreds of thousands of people
this month and an exodus of its citizens to West Germany.
More than 120,000 of the 16.6 million East Germans have left for the West
this year, about half of them through Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
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4TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1989 The Times Mirror Company;
Los Angeles Times
October 24, 1989, Tuesday, Home Edition
SECTION: Part A; Page 8; Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 787 words
HEADLINE: LANDMARK FOR E. GERMAN WORKERS;
EUROPE: THE COMMUNIST NATION'S FIRST INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION SHOWS THAT THE
WAVE OF DISSENT HAS REACHED THE FACTORY FLOOR.
BYLINE: By WILLIAM TUOHY, TIMES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EAST BERLIN
BODY:
Workers in an East Berlin factory on Monday announced the formation of the
country's first independent trade union.
Hours later, more than 100,000 East Germans demonstrated in Leipzig, calling
on the new government to institute political and economic reforms. It was the
first big demonstration since Egon Krenz took over last Wednesday as East
Germany's Communist leader.
A spokesman for workers at the Wilhelm Pieck engineering and electronics
plant in Teltow, on the outskirts of East Berlin, said many were leaving the
official East German labor movement and joining the independent union, called
Reform. He gave no number but said some entire departments had made the move.
There was no comment from the government. Announcement of the formation of an
independent union was the first sign that the present wave of dissent, the
worst since the workers' uprising of 1953, had gone beyond students and
intellectual leaders to the factory floor.
For many, it recalled the beginnings of Solidarity, the independent trade
union in Poland. Solidarity was outlawed soon after it was organized in 1980
but continued to struggle. Last summer, the Solidarity movement took over the
government.
Ralf Boerger, a spokesman for the workers at the Teltow plant, said they
were leaving the official labor federation because it "does not serve the
interests of the majority of workers and does not enjoy the confidence of the
workers.
$
He quoted from a statement that calls on the government to grant all
workers the right to strike and the right to demonstrate, to guarantee freedom
of the press, to remove all restrictions on foreign travel and to end official
privileges.
He said the statement has been handed out at factories all across the country
through an opposition group called the Social Democratic Party.
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(c) 1989 Los Angeles Times, October 24, 1989
The new union, the statement said, "has obligations only to its own members
and will not subordinate itself to the decisions of political parties or other
organizations."
"In today's critical situation," it went on, "we appeal to all colleagues in
our enterprise and all workers in our republic to take on the responsibility
for our common future."
The Reform announcement came on the heels of a statment by labor official
Harry Tisch, a member of the Politburo, who was quoted Monday in the union
newspaper Tribuene as saying that trade unions must show more independence and
must stop working 50 closely with management and the Communist Party.
"It's better," he said, "if each union finds and represents its own
position."
In Leipzig, as occurred at a similar turnout last Monday night, police and
security forces were present but made no attempt to interfere with the peaceful
demonstration.
East Germans also demonstrated in other cities Monday. In nearby Halle, more
than 10,000 marched in a peaceful demonstration for economic and political
reform. They shouted "Gorby! Gorby!" -- referring to Soviet President Mikhail
S. Gorbachev and the reforms he has introduced in the Soviet Union.
In the northwestern city of Schwerin, several thousand people were reported
to have attended an organized meeting to discuss with Communist officials such
problems as shortages of consumer goods.
Here in East Berlin, several thousand gathered at the Gethsemane church to
support a candlelight vigil that has been going on around the clock in behalf of
people arrested in previous Leipzig demonstrations.
Protestant Church sources said that Monday night's turnout in Leipzig was as
large or larger than last week's. On that occasion, an estimated 100,000 to
120,000 marched to protest the restrictive policies of Erich Honecker, the
hard-line leader who resigned under pressure two days later.
Monday's demonstrators called out, "Egon, what about free elections?"
Diplomatic sources said the Leipzig march indicated that Krenz and his regime
will have to move quickly to satisfy the pent-up frustrations of East Germans.
One observed, "His police can't arrest 120,000 people for marching peacefully."
The Leipzig march started, as has become customary in recent weeks, in Karl
Marx Platz after Monday night church services. The demonstrators merged and
marched 10 abreast along the ring road that surrounds the city center, some
carrying banners urging "Power to New Forum," a reference to the largest
opposition group. New Forum has signed up more than 26,000 followers in the past
few weeks.
Monday's developments suggested to many analysts in Berlin that Krenz's
apparent effort to portray his new regime as more responsive to popular wishes
has yet to win any broad acceptance.
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(c) 1989 Los Angeles Times, October 24, 1989
"He has to do more than talk about reform, = a diplomat with long experience
here said. "He has to do something."
SUBJECT: UNIONS; GOVERNMENT REFORM; EAST GERMANY - LABOR; EAST GERMANY
-- GOVERNMENT; REFORM ( UNION)
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2ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Proprietary to the United Press International 1989
October 31, 1989, Tuesday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 725 words
HEADLINE: Krenz: Socialism isn't 'present' to give away
DATELINE: BERLIN
KEYWORD: Eastgermany
BODY:
Socialist East Germany was not established 'to give it as a present to
the class enemy, communist leader Egon Krenz said, and a communist labor
leader offered to stand up to a vote of confidence by the union leadership.
Krenz told military academy graduates Monday that the Politburo had reacted
insufficiently to problems and had lacked self-criticism so that ''a
revolutionary awakening'' now is taking place.
'Whoever draws the conclusion from this that our party is not in a position
to exercise its leading role has misjudged the experiences of our party and has
underestimated the 2 million and more members and candidates united in this
party,' the government news agency ADN quoted Krenz as saying.
Krenz said East Germans had not built up a socialist republic ''to give it as
a present to the class enemy, ADN reported.
His statement was considered an answer to demands for a democratic,
multi-party system in which the Communist Party would lose the ' leading role''
it enjoys under the present constitution.
The demands have come from emerging opposition groups and participants in
daily rallies and demonstrations. About 300, people demonstrated Monday night
in Leipzig, East Germany's second biggest city, East German television
reported. About 80,000 people demonstrated in Schwerin.
Krenz, 52, who on Oct. 18 replaced his mentor, Erich Honecker, 77, as
Communist Party general secretary, spoke on the eve of a two-day trip to Moscow
to confer with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev phoned Krenz on Oct.
21 to congratulate him on his selection and to invite him to Moscow.
The leader of East Germany's communist labor union offered Monday to
resign in the face of criticism of his hard-line policies.
Harry Tisch, chairman of the East German Labor Federation and a close ally of
Honecker and Krenz, asked the union's 250-member governing board for a vote of
confidence and said he would resign if he lost.
''If the board of governors gives me a vote of confidence I am willing to
carry out as a member of my party the program adopted here,' said Tisch, 62, a
member of the Politburo. ''If the board does not express confidence in me, I
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Proprietary to the United Press International, October 31, 1989
will also accept this decision.
After a six-hour meeting the board postponed a decision until Nov. 17, ADN
reported. The motion to delay a decision was passed with only five votes against
and two abstentions, ADN reported.
At the East Berlin reception, Krenz told the military academy graduates they
were beginning their careers at a time of ''high tension.
'Many are going out on the streets now with the self-assured shout: 'We are
the people!''' he said. 'But all of us are the people. Those who stand up
for law and order, those who defend our homeland, yes, all of us who bear
responsibility for normality on the border between socialism and capitalism.
Opposition to Tisch and the communist domination of the union last week
prompted the formation of a Reform Union that demanded the right to strike
and removal of communist influence in factories.
Ralf Boerger, one of the founders of the Reform Union, said in an
interview published Monday in Der Spiegel, the West German weekly news magazine,
that the authorities have placed great pressure on workers at the Teltow
machinery plant in East Berlin where the union was founded.
We were told even the intention to form an organization is forbidden, he
said. ''We were told we would have to count on legal consequences.
Boerger said more than 100 of the 7,236 workers in the Teltow factory have
joined and workers in other factories have informed him they plan to take
similar action.
The Free German Labor Federation for a long time has not represented the
interests of the workers - if it ever did, Boerger said. ''It is completely
under the thumb of the Communist Party.
Boerger said Tisch's statements that he will follow an independent policy in
the future merely is a tactic he has adopted because of the pressure exerted by
the reform movement.
Boerger also expressed doubt Krenz was capable of making basic changes.
Since Krenz replaced Honecker, authorities have organized rallies and
meetings all over the country to discuss demands for reform and have not
interfered with daily marches and demonstrations for free elections and
recognition of opposition groups.
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1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Proprietary to the United Press International 1989
October 31, 1989, Tuesday, BC cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 634 words
HEADLINE: Hardline East German union leader resigns
DATELINE: BERLIN
KEYWORD: Eastgermany
BODY:
The hardline leader of the East German labor union bowed to the demands of
workers and demonstrators Tuesday and announced his resignation, the East
German news agency ADN reported.
Harry Tisch, 62, a member of the Communist Party's ruling Politburo, said he
will resign at a meeting Thursday of the governing board of the communist-run
Free German Labor Federation.
He has been head of the Federation since 1975.
The governing board had tried Monday to postpone a decision on Tisch until
Nov. 17 after a key Communist Party Central Committee meeting, but the union
branches in East Berlin, Dresden and Erfurt ''energetically'' demanded the board
reconvene immediately to accept his resignation, ADN said. The board agreed.
Tisch had asked for a confidence vote in the wake of the resignation of many
workers from the union, the formation of a rival union and after
demonstrators throughout East Germany demanded his ouster.
To meet another demand of reformers, the Interior Ministry announced it will
reconsider a ban on the New Forum, one of the most popular opposition reform
movements. The announcement said the ministry had been asked to reconsider its
ban by the members of Parliament of the Christian Democratic Party, one of the
parties allied with the Communist Party in the National Front.
Also Tuesday, a West German newspaper reported that Education Minister Margot
Honecker, the wife of the former East German leader who was replaced by Egon
Krenz two weeks ago, resigned from the Cabinet.
The report in the Bild newspaper, which attributed its story to well informed
circles in East Germany, could not be immediately confirmed.
But Mrs. Honecker's ouster has been predicted since her husband, Erich
Honecker, resigned as Communist Party leader Oct. 18 in the wake of
demonstrations for greater democracy and the mass flight of refugees.
The resignation of Mrs. Honecker, 62, a hardline member of the East German
Communist Party Central Committee, has been one of the demands raised at the
mass demonstrations taking place daily throughout East Germany.
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The newspaper Bild said her successor is Helga Labs, 49, head of the teacher'
union.
Some credence was given to the newspaper report by the East German government
news agency ADN saying that students expelled by Mrs. Honecker from an East
Berlin high school in October 1988 could return. The students were expelled for
criticizing the holding of a military parade.
At demonstrations throughout East Germany Monday night, demands were made
for a new union free of communist influence, free elections, a free press,
freedom of travel, a new legal system and an end to domination by the Communist
Party.
The government news agency ADN said 200,000 demonstrated in Leipzig, East
Germany's second largest city, 50,000 in Halle, 40,000 in Schwerin, 20,000 in
Karl Marx Stadt, 20,000 in Cottbus, 20,000 in Dresden, and 15,000 in Magdeburg.
In East Berlin, several thousand attended meetings in churches and several
hundred later demonstrated.
Under Krenz, who replaced Honecker Oct. 18, authorities have organized
rallies and meetings all over the country to discuss demands for reform and
have allowed daily marches and demonstrations for free elections and recognition
of opposition groups.
The Dresden branch of the communist labor union had said if Tisch did not
resign more workers would quit the union, the news agency ADN reported.
Ralf Boerger, one of the founders of the Reform Union, has said the
Federation under Tisch for a long time has not represented the interests of the
workers.
''It is completely under the thumb of the Communist Party,' he said.
The local communist union branches apparently feared the growth of the
Reform Union, which apparently has not yet spread beyond one East Berlin
factory.
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Bill Meagher @SPATE
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Krenz Hints at East German Perestroika
A44
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1989
R1
THE WASHINGT
New
Leader
Meets
With
Gorbachev,
Calls
Protests
a
'Good
Sign'
liberalization ASTOUNAING. and added, "We are
East German Hints at Changes
of political and economic change
By David Remnick
could "teach us a great deal."
ready to put the [Soviet] vanguard
Washington Post Foreign Service
[Krenz's government today lifted
experience to use." His conserva-
restrictions that had barred most
tive predecessor, Erich. Honecker,
EAST GERMANY, From A1
Krenz said that while he plans to
Gorbachev's perestroika pro-
MOSCOW, Nov. 1-East Ger-
allow East German citizens to get
man leader Egon Krenz said here
travel to Czechoslovakia and, within
had been careful to distance himself
Like Honecker, however, Krenz
grams, Krenz said, "are a means of
today that the widespread demon-
hours, more than 500 East Germans
from Gorbachev's perestroika policy
said he opposes the reunification of
passports and visas to visit "any
making socialism more attractive,
strations in his country are "a good
had arrived at the West German Em-
of economic restructuring, insisting
Germany and the destruction of the
country in the world," he said he
of improving it." He said Gorbachev
bassy in Prague to seek emigration
that such a program had no rele-
Berlin Wall. Krenz said talk of re-
has "no doubt" the mass emigration
told him that the Soviet changes are
sign" for the "renovation" of social-
from his country would stop be-
"an extension of 'Red October,'
ism, and he indicated he would es-
to the West, news agency reports
vance for East Germany.
unification is an "illusion" that would
cause "trust will be regained and
the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
tablish a more liberal election sys-
said. The official East German news
See EAST GERMANY, A44, Col. 1
undermine "an integral aspect of a
stable Europe. To quote one
people will stay at home."
agency, ADN, reported that 8,000
During a trip to East Berlin last
tem.
Krenz, who took power two weeks
East Germans had crossed into
Contents
Frenchman, 'I love Germany so
[In another development, the In-
month, Gorbachev dropped several
much, I hope there will always be
ago, met with Soviet President
Czechoslovakia during the day.]
© 1989,
The
terior Ministry announced that it is
subtle hints about the need for Ho-
two of them.'
reconsidering New Forum's appli-
necker's government to make
Mikhail Gorbachev today. The East
Krenz said he and Gorbachev
Washington
Post
In his first formal news conference
German said the Soviet experience
talked for nearly three hours about
Company
cation for legal registration, Reuter
changes, and shortly after he left
as East German leader, Krenz said
reported. The application had been
for Moscow, Honecker was re-
strike."
Page
A39
70628 21100
rejected in September.]
placed by Krenz. Krenz said, how-
Ukrainian
coal
miners
stage
a
two-hour
"warning
0
3
the Berlin Wall is a historically nec-
essary "border between two social
Krenz said there would be exten-
ever, that the leadership change
systems, a border between two mil-
sive discussion about elections dur-
had nothing to do with Gorbachev's
itary blocs a kind of protective
ing a party Central Committee
trip and was "a collective decision
shield." As for proposals to destroy
meeting next week. "This will be a
made by our Politburo."
the wall, Krenz said, "We should not
democratic process," he said, but
He said that the presence of
live in a world of dreams."
gave few details,
more than 300,000 Soviet troops
Although he defended Honecker
Nevertheless, Krenz defended
on East German soil has no "undue"
Photocopy-Preservation
as a "man who accomplished a lot,"
the 1968 invasion that crushed
influence on East German policy.
Krenz seemed eager to create a
Czechoslovakia's "Prague Spring,"
"These troops have no conse-
different image for himself. "To be
saying, "There was a firm decision
quences for the sovereignty" of
a hard-liner or not to be a hard-
taken by the Warsaw Pact countries
East Germany, he said.
liner, that is not the question," he
to act and I have nothing to be sorry
Asked about the accelerating lib-
said. "I do not consider myself to be
about that."
eralization in Poland and Hungary,
a hard-liner."
Krenz was a loyal member of Ho-
Krenz indicated that he does not
Demonstrators throughout East
necker's Politburo, and he said, "I am
feel compelled to keep pace. "I
Germany continue to march for free,
not ashamed of this time." As for any
don't like models or standards be-
multi-party elections, the legaliza-
"mistakes" of the past, he said, "I
cause there is always the tempta-
tion of opposition groups such as
would not want to blamè Erich Ho-
tion just to copy them," he said.
New Forum and a free press. Krenz
Soviet journalists asked Krenz
necker for what happened."
said he intends to "listen to all ideas"
While Honecker generally
about various liberal Soviet publi-
in the coming months.
cations, such as Sputnik, Moscow
avoided extensive meetings with
"Many people are out on the
the foreign press, Krenz seemed
News and New Times, that East
Germany has banned at various
streets to show that they want bet-
almost eager to please, answering
ter socialism and the renovation of
times in recent years. Krenz replied
questions for 90 minutes with em-
society," he said. "And so I believe
that there would be no more such
phatic confidence. At times he
"incidents."
that this is a good sign, an indication
seemed determined to imitate the
Krenz, who left Moscow for War-
that we are at a turning point in the
frankness of Gorbachev. When one
life of the German Democratic Re-
saw tonight, will hold meetings
reporter noted the comparison,
public," as Communist East Ger-
Thursday with Polish President
Krenz broke out in a grateful smile
Wojciech Jaruzelski and Communist
many is formally called.
and said, "That is a compliment!"
Party chief Mieczyslaw Rakowski.
Demonstrators on Prague's Wenceslas Square flash victory signs Saturday before police moved in to break up protest.
Prague Dissidents Seek "Call to Action'
Czechoslovak Dissidents See Need
PRAGUE, From A39
monic Orchestra voted to boycott
had to postpone their work because
state-run radio and television to
of police harassment.
Committee meeting two weeks ago.
protest the government's harass-
Members of the Movement for
To Offer Non-Communist Alternative
"In no case will we allow any loss of
ment of citizens who have signed "A
Civil Liberties, the Independent
the party's influence."
Few Sentences."
Peace Association, the Czech Dem-
The government also has stepped
ocratic Initiative and Obroda, whose
10,000 showed up for a similar pur-
shift attention from demonstrations
A letter protesting the arrest of
members include Communists
By Mary Battiata
pose, despite a public invitation
to the work of putting together a
up harassment and detention of po-
two editors of the country's largest
Washington Post Foreign Service
litical dissidents. Before the week-
underground daily was signed by
purged after the Soviet-led invasion
from Czechoslovakia's most prom-
political program to close the huge
end demonstration more than 20 of
110 journalists from every state-
in 1968, were forced to leave the
PRAGUE-This week's tale of
inent political opposition groups.
gap between the relatively small
the most prominent dissidents were
controlled newspaper. More than
city after being interrogated and
two cities, one on fire with protest,
Banners reading "Democracy" and
organized opposition and the rest of
arrested. Many more were warned
detained last week by police trying
"Dialogue" were barely unfurled
the country's 15 million citizens.
80 academics founded the Circle of
the other barely smoldering, has
"This is the key problem-to cre-
by police to leave the city to avoid
Independent Intellectuals as an in-
to head off the weekend demonstra-
underlined for many in Czechoslo-
before legions of riot
NEWS
being detained.
tion.
vakia's dissident movement the
ANALYSIS
police
confiscated
ate an acceptable political pro-
dependent think tank dedicated to
Czechoslovakia's leading dissi-
critical analyses of economic and SO-
"Up to now, the independent
need for a shift in tactics.
them. More than 350
gram," said Jana Petrova, a young
groups have had to concentrate on
young people were arrested.
dissident and one of the founders of
dent, playwright Vaclav Havel, was
cial problems. Members of the So-
On Monday in East Germany,
The comparison between these
the Independent Peace Initiative.
taken from his sickbed to a police
cialist and People's parties, both
mere survival," said one member of
200,000 people again took to the
traditional Communist allies, took
the Independent Peace Association.
streets of Leipzig to demand free
two bordering East European
"Everyone sees that demonstra-
station last Thursday before being.
released to a hospital. He wrote in
elections, an end to censorship and
states, long partners in communist
tions can't solve anything more."
the unusual step of denouncing the
orthodoxy and repression of dis-
The government has categorical-
last month's issue of the country's
Communist Party's policy-making
dialogue between the Communist
sent, has not been lost on Czecho-
ly refused to engage in dialogue
Central Committee, an act for
leadership and the political opposi-
largest underground newspaper
slovakia's opposition movement.
with opposition groups. "In no case
which two members of the People's
tion. At least 150,000 more East
that the opposition is in a necessary
Germans rallied peacefully in other
Prominent opposition figures
will we give up our positions to anti-
period of transition between what
Party were arrested.
here say that last weekend's dem-
socialist forces," Communist Party
But the spirit of rebellion clearly
cities.
he calls "classical dissidence"-un-
Two days earlier, in Prague's
onstration in Prague is further
leader Milos Jakes said at a Central
derground organizing, for exam-
has failed to touch the majority of
proof that the time has come to
See PRAGUE, A44, Col. 1
the population. Part of the reason is
Wenceslas Square, no more than
plè-and more mainstream political
work.
economic. Czechoslovaks do not yet
The necessity for that transition
have an economic incentive to tan-
showed at the weekend rally.
gle with one of the most repressive
Its organizers say it was the first
states in the Eastern Bloc. The
About
of six demonstrations over a period
economy is deteriorating, but its
of: 14 months at which protesters
slide is not yet clearly visible, and
Photocopy-Preservation
shouted explicitly political slogans,
most people here still enjoy one of
even going SO far as to demand the
the bloc's highest living standards.
ouster of Jakes.
Unlike the East Germans, they en-
The size of the crowd, however,
joy freedom to travel in the West.
Fear is also a serious brake on
was roughly the same as the turn-
dissent-fear of the police, of losing
out-at the five previous protest ral-
jobs or privileges or the opportunity
lies. In that sense, one of the slo-
to send children to college.
gans shouted by demonstrators to-
And opposition figures concede
ward onlookers and television cam-
that their own failure to articulate
eras-"Czechs, come with us!
an attractive, concise and credible
Czechs, come with us"-seemed to
alternative to party rule has not
be as much a plea for more activists
helped rally public interest.
as a challenge to the government.
"A petition is only a petition," said
"It's their big failure, and it's
a Western diplomat. "What they
something they've got to get
need is a call to action, something
around to dealing with," said one
very intelligible and easy to grasp, a
diplomat here.
10-point program that both a work-
There has been some increased
er in a factory or head of a party
support for public criticism of the
committee could understand.
government. More than 30 inde-
"Nobody's really begun to tackle
pendent groups have emerged in
the key questions. They are very
the past year, and 35,000 citizens
basic: Should there or should there
have signed a pro-liberalization pe-
not be free shops? At what level
tition called "A Few Sentences."
should private initiative apply? How
In Prague in the last month, a
should salaries be fixed?"
striking number of acts of grass-
Four opposition groups that rec-
roots political activism have taken
ognize the need for a political pro-
place. Last week, the director and
gram had hoped to get started
92 members of the Czech Philhar-
working on one last month, but they
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LARCR
NEWS
CONGRESS AFL OF INDUSTRIAL
AFL-CIO
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION
202/637-5010
FOR RELEASE:
Seventh Annual Samuel Berger lecture
by AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland
The Institute for the Study of Diplomacy,
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service,
Washington, DC
May 7, 1986
In 1983, John Dunlop, and in 1984, Irving Brown presented to this forum an
overview of organized labor's role in international affairs, both historical and
contemporary, that covered the ground as well as it can be done. Given their
extraordinary qualifications for that task, I would not serve you badly now were I to
simply commend their observations to you, declare my full agreement with them, and
proceed directly to questions.
But I suppose I can't get away with that. Let me then just add a few reflections
on the meaning of it all and its application to some current policy issues.
First, the unique attribute of American labor's approach to the affairs of this
world has been its singular continuity and constancy through time and the ebbs and flows
of political fashion and economic circumstance. Please note that I did not say
"consistency," which has that well-known tendency to become foolish in the face of basic
change, as has occurred, for example, in the matter of trade relations.
That constancy emerges from a view of our role abroad that is closely linked and
rooted in our view of our domestic role--that is to say, the conviction that freedom of
association is the only dependable path to both political and economic rights and that
those rights are interdependent rather than in conflict. While we profess no peculiar
genius, we do, like the porcupine, know one thing exceedingly well, and that serves as our
compass.
I do not argue that this constancy has led to super-human wisdom or the
avoidance of occasional error. We have no doubt made our share of mistakes and we shall,
I suppose, make more. After all, in everything we do, at home and abroad, we place all of
our bets on people and as they say about jockeys, if it weren't for them every horse race
would follow the form.
But compared to our social partners in other walks of human life, I believe that
we do pretty well. By and large, we defend the root principle of our existence more
staunchly than others we have a right to rely on to man the front lines in behalf of values
in their special charge.
Thus, you may find some American trade unionists who place other fancies above
freedom of association, but they will be very few. Compare that, I ask you, with the
number of journalists who find, in the world, circumstances excusing the suppression of
freedom of the press; of churchmen who place other imperatives above freedom of
worship; of businessmen and financiers who deal blithely with the exterminators of
freedom of enterprise; and of intellectuals whose emotions draw them on occasion to the
cause of the deadliest enemies of freedom of thought and expression.
As I do not claim infallibility, neither do I suggest that the foreign policy of the
AFL-CIO is a monolith. Anyone who has followed our internal debates and various more
mainstream. or less judicious exercises of autonomy over the years knows better. I speak of the
Beneath and within that stream there are, at any given time, any number of swirls
and eddies. But that mainstream flows on an unbroken course from the time of Gompers
to the present day.
I would not resist the speculation that this may, in some part, derive from the
fact that--since Gompers, at least--the careers of those who led the development of
labor's engagement abroad have overlapped and most of them have known and learned
from each other at some stage in their trade union careers. In other words, institutional
memory and the connections to it remain strong in the American labor movement.
Kirkland/Georgetown Univ.
-2-
Secondly, labor's policy and practice is driven by the conviction that the
aspiration for freedom, democracy and all the rights of man and woman is not an attribute
of gringos only but is universal and inherent in the human spirit, regardless of race, creed,
color or condition of servitude. How else do you explain the extraordinary degrees of
force, brutality and guile that are so widely used by the privileged and the powerful to
suppress that aspiration? Policies oblivious to it are continually being thrown into shock
and disarray by the next unanticipated explosion of that pent-up popular will, seized upon
and orchestrated too often by the wrong apparatus, because we aren't there with the real
people.
Indifference to or disdain for that proposition is fostered, consciously or
unconsciously, by those whose convenience is served by stability in relations among
governing elites. It leads us into such sterile intellectual exercises as the application of
micrometors to the margins of our tolerance for authoritarians as compared to
totalitarians.
While acknowledging the differing degrees of concern about national or regional
security presented by evangelical anti-human regimes relative to cut-throats who are
content to keep their boots on the necks of the people of one country, labor's special
mission and creed leads us to zero tolerance for either.
We know from our own experience in close support of the struggles of our brothers
and sisters abroad that they share our own aspirations. If there is a significant difference
it lies in the extent to which they have had to demonstrate in blood their willingness to
put their lives and liberty at risk for the trade union cause. Ours has not been lately put
to such tests, and I can only trust that it would measure up if it were.
Let me give you just a few examples from many others in recent years.
Cyril Daal, head of the Surinam Labor Federation, tortured and murdered by the
government in December, 1982.
Neil Aggett, of the South African Food and Canning Workers Union, dead at the
hands of prison authorities, in February, 1982.
Rodolfo Viera, head of the Salvadoran campesino union, gunned down by a
right-wing military death squad, in January, 1981. Two of our own, Mike Hammer and
Mark Pearlman, mingled their blood with his.
refr.
Alexei Nikitin, an activist for free unions from the Ukraine, dead in a Soviet
psychiatric hospital in the Spring of 1984.
must
Tucapel Jimenez, president of the democratic union Confederation of Chile, shot
and his throat cut, February, 1985.
car high expression
Maximo Nunez, Vice President of the Associated Labor Union for Southern
Mindanao, in the Philippines, killed, June, 1985.
And since the imposition of martial law in Poland, over 100 Solidarnosc activists
have died under "suspicious circumstances."
Tell such as they that their people are not "ready for democracy" or that trade
Bustas
unions should be controlled or suppressed for the sake of "development."
We often encounter, as well, much less grim reminders that trade unionism is a
common cause around the world, with a common spirit and common burdens. Here, for
example, is an item that was printed in a trade union journal in Kenya, headed "What a
will
Life: That of a Union Officer":
senvile)
200
"If he talks on a subject, he is trying to run things.
If he is silent, then he has lost interest in the organization."
murderd 988 unionisted
"If he is seen at the office, why doesn't he get out?
work done?"
If he is out seeing members, then why doesn't he stay in the office and get the
"If he is not at home at night, he must be out drinking.
Kirkland/Georgetown Univ.
-3-
If he is at home, then he is ducking."
"If he doesn't beat his chest and yell strike, he is a conservative.
If he does beat his chest and yells strike, then he is a radical."
"If he does not stop to talk, his job has gone to his head.
If he does stop to talk, then that's all he has to do anyway."
"If he tries to explain something, he is playing politics.
If he doesn't explain, then he is a dictator."
"If he gets a good contract, he should have asked for more.
If he doesn't get a good contract, he's sold out to the boss."
"If his suit is pressed, he thinks he is a big shot.
If his suit is unpressed, then he is a bum."
"If he is on the job a short time, he is inexperienced.
If he has been a long time on the job, then it's time for a change."
As you can see, all the tribulations of trade union leadership do not flow from a
hostile environment, either here or abroad.
The third and final point that I want to draw from our history and philosophy of
involvement in international affairs is simply this: people--plain, ordinary people--ought
not to be the means to other ends in international political and economic relations, but
the end of all means. That may seem a very primitive and self-evident formulation, but
our experience has proven to us that it is more honored in the breach than in the
observance--even leaving aside those nations and doctrines which most transparently
subject human beings to the service of the greater glory of the state.
That is true of 1st world corporations encouraged by their governments' policies
to roam the world in search of the cheapest and most repressed labor. It is true of
3rd world politicians and autocrats who in all the usual forums identify themselves with
"progressive" and "revolutionary" posturing, while piously asserting that freedom of
association and minimum standards of decency for their own working people are
incompatible with development and in fact manifestations of western
counter-revolutionary imperialism.
It is also true of the policies of the finance ministers who guide the international
lending agencies which, in the terms they demand, pile austerities on the aching backs of
working people to shelter the banks that sustain the cycle of corruption and capital flight.
I am familiar with the arguments that such measures work their arcane way
through market forces to the ultimate greater good of all. But even if you believe in
market theory, it is hard to understand how it works in a world where those in power in
most countries neither believe in a market economy or permit it to operate.
Besides, the American labor movement emerged and developed with a
well-founded suspicion of "pie-in-the-sky, in the sweet bye-and-bye." Rather than
justas ailt
submit to trickle-down doctrines where the ultimate salvation of the worker depends upon
the prior enrichment of a privileged mercantile or political class, we would much rather
love
push upward, as hard as we can, at the other end of the social structure. That is not easy
from
work, but someone has to do it.
labo's ground home
Regardless of whether you think labor's way of pursuing its international
responsibilities are enlightened or misguided, if you understand our basic premises and
have some grasp of the nature of our experience, you can predict rather accurately where
we are likely to stand on any given international issue--or at least the direction in which
the mainstream will flow--and that is no mean virtue.
In addition to our continued cooperation with our counterparts abroad, we are
currently pursuing a number of new initiatives to reinforce essential principles of our
human-rights-based trade union policy.
Kirkland/Georgetown Univ.
With all its vexations, we continue to regard the International Labor Organization
as a significant asset in our efforts to build a floor under the conditions of work around
the world. Entirely because of its tripartite structure, now enhanced by a secret ballot
that enables trade union delegates to vote their convictions without fear of reprisals, the
ILO is the only forum in the UN structure where democracy and freedom occasionally win
an argument.
Unfortunately, the posture of our own government has sadly weakened our ability
to exploit more effectively the opportunity that the ILO represents. The United States
has an abysmal record of ratification of ILO conventions, including the basic human rights
conventions on Freedom of Association, Forced Labor, Discrimination in Employment, and
the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining. The barriers to ratification, erected by
organized employer pressure and influence, have remained high and rigid over many
administrations of both parties.
Lately, we have re-opened the debate on ratification and sought a re-examination
of this question by the Administration and the Senate. We now have some hope that this
logjam may be breached, at least slightly, by the consideration for ratification of a
convention on tripartitism that even the employer lobby finds it hard to object to on its
merits. Yet, long and difficult negotiations and blood oaths seem to be necessary to keep
alive any chance that the President will submit and the Senate consider the ratification of
the basic human rights conventions.
I suggest that this is a standing disgrace to our country. If we continue to decline
acceptance of international instruments promoting human freedom that even some of the
most rigid regimes and backward countries have ratified, if not observed, then there is
something very wrong, not with our constitutional structure or public pronouncements, but
with our policy.
Effective enforcement of the international minimum standard setting role of the
ILO is, in our view, critical to a humane resolution of many of the political and economic
issues that now plague the world and afflict its people.
To that end, we have been working in concert with the ICFTU and the ILO to
persuade the International Monetary Fund to include labor rights provisions in its
agreements with governments seeking emergency financial assistance, to ameliorate the
impact on the defenseless elements of those societies of the Fund's conditions. Unless
this is done, the political consequences of the economic measures the Fund demands will
make those strictures self-defeating and ultimately breed havoc rather than order.
We have succeeded in getting such labor rights provisions incorporated into
legislation governing the Generalized System of Preferences and the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation. We have called for the exclusion from these trade and
investment benefits of a number of nations that deny workers' rights to organize and
bargain collectively. We are seeking the inclusion of similar provisions in the omnibus
trade legislation the Congress is now considering.
A realistic appraisal of the market or bartering-places of the world makes such
knee-jerk terms as "free trade" and "protectionism" meaningless and irrelevant. In truth,
the prevailing mode everywhere is the systematic practice of what used to be known as
mercantilism--that is to say, national policies and practices designed to increase exports
and discourage imports. Such policies bear as much resemblance to "free trade" as a
brothel does to a love nest.
The most brutal form of mercantilism is that pursued on the basis of cheap and
sweated labor. It cheats the world of the products and jobs of societies which embrace
human rights, and it cheats the world of access to the expanding mass markets that would
be produced by the broad sharing of the earnings of trade and the elevation of conditions
of life and labor.
On another front, we are strongly advocating the fulfillment of one of the major
proposals put forward in the report of the Kissinger Commission on Central America--a
proposal advanced by labor with the full and enthusiastic support of our trade union
colleagues in Central America.
It calls for the creation of a Central American Development Organization as a
channel for a major program of economic aid to help all the countries of that region to
collectively address their deep-rooted economic, social and political development
problems. It would be open to participation by all the countries, including Nicaragua, if
Kirkland/Georgetown Univ.
-5-
they are prepared to walk through a human rights door, a door supervised not by gringos
only, but by a cross-section of representatives of the Central American people.
The distinctive feature of CADO would be its structure, modeled on the tripartite
nature of the ILO Governing Body, and composed of representatives, not of governments
only, but of labor, business and other elements of those societies as well--all of whom
would have a voice in the planning and execution of aid programs. This would serve as a
strong lever in the promotion of genuine pluralism, including freedom of association, in
the region, and make it a safer place for democracy.
The concept has been incorporated in foreign aid legislation and enacted by the
Congress. Regrettably, however, the Administration has failed so far to make CADO the
major stage-setting of its Central American policy that it should be, and is evidently
much less enthusiastic about it than other, far less promising, approaches to the burning
problems of Central America.
I have indicated in these remarks that the American labor movement's historic
emphasis on advancing democracy by helping democrats build their institutions has been
rooted in essential trade union principles. I do not mean to suggest that our government is
inherently incapable of pursuing or fostering a similar course. Certainly, the legal basis
for such a policy has been laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
other pious declarations that establish the principal that such values are not to be
regarded as purely "internal affairs," but lack force in the absence of people on the front
lines to fight for them.
An historic step in this direction was the creation of the National Endowment for
Democracy, which provided modest government funds for labor, business, the two political
parties and other private sector organizations to undertake--and, in our case,
expand--programs of assistance in the development of pluralistic institutions abroad. It
recognized that such private groups can establish a level of trust and cooperation that is
beyond the reach of our government.
Essential to NED's purpose is the principle that such private groups remain
independent of the government and are not to be viewed abroad as agents of the State
Department or you know who. Granted, NED is a delicate instrument and it has to walk a
fine line between the public accountability demanded by the taxpayer and the
independence that gives the private sector organizations their credibility. There are
precedents for success in this enterprise--the Germans and the Swedes have made a go of
it.
But it is by no means certain that NED will survive. It has traveled a rocky road
in the Congress, the target of endless sniping from the left and the right.
I believe that the real source of NED's difficulties do not lie in the controversies
surrounding specific undertakings in this or that country but in something more profound
and disturbing: the lingering isolationism that always runs beneath the surface of
American life and that is exploited, when expedient, by extremes of the left and the right.
Each is selectively fearful of American "interventionism"--though for different
reasons in different places. The far left thinks we are up to no good in the world and
wants us to stay out of it, lest we corrupt it. The far right thinks the-world means us no
good and wants us to stay out of it, lest we be corrupted by it.
However this continuing debate may be resolved in the body politic--if it ever can
be resolved--it is a luxury that the American labor movement cannot afford. In our
global economy, we cannot afford it for economic reasons.
But we cannot afford it for other reasons--the trade union principles of solidarity
and freedom of association that make the AFL-CIO's foreign policy what it is. We mean
to stay the course. We can do no other.
-30-
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ational Health Care
OW Is The Time
Rising Health
What Are We Spending on
Health Care?
Care Costs:
T
he United States leads the world in health
care spending and there seems to be no end
in sight. The inflationary spiral has made Amer-
The Real
ican business uncompetitive in the world
market, has forced families to absorb higher
out-of-pocket costs because of cutbacks in
Story
employer-provided health care benefits, and
has led many to question whether we are get-
ting appropriate value for our considerable
investment in the current health care system.
Percent of GNP
Expenditures on Health Care
11.1%
8.5%
8.5%
6.8%
6.7%
6.2%
6.1%
U.S.A
Canada
France
Australia
Japan
United Denmark
Kingdon
Here are the facts:
The United States is spending $2 billion on
Spending for Health Services as
health care EVERY DAY.
Percent of Corporate Operating Profits
Health care consumes 11.1 percent of our
Percent
gross national product.
50
We are committing 31 percent more of our
40
resources to health care than Canada, 65 per-
cent more than Japan, and 79 percent more than
30
England.
20
What Does the Future Hold?
10
Rising health care costs already have strained
household incomes, corporate balance sheets
0
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1988
and governmental budgets. Yet health care
(Estimated)
Source: Health Care Financing Administration; Department of Commerce
prices continue to increase at rates which are
more than two times the rate of increase for all
other goods and services in the economy. If cur-
rent trends continue, by the year 2000 health
Who is Paying
care spending will hit $1.5 TRILLION and will
For Health Care?
consume 15 percent of our gross national
product.
The costs of employer-provided health care
Where Does the
benefits are following similar trends. In 1987
Money Come From?
American companies spent $140 billion on
health care. Average annual increases range
Other Private
from 18-30 percent, with no sign of the current
3%
Private
Direct
trend abating.
Health
Payments
Insurance
25%
31%
Percent Increases of Health Benefit
Costs Compared to CPI Increases
Percent
25
Health Benefits
20
Other
Government
14%
Medicare
15
17%
Medicaid
10%
10
CPI
5
Private insurance plans, Medicare and Medi-
0
caid finance almost three quarters of all per-
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
(Estimated)
sonal health care expenses. Patients pay the
Source: Hewitt Associates
remaining amount through monthly premiums,
copayments for services, deductibles and out-
of-pocket payments for uncovered benefits.
Patients are not well protected for many of
the services that they use most often.
Insurance covers only 74 percent of the
costs of physicians' services.
Insurance covers only 39 percent of the
What's Happening to
costs of dentists' services.
Health Benefits?
Insurance pays very little for prescriptions,
covering only 25 percent of the costs.
Corporations that have raised employee con-
tributions over the past few years continue
shifting the burden of rising costs to workers by
How Are We Spending
increasing deductibles, increasing coinsurance
Our Health Care Dollar?
and trying to eliminate benefits altogether.
These actions are creating barriers to care for
many working Americans who find they can no
Where Does
longer afford the services they need.
the Money Go?
In 1965, nine percent of corporate operating
profits went toward health care. Currently,
Research &
health care is consuming 45 percent of operat-
Administration
13%
ing profits. It is not surprising that only eight
Hospital
Care
percent of corporate CEOs believe they have
Other
39%
Personal
been successful in curbing health care costs.
Health Care
20%
Many employers have taken the cost-shifting
route, some are looking to a flexible benefits
approach to limit their total contributions and
place the burden of rising costs on workers. For
example:
Allied Signal Corporation has limited its
contribution for health care benefits to a specific
Nursing
Physicians'
Home
Services
dollar amount. Further, the company requires
8%
20%
employees to pay all of their medical bills up to
one percent of their salary and 20 percent of the
costs thereafter.
Hospital care still consumes the largest share
J.C. Penney limits the coverage of spouses
of national health care expenditures-40 cents
under its health plan to families where the
out of every dollar. While physicians' services
employee is the principal wage earner.
amount to only 20 cents of every dollar spent
on health care, the cost of this benefit is increas-
TRW has slashed its health care coverage
for retirees by going from a defined benefit to a
ing 30 percent faster than the annual rate of
defined contribution model.
increase for hospital care. As a result, the cost of
Armstrong Industries has discontinued
physicians' services accounts for a substantial
providing retiree health benefits for all non-
share of the increase in the cost of health
benefits.
union employees currently under age 48.
Employees are forced to pay for future retiree
In Medicare, as well as in private plans, this
health benefits out of a newly created employee
increase has been attributed to a growth in the
stock ownership plan (ESOP).
number of services provided, particularly by
certain specialists. According to a recent report
by Blue Cross, between 1983 and 1986, Medicare
payments to gastroenterologists increased 73
percent, payments to opthalmologists increased
57 percent and payments to cardiologists
increased by 49 percent.
the number of employers forcing workers to
pay over $75 per month increasing by 36
percent.
Higher deductibles: Deductible levels for
Employers' Breakdown of
employee benefit plans continue to increase.
Benefit Cost Increases
From 1984 to 1988 the number of employers
who required deductibles of over $100 more
Catastrophic
than doubled, and 55 percent of those have
Technology
Cases
11.2%
raised their deductibles to $200 or more. For
8.8%
Malpractice
employers with "comprehensive plans" who
1.4%
Utilization
16.3%
subject all benefits to a deductible, 60 percent
raised their deductibles to $200 or more in 1988.
Higher out-of-pocket ceilings: Maximum
annual family out-of-pocket expenses also have
Medical
increased. Three out of five plans now have
Inflation
32.8%
maximums of $2,500 or more. Twenty-five per-
cent of employers with comprehensive plans
Cost
Shifting
have maximum out-of-pocket limits of $3,000 or
29.5%
more.
Increased Co-payments: Fully paid cover-
Source: Hewitt Associates
age of hospital care has dropped sharply. In
1977, 80 percent of all plans surveyed by Hay/
Despite what employers report are the "real"
Huggins paid 100 percent of inpatient room and
factors behind rising health care costs, they
board; in 1987 only 41 percent did so.
continue to blame employees by shifting a
Increased Uninsured Workers: In the last 5
greater share of the burden to them. A recent
years, the number of workers with no health in-
report issued by the Wyatt Corporation illu-
surance increased by 50%.
strates the extent of the cost-shifting trend in
A BNA survey of employer bargaining objec-
the form of the following:
tives for 1989 by the Bureau of National Affairs
Higher Premiums: The share of health
(BNA) found that 51% of employers who
premiums paid by workers is rising even faster
already require workers to contribute to health
than overall medical costs. In 1986, 46 percent of
premiums will seek increases in premium con-
employers required premium sharing of over
tributions. Of employers whose health plans
$25 per month. Last year 70 percent of employ-
contain deductibles, 41% reported that they
ers required premium sharing at this level, with
intend to ask for increases.
AFL-CIO Health Care Campaign
UNI
815 16th Street, NW
Room 306
Washington, DC 20006
YES
Publication No. 190
ational Health Care
OW Is The Time
What is the
The AFL-CIO Campaign
For Health Care Reform
AFL-CIO
T
he AFL-CIO has been providing interna-
tional unions with assistance in identifying
strategies to contain the costs of negotiated
Health Care
health plans, while preserving benefits. We will
continue to work on this front to develop initia-
tives to stave off employer efforts to shift costs
Campaign
to workers. Recent collective bargaining negoti-
ations have demonstrated the need for the AFL-
CIO to launch a national campaign to bring
and Where
information to members of Congress, the press,
and the public-at-large about the difficulty of
maintaining health benefits and the need for a
Do You
national health care program to bring costs
under control.
Fit In?
National Health Care:
Now is The Time
The call for national health care reform is now
being echoed in many quarters. In recent years
health care prices have consistently risen two
times faster than other services in the economy.
Health care is now consuming almost 50 per-
cent of corporate profits. Higher deductibles
and coinsurance are putting the squeeze on
household budgets. The number of people
without insurance is approaching 40 million.
UNI
OF LABOR
AFL-CIO Health Care Campaign
CONGRESS AFL OF FINDUSTRIAL X CIO
815 16th Street, NW
Room 306
Washington, DC 20006
YES
Publication No. 190
® 3
AMERICAN FEDERATION
OF LABOR AND CONGRESS
OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
UNI
YES
October 16, 1989
xecutive Council Members
ane Kirkland
William Roper, M.D.
President
homas R. Donahue
Deputy Assistant to the President
Secretary-Treasurer
for Domestic Policy
rederick O'Neal
The White House
libert Shanker
dward T. Hanley
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.
ingelo Fosco
Washington, D. C. 20500
Kenneth T. Blaylock
Villiam W. Winpisinger
Villiam H. Wynn
Dear Bill:
ohn DeConcini
Vayne E. Glenn
oyce D. Miller
As you consider various alternatives for reforming
ohn J. Sweeney
the health care system, I thought that you would be
ames E. Hatfield
Barbara Hutchinson
interested in what we are doing.
Richard Kilroy
incent R. Sombrotto
Gerald W. McEntee
I am enclosing a copy of a kit of materials we are
Villiam H. Bywater
getting out to our activists and a short 4 minute video
Marvin J. Boede
explaining the problem.
Owen Bieber
lohn T. Joyce
-ynn R. Williams
At this point in time our principles are still quite
Mort ahr
.arry gan Jr.
general. Nonetheless, at least in the areas of quality
Robert A. Georgine
and cost, we may be heading in similar directions.
Milan Stone
Gene Upshaw
lay Mazur
Sincerely,
Lenore Miller
lack Sheinkman
John J. Barry
lohn A. Gannon
Sigurd Lucassen
Karen Pu Ignagni
Villiam J. McCarthy
Associate Director
Department of Occupational
Safety, Health and Social
Security
KI/dar
opeiu#2
afl-cio
enclosures
815 SIXTEENTH STREET. NW
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20006
(202) 637-5000
ational Health Care
OW Is The Time
Declining
A
mong industrialized nations, only the
United States and South Africa have no
national health care program. Until recently, a
Access
patchwork quilt of government programs and
employment-based health insurance was pro-
viding most Americans access to care.
To Care:
In the 1980's this trend was reversed. During
the Reagan era there were dramatic cutbacks in
public programs. Millions of manufacturing jobs
Only In
that provided good benefits were lost. New jobs
were created that offer no benefits and rising
costs have led many employers who provide
America
coverage to shift a growing share of the burden
to employees.
Who are the Uninsured?
They are workers and their families, children
and the sick who cannot buy health care
coverage.
A total of 37 million Americans have no
health care protection, a 40 percent increase
since 1980.
Three-fourths of the uninsured are workers
and their families
One-third of the uninsured are children.
Two million of the uninsured are chroni-
cally ill and can not obtain health care
protection.
Why is the Number of
Percent of the Poor*
Uninsured on the Rise?
Covered by Medicaid
Jobs offering no benefits are being created.
Percent
Service industry jobs offering little or no
70
benefits grew by 30 percent between 1980
60
and 1988, jobs in the manufacturing sector
50
shrank by four percent during the same
40
period. Nearly one-half of the uninsured
are in families where the head of house-
30
hold is working more than 40 hours.
20
There has been a growth in contingent
10
workers. The number of part-time workers
0
has increased 40 percent since 1980. Fewer
1975
1980
1985
1989
*
than 25 percent of part-time workers get
Those with incomes under the federal poverty level, which is $11,611 for a family of four.
benefits.
There have been cutbacks in public pro-
grams. Only 40 percent of the poor with
What About Those Who
incomes under the federal poverty line are
actually receiving Medicaid, compared
Are Covered by Insurance?
with 65 percent in 1973.
Cutbacks in employment-based health insur-
Increasing numbers of employees are
ance have led some experts to conclude that as
working for small businesses that provide
many as 50 million Americans have insurance
little if any health care coverage. In fact, 48
that is INADEQUATE to meet their needs.
percent of the uninsured work for firms
Employers are shifting costs to workers through
with under 25 employees.
higher deductibles, higher coinsurance, more
premium-sharing and a growing share of unco-
vered services.
Growth in
Temporary Workers
Employers Offering Non-Contributory
Millions
1.0
Dependent Health Coverage
.9
Percent of
.8
Employers
.7
60
.6
50
.5
.4
40
.3
.2
30
.1
20
0
1982
1984
1986
1988
10
Source: The New York Times
0
1980
1982
1984
1986
1987
Source: The Wyatt Company
Nearly one in five uninsured pregnant
Growth in the Number of Workers
women do not receive prenatal care during
Paying for Health Premiums
the first trimester of pregnancy.
A survey conducted by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation found a 65 percent
Percent
45
jump between 1982 and 1986 in the
number of Americans with no regular
40
source of health care.
Of Americans with a serious illness such as
35
cancer, heart disease or diabetes, 17 per-
cent did not see a doctor in 1986.
30
Once an individual reaches the age of 65
25
there is a one in five chance that he or she
will need nursing home care. With median
20
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
incomes of $14,000, older Americans cannot
afford to remain unprotected for long-term
Source: Employee Benefit's Research Institute
care. Nor can most of them qualify for
Medicaid, which requires individuals to
This Adds Up to
pauperize themselves before becoming
eligible for protection.
Bad Health
Millions of workers and their families are
being forced to gamble with their health. Not
Are Workers who have
surprisingly, the United States is at the bottom
of all other industrialized countries in infant
Decent Coverage Being
mortality and life expectancy.
Affected?
In the five year period between 1950 and
YES. The uninsured enter the health care sys-
1955 the U.S. ranked 6th in infant mortality
tem through the back door, receiving care in
among industrialized countries. Thirty
hospital emergency rooms. The cost of caring
years later the nation's ranking has
for the uninsured in this way amounts to
declined to 17th.
almost $10 billion per year.
A black infant born within ten miles of the
Through surcharges on health care bills,
White House is more likely to die within
workers in plans where employers do provide
the first year of life than an infant born in
coverage are subsidizing those workers whose
third world countries like Trinidad or
employers refuse to provide protection. Fur-
Jamaica.
thermore, in competitive bidding situations
A 1986 health interview survey conducted
employers that provide health care are frequent
by the U.S. Department of Health and
losers to employers who do not offer benefits.
Human Services showed that the unin-
This is happening in construction, the service
sured population used only 64 percent as
industry and in public sector employment.
many physician services as the insured.
In addition, many workers with employer-
provided health benefits lack important benefit
coverage such as well baby and elder care and
find primary (or preventive care) reduced. If
health care costs continue to skyrocket, these
workers may find other gaps in coverage.
UNI
OF LABOR
AFL-CIO Health Care Campaign
815 16th Street, NW
Room 306
Washington, DC 20006
YES COMORESS AFL OF FINDUSTRIAL THE CIO
Publication No. 190
® 3
ational Health Care
OW Is The Time
Waste and
What are the Numbers?
A
shocking 25 percent of U.S. health care
expenditures are going towards wasteful
Inefficiency:
or inappropriate procedures. This means that a
total of $125 billion could be freed up to
The Facts
improve access and hold down costs for those
who are insured, providing access to prenatal
care to women who can not afford it, well-baby
on Quality
care for families that find the cost of regular
checkups and routine injections for their
children out-of-reach, and long-term care for
of Care
the elderly and the chronically ill.
How widespread is the quality problem? A
report recently released by the National Lead-
ership Commission on Health Care provides
some disturbing answers:
5-25 percent of all patients admitted to
hospitals have quality of care problems.
10-35 percent of hospital admissions are
inappropriate.
One-fourth of all patients who died in the
hospital were found to have been misdiag-
nosed by physicians.
50 percent of all postoperative complica-
tions and 35 percent of all surgical deaths
were found preventable.
When monitored, physicians decrease their
use of lab testing by 47 percent.
AFL-CIO Health Care Campaign
UNI
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
CONGRESS AFL OF INDUSTRIAL 7 CIO
815 16th Street, NW
Room 306
Washington, DC 20006
YES
Publication No. 190
R 3
ational Health Care
OW Is The Time
The
National Health Care:
Facts and Fiction
AFL-CIO
M
embers of Congress need to hear from
you about how passage of a national
health care program can reduce the consider-
Strategy For
able pressure that rising health care costs are
putting on labor and management negotiators.
Until recently OPPONENTS OF A
Health Care
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM have
blocked passage of federal legislation by claim-
ing that government intervention would
Reform
increase costs and inhibit competition. Instead,
Health Spending as a
Percent of GNP
Percent
12
11
10
9
8
7
75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87
Source: The Internist
Room 306
Washington, DC 20006
YES
Publication No. 190
N FEDERATION
Now Is The Time
ational Health Care
UNI
AFL
INDUSTRIAL
YES
AFL-CIO
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
Congressional Visit Report
Name of Member of Congress visited:
Senator/Representative
State/District
Date of Visit
A delegation from our local union visited the above Member of Congress and the response was
(add extra sheets if needed):
Visit made by Delegation from:
Local Union Name
Street Address
City
State
Zip
When you have completed your visit, fill out this form, fold, apply postage and mail back.
3
Please mail this form back when you have completed
each congressional visit.
PLACE
STAMP
HERE
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
AFL-CIO
815 16TH STREET NW
RM 306
WASHINGTON DC 20006
N FEDERATION
Now Is The Time
ational Health Care
UNI
CONGRESS
AFL
INDUSTRIAL
YES
AFL-CIO
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
Congressional Visit Report
Name of Member of Congress visited:
Senator/Representative
State/District
Date of Visit
A delegation from our local union visited the above Member of Congress and the response was
(add extra sheets if needed):
Visit made by Delegation from:
Local Union Name
Street Address
City
State
Zip
When you have completed your visit, fill out this form, fold, apply postage and mail back.
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PLACE
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HERE
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
AFL-CIO
815 16TH STREET NW
RM 306
WASHINGTON DC 20006
ICAN FEDERATION OF
Now Is The Time
ational Health Care
UNI
INDUSTRIAL
YES
AFL-CIO
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
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3
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PLACE
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HERE
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
AFL-CIO
815 16TH STREET NW
RM 306
WASHINGTON DC 20006
Now Is The Time
ational Health Care
UNION
Now Is ational The Health Time Care
UNI
YES
YES
YES!
YES!
I would like to be involved in the AFL-CIO National Health Care
I would like to be involved in the AFL-CIO National Health Care
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Campaign.
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Name:
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Street Address:
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ational Health Care
UNI
OW Is The Time
Now Is The Time
ational Health Care
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YES
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YES!
I would like to be involved in the AFL-CIO National Health Care
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HERE
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NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
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AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
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Now Is The Time
ational Health Care
UNION
Now ational Is The Health Time Care
UNION
YES
YES
YES!
YES!
I would like to be involved in the AFL-CIO National Health Care
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Now Is The Time
ational Health Care
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Now ational Is The Health Time Care
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I would like to be involved in the AFL-CIO National Health Care
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NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
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AFL-CIO
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PLACE
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HERE
HERE
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
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815 16TH STREET NW
RM 306
RM 306
WASHINGTON DC 20006
WASHINGTON DC 20006
Now ational Is The Health Time Care
UNI
YES
Now Is The Time
ational Health Care
UNION
YES
YES!
YES!
I would like to be involved in the AFL-CIO National Health Care
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Campaign.
Name:
Name:
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City:
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Now Is The Time
ational Health Care
UNI
Now ational Is The Health Time Care
UNION
YES
YES
YES!
YES!
I would like to be involved in the AFL-CIO National Health Care
I would like to be involved in the AFL-CIO National Health Care
Campaign.
Campaign.
Name:
Name:
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STAMP
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HERE
HERE
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
815 16TH STREET NW
815 16TH STREET NW
RM 306
RM 306
WASHINGTON DC 20006
WASHINGTON DC 20006
PLACE
PLACE
STAMP
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HERE
HERE
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAMPAIGN
AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
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AFL-CIO
CENTENNIAL
ANTHOLOGY
UNITED LABOR'S AFLCIO CENTENNIAL OF OF NOV. 00000000000000 CANADA 15TH STATES 1881. ABOR UNIONS
A Collection of Readings
to Celebrate
the 100th Anniversary
of the
American Labor Movement
AFL-CIO
CENTENNIAL
ANTHOLOGY
A Collection of Readings
to Celebrate
the 100th Anniversary
of the
American Labor Movement
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND
CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Table of Contents
LANE KIRKLAND, President
Foreword
4
THOMAS R. DONAHUE, Secretary-Treasurer
Aims and Principles of the AFL-CIO
5
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Federation Platform for Political Action
7
John H. Lyons
Peter Bommarito
Thomas W. Gleason
Gompers-Hillquit: The Famous 'Debate'
11
Frederick O'Neal
Jerry Wurf
S. Frank Raftery
Al H. Chesser
Martin J. Ward
Murray H. Finley
Gompers vs. Horatio Alger on America's Work Ethic
17
Albert Shanker
Glenn E. Watts
Sol C. Chaikin
Edward T. Hanley
Angelo Fosco
Charles H. Pillard
William Green: Labor's War Record
26
William H. McClennan
J. C. Turner
Lloyd McBride
David J. Fitzmaurice
Kenneth T. Blaylock
Alvin E. Heaps
29
Wm. W. Winpisinger
William H. Wynn
Fred J. Kroll*
John L. Lewis: He Spoke His Mind
John J. O'Donnell
John DeConcini
Wayne E. Glenn
Robert F. Goss
Dan V. Maroney
William Konyha
Philip Murray: A Better World Tomorrow
33
Joyce D. Miller
John J. Sweeney
Douglas A. Fraser
* Deceased.
Labor and the World: Upholding Free Unions
38
Walter P. Reuther: Labor's Central Task
43
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND
George Meany: Power for What?
50
CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Lane Kirkland: Labor Day 1981
57
815 16th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006
Thomas R. Donahue: 'A Battle Never Over'
63
Looking Backward: Labor's Earliest Roots
68
A Federation Chronology: 100 Years of Labor History
71
Bibliography
92
Printed in U.S.A.
November, 1981
3
Foreword
Aims and Principles
Of the AFL-CIO
For a hundred years, American trade unions have defended the
interests of their members on the job and in the community. At the
same time, they have been a force for general progress. Yet labor's
role in strengthening American democratic society is often misunder-
stood, misinterpreted-or ignored.
As the American trade union movement celebrates
its centennial in 1981, the AFL-CIO rededicates itself to
The purpose of this Centennial Anthology is to place in the
the aims and principles expressed in its Constitution-
reader's hand a collection of readings to celebrate the 100th anniver-
and to the fulfillment of the hopes and aspirations of the
sary of the American labor movement and-equally important-to
working people of America.
document the aims and aspirations, the struggles, the setbacks as well
as the accomplishments, and the challenge of the future as we move
ahead into labor's second century.
Working men and women have a higher standard of living today.
From its beginning, the goal of the American trade union move-
Working conditions generally have improved. Members of minorities
ment has been to assist working people in achieving their aspirations
and women have come a long way from the discriminatory practices
for decent, productive lives in a democratic society.
of the past. But much remains to be achieved in the never-ending strug-
The preamble of the AFL-CIO Constitution adopted in 1955
gle for human dignity and a better way of life.
expressed it this way:
"The establishment of this Federation through the merger of the
The first hundred years is only the beginning.
American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organi-
zations is an expression of the hopes and aspirations of the working
people of America.
"We seek the fulfillment of these hopes and aspirations through
democratic processes within the framework of our constitutional gov-
ernment and consistent with our institutions and traditions.
"At the collective bargaining table, in the community, in the exercise
of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, we shall responsibly
serve the interests of all the American people.
"We pledge ourselves to the more effective organization of working
men and women; to the securing to them of full recognition and enjoy-
ment of the rights to which they are justly entitled; to the achievement
of ever higher standards of living and working conditions; to the attain-
ment of security for all the people sufficient to enable workers and their
families to live in dignity; to the enjoyment of the leisure which their
skills make possible; and to the strengthening of our wav of life and
the fundamental freedoms which are the basis of our democratic society.
"We shall combat resolutely the forces which seek to undermine
5
the democratic institutions of our nation and to enslave the human
soul. We shall strive always to win full respect for the dignity of the
human individual whom our unions serve."
The aims and principles of the AFL-CIO are based on the knowl-
edge that the American trade union movement is an indivisible part of
our national life.
Federation Platform.
These aims and principles, also set forth in the 1955 AFL-CIO
Constitution, include:
For Political Action
"To aid workers in securing improved wages, hours and working
conditions with due regard for the autonomy, integrity and jurisdiction
of affiliated unions.
"To encourage all workers without regard to race, creed, color,
sex, national origin or ancestry to share equally in the full benefits of
union organization.
The handful of unionists who established the Feder-
"To secure legislation which will safeguard and promote the prin-
ation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1881
ciple of free collective bargaining, the rights of workers, farmers and
issued a remarkable document outlining a program of
consumers, and the security and welfare of all the people and to oppose
political and legislative action that was to change the shape
legislation inimical to these objectives.
of American society. Here is the complete text.
"To protect and strengthen our democratic institutions, to secure
full recognition and enjoyment of the rights and liberties to which we
are justly entitled, and to preserve and perpetuate the cherished tradi-
tions of our democracy.
Preamble
"To give constructive aid in promoting the cause of peace and
WHEREAS, A struggle is going on in the nations of the civilized
freedom in the world and to aid, assist and cooperate with free and
world between the oppressors and the oppressed of all countries, a
democratic labor movements throughout the world.
struggle between capital and labor, which must grow in intensity from
"To safeguard the democratic character of the labor movement
year to year and work disastrous results to the toiling millions of all
and to protect the autonomy of each affiliated national and interna-
nations if not combined for mutual protection and benefit. The history
tional union.
of the wage-workers of all countries is but the history of constant
"While preserving the independence of the labor movement from
struggle and misery engendered by ignorance and disunion; whereas
political control, to encourage workers to register and vote, to exer-
the history of the non-producers of all ages proves that a minority,
cise their full rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and to perform
thoroughly organized, may work wonders for good or revil. It behooves
their rightful part in the political life of the local, state and national
the representatives of the workers of North America, in Congress as-
communities."
sembled, to adopt such measures and disseminate such principles
among the people of our country as will unite them for all time to
come, to secure the recognition of the rights to which they are justly
entitled. Conforming to the old adage, "In union there is strength," the
"What does labor want?
We want more school
formation of a Federation embracing every trade and labor organiza-
houses and less jails
more books and less arsenals,
tion in North America, a union founded upon a basis as broad as the
land we live in, is our only hope. The past history of Trades Unions
more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed;
proves that small organizations, well conducted, have accomplished
more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the op-
great good, but their efforts have not been of that lasting character
portunities to cultivate our better natures."
which a thorough unification of all the different branches of industrial
-Samuel Gompers
workers is bound to secure.
Conforming to the spirit of the times and the necessities of the
industrial classes, we make the following:
6
7
8. That we favor the passage of such laws as will secure to the
Platform
mechanic and workingman the first lien upon property the product of
1. RESOLVED, That an organization of workingmen into what
his labor, sufficient in all cases to justify his legal and just claims; that
is known as a Trades or Labor Union should have the right to the pro-
proper provisions be made for legally recovering the same.
tection of their property in like manner as the property of all other
9. That we demand the repeal and erasure from the statute books
persons and societies, and to accomplish this purpose we insist upon
of all acts known as conspiracy laws, as applied to organizations of
the passage of laws in the State Legislatures and in Congress for the
labor in the regulation of wages and the number of hours which shall
incorporation of Trades Unions and similar labor organizations.
constitute a day's work.
2. That we are in favor of the passage of such Legislative enact-
10. That we recognize the wholesome effects of a Bureau of
ments as will enforce, by compulsion, the education of children; that
Labor Statistics as created in several States, and we urge upon our
if the State has the right to exact certain compliance with its demands,
friends in Congress the passage of an act establishing a National
then it is also the right of the State to educate its people to the proper
Bureau of Labor Statistics, and recommend for its management the
understanding of such demands.
appointment of a proper person, identified with the laboring classes of
3. That we are in favor of the passage of laws in the several
the country.
States forbidding the employment of children under the age of fourteen
11. That we recommend to the Congress of the United States the
years in any capacity, under penalty of fine and imprisonment.
adoption of such laws and shall give to every American industry full
4. That necessity demands the enactment of uniform apprentice
protection from the cheap labor of foreign countries.
laws throughout the country; that the apprentice to a mechanical trade
12. That we demand the passage of a law by the United States
may be made to serve a sufficient term of apprenticeship, from three to
Congress to prevent the importation of foreign laborers under contract.
five years, and that he be provided by his employer, in his progress to
13. That we recommend all trades and labor organizations to
maturity, with proper and sufficient facilities to finish him as a com-
secure proper representation in all law-making bodies by means of the
petent workman.
ballot, and to use all honorable measures by which this result can be
5. That the National Eight Hour law is one intended to benefit
accomplished.
labor and to relieve it partly of its heavy burdens; that the evasion of
its true spirit and intent is contrary to the best interests of the Nation;
we therefore demand the enforcement of said law in the spirit of its
designers.
6. That it is hereby declared the sense of this Congress that con-
vict or prison labor, as applied to the contract system in several of the
States, is a species of slavery in its worst form; that it pauperizes labor,
demoralizes the honest manufacturer and degrades the very criminal
whom it employs; that, as many articles of use and consumption made
in our prisons under the contract system come directly and detri-
"The labor movement has been a part of the quality, the
mentally in competition with the products of honest labor, we demand
dignity, and the inspiration of America. What we have
that the laws providing for labor under the contract system herein
helped to build, we shall fight to defend."
complained of be repealed, so as to discontinue the manufacture of all
-Lane Kirkland
articles which will compete with those of the honest mechanic or
workingman.
7. That what is known as the "order" or "truck" system of pay-
ment, instead of lawful currency as a value of labor performed, is one
not only of gross imposition, but of downright swindle to the honest
laborer and mechanic, and calls for entire abolition, and we recom-
mend that active measures shall be enforced to eradicate the evil by
the passage of laws imposing fine and imprisonment upon all individ-
uals, firms or corporations who continue to practice the same.
9
8
Pittsburg, Pa, November 19,1881. 1
the Legislative Committee elected the
On the morning of the above late
Gompers-Hillquit:
previous day by the Federation of
The Famous 'Debate'
Organized Lrades and Labor Unions
of the United States and Canada
met in Room 22, St. Clair Hotel.
Samuel Gompers, president of A. F.1of L., and Mor-
The Committee was culled to order
ris Hillquit, lawyer and Socialist spokesman, both testified
by W. H. Foster secretary of the
before the Walsh Commission on Industrial Relations in
New York City in 1914. The following exchange took
Federation and of the Legislative Com=
place on the record, achieving instant-and lasting-fame.
# mittee, his place on the Committee having
been designated by the Federation
Mr. Hillquit: Now,
is it your conception, Mr. Gompers, or
On the roll being culled Kiehard
that of the Federation, that workers in the United States today receive
the full production of their labor?
Powers, Samuel Gompers, Charles J.
Mr. Gompers: I think, but I am not quite so sure, that I know
what you have in mind.
Burgman, Alex. C. Rankin and
Mr. Hillquit: Do you understand my question?
Mr. Gompers: I think I do, but in the generally accepted sense of
present. N. H. Foster responded as
that term, no.
Mr. Hillquit: In any particular sense, yes?
The Committee proceeded to
Mr. Gompers: No.
Mr. Hillquit: Then the workers of this country do not receive the
organize and Mr. Burgman nom-
whole product of their labor? Can you hazard a guess as to what
proportion of the product they do receive in the shape of wages?
=inated Richard Powers for Chairman
Mr. Gompers: I will say that it is impossible for anyone to definitely
Being the only nominee, on motion Mr.
say what proportion the workers receive as the result of their labor;
but it is the fact that due to the organized-labor movement they have
Cowers was declared the unanimous
received and are receiving a larger share of the product of their labor
choice of the Committee for Chair
than they ever did in the history of modern society.
Mr. Hillquit: Then one of the functions of organized labor is to
man.
increase the share of the workers in the product of their labor, is that
correct?
Mr. Gompers: Yes, sir; organized labor makes constantly increasing
Extract from Minutes, first meeting of the Legislative Committee created
demands upon society for reward for the services which the workers
by the newly-organized Federation of Organized Trades and Labor
give to society, and without which the civilized life would be impos-
Unions in Pittsburgh in 1881.
sible.
10
11
Mr. Hillquit: And these demands for an increasing share of the
lems of today, the problem which confronts them today, with which
reward of the product of labor continue by a gradual process all the
they are bound to contend if they want to advance, rather than to
time?
deal with a picture and a dream which has never had, and I am sure
Mr. Gompers: I am not so sure as to gradual process. Sometimes
never will have, any reality in the affairs of humanity, and which
it is not a gradual process, but it is all the time.
threaten, if it could be introduced, the worst system of circumscrip-
Mr. Hillquit: All the time?
tional effort and activity that has been invented by the ken of the
Mr. Gompers: Yes, sir.
Mr. Hillquit: Then, Mr. Gompers, you assume that the organized
;
human kind.
Mr. Hillquit: That is what I want to get from you, Mr. Gompers,
labor movement has generally succeeded in forcing a certain increase
but I would like to get an answer. In your experience with the labor
of that portion of the workers in the share of the general product, do
movement and in its ever forward march toward greater and greater
you?
improvement, and a greater and greater share of social justice, can you
Mr. Gompers: Yes, sir.
point out any line where the labor movement will stop and rest con-
Mr. Hillquit: And it demands more now?
tented SO long as it may receive short of the full product of its work?
Mr. Gompers: Yes, sir.
Mr. Gompers: I say that the workers, as human beings, will never
Mr. Hillquit: And if it should get, say, 5 per cent more within the
stop in any effort, nor stop at any point in the effort to secure greater
next year, will the organized labor movement rest contented with that
improvements in their condition, a better life in all its phases. And
and stop?
wherever that may lead, whatever that may be, so far in my time and
Mr. Gompers: Not if I know anything about human nature.
my age I decline to permit my mind or my activities to be labeled by
Mr. Hillquit: Will the organized labor movement, or the labor
any particular ism.
movement of the country generally, stop in its demands for an ever
Mr. Hillquit: In your political work of the labor movement is the
greater share in the product at any time before it has received or does
American Federation of Labor guided by a general social philosophy,
receive the full product, and before in its eyes complete social justice
or is it not?
shall have been done?
Mr. Gompers: It is guided by the history of the past, drawing its
Mr. Gompers: That question again that you have bobbed up with
lessons from history, to know of the conditions by which the working
quite serenely in regard to the share of the product of labor, say
that the working people-and I prefer to say working people and
people are surrounded and confronted; to work along the lines of least
speak of them as real, human beings-the working people, as all other
resistance; to accomplish the best results in improving the condition
people, they are prompted by the same desires and hopes of a better
of the working people, men and women and children, today and
life, and they are not willing to wait until after they have shuffled
tomorrow and tomorrow-and tomorrow's tomorrow; and each day
off this mortal coil for the better life, they want it here and now, and
making it a better day than the one that had gone before. That is
they want to make conditions better for their children so that they
the guiding principle and philosophy and aim of the labor movement-
in order to secure a better life for all.
may meet the other, the newer problems in their time. The working
people are pressing forward, making their claims and presenting those
Mr. Hillquit: But in these efforts to improve conditions from day
claims with whatever power they have, to exercise it in a normal,
to day you must have an underlying standard of what is better, don't
you?
rational manner, to secure a larger, and constantly larger share of the
products. They are working to the highest and best ideals of social
Mr. Gompers: No. You start out with a given program, and
justice.
everything must conform to it; and if the facts do not conform to
your theories, why, your declarations, or, rather, your actions, betray
Mr. Hillquit: Now, the highest and best ideals of social justice,
the state of mind "so much the worse for the facts."
as applied to the distribution of wealth, wouldn't that be a system
under which the workers, manual, mental, directive, executive and all
Mr. Hillquit: Mr. Gompers, what I ask you is this: You say you
try to make the conditions of the workers better every day. In order
them? other lines together get the sum total of all the products we supply
to determine whether the conditions are better or worse you must have
some standards by which you distinguish the bad from the good in the
Mr. Gompers: Really, a fish is caught by the tempting bait: a
labor movement, do you not?
mouse or a rat is caught in a trap by the tempting bait; the intelligent,
Mr. Gompers: Certainly. Well, is that-
comprehensive, common-sense workmen prefer to deal with the prob-
Mr. Hillquit (interrupting): Now, just-
12
13
Mr. Gompers (interrupting): Well, one moment. Does it require
a democratic Socialist management, the administrators could or would
much discernment to know that a wage of $3 a day and a workday of
attempt to exploit the workers under them, and one set of laborers
8 hours a day in sanitary workshops are all better than $2.50 a day
would exploit another set; the lazy officer-holders, the industrious
and 12 hours a day and under perilous conditions of labor? It does
artisans; the strong and bolder, the weaker and more modest ones,
not require much conception of a social philosophy to understand that.
and the failures, the economically successful.
Mr. Hillquit: Then, Mr. Gompers, by the same parity of reasoning,
Mr. Hillquit: I think it quite likely that there will be some abuses
$4 a day and seven hours a day of work and very attractive working
of that kind. Even under Socialism men will still remain human, no
conditions are still better?
doubt. But, Mr. Gompers, we have every reason to believe that they
Mr. Gompers: Unquestionably.
will be small and insignificant as compared with present abuses, for
Mr. Hillquit: Therefore—
the system will be based on a greater democracy and self-government,
Mr. Gompers (interrupting): Just a moment. I have not stipulated
and will thus provide for proper means of remedy. Furthermore, there
$4 a day or $8 a day or any number of dollars a day or eight hours a
will be no great incentive to corruption such as we have in private
day or seven hours a day or any number of hours a day, but the best
gain under capitalism.
possible conditions obtainable for the workers is the aim.
Mr. Gompers: In the event that the Co-operative Commonwealth
Mr. Hillquit: Yes; and when these conditions are obtained-
should be established, taking it for granted for the sake of the ques-
Mr. Gompers (interrupting): Why, then, we want better.
tion, that it is possible, it would have for its present purpose the
Mr. Hillquit (continuing): You will still strive for better?
highest material and social and moral improvement of the condition
Mr. Gompers: Yes.
of the workers attainable at that time, would it not?
Mr. Hillquit: Now, my question is, Will this effort on the part of
Mr. Hillquit: I think so.
organized labor ever stop until it has the full reward for its labor?
Mr. Gompers: And would there be any higher aim after that is
Mr. Gompers: It won't stop at all.
established?
Mr. Hillquit: That is a question-
Mr. Hillquit: Oh, there will be plenty more. There will be new
Mr. Gompers (interrupting): Not when any particular point is
aims coming every day.
reached, whether it be that toward which you have just declared or
Mr. Gompers: Still more?
anything else. The working people will never stop—
Mr. Hillquit: Still further.
Mr. Hillquit: Exactly.
Mr. Compers: Still higher?
Mr. Gompers (continuing): In their effort to obtain a better life for
Mr. Hillquit: Still higher.
themselves and for their wives and for their children and for humanity.
Mr. Gompers: Now, if that is so, isn't it a fact that it is not at all
Mr. Hillquit: Then, the object of the labor union is to obtain com-
a goal, but simply a transitory ideal?
plete social justice for themselves and for their wives and for their
Mr. Hillquit: Sure. It is our goal to-day. It is a transitory goal.
children?
There will be a movement toward a higher goal to-morrow.
Mr. Gompers: It is the effort to obtain a better life every day.
Mr. Gompers: In other words, you think even if that condition
Mr. Hillquit: Every day and always-
of affairs should be possible, it, like the conditions of to-day, is transi-
Mr. Gompers: Every day. That does not limit it.
tory and continually tending toward improvement?
Mr. Hillquit: Until such time-
Mr. Hillquit: Yes.
Mr. Gompers: Not until any time.
Mr. Gompers: And not a goal?
Mr. Hillquit: In other words-
Mr. Hillquit: Not an ultimate goal. There is no such thing as an
Mr. Gompers (interrupting): In other words, we go further than
ultimate social goal.
you. (Laughter and applause in the audience.) You have an end; we
Mr. Gompers: In the Socialist state, would you have each worker
have not.
rewarded by the full product of his labor, or by an apportionment
Mr. Gompers:
Under Socialism will there be liberty of in-
of the product according to his demands? In other words, would the
dividual action, and liberty in the choice of occupation and refusal to
rule be, to each according to his deeds, or to each according to his
work?
needs?
Mr. Hillquit: Plenty of it, Mr. Gompers.
Mr. Hillquit: I think neither, strictly speaking. I don't suppose
Mr. Gompers: I take it that you have no apprehension that under
his Socialist regime would at once radically change established stan-
14
15
dards of compensation. I think it would have to grow up and be built
up on the existing basis. And I think it will largely be a system of
salaries and wages, as nearly as possible, in proportion to the useful-
ness of the service-but they will be larger than they are to-day, be-
cause they will include the profits now paid to the idle capitalists.
Mr. Gompers: So, as a matter of fact, then, if the Co-operative
Commonwealth is not a goal, is not an end, then why term it Socialism,
Gompers VS. Horatio Alger
and why not term it the ordinary, natural development of the human
race to a higher and better state of society?
On America's Work Ethic
Mr. Hillquit: Wc may term it the ordinary and natural development
of the human race to the point of Socialism. In other words, Mr.
Gompers, we divide the history of mankind pretty arbitrarily into
certain periods. We speak of the period of Slavery, the period of
Stuart B. Kaufman, author of this study, is Associate
Feudalism, the period of Capitalism. Now we foresee the next step
Professor of History, University of Maryland, and editor,
in development, and call it the period of Socialism. We cannot draw
The Samuel Gompers Papers. The paper was originally
a line of demarcation where it starts or where it vanishes. It will
prepared for delivery at a Centennial Seminar held in
certainly not be permanent. There will be something superior to it
January, 1981 at the George Meany Center for Labor
some time. In the meantime every stage of development is superior
Studies.
to the preceding stage; and by the same token as Capitalism is superior
to Feudalism, Socialism is superior to Capitalism. That is all.
Mr. Gompers: You simply apply it as a term, and not an end?
Mr. Hillquit: Not an ultimate end in social development, no.
Horatio Alger and Samuel Gompers were contemporaries. This is
a strange confluence to puzzle out. How could the spirit of a single
age have launched both of these careers? And what could this tell us
about the spirit of the modern American labor movement?
Horatio Alger's novel "Ragged Dick," about the rise of a young
Samuel Gompers, an immigrant from England and a leader in the
bootblack, is still selling well in a paperback edition more than 100
cigar makers' union, has achieved lasting national and international rec-
ognition as the founder and first leader of the modern American trade
years after it was written. Alger described his protagonist this way:
"Dick's appearance as he stood beside the box was rather peculiar.
union movement. One of his early contributions was to assist in the
His pants were torn in several places, and had apparently belonged in
founding of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of
the first instance to a boy two sizes larger than himself. He wore a
the United States and Canada in 1881.
vest, all the buttons of which were gone except two, out of which
When that Federation emerged as the American Federation of
peeped a shirt which looked as if it had been worn a month. To com-
Labor in 1886, Gompers was elected its first president. He served in
plete his costume he wore a coat too long for him, dating back, if one
that post, with a one-year hiatus in 1894-95, until his death in 1924.
might judge from its general appearance, to a remote antiquity."
This was the young man who, before Alger was finished with him,
Gompers held a strong and life-long belief in "bread and butter"
emerged as the distinguished Richard Hunter, the protector of an
issues: higher wages, shorter hours and better working conditions.
equally ragged youngster, Mark the Match Boy, who was similarly
A highly practical man, he helped the struggling young unions of
successful in his rise from rags to riches. Alger ground out the same
his time turn away from the dreams of a utopian society to the practical
story with little variation more than a hundred times-the poor young
issues of day-to-day union activity which produced tangible benefits for
man making it by a combination of intelligence, aggressiveness, and
working men and women. Gompers, thus, was a vocal and leading ad-
inner moral spirit. He sold some 200 million copies of his books be-
vocate of collective bargaining and written labor-management contracts.
fore World War I; his success bred imitation in a proliferation of success
stories in dime novels-those cheap weekly publications that anyone
During his presidency, the membership of the AFL rose from 150-
000 to 2.9 million.
could buy and, to judge by late 19th century figures, almost everyone
did. "Pluck and Luck" was one of these; "Fame and Fortune Weekly,"
16
17
upon the idea that the decent folk of this country, the indivi duals who
subtitled "Stories of Boys Who Make Money," was another.
labored with their hands, worked hard, gave good value, lived temper-
This is a starting place for understanding the modern American
ately and morally-in a word, the producers-could derive meaning
labor movement. Horatio Alger and Samuel Gompers were con-
and dignity from their work and should expect to achieve some
temporaries: the American labor movement as we know it today got
economic independence and, symbolic of that, a measure of regular,
its start in the midst of a society that was frantically and passionately
meaningful political participation in their communities. Until that time
insisting that there was room at the top for everyone with the gumption,
farmers, workers, and small shopkeepers could still think of themselves
the pluck to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
as having something in common: their work was the central defining
It is precisely in the overblown and exaggerated form of the
element in their lives.
Horatio Alger success story that we come to grips with the workplace
anxiety of the modern age. Americans had for a long time prided
Yet in the impersonal, commercialized and industrializing economy
themselves that, unlike Europe, here in America the race of life was
of that period, self-esteem in the workplace was eluding most workers,
open to all, any right-living common man could win the race. Inherited
and the best the General Master Workman of the Knights of Labor,
riches were a marginal advantage at best. Historian Stephen Thern-
Terence Powderly, could propose was that workers try to form coopera-
strom relates a story from a mid-century New England newspaper
tive shops to recover collectively the independence that was out of their
about an Edward Marvel, an unskilled English laborer. Out of work
reach as individuals. Failing that, there was every prospect that most
for weeks, Marvel returns home one night to tell his wife Agnes "The
American workers would have to look outside their work life for
native independence of my character revolts at our present condition
something to give meaning to their existence.
every avenue is crowded.
" His wife answers, "There is another
Already the culture of the day was beckoning to them to begin
land where, if what we hear be true, ability finds employment, and
defining themselves by a new measure-not by what they did at work
talent a sure reward." Edward pauses: "America," he says, and the
but rather by what they consumed. Pioneering in this seductive message
couple resolves to emigrate to the New World.
by the 1880s and 1890s was the cigarette industry, whose testimonials
reached down into the darker recesses of the psyche with a brashness
And this, after all, was fundamental to American culture-the
that still embarrasses in the 1980s and which pre-saged the 20th-
work ethic, that cluster of values that suggested that doing one's work
century assault by Madison Avenue on our sensibilities and our senses:
well and with satisfaction was a man's calling before God. At the end
"In Spain," one read, "The dark-eyed, olive-skinned Spanish beauty
of the 17th century the Puritan clergyman Cotton Mather declared,
puffs her cigarette with a grace and sangfroid that is enchanting to be-
"Every Christian ordinarily should have a Calling. That is to say, there
hold. Lying on her couch, or reclining in an easy chair, surrounded by
should be some Special Business, and some Settled Business, wherein
the prolific and beautiful shrubbery and flowers of her native land, a
a Christian should for the most part spend the most of his Time; and
handsome gallant at her side whispering sweet nothings in her ear, she
this, that so he may Glorify God, by doing Good for others, and getting
daintily smoking her cigarette, makes a sensuous dreamy picture well
of Good for himself." It was at work that an individual practiced piety
nigh indescribable." And another related, "I have seen some women
and came to terms with existence. Mather asked, "Why do you find
smoke a cigarette so daintily that it was a beautiful sight to watch the
so many Occupations mentioned in the Scriptures? "Tis partly, that so
delicate smoke circling up from their rosy lips
you may think on the Scriptures in the midst of your Occupations
In the face of all this, what Sampel Gompers did was to embody
The Carpenter may pray: 'May I be built up in my most Holy Faith!'
in a new organization, the American Federation of Labor, a reformula-
The Goldsmith: 'May I be Enriched with the true Gold tried in the
tion of the work ethic and a rededication to it. For most workers, he
Fire.' The Tailor: 'May my Soul be furnished with the Garments of
was to repeat over and over again, there was no escape from the work-
Salvation!'
ing class. This was an idea difficult for many craftsmen to accept
The message from Mather, then, was that if in the course of work-
then, just as it is today for many teachers and other so-called profes-
ing, one also rose in one's trade to the status of an independent crafts-
sionals of the white-collar world. We cannot look to rise into inde-
man, perhaps with some journeymen of one's own, an apprentice or
pendence individually, he argued; we can only achieve it in the work-
two, owning one's shop, sitting in the better pews in church, this was
place collectively. We are, he said, permanently members of the work-
the natural course of things: not so much the purpose of a life of
ing class. We must devise ways to have a say in all decisions affecting
honest toil as the God-given recognition of a life well lived.
our work lives because only then can we workers perform what is
Until the late 19th century, a labor movement like the Knights
of Labor could still be built to a membership of hundreds of thousands
needed of us with dignity and self-esteem.
19
18
Gompers said, "To be free, the workers must have choice. To
after another. 'Yes, and he can have this seat too.' 'And this seat,'
have choice they must retain in their own hands the right to determine
'and
this
seat.'
Conchy got his old seat and then we went to work."
under what conditions they will work." This assertion of the right to
Consistently over the next century the labor movement recruited
be free within the context of a shop or factory or workplace owned by
its leaders and organizers heavily from among the aristocrats of the
another implied a modification of the traditional definition of property
labor force. The stratum of skilled workers, as Andrew Dawson has
rights, and indeed Gompers was fully aware of that: "One of the
pointed out, remained remarkably constant even in the face of mechani-
greatest impediments to a better appreciation by the capitalists of the
zation. Technology diluted some trades to the point they were no
devoted efforts of the Trade Unions to establish harmony in the in-
longer skilled-cigarmaking, for instance, and shoemaking and tailoring.
dustrial relations has been the perverted view taken by the capitalists
In other areas, however, such as construction, skilled workers like the
in regarding their capital as essentially if not absolutely their own,
bricklayers and carpenters could not be replaced. Other skilled workers
whereas the Trade Unions, taking a more comprehensive and purer
such as the machinists proved remarkably adaptable in redefining their
view, regard all capitalists, large and small, as the fruits of labor's
skills in relationship to new machinery without missing a step in main-
economies and discoveries, inventions and institutions
taining their status on the job. In some cases industrialization actually
Such an assertion of rights by Gompers flowed naturally from the
created whole new skilled occupations.
aggressive spirit of the craftsmen of the cigar shops in which Gompers
In order to preserve control of their work lives, the organized
had worked. One is carried back to an episode Gompers recalled in
skilled workers began to adapt their unions; they organized select
his autobiography as happening in the Eagle Cigar Company in New
groups of lesser-skilled production workers who camo into competition
York City where he worked:
with them and amalgamated unions of related crafts n order to main-
"One of the men was named Cohen. He was a small man, a
tain the greatest possible leverage in the workplace. To protect the
weakling about forty-five years or so, whose sight was considerably
skilled carpenter, for instance, the Carpenters union aggressively ex-
impaired. The loft was lighted by windows in front. Long rows of
panded its jurisdiction during the 20th century to take in the wood-
seats extended across the room with benches or work-tables between.
working industry, the lumber industry, and eventually much of the
These were extended back into the room four or five rows. I had a
work that had only at one time involved working with wood; in the
seat in the first row as did Cohen, or 'Conchy' as we all called him. Of
course of doing so, it became not so much a craft forganization as a
course, the light was much better nearer the windows than in the
mixed craft-industrial organization. The same was true of other AFL
back row. One Monday morning, I came into the shop and found
unions, such as the Electrical Workers and the Teamsters.
that some fellow, who had been a strike breaker in one of the lockouts,
The more we study the advent of the CIO in the 1930s to organize
was seated at the front bench against the window, in Conchy's seat.
the mass-production workers in steel, automobiles, textiles, rubber and
Conchy had been removed to one of the seats or benches in the rear.
so forth, the more clear it becomes that despite differences in strategy
I went up to Conchy and said: 'What is the matter with you?' In a
between the AFL and CIO, much of the motivation to organize and
very plaintive tone he said, 'Well, they put me back here this morning
much of the field leadership of the CIO organizational campaign came
and gave the other fellow my seat near the window.' 'What for?' I said.
from the craft elite among the mass-production workers. They were
Conchy replied, 'Well, they just put the new fellow there, that's all, just
the ones most likely to feel they were making a substantial contribu-
put
him
there.'
I left him, went back to my seat, and called one
tion to the production process and to be proportionately more aware
of the call boys
and told him to go down to Mr. Smith, the new
that they were powerless individually to maintain a control and discre-
foreman, and tell him 1 wanted to sce him. Finally, Mr. Smith
tion over their work lives consistent with dignity and self-esteem.
came up and said, 'Well, what do you want?' I said, 'Why did you put
There were, of course, other impulses to organization besides those
Conchy away back there in that dark seat for and put the young fellow
emanating from these skilled workers. John Brophy, the miners and
down there in the light?' The foreman replied, 'None of your damned
CIO leader, remembered the particular quality of coal miners. The
business.'
'Do you mean to say that you are going to let this
coal miner, he said, was "his own boss. His judgment was at work as
young fellow keep that front seat and make Conchy stay back there?'
well as his muscles, and he made his own decisions-how deeply to
'Yes, I am. What are you going to do about it?' Smith replied. I
undercut the face, how much powder to use, how to pace himself in
began gathering up my tools as I replied, 'Not much except that he
loading the car." That independence at work, coupled with the almost
can have this seat, too.' Then as if an explosion had occurred, every
total isolation of the mining communities under an oppressive hegemony
man in that shop--there were about 50 of us-rose and reiterated one
of the coal companies and their political allies, seemed consistently to
20-
21
generate a militant leadership for the coal miners. Many people with
a mine union background later led locals in the mass-production in-
itself." In his legendary battle with the socialists for the leadership
dustries.
of the labor movement he put it this way: "I have always been im-
pressed with the belief that it. was our duty to arouse a spirit of inde-
William Banks, a black organizer and later vice president of the
pendence, to instill in the hearts and minds of the toilers that it was
Tobacco Workers, recalled how he was drawn to the union during the
essential to promote and protect their class interests in order to reach
Great Depression: "I went into the factory because my father got me
and elevate the entire human family, and that any tangible action that
there. He was one of those men to kinda fit in with the policies, you
will lead them to take the aggressive in the contest to solidify their
know how they call 'em.
He fit in with the big man
you
ranks, to crystalize their thoughts and to concentrate their efforts was
couldn't hardly find a job then
Well anyhow I got a job in the
a 'progressive movement."
factory through my father. Another man was in there who'd been with
the company 30-some years.
Of late, many outsiders have devised programs for increasing job
I'll never forget it.
The man
took me on and went to that man and told him that that was his last
satisfaction by the reorganization of one or another feature of work,
day there. And I remember that man standing up there crying just like
only to find many workers suspicious of outsiders bearing gifts, and
a baby. That changed my whole outlook.
obsessed with such supposedly mundane features of their work lives
From that day on the
union was in my mind."
as the grievance procedure, job benefits, the seniority system, job
Rose Schneiderman rose to leadership in the Ladies' Garment
security provisions, pensions, holidays, changes in productivity, and
Workers out of a poor Orthodox Russian-Jewish immigrant family
even the pay check. And yet it is difficult to look at these provisions
background through the camaraderie of her fellow cap makers and the
that workers have achieved for themselves without seeing in them a
socialism of a family close to her. Schneiderman came to the belief
structure of protection against some of the most glaring indignities of
that trade unionism was "so much more than getting that loaf of bread,
workplaces past. What, for example, would an effective grievance
buttered or not. To me it is the spirit of trade unionism that is most
procedure mean to someone like Joe Morrison, a southwestern Indiana
important, the service of fellowship, the feeling that the hurt of one is
coal miner who told Studs Terkel: "In '34 I got discharged over a hassle
the concern of all and that the work of the individual benefits all. I
we had with the mine company. I was on the union's grievance. com-
came to see that poverty is not ordained by Heaven, that we could
mittee. They had me blacklisted in the fields there. I never got a job
help ourselves, that we could bring about a decent standard of living
until I went to work in the steelmills in '36. I bummed around a little
for all and work-hours that would leave us time for intellectual and
in some temporary jobs, anything I could get. Had a big family, seven
spiritual growth."
children, they were all small.
For all these workers, organization promised greater control and
Similarly, the seniority system gave universal recognition and just
dignity in the workplace and in their lives. Rose Schneiderman's con-
recompense to a central ethical component of American work lives,
tention that trade unionism had something to do with intellectual and
durability-the dedication to giving full measure over time. All these
spiritual growth was not such a strange notion. It was the essential,
provisions, collectively won, were the inheritance that gave workers
humanistic core of the labor movement from its beginnings, though I
a modicum of independence, control and reward consistent with a digni-
think it was obscured by the unusual faith Gompers had, for his day,
fied and satisfying work life.
that the workers could be trusted to find their way toward these lofty
In a piece called "What Does Labor Want?" Samuel Gompers
ends for themselves. Gompers lived in an age in which engineering
called the trade unions the "only hope of civilization." I have looked
students in the most prestigious engineering schools were, by the end
in vain for the statement usually attributed to Gompers, that what the
of the century, beginning to sign up for a curriculum called the
labor movement wants, pure and simply, is "more." Taken from con-
"humanistic-social stem" in hopes of learning more about how to
text and worded that way, it seems to imply that the sole motivation
manipulate workers the way they manipulated physical material in the
of the labor movement was simply acquisitiveness. What Gompers said,
workplace. When the field of occupational psychology took off in the
however, was: "We want more school houses and less jails; more books
1920s, it was based heavily on Sigmund Freud's insights into the
and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more constant work and
irrational side of man's behavior.
less crime; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge;
Yet Gompers was building a movement dedicated to the rationality
in fact, more of the opportunities to. cultivate our better natures, to
of the workers. In his younger days he would have said: "The emanci-
make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood
pation of the working class must be achieved by the working class
more happy and bright."
In both Horatio Alger and Samuel Gompers we find a reborn
22
23
faith in the ability of the individual spirit at work to survive and find
dignity. Alger reiterated the scenario that was familiar to the 19th
"The trade union movement has a mission to perform-
century American, who rose, in his words, "By a series of upward
to establish the brotherhood of man regardiess of creed,
steps, partly due to good fortune, but largely to his own determination
to improve, and hopeful energy.
"
color or nationality."
Samuel Gompers gave us a new scenario, a collective one for the
-John McBride
people whom Ragged Dick and Mark the Match Boy left behind.
"America cannot be a nation of outcasts and remain
America. It cannot be a nation of workless men and re-
20
Income
main America. We shall bring back work and safety or
November
give everything we are and have in the effort."
-William Green
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William Green, born in Coshocton, Ohio, first left school to be-
n
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2A 00
come a coal mine laborer and an active member and official of the
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blothing Pressmens Unine
4
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54
United Mine Workers. In 1900 he was elected a UMW sub-district
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50
president, and he was elected international secretary-treasurer in 1912.
a
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Phila C.L.M Welefate Tax
10 00
A year later, he was named to the Executive Council of the Amer-
H
25. Ouptermens Trade United 3m
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900 500
ican Federation of Labor, and he succeeded Samuel Gompers as AFL
or
President on the latter's death in 1924. Despite his earlier ties with
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John L. Lewis, the two broke long-standing relationships over Lewis'
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400
formation of the Committee for Industrial Organization, which was ex-
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pelled from AFL in 1936.
2,10034
As president of the AFL, Green served on numerous government
Income for Nov 99.25
commissions and advisory boards. He spoke out strongly against com-
munist and fascist dictatorships and took the lead in developing AFL
programs for helping and seeking to save the lives of victims of persecu-
Ledger sheet from original records of the A. F. of L. showing income
tion of the Nazis and Communists.
for month of November, 1887.
Green continued as president of the AFL until his death in 1952.
25
24
managers or some directors or a minority of industry. Consequently,
we do not denounce industry as a whole because some steel corpora-
tion supplied defective armorplate, because another supplied inferior
wire.
William Green:
Is this a world without sin? Do the members of the Church always
Labor's War Record
live up to the high standards set for them? Do the fraternal organiza-
tions maintain their standards of righteousness always? Do you find
perfection in family life, the most sacred organization in America?
The American Federation of Labor has never officially ordered
or approved a strike of one, five, or ten men, or a hundred men since
the dastardly attack was made upon us at Pearl Harbor. We have kept
The A. F. of L. convention in 1943 was the scene of
the faith and we are keeping the faith. We are producing the planes,
a famous exchange between the Federation president and
the guns, the tanks, the ships, the war material so necessary in order
a guest speaker-a commander of the American Legion-
that our brave men on the battlefields of Africa, in the Southern Pacific,
who exhorted labor to a greater war effort by ending
in Italy, and wherever the war is being fought may be adequately
strikes. William Green responded in these words.
supplied.
And, Mr. Commander, it might be of interest to tell you that
since Pearl Harbor, while the soldiers of production have been giving
The American Federation of Labor is an open forum. We speak
their skill, their lives, their training, their genius, and their American
with frankness; we act the same way; we face all issues. We proclaim
service in the production of materials, 80,000 of them have been killed
our virtues and we admit our faults.
and we have buried them, many of them in unknown graves. Seven
million have been injured. Does that mean that we have measured
I can with perfect propriety point out that those who seek per-
up, or have we not? I ask you to look high, look above the petty
fection in an imperfect world are doomed to disappointment. But he
things, the human imperfections, and behold portrayed like the new
who follows the pathway of logic and reason, looking beyond the in-
day's sun before your eyes the virtues of American workers. They are
consequential faults of a small minority, will realize that we are making
the best in the entire world.
a fine record in a most imperfect world.
We have supported the regimentation of workers during this war
Immediately after hearing on the radio [the news of Pearl Harbor]
in a very large way, because the winning of the war stands over and
the American Federation of Labor did not hesitate or wait a minute.
above every other consideration. But we intend to work with all like-
The Executive Council pledged to the President of the United States a
minded people in bringing about a reconversion and a readjustment
no-strike policy for the duration of this cruel war.
when the war ends. The children must go back to the homes and to
That was made voluntarily, and to understand the pledge, you
the schools. The wife and the mother must return to her place in the
must understand the real value of the strike weapon
the mobiliza-
home.
tion of our economic strength, our last resort, the means labor uses
There are 2 million members of the AF of L in the armed services
to protect its standard of life and living. When we pledged to place
and we are planning for their return. It is our firm determination to
that behind the door and leave it there until the war was over, labor
see that the seniority rights of all these members are protected when
honestly pledged itself to support the government to the bitter end.
they come back to America, and if necessary we will compel employers
The President of the United States, who keeps the record and
to give them their places back where they were before they went away.
studies it carefully, has spoken to us and said, "You have kept that
I have spoken in response to your address, Mr. Commander, in a
pledge 99.9 percent." And that pledge was kept by imperfect men.
sincere and honest way. I have spoken to you in the kindliest manner.
I maintain that it is an amazing record made in an imperfect world.
I want you to get our point of view. Perhaps on the morning Gabriel
We hold business management in high regard. We feel that busi-
blows his trumpet and the dead rise from the earth, we may then con-
ness as a whole has made a good record during the war. We do not
struct a perfect world out of imperfect material. But until then, Mr.
denounce industry as a whole because of the sins committed by some
Commander, we must deal with the imperfections of human nature and
serve as best we can. Thank you.
26
- 27
"We are going to continue labor's efforts to make
America a better place for all its citizens-not merely
union members."
-George Meany
John L. Lewis:
He Spoke His Mind
"The liberty we seek
is liberty for common peo-
ple-freedom that arises from economic security and
human self-respect."
-John L. Lewis
Few speakers in American life have left so vivid an
impression as John L. Lewis in his prime. In these ex-
cerpts-from both off-the-cuff and prepared remarks during
the 1930's and 40's, the strength and color of his per-
"The future of American labor is inseparably bound to-
sonality come roaring through.
gether with the future of the whole of America."
-Walter P. Reuther
To the 1938 CIO Convention
Our people in this movement know how hard it is to preserve
"What do we want? Food on the table, a rug on the
their rights and their liberty-even within democracy. They have bat-
tled against violence, brutality and calumny. The forces of public
floor, a picture on the wall, music in the home."
order have been perverted against them. And yet our people have not
-Philip Murray
faltered in their conviction that they have rights which must not be
destroyed.
The agencies of public information have boiled with jeremiads
against the Committee for Industrial Organization. On no other occa-
Green - a.F.ofh.
sion of modern times has the American ideal of a free press been so
sullied. The loyalty of members and friends of the CIO through these
storms of falsity shows again that American people will not be misled
UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA
by cynical untruths and bitter misrepresentations.
To millions, because of this movement, the word "liberty" has
We disaffiliate.
acquired new meaning. Often those who seck only license for their
plundering, cry "liberty." In the guise of this old American ideal, men
of vast economic domain would destroy what little liberty remains to
those who toil.
12-12-47. Lewis
The liberty we seek is different. It is liberty for common people-
freedom from economic bondage, freedom from the oppressions of the
vast bureaucracies of great corporations, freedom to regain again some
human initiative, freedom that arises from economic security and
Handwritten note of disaffiliation.
human self-respect.
29 -
28 -
Republic protects the right of contract between its citizens. The power
To the Coal Operators After Bargaining Impasse
to contract is the difference between free men and serfs, and as one
For four weeks we have sat with you; we attended when you fixed
traces the history and the development of civilization, and the building
the hour; we departed when weariness affected your pleasure.
of these great nations and states throughout the world, one finds that
Our effort to resolve mutual questions has been in vain; you have
freedom began when the workman became free to contract with his
been intolerant of suggestions and impatient of analysis.
employer and to have a voice in determining the conditions under
When we sought surcease from blood-letting, you professed in-
which he would work and the compensation that he would receive.
difference. When we cried aloud for the safety of our numbers you
Those voices throughout this land which are raised in favor of
answer "Be content-'twas always thus!"
compulsory arbitration or the fixation of relations between workmen
When we urged that you abate a stench you averred that your
and their employers by governmental ukase are doing their country a
nostrils were not offended.
disservice, because the destiny of Americans cannot be achieved except
When we emphasized the importance of life you pleaded the
as free men, and our system of individual free enterprise in America
priority of profits; when we spoke of little children in unkempt sur-
cannot continue or prevail when the workers of the country are not to
roundings you said-Look to the State!
be free to meet their employers on a basis of equality, and to debate,
You aver that you own the mines; we suggest that, as yet, you
if you please, in the councils provided, such differences of opinion as
do not own the people.
may exist from the standpoint of their respective interests.
You profess annoyance at our temerity; we condemn your im-
becility.
In Opposition to Taft-Hartley Act
You are smug in your complacency; we are abashed by your
Thou shalt not muzzle the OX that treadeth out the corn. So runs
shamelessness; you prate your respectibility; we are shocked at your
the Scripture. But the Congress of the United States designated
lack of public morality.
15,000,000 workers in this country, organized into one form or another
You scorn the toils, the abstinence and the perils of the miner;
of unions, as being cattle that treadeth out the economic corn of our
we withhold approval of your luxurious mode of life and the nights
country, and the Congress placed an economic muzzle on each of you.
you spend in merriment.
What are you going to do about it? Oh, I see. You are going to change
You invert the natural order of things and charge to the public
our Constitution. God help us!
the pleasures of your own indolence; we denounce the senseless cupid-
The Taft-Hartley statute is the first ugly, savage thrust of Fascism
ity that withholds from the miner the rewards of honorable and
in America. It came into being through an alliance between industrial-
perilous exertion.
ists and the Republican majority in Congress, aided and abetted by
To cavil further is futile. We trust that time, as it shrinks your
those Democratic legislators who still believe in the institution of
purse, may modify your niggardly and anti-social propensities.
human slavery. It was bought and paid for by campaign contributions
from the industrial and business interests of this country, and the Re-
In Defense of Free Bargaining
publican party and the Democratic minority made good by forging these
legislative shackles for you and the men and women who pay you to
We believe in collective bargaining. We believe that collective
intelligently represent them.
bargaining is the modern device that will make it possible for Ameri-
It creates an inferior class of citizens, an inferior category and a
cans to live together in the years that are to follow. We do not believe
debased position politically for the men and women who toil by hand
that there is any other formula that can be substituted for collective
or brain for their daily subsistence and to safeguard the future for their
bargaining that will adjust our industrial problems to the end that
loved ones.
American industry may increase its productivity and constantly con-
Now comes the Taft-Hartley Act
in
America.
where
we
always
tribute toward the economic, social and political well-being and sta-
believed heretofore that we had a free labor movement. Wc even pre-
bility of our nation to that destiny which is the heritage of all Amer-
sumed at times to lecture the representatives of labor in other countries
icans.
and chide them because they didn't have a free labor movement.
We, with many other Americans, deprecate the tendency in recent
And yet when this statute is enacted, some 73 pages in length in
years to substitute for collective bargaining the fiats and ukases of
the printed copy, containing only two lines that say labor has the right
governmental agencies and governmental tribunals. We believe in the
to organize and 33 pages of other additional restrictions that dares
theory of free contract and we believe that the Constitution of our
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30
labor to try to organize, when that comes to pass, the welkin is filled
with the outcries and the lamentations of our great leaders of labor in
this country calling upon high heaven to witness that all indeed is lost
unless they can grovel on their bellies and come under this infamous act.
The question of signing the anti-Communist affidavit, which is
only one small feature of the abrogations of this act, has occupied the
Philip Murray:
minds of our leaders and the columns of the public press now for more
than six weeks
A Better World Tomorrow
I suppose it is hardly necessary for me to say that I am not a
Communist. I suppose it is hardly necessary for me to say that I was
fighting communism in America, with the other members of my organi-
zation, before many people in this country knew what communism
stood for in America and throughout the world. In the early 1920s
Prepared for publication in The American Maga-
our organization paid for the research and study of the most serious
zine in 1948 at a time when the labor movement was
analysis and compilation of Communist activities in industrial America
under continuing attack, this article by Philip Murray
that has ever been gotten out before or since, and that story was pub-
was written in the wake of passage of the Taft-Hartley
lished in all the metropolitan newspapers of this country in seven serial
Act over President Truman's veto.
issues. That story was made a congressional document and is on files
to anyone who cares to read it.
It exemplifies what I say, that the United Mine Workers of Amer-
ica has been in the vanguard of our citizenship in opposing the cast
America holds forth the promise of freedom, justice, and opportun-
iron Oriental philosophy of communism or any other damned kind of
ity for all. No one has condemned this nation for its failure fully to
ism in this country. And we expect to remain in that position. We
live up to that promise more vigorously than I. And yet, despite its
don't expect to change our principles too often; and we do expect some
shortcomings, I sincerely believe this to be the finest country in the
support from the American labor movement, because we think that our
world. What other land offers its citizens so much? And where else can
attitude reflects the rank and file in these great organizations of labor
people so readily work to change conditions they don't like?
who work for a living and who want a country tomorrow in which
Moreover, although the United States is still far from perfect, it is
their children and their grandchildren can live.
growing better all the time. There is less racial and religious discrim-
ination now than when I arrived here, back in 1902. There are fewer
children in mines and factories and more of them in classrooms than
there were 46 years ago. Women have won the right to vote, and are
John Llewellyn Lewis, born the son of Welsh immigrants near
rapidly gaining economic equality with men.
Lucas, Iowa, became president of the United Mine Workers of America
Working conditions, too, have notably improved. When I first
in 1920.
went to work in America, health and safety regulations in industry
In 1935, successful leadership of a committee to organize mass
were virtually unknown. There was no such thing as workmen's com-
production workers (the Committee for Industrial Organization) brought
pensation; and unemployment insurance wasn't even dreamed of. Union
him to national prominence. In subsequent years he voiced sharp attacks
busting was a recognized-and lucrative!-profession.
on the leadership of the AFL, and in 1936-37 took steps leading to the
Today, management accepts its obligations to protect its workers
formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
against accident and disease while on the job. We have at least the
In 1940, after two years as the founding president of the CIO, he
meager beginnings of a system of social insurance. And the right of
promised to retire if the voters did not elect Wendell Willkie, the Re-
workers to organize and bargain collectively is upheld by federal law,
publican candidate for President, whom he had endorsed in the elec-
though still not universally observed in practice. Only last year, dozens
tion. They didn't, and he did.
of organizers connected with the CIO's Southern membership cam-
The UMW left the CIO two years later, briefly rejoined the AFL,
paign were beaten up and jailed on unconstitutional charges; hundreds
and then again "disaffiliated." Lewis retired as UMW president in 1960.
of workers in the same area were demoted or fired outright because
32
33
they dared to join unions; and dynamite blasts were set off in two towns
I don't hate the Communists or their fellow travelers; but I hate
in an attempt to break up labor meetings. Nevertheless, the profes-
the things they stand for. I am profoundly shocked by their indiffer-
sional strikebreaker has faded from the scene; and the day when
ence to the most basic values of American civilization. And I deeply
labor's just demands could be met by gunfire or police clubs alone has
resent their ever-readiness to denounce any step this country takes,
gone, and gone forever.
while defending every move by Russia.
Management and labor are learning more and more the value of
I recall the debate on the Marshall Plan at a recent labor conven-
co-operation. Today, progressive businessmen regard their workers,
tion. A party-line orator was holding forth about his right (which no
not as antagonists, but as welcome partners in the great task of pro-
one had denied) to criticize the foreign policy of the United States.
duction. They accept trades unionism not only as part of the inevitable
I rose and asked if he would extend the same right to criticize their
social and economic pattern of the times, but as a constructive force
government to the heroes of Stalingrad. He did not reply.
for the all-round improvement of industrial relations.
For a quarter of a century I have been fighting the Communists
Unions, for their part, are inviting employers to meet with them
in the American labor movement. I shall continue to fight them as long
and talk over new ideas and new production projects. In the steel in-
as I have breath; first, because I am opposed to any foreign interfer-
dustry, especially, we have found that the free and frank exchange of
ence in the affairs of the United States; and, secondly, because I re-
ideas by management and labor at all levels has generated a better
gard their philosophy of government as a betrayal of the free and demo-
spirit and a better understanding of our mutual problems. As a result,
cratic principles upon which our republic was founded.
collective bargaining has become less a contest and more a collabora-
We can and must defend democracy against totalitarian attacks.
tion.
However, it will avail us little to fight Communism abroad only to lose
American workers today enjoy far shorter hours and far higher
out to reactionary forces at home.
The Taft-Hartley Act is, in my opinion, symptomatic both of a
wages than they did at the turn of the century. In 1900, the average
steelworker labored 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, to earn $19.32.
renewed attack on labor and of the dangerous attempt to abridge the
In 1948, the average steelworker puts in an 8-hour day, 5 days a week,
constitutional rights of all our citizens. It was because of my strong
feeling for free speech and a free press as representing the very corner-
and takes home $62.40.
stone of our civil liberties that I decided to violate the political pro-
Thanks to modern machinery, more efficient processes, and better
visions of this law and invite prosecution. In order to test the law I
co-operation between management and labor, the productive capacity
wrote an editorial in the CIO News backing the candidacy of Edward
of American workers has spectacularly increased. Today, 5 men work-
Garmatz for Congress in Maryland. Incidentally, Mr. Garmatz won.
ing 1 hour are able to produce as much steel as it would have taken
In the judicial proceedings my position was upheld by the Federal
14 men to produce as recently as 1929. This fabulous increase in per-
District Court, which in a sweeping decision declared that section of
worker output constitutes the real reason why the American people
the law invalid. The case is now before the Supreme Court for final
are able to enjoy the highest standard of living the world has ever
adjudication.
known. It could have come about only under a system of free enter-
There are other dangers. Our country emerged from the war with
prise.
its economy badly out of whack. That was unavoidable. We had been
I believe wholeheartedly in the free enterprise, initiative, and in-
producing for destruction, civilian supplies were low, the pent-up
ventive genius of the American people. I do not believe that "free
demand was terrific. We let ourselves be talked into relinquishing price
enterprise" includes the right to gouge the public, suppress competition,
controls and the tax on excess profits. This was called "the American
bottle up inventions, or exploit labor. None of these practices has any
way," and we were told that, under free competition, prices would
place in our American system.
quickly adjust themselves to levels consumers could afford.
As an American, I prize above all others my right to speak my
We now are paying through the nose.
mind about this country and its institutions, and to use my ballot for
As an American and a Christian I spurn the barbaric notion that
the orderly correction of abuses. Those rights the totalitarians would
the boom-bust cycle represents the will of God. As a democrat, I be-
take away from us. The suppression of free speech and free elections
live that our strongest defense against totalitarianism consists of a
in country after European country where the Communists have gained
sound and equitable economy. I believe that the way to beat the Com-
control proves all too clearly what would happen if they came to
munists is not by speeches or by bullets, but by offering people some-
power here.
thing better-a democracy that really works.
34
35
What needs to be done? Six steps seem to me essential if we would
involves considerable management. Provided we all work together,
make our ramparts proof against totalitarian attack:
there is literally nothing the people of this country cannot achieve.
1. Strengthen civil liberties. Congress ought to protect by law the
America is still the land of opportunity. Pulling together, we shall
rights of all our citizens, including Negoes and other minority groups.
surmount the present crisis and go on to build a better country and a
The poll tax as a prerequisite for voting; and the rules that sharply
better world tomorrow.
limit participation in certain state primaries, need to be abolished.
2. Furnish federal aid to schools. Thomas Jefferson once wrote:
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only
sure reliance for the preservation of liberty." Even more than in Jeffer-
Born in Scotland, Philip Murray came to the United States in 1902
son's time we need informed citizens today if our democracy is to func-
to work in a Pennsylvania coal mine. Joining the United Mine Workers
tion. Every child should have at least a high-school education; and
of America, he became an international board member in 1912 and vice
since many states are already spending all they can on schools, the
president in 1920.
Federal Government should supply the difference.
Murray was appointed to head the CIO's Steel Workers Organiz-
3. Provide adequate housing. It is a scandal that free-born Amer-
ing Committee of the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1936.
icans should be asked to live in shacks or slums. Congress should pro-
Serving as the committee's chairman until 1942, he was then elected
ceed at once to enact the too-long-delayed legislation for a federal
first president of its successor organization, the United Steelworkers of
low-cost housing program.
America.
4. Broaden social security. Every worker in the United States
should be eligible for federal unemployment insurance and old-age
In 1940, Murray was elected president of the CIO, succeeding
benefits. Present meager payments should be upped substantially. And
John L. Lewis, who did not seek re-election. Murray served as CIO
health insurance should be added.
president until his death in 1952, a period that saw the expulsion of
several Communist-dominated unions from the CIO in the late 1940s.
5. Curb prices and profits. The Government should maintain
effective tax controls on excess profits, and-during periods of national
emergency-should control the price of all products and services affect-
ing the cost of living.
6. Raise minim wages and assure a minimum annual wage for
all workers in industry. Wages supply the motive power behind our
private enterprise system. Three Americans out of four work for sal-
aries or wages; without their purchases industry could not turn a wheel.
We've got not only to supply the goods that people want to buy, we've
got to make it possible for them to buy these things. Moreover, since
our economy is geared to a constantly expanding market, we've got to
make it possible for them to buy more and more and more. The only
way to do that is by continuing to put more dollars into pay envolopes.
This is not a "class" program I have just outlined. It is a program
all Americans can support to their mutual advantage. In fact, we have
no classes in this country; that's why the Marxist theory of the class
struggle has gained so few adherents.
We're all workers here. And in the final analysis the interests of
farmers, factory hands, business and professional people, and white-
collar toilers prove to be the same. Even the division of industrial work-
ers into "management" and "labor" turns out to be somewhat artificial.
Management, as we've discovered, involves plenty of labor; and labor
- 36
37
Free Trade Union Committee of the Labor League for Human Rights,
official relief arm of the American Federation of Labor, and call upon
all affiliated organizations and members to support the campaign for
the Free Trade Union Fund of $1,000,000.00 in January 1945, in
order to assure prompt practical assistance to the workers of liberated
Labor and the World:
countries in Europe and Asia as well as to the workers of Central and
South America in their efforts to organize free democratic trade unions,
Upholding Free Unions
and that this supervision of a special committee appointed by the Pres-
ident of the American Federation of Labor which will issue public
reports on all receipts and expenditures of the Fund.
In recommending concurrence in this resolution your Committee
wishes to emphasize the importance of re-establishing of free trade
American labor is deeply involved in international
unions throughout the world, and in accomplishing this it is imperative
affairs-a concern that goes back at least 100 years. Sam-
that we have the utmost cooperation not only of the trade unions but
uel Gompers' role in creating ILO was a high point;
of the individual members of the organizations as represented by the
another was A. F. of L. Convention action in 1944 sup-
American Federation of Labor throughout the land. To assure this
porting the Free Trade Union Committee. Text of that
support and cooperation, your Committee recommends that all national
resolution and related statements are reproduced below.
and international unions, as well as state federations of labor and city
central bodies call upon their respective members to give their utmost
support and cooperation in this campaign to promote free trade union-
Resolution No. 158
ism throughout the world. It also recommends that the national and
WHEREAS, Victory over Nazi Germany and Japan is rapidly
international unions affiliated to the American Federation of Labor
approaching and all nations will soon be freed from their domination
urge its organizers and representatives to cooperate in carrying this
and enslavement, and
campaign to a successful conclusion, and that the American Federa-
WHEREAS, Such liberation offers no automatic assurance that
tion of Labor likewise call upon its organizers and representatives to
freedom and democracy will be restored or that the workers of each
cooperate in a similar way.
country will regain or be secure in their rights as free men and free
The recommendation of the committee was unanimously adopted.
workers, and
WHEREAS, The record of free, democratic trade union move-
ments in all lands during the past decade and particularly during this
war has demonstrated that they are the firmest pillars of peace and
democracy and the most uncompromising foes of all forms of tyranny
The Question of Slave Labor
and aggression, and
WHEREAS, Only the earliest possible reestablishment of power-
It is now more than two years since the American Federation of
ful free and democratic trade unions can protect the workers of each
Labor issued its manifesto against the spreading menace of forced
union, assure a constantly rising standard of living to them and reduce
labor. This rousing call to action, which has since brought worldwide
and possibly climinate the unfair competition in international trade of
repercussions, declared that "forced labor has become a postwar in-
under-paid, regimented and exploited labor abroad which might other-
stitution in many lands." It stressed that "this expanding system of
wise constitute a most serious menace to our wage and living standards
slave labor is a dire threat to the free workers of all countries."
in America, therefore, be it
In our historic manifesto we further emphasized that "paradioxical
RESOLVED, That the 64th annual convention of the American
as it may appear, it is the land which calls itself 'Socialist', the govern-
Federation of Labor recognizes the moral right and obligation of our
ment of which parades as a 'workers' republic', that is the worst and
labor movement to assist our fellow workers in other countries, and
biggest slave center on earth today." But we did not limit ourselves to
be it further
stirring words and an unanswerable indictment. As A. F. of L. con-
RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Labor endorse the
sultants to the U.N. Economic and Social Council, (we) placed the
38
39
do not have the right to organize and bargain with their employers
issue before the entire world. For months the democratic governments
in the United Nations-our own not excluded-stalled.
through institutions and leaders of their own choosing, there is no
But the A.F. of L. persisted and insisted
democracy. That is why the AFL-CIO continues to support the creation
What happened since is now history.
and development of free trade unoins among the workers of all coun-
By a vote of 14 to 3,
the Economic and Social Council adopted on March 7, 1949-pre-
tries, wherever our help is needed and wherever that help is requested.
cisely two years to the day after the issuance of our manifesto-the
Democracy needs free trade unions, and free trade unions can
resolution sponsored by the American and Australian representatives
flourish and perform their proper rale only in a democratic society.
to authorize the I.L.O., in cooperation with the U.N. Secretary-
; Democracy and free trade unions strengthen and reinforce each other.
General, to take up the whole question of slave labor.
What weakens one, weakens the othr and what strengthens one,
strengthens the other.
-Matthew Woll, Second Vice-President, A. F. of L., and chair-
man, Free Trade Union Committee, A. F. of L.
In the United States there is a revival of anti-union attacks from
right-wing forces which seek to turn back the clock on the achieve-
ments and improvements in labor-management relations developed over
the 45 years since our basic labor law was enacted.
These attacks on unions will not succeed in weakening our deter-
Free Labor and Democracy
mination to effectively represent the working people of America at the
The free trade union movement is a bulwark of democrary, in-
bargaining table, on the shop coor and in the halls of the national and
dispensable to its defense and progress. No effective cooperation of the
the state legislatures.
democratic countries is possible without world cooperation of free
These attacks will not stop the growth and progress on the Ameri-
labr. Postwar economic reconstruction will stabilize democratic institu-
can labor movement. There will be substantial gains in union member-
tions and enhance their progress only if it is accompanied by improv-
ship in the 1980s-continued growth in sectors in which unions have
ing living standards for the working people everywhere. The safeguard-
been gaining members, and expansion in industries and geographic
ing and improvement of the living standards of the working people are
areas where progress has been slow.
the first task of the free trade unions. In the present world situation,
Workers, whose buying power is falling daily because of inflation
this can be achieved only by international action. The international
and whose jobs are threatened by growing unemployment, are more
solidarity of democratic labor and the world-wide and lasting coopera-
likely to seek the income protection and the job protection provided by
tion of the free trade unions are an indispensable practical goal.
union membership and by union contracts.
-David Dubinsky, president, International Ladies' Garment
The aging of the workforce and the changing role of women will
Workers Union, in Foregin Affairs, January, 1949.
also encourage union membership. Older workers with family and com-
munity ties are more inclined to look to collective action to try to im-
prove the jobs they have. As more women are heading households or
are assuming a larger share of the breadwinner's role, women workers
also can be expected to want the job security and improved wages that
A Clearly Defined Role
depend on collective action through labor unions.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the national
In spite of the sniping of the right wing, the need for a labor
trade union center which evolved over the years into the present AFL-
movement in America has never been greater and our role never more
CIO.
clearly defined. Through collective bargaining, we seek to improve the
This celebration gives us an opportunity to rededicate ourselves
lives and conditions of our members, through political education, we
to the basic, fundamental purpose of our labor movement-the pro-
seek to protect those who are unorganized from economic or political
tection and promotion of the human rights, freedom, dignity and wal-
exploitation.
fare of working people.
-From an address by AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland to Japan
The existence of free, democratic labor unions is a fundamental
Institute of Labor, Tokyo, Jan. 27, 1981.
and essential component of a free, democratic society. Where workers
41
40
Walter P. Reuther:
Labor's Central Task
Active both in collective bargaining and in public
affairs, Walter P. Reuther often made headlines. At a.
legislative conference in the nation's capital in 1959, he
touched upon many of the views for which he was noted.
Excerpts are printed below.
America Not Trying
We are in deep trouble in America, but not because our system
of freedom is unequal to the challenge. We are in trouble because we
are not trying. We are playing out on the outer fringes of our basic
problems for we have failed to fully comprehend the dimension and
the character of the challenge we face or to understand the technological
revolution shaping our tomorrow, and which is creating serious eco-
The son of a trade union activist, Walter Philip Reuther, born in
nomic and social dislocations. Yet, the new technology offers us the
Wheeling, W. Va., became an apprentice tool and die maker at 16,
brightest opportunities for progress and fulfillment that man has ever
finishing high schoo! and several years of college while working his way
had.
to a foreman's job in Detroit.
We have not fully understood the revolution-the rising expecta-
As president of his Detroit West Side local union, Reuther was a
tions of nationalism-now shaping the lives of half of the people of
leader of the United Automobile Workers during the organizing efforts
the world. Nor have we recognized fully the nature of the social revolu-
and sit-down strikes that established the UAW as a power in the auto-
tion called "civil rights" at home. We are on trial in America. Ameri-
mobile industry in the 1930s and 1940s. He became director of the
can democracy has all of the advantages, but despite these advantages
UAW's General Motors Department in 1939. He was elected president
we are failing because we have failed to commit our resources to meet
of the UAW in 1946 and served until his death in a plane crash in 1970.
the real needs of our world.
Talk to the have-not peoples of Asia and Africa and Latin America
In 1952, Reuther was elected president of the Congress of Indus-
who have an income of less than $100 a year, who live in poverty and
trial Organizations, following the death of Philip Murray. President
desperation. They are being swept forward in the great revolution of
Reuther and AFL President George Meany worked together to bring
rising expectations, and they are looking at us. They have not made
about the merger of the two organizations into the AFL-CIO in 1955.
up their minds whether our social system is the answer to their problems
In 1968, Reuther led the UAW out of the AFL-CIO after a series
or whether the system symbolized by Mr. Khrushchev is the answer.
of disagreements over federation policy.
Nor are these the only have-not people in the world. We have mil-
42
43
lions of have-not people right here in America. We have millions of
Young people have great energy. Unless they are given an oppor-
unemployed. We have millions of underprivileged. We have the migra-
tunity to channel that energy creatively, it tends to find expression in
tory workers, and the millions in the minority groups who suffer dis-
anti-social ways. When that happens a hue and cry goes up about
crimination, denial, and deprivation. Those who live in the sub-base-
juvenile delinquency and the editorial writers dip deeply into their ink-
ment of the American social structure and who are engulfed in the
wells while learned scholars discourse about the tragic problem. Juvenile
pockets of poverty are also judging America. They are the forgotten
delinquency is indeed a serious problem, but there is a more serious
Americans; the invisible poor whose lives are barren and without pur-
problem in America and that is adult delinquency. We, the adults, are
pose. They are victims of social neglect and callous indifference, left
the ones who are failing America, not the kids.
to shift for themselves by the more affluent part of America. They are
judging our society in much the same way as the have-not peoples of
Role of Collective Bargaining
Asia, Africa and Latin America.
I think our free society will stand or fall based upon our ability to
Those whom our society neglects will not be influenced by pious
develop rational and responsible new concepts within the framework of
platitudes about the virtues of American democracy. They will not
our free economic system. As a free people, we must harness the abun-
be influenced by the slick slogans of Madison Avenue. They will judge
dance of automation, and then relate that abundance to the basic needs
us by the only true standards of worth and quality of any society; not
of all our people.
how rich, or productive, or how highly developed in our technology
And if we fail, then these tools of abundance, instead of building
but by what we do with what we now have.
a better society, will create serious economic dislocations and the quality
The unemployed in America can't pay their rent, feed their kids
of our society will not achieve the high standards that are necessary if
or assure them of a decent education with some theoretical economic
we are to be measured favorably in the eyes of the people of the world.
potential. Their problems will be solved only as American society
We have learned to create abundance. Now we need to learn to
develops the social mechanisms, policies and programs which translate
manage that abundance by learning to share it.
technological progress into opportunities for human fulfillment.
Collective bargaining has to play an important role in that. We
believe that collective bargaining has to be based upon the joint ex-
Labor's Central Task
ploring of economic facts and not upon the exercise of economic power.
And we've got to work out the competing equities at the bargaining
This is the central task of the American labor movement. The
table between the worker and the stockholder and the consumer. And
church groups can moralize. That is their role; that is their respon-
when any one of those groups is shortchanged, then we feed into the
sibility. The great industrial firms were not organized to solve human
economy the forces of imbalance that make for recessions and mass
problems. General Motors was organized not even to make auto-
unemployment.
mobiles. That is a by-product. General Motors was organized to make
The workers whom I represent and who are now unemployed ask
profit.
a very simple question, but they insist upon an answer. They ask the
We in the labor movement are the only group with economic and
question: Isn't there something basically wrong with a free society that
political leverage and social motivation. Unless we make this fight, the
has the will and the know-how and the moral courage to achieve full
fight will not be made and American democracy will be unequal to the
employment and full production to achieve the negative ends of war,
challenge it faces at home and in the world. That is why American
and hasn't got the good sense to achieve full employment and full pro-
labor must get on the march.
duction to achieve the rich and rewarding promise of peace?
We can't run away from this problem. And yet wh have failed to
There are many serious and tragic deficits in the quality of Ameri-
find the answers. We have mass unemployment. And, therefore, we
can society. Overcoming these deficits must be given the highest national
believe that Congress has to act to implement the purposes of the
priority if we are to be equal to this challenge. Education is a case in
Employment Act of 1946.
point. Although we are the richest nation, we have a tragic deficit in
education which is robbing millions and millions of children and youth
An Opportunity to Work
of their chance for maximum growth and development. Dr. Conant
has noted that more than one million young Americans are out of work
We don't take the position that every wage earner as a matter of
and out of school. They are what he calls the nation's social dynamite.
right is entitled to economic security. What we do insist upon is that
44
45
every wage earner in our free society is entitled to the opportunity to
who think that is not possible lack faith in the vigor and the vitality of
work and earn that economic security. And when he is victimized by
American democracy at the state and local levels.
unemployment because of economic and social forces beyond his con-
The other area is the question of medical care for the aged. We
trol as an individual citizen or wage earner, then the whole of society
are waging a big ideological windmill fight talking about socializing
using the instruments of government has the moral obligation and the
medicine-that it will destroy medical practice if you put medical care
social responsibility to take such action as is necessary to provide that
for the aged under social security. We think this is utter nonsense. We
wage earner with the opportunity of gainful and creative employment.
think this has nothing to do with how you practice medicine; it's about
That's why we come to Congress because in a free society this is
how you pay for medical care. We believe that the American way to
the only place that we can come to because there are economic and
do this is to not to subject our older people to the humiliation of public
social forces beyond the influence of those people who control the
charity when in the autumn of their lives their medical needs become
private sector of our economy. And the government has the respon-
the greatest at the very time their income is reduced, we do not believe
sibility, and obviously the executive can recommend, but the legislative
it's the American way to subject these people to the humiliation of
branch of the government must implement those recommendations by
public charity. Wc want to pay for these benefits. And we believe that
appropriate and adequate legislative action.
the social security mechanism is the sensible and workable way to do
it so that we can amortize the costs of these benefits during the produc-
The Quality of Our Society
tive years of the worker's life so that he can get medical care as a part
I believe that if you were sitting down with someone from another
of social security as a matter of right, and get it with a measure of
country, and you were trying to convince them of the quality of our
dignity.
society, the two areas in which you ought to measure the quality of our
society are: What does the society do to provide education for its
Civil Rights Is a Moral Issue
children? And what does it do to provide a sense of security and
And one other item that I would hope that the Congress will act
dignity for its older people in the autumn of their lives? And I say
upon. And if you have had the opportunity of going to India or Africa
that America is failing in both of these vital areas when you measure
as some of us have had in the trade union movement, you will find
what we are doing with our resources, and that's the appropriate way
that one of the things that can be the Achilles' heel of American de-
to measure it.
mocracy is this great moral gap between American democracy's noble
We believe that the Congress ought to take affirmative and ade-
promises and its ugly practices in the field of civil rights. This is not
quate action to enact the President's aid to education bill. The Ameri-
a political issue; this is a moral issue. It relates to how man lives with
can labor movemen: IS proud of the fact that we in the early days of
man in a free society. And we in the labor movement believe that we
the labor movement were in the vanguard of the struggle for free public
have to square what we practice with what we preach. We believe
education, because we share the belief that every child made in the
that American democracy will lack the moral credentials which are
image of God is entitled to the kind of educational opportunity that will
needed if we are to provide the leadership for the forces of freedom
facilitate the maximum growth and development of each child. The
if we do not bridge this moral gap. Unless we do, we will both lack
right to grow to his or her maximum stature as a human being should
the ability and be unworthy to speak for the forces of freedom.
not be limited by an overcrowded schoolroom or an underpaid school
And so we would hope that American democracy which is richly
teacher. The right to grow should be limited only as God gave each
blessed will find a way to achieve a greater sense of national urgency, a
child the capacity to grow. And yet millions and millions of our young
deeper sense of national purpose, and a clearer sensé of national direc-
people are being denied that opportunity.
tion, so that as a free people we can begin to mobilize the tremendous
The Soviet Union will turn out three-to-one-scientists and en-
potential which lies unused in America and relate that potential to the
gineers this year compared to what we will be doing. We can have
improvement of the quality of our society. And then we will be able
utter contempt, as we should have, for the system of values around
to demonstrate to the peoples of the world that a free society can meet
which Soviet society is built, but we should not make the tragic mistake
the challenge of peace; that we can, because we are motivated by
of having contempt for their technical competence. Education ought
common hopes and a common faith, make a comparable effort in peace
to be high on the Congressional agenda. And we hope that this sterile
as we did in war. This is the kind of situation in human history where
argument about federal aid and federal control can be put aside because
nothing less than a measure of greatness will be adequate to the
we can have federal aid without federal control. We believe that people
challenge.
46
I think that America has that measure of greatness. But I think it
requires that all of us, regardless of political affiliation or economic
status or geographical location, recognize that unemployment is the
number one job and that somehow we must get America back to work;
and then getting America back to work, gear that abundance to our
housing needs, to our school needs, to our medical needs, our many
other unfilled human needs.
We Want to Work With All Americans
We in the labor movement, I think, understand that we cannot
solve our problems in a vacuum. We can't solve unemployment at the
bargaining table; we can't assure our children adequate education sitting
it the bargaining table. We can do these kinds of things only as we
George Meany, son of a New York City plumber and local trade
oin with our fellow citizens in trying to find answers to the problems
union leader, influenced his country and the world as no other trade
of the whole of our community. We can solve our problems only as
unionist of the Twentieth Century.
America finds answers to its problems. We want to work with all
Forced by family financial circumstances to leave high school, he
Americans in finding these common answers to our common problems.
became an apprentice plumber in 1912. That marked Meany's entry
into a life of trade union activism that left an eduring imprint on
American society.
From his election as business agent of his Plumbers' Union local
in 1922, Meany broadened his activities, first in the building trades,
then in the American Federation of Labor. In 1934, he was elected
president of the New York State Federation of Labor; his achievements
in that post won him election five years later as secretary-treasurer of
the AFL. He succeeded William Green as president of the AFL upon
the latter's death in 1952, and quickly announced his aim of reuniting
the AFL and CIO. His accomplishment of that aim-and election as
founding president of the AFL-CIO-came three years later in Decem-
ber, 1955, at a merger convention in New York City.
Under Meany's leadership, the American trade union movement
emerged as a major force for social progress whose interests and accom-
plishments reached far beyond the bargaining table. The Meany era saw
American labor become an influential factor in this country and in
-
world affairs.
Meany never deviated from his outspoken hostility to totalitarian-
ism and dictatorship; and he was equally unswering in his belief in de-
mocracy and free trade unionism. He broadened the American labor
movement's activity in international affairs; and established units within
the AFL-CIO, or supported by it, which have assisted democratic trade
unionists in other countries to build their unions and defend their de-
mocratic institutions.
Meany retired as AFL-CIO president at the convention in 1979.
48
49
powerful, it means that the people of this country become more power-
ful. It is merely a practical application of the basic principle of de-
mocracy.
Our forefathers meant it to be that way. They believe that the
enjoyment of freedom depended upon rule by the great masses of
George Meany:
citizens. They were against monopoly of power by the wealthy. They
were against monopoly of power by the military. They were against
Power For What?
monopoly of power by the aristocracy. They were convinced that the
free way of life could be safeguarded only when power over the eco-
nomic, social and political life of our country was shared by the many.
That is exactly what the trade union movement has tried over the years
to bring about.
In his years as head of the A.F. of L. and AFL-CIO,
Let us look back a bit to the time when the trade union movement
George Meany made hundreds of speeches. In making a
had very little power but consistently used what power it possessed to
selection for this Centennial Anthology, it was thought
advance causes of benefit to all the American people.
that his widely-quoted remarks to a Machinists convention
When Samuel Gompers and his associates lobbied in the state legis-
in 1959 on "labor power" would be most illustrative.
latures and the national Congress for an 8-hour day, was their purpose
to degrade the worker? When they campaigned for universal free edu-
cation, was their objective to exploit the worker? When they battled for
There's a great deal of talk these days about the "power" of labor.
workmen's compensation laws, were they trying to injure the interests
Newspaper editorials and speeches by industrial tycoons emphasize the
of the American people? When they fought for union. recognition and
growing membership of unions, the increase in their financial resources
free collective bargaining, were they trying to create new millionaires
and their developing political potential. The public is led to believe
at the expense of those who worked for wages?
that the trade union movement has become "too powerful."
Or was it to make life better for the worker, to obtain for him a
Too powerful for whom? Too powerful for what?
larger share of the wealth he helped to produce, to give him greater
Are they talking in terms of exploiting the many for the benefit
purchasing power so that American industry and American agriculture
and enrichment of a few? Certainly not! The truth is just the other
could find a ready market for their rapidly growing productive capacity?
way around.
Those who have enjoyed monopolistic power over the nation's in-
The record shows-beyond contradiction-that from its very in-
dustrial life naturally fear and resent having to deal with labor on a
ception the trade union movement has consistently used whatever power
basis of equality. And, by the same token, the politicians who serve
it had to raise the American standard of living, to promote the interests
business interests look with alarm at the political education programs
of all the American people and to enhance the power and prestige of
the nation as a whole.
conducted by the trade union movement. They are not happy about
the political enlightenment of the voters. They know their control is
Yes, the record is clear. It proves that the trade union movement
jeopardized when the citizens of our country go to the polls in record-
has always been in the forefront of all action-whether in the shop, in
breaking numbers on Election Day.
the community or at national and international levels-to obtain a
better break for the average citizen. It has been an agency not only
Human Values
for democracy, but for democratization. Because of union efforts the
immigrants who came to our shores learned that America was really
I see no harm in power, if it is power dedicated to human values,
a haven for the oppressed of the world. They learned through their
if it is power for good-and that is what the trade union movement
unions to speak the language and to appreciate the blessings of free-
seeks.
dom. They discovered that here in America men and women could
Obviously, concentration of power in the hands of a few can be
stand together and fight for justice and progress with reasonable hope
dangerous to the general welfare. But when unions become more
of success.
50
51
Concern for Others
generous with promises for they mean nothing. We cannot relax until
America's emancipation from isolationism was won the hard way
an enforceable agreement is made and kept, in spirit as well as in
-and the trade unions made a significant contribution toward the
letter. That is the one hope of world peace. Meanwhile, we must shun
development of a more mature international policy.
appeasement. There is no future in it. History has taught us that, if
We did not shrug our shoulders, as some did, and say it was none
nothing else.
of our business if dictators engaged in wholesale murder and the degra-
In all dealings with the Soviet Union, we must lead from strength
dation of humanity in other parts of the world. We insisted it was our
and we must always be prepared.
business. We saw the inherent danger to our free way of life, whenever
This advice is offered not in the spirit of saber-rattling, but as cold
freedom was destroyed in other lands.
common sense. Labor regards war as a completely unnecessary evil.
There was a time when many Americans applauded Mussolini for
The trade unionists of America and their families paid heavily in sweat
getting the trains to run on time in Italy. But it took an American
and blood for the two World Wars, the Korean War and the Vietnam
trade unionist of Italian descent like Luigi Antonini, to awaken our
War. We dread the thought of a third World War, which may mean
people to the outrages committed by the Fascists. In like manner, labor
annihilation of all mankind.
led the opposition in America to the atrocities of Hitler and the Japa-
nese war lords. We recognized them as enemies of free trade unions
Business in Politics
and therefore as enemies of all freedom. No group in America, from
It is rather strange, in view of labor's constructive record, that in
the very beginning, has been more adamant in its opposition to Com-
this day and age there are still people who cling to the notion that
munism and more active in resisting Soviet infiltration than the Ameri-
America would be better off without trade unions.
can labor movement.
Labor's influence in foreign. affairs has not been merely negative.
Those who keep insisting that unions are "too powerful" actually
We have fought for justice and fair play for oppressed peoples every-
want to render unions powerless-powerless to impede big business
where. After the war, we helped the workers of Germany re-establish
monopolies, or to seek further improvement in the American way of
life.
their free trade unions as a bulwark of democracy, social justice and
peace. We played a vital role in rallying support for the Hungarian
In this effort to destroy the trade union movement, our opponents
and Algerian peoples in their struggle for national freedom. We are
have enlisted-for a fee, of course-a small army of professional pro-
proud of the fact that we continue to extend a helping hand, through
moters. They organized a widespread campaign to enact state "Right-
Histadrut, to the people of Israel.
to-Work" laws which guarantee no rights to anyone but seek to wreck
union security.
Colonialism is now a dangerous anachronism. We of labor believe
that target dates should be set for ending it wherever it still exists. The
These "pitch men" have now come up with another gimmick to
perpetuation of colonialism by any segment of the free world merely
exploit. They say businessmen must get more active in politics, learn
plays into the hands of Communist imperialism.
more about it and do more about it. As if this were something new!
Along with freedom, labor relies implicitly on the preservation of
When I was a young boy, workers trying to earn a living en-
peace as the only sure road to human progress.
countered "pink slip" days which came around each year just before
We say very simply, as we have said time and time again, that our
election time. The workers were told, by way of a pink slip inserted
country should meet with the other nations of the world, and directly
in their pay envelopes, that if a certain party or a particular candidate
with the Soviet Union, in a continual effort to reach real agreement
did not win, the factory would shut down the day after election. This
which will be observed and adhered to by both parties.
form of intimidation, along with heavy campaign contributions, com-
prised the main expressions of business political activity. In fact, some
But we must point out that our government and the other nations
businessmen made contributions to both parties, just to make certain
of the free world should bear in mind that the Soviet Union has an un-
they would be in good shape no matter who won.
broken record of making agreements for the purpose of breaking them.
Yet certain spokesmen now say business must enter the field of
Its word is no good.
politics to meet the "threat" of big labor. Well, all can say is: "Wel-
Let the diplomats of the free world, in their anxiety to obtain
come. Come on in. The water is fine."
concessions, remember always that we cannot rely on words without
deeds. Let us be realistic. The Soviet Union can afford to be very
The more they get in with their financial resources, the greater
interest will be stirred up among workers. Perhaps it will help us
52
53
eventually to succeed in our efforts to encourage all workers to perform
The Future
their duty as citizens by exercising their right to vote.
Now, as in the past, labor must continue to fight for its very
And when we get down to such a contest between workers and
existence as a free association of free men and women. We still have
big business we will do all right, because there happen to be a few
to fight for the right to conduct our own business in our own way, for
more of us than there are of them.
the right to make our own mistakes and to correct those mistakes, for
The biggest propaganda stick our opponents used against us, of
the right to make our maximum contributions as free citizens to our
course, was the exposure of corruption in some segments of the labor
free society.
and management field. They felt this was too good an opportunity to
In America, we have a system of government which, while not
let pass. They were hungry for the kill. They proposed to use the
perfect, has proved itself to be of greater benefit to its citizens than
exposure of the sins of a very small minority as a means to bring about
anything else yet devised by the mind of man. At a time when that
the punishment of all labor. They went all out for the enactment of
system faces its greatest challenge, when its very existence is threatened
legislation, not to meet the corruption problem, but to hamstring the
by totalitarian aggression, you would think that the mutual interests
labor movement as a whole and render it powerless.
of free labor and free management would draw them together. Yet we
find American business mounting a furious attack upon the trade union
The AFL-CIO Position
movement which has proved a bulwark of defense to the free enterprise
The trade union movement met this problem head-on at the meet-
system.
ing of the AFL-CIO General Board in April 1958. We pointed out
This is typical of the short-sighted, bull-headed policy of big busi-
we had taken effective and rigorous steps to clean house. We said we
ness through the years. Perhaps there are some aspects of life in the
would go further and cooperate with Congress in the drafting of legis-
Soviet Union that appeal to them. Under the Red Flag there are no
lation to make it more difficult for anyone to misuse union funds.
strikes, no slow-downs, no absenteeism, no labor problems at all. But
Yes, we volunteered to cooperate in writing such legislation. But,
our employer friends should realize that the Russians don't have any
we also said in April 1958 that we would not accept punitive legislation
profit problems either.
designed to hurt the trade union movement under the guise of a law
Our road is clear. Our ideas are untarnished. Our record means
against corruption.
something to us. We know where we are going, what our objective is.
This was a truly significant action. Here was a group of private
Ours is the very simple objective, in a democratic society, of securing
citizens saying to government: "We will assist you in writing legislation
for the workers a better and ever better share of the wealth of the nation
to regulate and govern certain of our actions." Where else in American
life was there a parallel? What business organization had ever done
which they help to create.
such a thing? And the record shows that business is not immune to
And we are going to pursue that objective with all the strength we
sin nor free of racketeering elements.
possess.
What other group in American life, business or professional, would,
When our opponents talk about the power of labor, their exaggera-
in the interests of morality, ethics and self-respect, cut off 10 percent
tions carry little conviction. Our power is not the power of money.
of its membership and income as a self-enforcing action against those
It is the right of free men and women in a free society to withhold their
responsible for corruption?
labor in the interests of justice.
The AFL-CIO did that very thing by expelling organizations whose
Yes, the right to strike is labor's ultimate power-a power which
leadership was found to be tainted.
we cannot be deprived of without fracturing the entire democratic struc-
Where is the business or banking association which has shown
ture of our nation. In these modern days we don't like to use the
equal courage under similar circumstances? Show me any business
strike weapon unless we are forced to do so. That doesn't mean we
organization which has set up a moral code for its membership which
have forgotten how to use it. If employers refuse to bargain in good
matches the Ethical Practices Codes adopted by the AFL-CIO.
faith and think the time has come to get tough with labor, they will
Labor still stands on the position it took in April 1958. We are
learn this truth to their sorrow.
still willing to cooperate-and we have cooperated-in drafting anti-
We also have a basic political power-the power of numbers. The
corruption legislation, but we still make the reservation, and we will
13.6 million organized workers in the AFL-CIO, together with their
not withdraw from it, that we will not accept punitive or anti-labor
families and friends, constitute a significant number of votes in any
legislation as part of this package.
election.
54
55
It is_only since 1947 that labor has entered the political area in
an organized way. We learned then, from a very simple demonstration
by Congress in enacting the Taft-Hartley Act, that the gains and
achievements we had won over the years could be taken away from us
overnight by legislation. So the decision by labor to go seriously into
the political action field was really made not by the leaders of labor but
by the architects of anti-labor legislation.
Lane Kirkland:
We are determined to pursue our activity in this field with all
earnestness. I will concede quite frankly that an effective political
Labor Day, 1981
organization cannot be built in a day or a year. But we decided in
1947 that we had to get into this political business and; stay in it until
we succeeded in organizing a permanent, progressive and successful
program and we are making steady progress toward that goal. In view
of the increasing opposition from big business, I would predict even
A major goal of the AFL-CIO in this Centennial
more rapid progress by labor's political arm in the years to come.
year-to revive the spirit of Labor Day-has brought a
Using our economic strength, our political strength and any other
renewed sense of unity and solidarity to working men and
weapon that we have the right to use, we are going to continue labor's
women. In his Labor Day statement, printed in full below,
efforts to make America a better place for all its citizens-not merely
Lane Kirkland pinpoints "Dignity: The Common Bond."
union members. Yes, even to provide a better and more stable climate
for constant prosperity for employers and management.
Labor wants America to become more than an idealistic symbol
Today, as in each of the 87 years since Labor Day became a na-
for all the people of the world who believe in human freedom. We
tional holiday, we pause to honor America's working men and women.
want to prove to them and to ourselves that we can make democracy
work.
Labor Day 1981 holds a special significance for American trade
unionists. This is our centennial year.
It is our intention to continue the fight against racial and religious
One hundred years ago this November a handful of trade unionists
discrimination until this ugly blot on our good name is eliminated.
gathered in Pittsburgh and laid the cornerstone on which we have built
We are going to carry on our drive to wipe out poverty and human
the national trade union center which has evolved into today's AFL-
misery not only in America but everywhere in our world.
CIO.
We will use all the power and influence we have to see to it that
Their reasoning was simple: if workers needed unions to achieve
the great scientific discoveries and inventions of our time are used not
collectively what they could not hope to achieve as individuals in a
for the purposes of destruction, but for the enrichment of human life.
workplace, then it logically followed that unions should come together
Let no one mistake or distort our purpose. Labor has no desire
in a cohesive labor federation.
to take over America or make over America. We are not out to push
The new federation did not supplant the individual unions or de-
any one else down or around. What we seek is a balance of power
prive them of their autonomy. They continued to concentrate on win-
in the economic and political life of the nation. Only thus can the
ning justice in their separate crafts and workplaces, while the federa-
proper atmosphere be created for the gradual but steady improvement
tion carried that battle into the halls of our state and national legisla-
in the standards of the American people.
tures.
In pursuit of our objectives, we may employ new methods from
But even to the unions of 1881 political action was nothing new.
time to time but we will never depart from the democratic principles
In earlier generations they had struggled to achieve the 10-hour day and
laid down for us by the founders of the trade union movement more
to abolish child labor and the debtors prison.
than 90 years ago.
They had led the fight for free public education equally available
Yes, labor has gained in power in America. We are proud of the
to the children of the poor as to the children of the rich.
way it has been used, We hope in the years to come that we will
But as these issues were resolved, the union amalgamations they
achieve greater power to work for the good of all America.
sparked dissolved, and the unions went their separate ways-until 1881.
56
57
The instrument forged in Pittsburgh that year has survived a hun-
The American trade union movement has come a long way. Born
dred years of testing. We have known good times and bad, administra-
in the twilight of the 19th century, we stand now but two decades away
tions friendly and hostile, and changing climates of public opinion. We
from the dawn of the 21st century.
have tasted victory and defeat. Through it all we have made solid
In the lobby of the AFL-CIO headquarters in our nation's capital
progress for the working people of America.
there is a mural which depicts the progress which American workers
The trade union movement gives expression to a fundamental
and their industries have made. In that mural is a quotation from the
human need and value-solidarity. Human beings who share common
great Scottish essayist and historian, Thomas Carlyle, which says,
interests have a natural urge to join together to defend their interests
"Labor is Life."
against those who oppose them.
When Carlyle wrote those words near the end of the last century,
That need can be repressed but never extinguished, as the workers
they were literally true. For most people life was consumed by work-
of Poland have reminded us. Against awesome odds, they have created
hard, backbreaking, life-shortening work.
and sustained the first free and independent trade union movement in
a Communist country, and that movement-appropriately named Soli-
Today, thanks to the determination of American trade unions and
darity-has become the vehicle of a whole people's struggle for demo-
the courage and genius of American workers, things have changed. We
cratic rights.
still respect work, but we have leavened it with leisure, alleviated sheer
toil, and, in the process, enriched the lives of working people, both on
They have shown the world that the fight for workers' rights is the
the job and when the day's work is done.
fight for human rights.
Yet there are those among us for whom life is still a struggle for
We of the AFL-CIO are proud of our Polish brothers and sisters.
survival, barren of even the simplest pleasures to relieve the drudgery
As we celebrate our one hundredth anniversary, we congratulate them
of their existence. There are still others for whom gainful employment
on their first.
and full participation in our society are beyond reach.
In countries ruled by dictatorship, whether of the left or the right,
We have come far toward better wages, shorter hours, and safer
workers are valiantly trying to form their own free trade unions and to
working conditions in factories and offices, on farms and in workshops.
protect them from government suppression. Sometimes their efforts are
well publicized; sometimes the blanket of censorship is so thick, we hear
Yet there are those among us who still do not receive the full fruits
of their unions only after they have been broken and their leaders im-
of their labor, and others for whom the workplace remains a threat to
prisoned in psychiatric hospitals and labor camps.
their health and safety.
But they keep trying. Solidarity runs deep in the human spirit.
We have come far toward decent schools for all our children,
decent homes for our families, decent hospitals to care for us in time of
Our pluralist democracy is based on the assumption that people
sickness, decent retirement that provides dignity and security as an
have conflicting interests and will band together for self-help and self-
earned right.
protection. Employers have their own associations. So do lawyers,
doctors, scientists-and, yes, politicians. Because human beings play
Yet there are those among us to whom equal educational oppor-
different roles in society, we sometimes band together under more than
tunity is still a myth and for whom rat-infested, disease-ridden slums
one organization-as consumers, sportsmen, veterans, or ethnics.
remain the only place they can call home. There are those for whom
Americans have never been comfortable with the notion of a mono-
medical care is priced beyond reach and for whom the inevitable
lithic society in which all elements of the population are subordinated
process of aging brings anxiety and uncertainty as they face the pros-
to a central authority or to a single definition of what is good for us.
pect of spending their sunset years in a twilight world of abject poverty.
We prefer the conflict of ideas, the competition of interests-all within
We have come a long way toward expanding access to the ballot
a democratic framework of fair rules.
box, where the promise of "government by the people" must ultimately
So the trade union movement does not object to being called an
be redeemed.
interest group. We object only to being called a "narrow" interest
Yet for many among us, the color of their skin, or the accent of
group. The interests we represent are those of Americans in their role
their mother tongue, or some other arbitrary and capricious measure-
as workers-and they are not a narrow group. With their skills, their
ment is used to deny them full and free access to the political process.
industry, and their productivity, they are the backbone of our economic
American workers can take pride in the progress we have made.
society.
Certainly our national economy would not be as productive nor our
58
59
cultural life as enriched, nor our social and political institutions as
It is our duty-as trade unionists, as workers, as citizens-build-
compassionate, were it not for the determined efforts of working men
ing on our past, to give to future generations of Americans a century
and women to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and their country
free from fear and bright with promise.
with them.
But that pride should leave no room for complacency, because all
victories are only temporary, and what we have gained at the bargain-
ing table and in the legislative halls down through the years can, in an
Lane Kirkland was elected president of the AFL-CIO on Nov. 19,
instant, be swept away.
1979, on the retirement of George Meany. He had previously served
for 10 years as AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer.
And that instant could be upon us now. We observe Labor Day
1981 in a mood of deep concern for these are difficult and uncertain
Born March 12, 1922, in Camden, S.C., Kirkland graduated in
times, and we in the labor movement are troubled about the direction
1942 from the Merchant Marine Academy and served in World War II
in which our country appears headed.
as a merchant marine deck officer and a member of the International
Nor are we alone. Our concern is shared by thousands of people
Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots. Shortly after receiving a
in scores of organizations-those who believe with us in civil rights
bachelor of science degree from the School of Foreign Service at
and civil liberties, in equal rights for women, in safeguarding the en-
Georgetown University, he joined the research staff of the American
vironment we hold in trust for generations to come, in a safer work-
Federation of Labor.
place and safer products, in quality education for all, and in equal
He became director of research and information for the Interna-
access to the polling booth, to jobs, and to opportunity without regard
tional Union of Operating Engineers in 1958. In 1960, AFL-CIO Pres-
to race, creed, color, national origin or gender.
ident Meany named Kirkland his executive assistant, a post he held
We intend to dramatize the depth of our concern with a demon-
until his election as secretary-treasurer in 1969. The 1979 AFL-CIO
stration in our nation's capital on September 19. We call it, aptly,
convention elected him president without opposition.
"Solidarity Day."
We will be joined by our allies in the civil rights and women's
movements, in the enviromental and consumer movements. We will
march with senior citizens, religious groups, and dozens of other or-
ganizations, large and small, representing people of serious purpose
from every corner of the nation.
September 19 will be a day of hope, a day of rededication to the
fulfillment of the American promise of a better quality of life for all
of us. We shall stand together in defense of the American spirit.
There is a quality in this land of ours that we do not wish to see
despoiled or pillaged.
There is a dignity about the working people of this land, and we
do not wish to see them demeaned or degraded.
There is inspiration in our political institutions, aspiring to justice,
and we do not wish to see them eroded by cynicism and despair.
The labor movement has been a part of the quality, the dignity,
and the inspiration of America. What we have helped to build, we shall
fight to defend.
On this Labor Day 1981, we can almost reach out and touch the
21st century. When the year 2001 dawns, many of us will still be alive
to see it. But it will be our children and their children who will inherit
and inhabit that new century.
60
61 -
It is the unaminous 10/05/15 deusion
Thomas R. Donahue
of this Joint committee of
'A Battle Never Over
the AFL and C10 to create
a single trade Union Center
The struggle for workers' goals goes on and on-
in America through the
and the battle is never over-as Thomas R. Donahue
emphasizes in the Labor Day statement issued for release
Piocess of a merGer which
just a few days before Solidarity Day filled the Mall in
Washington, D.C. with 400,000 believers.
will preserve the intebrity of
On Labor Day, the nation pays its respects to those who toil for a
each attiliated National +
living-white-collar workers and blue, skilled and unskilled, those who
work with their hands and those who work with their minds-because
International union
the enduring strength of America lies in its workers. They are the ones
who have given their best efforts to build better lives for themselves,
Further, that the President authorized
for their families and for future generations and, in the process, they
have built a far better nation as well.
America was conceived as a classless nation-the Declaration of
the AFL & C10 are sub
Independence proclaimed that principle when it said that "all men are
created equal." Yet, workers have struggled for two centuries and
to of appoint a joint to committe
more to obtain some measure of that equality that was supposed to be
the hallmark of our society and the birthright of its people-and that
to draft this objective and to then this
a detailed plan
struggle continues to this day. For two centuries and more, we have
struggled to tear down some of the barriers which insulated the wealthy
and isolated the workers, depriving us of our right to share more fully
in the wealth we have helped to produce-and that struggle continues
achieve report its recources tion to
to this day.
Despite our best efforts, we find ourselves, on this Labor Day
committee at its next meeting.
1981, embattled and in danger. What little social and economic equal-
ity we have managed to attain are in danger of being swept away.
There is a movement afoot in the country to erect new barriers, to
establish an economic caste system alien to America-to create a per-
Handwritten note issued by Merger Committee in October, 1955, sig-
manently entrenched, tiny elite of the wealthy and the privileged; to
nifying that a single trade union center-the AFL-CIO-would be
press down new and onerous economic burdens upon workers and their
created in the United States.
families-the ones already carrying a disproportionately large share of
-62-
-63-
the cost of government; to set in place a permanent underclass of the
and the helpless, or indeed, about workers-these programs are being
unfortunate and the disadvantaged; and, inevitably to set one economic
dismantled. We in the AFL-CIO know it's desirable to balance the
class against the other.
government's income and outgo. But we object, and strenuously, to
We cannot allow this to happen.
having, not the general welfare but the almighty dollar, be the scale
Over the first century and a half of this country's history, we took
on which we weigh the decision to wipe out a half century of progress.
only tiny, tentative steps toward creating a social order rooted in equity
We have been taught that politics is the art of give and take-but
and compassion. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitu-
that speaks to the notion of compromise. There is no compromise in
tion delineated our hopes, but workers had to fight tooth and nail to
the great giveaway-takeaway game being played in Washington-the
give them substance.
takeaway from the employed and the unemployed, from the elderly, the
Our progress accelerated in the past half century, from the days
children, the sick, the poor; the giveaway to the wealthy, the oil barons,
of Franklin Roosevelt forward. But if the pace of progress accelerated,
the stock speculators, the multi-national corporations.
the programs put in place from the New Deal through the Great So-
To our regret, the Congress acquiesced in this scheme. In the
ciety were enacted neither overnight nor in haste. Far from it. They
debate over economic policy, no clear battlelines were ever drawn
were born out of long and ardiuous effort, out of extensive public hear-
between the two political parties. Both engaged in a gigantic bidding
ings in which the views of all parties were aired and weighed, out of
war-not over principles, only over imagined votes. The concept of
lengthy and often acrimonious debate, and most of the time out of
fair play was dispensed with, tax cuts were placed on the block, and
compromise between what was desirable and what was achievable.
only the fat-cat bidders were allowed into the auction.
Throughout the Administrations of eight Presidents and through
And what happened?
24 consecutive Congresses, these programs were opposed by those who
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, unemployment insurance
believed in neither equality nor compassion-but they survived. Under
and trade adjustment assistance, public service jobs, aid to schools and
eight Presidents and 24 Congresses, these programs were refined and
students, food stamps, school lunches, benefits to the working poor,
enlarged to make them more effective, amended and modified to make
urban and rural redevelopment-local transit subsidies and aid to our
them more efficient-and they survived.
cities-all were put to the ax by the political executioners.
Now we are witnessing efforts to wrench that intricate structure of
The $214 billion being withdrawn from these programs won't go
to balance the federal budget-it will help underwrite $286 billion in
social legislation from the statute books. The blame falls squarely on
tax breaks, most of which will be handed over to the wealthiest of
the shoulders of an Administration which has distorted the results of
the last election into what it claims was a "mandate" for a wholesale
individuals and the most profitable of corporations. To a mere six
and mindless retreat from our solemn obligations.
percent of all taxpayers-the ones earning over $50,000 a year-will
go one-third of the tax cuts. To the biggest corporations--particularly
The blame falls, as well, on a Congress which knuckled under to
the electric and gas utilities and the profit-glutted oil companies-will
pressure, not from the general public but from the wealthy and the
go another third. The rest will be dribbled out to workers and their
profit-heavy corporations. Congress surrendered to the few who stand
families-pennies at a time.
to gain the most-the people of little faith, less hope and absolutely
Take the average American family-a worker, a spouse, and two
no charity-and agreed to the abandonment of programs and policies
children. If that family earns $15,000 a year, it will find the sum of
which have served our people and their nation well.
$1.34 cents more in the weekly pay envelope this October, and $2.54
To see basically sound and socially desirable programs tossed onto
more next July. If the family income is $20,000 a year, October's tax
the scrap heap is bad enough; to see this happen without even the
cut will amount to $2.42 and in July 1982 it will go all the way up to
semblance of public hearings to gauge the true national temper or to
$4.59. At the $25,000 level, the tax cut will be worth $3.59 in October
debate these programs' social merits is unthinkable. Not once did the
and $7.01 next July.
budget-cutters ask, "Are these programs useful?" All they wanted to
And what does this Administration say to workers and their fam-
know was, "How much do they cost?" And when they supplied their
ilies? "Now don't throw this money around," the President says. "In-
own answer, "They cost too much," the programs were thrown out the
vest it." What nonsense! The increased transit fares, in most cities,
window, and the people to the wolves.
higher health care costs or a gallon or two of milk for the kids, or a
In the pious name of a "balanced budget"-that last refuge of
few cans of soup and a loaf of bread, will eat up those extra pennies
those who care nothing about the poor, the young, the old, the weak
each week.
64
65
The Administration insists it is being fair because, it says, taxes
are being cut equally across the board. The $100,000-a-year executive
and proud and tall, and we proclaim our message loud and clear: We
earns five times as much as the $20,000-a-year worker-but the execu-
do not intend to abandon our struggle for jobs, justice and social prog-
tive's tax cut is going to be twelve times as large.
ress. We do not intend to abandon our struggle for a more equitable
distribution of the wealth of this nation.
In the face of these inequities, we in the trade union movement
In the hundred years of the American trade union movement, we
are told not to worry. We are urged to be patient, to endure inflation
have learned that the battle is never over. As long as we remain
and unemployment, to put up with poverty and misery, because things
united in spirit and commitment, as long as we have breath in our
will somehow turn out right in the end. We are told that if the govern-
bodies and blood in our veins, there will be no final defeat on any
ment subsidizes the rich, they, in turn, will help middle-income workers
battleground.
and the poor. They call it "supply-side" economics, but that's just the
We have lost a round-and we may lose another, and another,
old, discredited "trickle-down" theory dolled up in a new dress-
and another. But we will always be back-again, and again, and again.
lavishing money on those at the top of the economic heap in the hope
And we are going to win, because we are not going to quit. Not today,
that some of the money will seep down, someday, to the rest of society.
and not tomorrow.
It's an idea which never held water in the past, and it's just as porous
today.
We in the trade union movement are urged to give the Adminis-
tration's economic theories a chance. These are the same theories which
the incumbent Vice President ridiculed, just a little over a year ago,
Thomas Reilly Donahue was elected AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer
as "voodoo economics." These are the same theories which the Pres-
in 1979 to succeed Lane Kirkland. He had been executive assistant to
ident's own Majority Leader in the Senate conceded, as recently as
AFL-CIO President George Meany since 1973.
last month, were little more than a "riverboat gamble." We agree with
Donahue came to the AFL-CIO from the Service Employees In-
what the Vice President said then, and with what the Republican Ma-
ternational Union, where he was first vice president from 1969 to 1973,
jority Leader says now. We think the Administration is recklessly
and where he had been executive assistant to the president until an
shooting craps with the economic destiny of America, and the dice are
appointment as U.S. assistant secretary of labor for labor management
loaded against us.
relations.
We in the trade union movement are told to stifle our dissent, but
Born Sept. 4, 1928, in the Bronx, New York, Donahue holds a
this we will not do. We would not wish to have the absence of protest
bachelor of arts degree in labor relations from Manhattan College and
be misinterpreted-we are not silent partners in the Administration's
a law degree from Fordham University. He began his labor career as
high-stakes gamble with the security of the American people and the
a part-time organizer for the Retail Clerks International Association in
welfare of their nation.
1948, and, from 1949 to 1957, held several staff positions in a New
We in the trade union movement are told there are political bene-
York City local union of the Service Employees.
fits to be reaped. "This is the President's program," we are told, "and
when it fails, we'll pick up the pieces the next time around." We reject
that counsel. Unless we undo the mischief that is being wrought, there
may be no next time, nor any pieces left to pick up.
We in the trade union movement are told to be good losers. That
may be fine in games; it has no place in the grim struggle for economic
survival. There is no virtue in adopting a "sportsmanlike" posture, not
while our system is caving in around our ears.
We in the trade union movement are told that, because Ronald
Reagan won last November, we should just roll over and play dead.
But that has never been our way, nor will it be. That would imply that
ours is a lost cause-and we do not believe that to be true.
So on this Labor Day 1981, we in the AFL-CIO stand straight
66
when their meeting was sabotaged by the turning off of gaslights)
elected labor's first congressman, Ely Moore.
The first national trade union federation, comprised of city labor
organizations, the National Trades' Union, was founded. in 1834. It
lasted until 1837; a short-life being a characteristic of these early efforts.
Looking Backward:
Women and children were employed in the cotton and woolen
mills of New England. At first, a high rate of turnover-most stayed
Labor's Earliest Roots
no longer than a year-inhibited organization. Long hours and severe
wage cuts, however, soon provoked rebellion. "The first turnout" of
women workers is that of some two hundred who joined the men in
striking a Pawtucket, Rhode Island mill in 1824. The first strike of
mill women occurred in Dover, New Hampshire four years later, when
Workers have organized-associations, benefit societies, trade
hundreds of women paraded to protest new rules such as the imposi-
unions-since the inception of the Republic. Before the Revolution
tion of a 12½ cent fine on latecomers after the factory gate had been
guild-like organizations were formed by journeyman/masters.
locked, a ban on talking on the job, and discharges for undefined
"debaucheries." Most of these early strikes were lost, including the
The first strike appears to be that of Polish workers in Jamestown,
Lowell strikes of 1834 and 1836 which were better organized than
Va., in 1619 protesting against being denied the right to vote. As mem-
earlier, spontaneous turnouts. Sarah Bagley organized the Lowell
bers of the revolutionary Sons of Liberty, artisans and laborers agitated
Female Labor Reform League, affiliated with the New England Work-
in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charleston. Ships carpenters
ingmen's Association, to agitate for the ten hour day, becoming the
were among those stalwarts who pitched tea into Boston's harbor. The
first known woman labor leader.
first continuous organization of wage earners, however, was that of the
Working men and women rallied behind-and ultimately ac-
Philadelphia journeymen shoemakers, who organized in 1792.
hieved-platforms espousing the abolition of imprisonment for debt,
The first unions were local affairs centered on craft-bakers,
universal free education, a mechanic lien law (making wages the em-
carpenters, cordwainers (shoemakers), printers, teamsters-rather than
ployer's first obligation in bankruptcy), the abolition of child labor,
on a workplace. There was no collective bargaining. Typically, jour-
credit, currency and land reforms.
neymen posted a price for their labor, relying on one another not to
Just before the Civil War, the first real attempts were made to
work for less. Sporadic strikes and ostracism were the weapons of
establish permanent and exclusive organizations of skilled workmen.
enforcement. Soon, however, journeymen's associations and masters'
The Typographers founded their union-ITU-in 1850. William H.
organizations began appointing committees to meet jointly to discuss
Sylvis (b. November 26, 1828; d. July 26, 1869), the first outstanding
demands.
figure of the American Labor movement, founded the National
The further development of collective bargaining, however, was
Moulders' Union in 1859 and the National Labor Union in 1866.
set back by the application by the courts of the doctrine that the
Though short-lived, the NLU proposed a Department of Labor, sent
combination of workmen to raise their wages was a criminal con-
the first American worker-Chicago labor leader A. C. Cameron-to
spiracy. Eight Philadelphia cordwainers were found guilty of that
an international conference, the 1869 Basle congress of the First Inter-
charge in 1806, the most famous of a series of cases that hindered
national Workingmen's Association. The eight hour day for federal
unionism until the doctrine of conspiracy was set aside in an 1842
employees was adopted by Congress in 1869, largely as a result of
Massachusetts case involving journeymen bootmakers, Commonwealth
NLU efforts.
V. Hunt.
Post-Civil War America was a time of ferment. Within twenty-
By then, workers were experimenting with new forms of organi-
five years of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the United States
zation. "Furrow turners" and "huge paws" formed in 1828 the New
became the leading manufacturing nation in the world. Some twenty-
England Association of Farmers, Mechanics and Other Workmen. In
three national unions were organized between 1861 and 1871, but the
the decade that followed, workmen organized the first workingmen's
casualty rate was high. The Knights of St. Crispins, the secret organi-
parties, the first city bodies. New York's locofocos, a workers' faction
zation of shoemakers and the largest union of its day, forced the manu-
of the Democratic Party (so called because the founders lit candles
facturers of Lynn, Massachusetts, to sign agreements, in 1869-1870.
68
69
But two years later, the employers had combined, broke the union
with the introduction of new machinery and with the help of the Panic
of 1873.
Peter J. McGuire, a founder of the American Federation of Labor,
was among the trade unionists and socialists who organized the un-
A Federation Chronology:
employment demonstrations in New York City that followed the Panic.
On January 13, 1874, thousands of workers marched into Tompkins
100 Years of Labor History
Square where they were met by a charge of club-swinging mounted
policemen. Hundreds were injured.
Sam Gompers, McGuire's friend, witnessed the debacle, becoming
convinced of the futility of political radicalism. "Professions of rad-
1881
On November 15, the Federation of Organized Trades
icalism and sensationalism," he said, "concentrated all the forces of
and Labor Unions is established in Pittsburgh by 107
organized society against a labor movement and nullified in advance
delegates representing Knights of Labor assemblies, the
normal, necessary activity."
International Typographical Union, the Cigar Makers,
The rich and the powerful of the 1870's and 1880's were confident
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Lake Seaman's
that they could handle any such local disturbances as the Tompkins
Union, Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel
Square affair. Did not railroad magnate and financier Jay Gould
Workers, various central labor councils among others.
boast, "I can hire one-half of the working class to kill the other half?"
John Jarrett of the Iron and Steel Workers, elected chair-
The first great clash between capital and labor occurred "on" the
man; W.H. Foster of the ITU, secretary; Samuel Gompers
railroad. On May 10, 1869, the year that nine Philadelphia tailors
of the Cigar Makers, chairman of the Legislative Com-
founded the Knights of Labor, the last spike connecting the Union
mittee.
Pacific and Central Pacific railroads was driven into the roadbed at
Ogden, Utah. Thirty-three thousand miles of railroad were built be-
The new organization, destined to become the first, con-
tween 1867 and 1873. When the Baltimore and Ohio cut wages by
tinuing national trade union center in the United States
ten percent, railmen struck setting off civil conflagrations in nearly all
and the direct predecessor of the AFL-CIO, calls for com-
the chief rail centers of the country. When a detachment of militia
pulsory free public education, an end to child labor,
attempted to disperse strikers in Pittsburgh, a crowd gathered, some
achievement of the 8-hour day, protection against gar-
boys threw stones and the militia opened fire. Twenty were killed and
nishment, apprenticeship laws, payment of wages in legal
29 seriously wounded. The troops were forced to retreat. Trapped
tender, repeal of conspiracy laws, creation of a national
in a Pennsy roundhouse, they shot their way out, killing and wounding
bureau of labor statistics, workers' compensation, use of
more. Fires broke out in the freight yard, destroying 104 locomotives,
the ballot to elect friendly legislators.
2,152 cars and 79 buildings.
Though the "Great Upheaval of 1877" burned itself out, as did
In Chicago, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and
the Pittsburgh roadhouse, workers, paradoxically, were encouraged to
Joiners founded, August 8. Gabriel Edmonston, president;
Peter J. McGuire, secretary.
organize. Labor parties flourished in the years that followed. In the
fall of 1878, the Greenback Labor party mustered over a million votes
in the congressional elections, and fourteen Greenbackers were elected.
The Knights of Labor grew in number.
1882
Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions en-
The American Federation of Labor was born.
dorses 8-hour day at Cleveland convention.
Federation offers representation to all women's labor or-
ganizations "on an equal footing with trade organizations
of men."
P. J. McGuire "Memorial" to Federation cutlines princi-
ples of organization-autonomy of each trade and labor
71
70
union, no political or religious tests for membership, a
true federation of trades.
port as approximately 340,000 men and women demon-
strate in several cities for shorter hours.
Brotherhood of Telegraphers founded.
Haymarket Riot-On May 4, a bomb explodes, kills 4
First Labor Day parade held in New York City under
policemen, at a peaceful Haymarket Square rally in
auspices of Central Labor Union on September 5.
Chicago called to protest police shooting of 4 strikers
previous day at McCormick Harvester Company. Police
open fire on crowd, starting riot that ends with 7 police,
1883
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen founded.
4 workers dead, hundreds injured. Eight anarchists
rounded up, tried and convicted though no evidence links
Brotherhood of Railway Brakemen founded.
them to bomb and despite labor pleas for fair trial. Said
Pennsylvania becomes first state to pass legislation autho-
Gompers later, "Bomb not only killed the policemen, but
rising voluntary arbitration.
it killed our eight-hour movement for a few years
after.
"
1884
Federation convention adopts 8-hour resolution "That
1886
eight-hours shall constitute a legal day's labor from and
Knights of Labor at peak membership of 700,000 ends its
after May 1, 1886", thus launching national campaign of
October convention in Richmond in disarray as trade
unionists in debate over future of the Order suffer defeat
agitation for this major goal that was to be won despite
many setbacks.
at hands of "union-haters" who envision all-embracing or-
ganization of workers, farmers and businessmen. Rail
Federation further resolves: "Women should be organized
strike capitulation, 8-hour movement setback and failure
into trade unions
and we demand they receive equal
to patch up differences with unionists starts decline. By
compensation with men for equal service performed."
mid-1890s, Knights cease to be significant factor on labor
scene.
Hopkins Act creates Federal Labor Bureau within Depart-
ment of Interior.
December 8-10 American Federation of Labor founded in
Columbus, Ohio by delegates from 25 trade unions with
317,000 members, as Federation of Organized Trades and
1885
Successful strikes by Knights of Labor against major rail-
Labor Unions dissolves into A. F. of L. Samuel Gompers
roads force Jay Gould to capitulate, bringing rush of new
is elected president; P. J. McGuire, secretary; Gabriel
members to Knights.
Edmonston, treasurer.
National Federation of Miners and Mine Laborers is
launched.
1887
Chicago anarchists-August Spies, Albert R. Parsons,
Bricklayers in New York City gain first collective bargain-
Adolph Fisher, George Engel-executed in aftermath of
ing agreement in building trades.
Haymarket Riot of 1886.
A. F. of L. convention adopts principle that only one
union should be active in a trade, the theory of exclusive
1886
Knights of Labor lose prestige, die out on Western rail-
jurisdiction.
roads when strikes by 9,000 shopmen, yardmen and sec-
Eighty "volunteer" organizers appointed by Federation
tion hands are called off "in public interest" at request of
executive council.
a St. Louis "citizens' committee."
Brotherhood of Painters established.
On May 1, the eight-hour movement gets under way with
first national general strike; Knights of Labor refuse sup-
Amalgamated Council of Building Trades established, fore-
runner of A. F. of L. Department.
72
73
Locomotive Engineers and Locomotive Firemen co-
Brotherhood of Baseball Players formed-first sports
union.
operate for first time-work out changes in job classifica-
tion.
Oregon establishes first Labor Day holiday; Colorado and
1891
Iron Molders' Union wins first industry-wide agreement
New York follow later in year.
with employers.
Homestake Mining Company in North Dakota establishes
Eight-hour-day standard for building trades won in Chi-
first company-financed medical department with fulltime
cago, St. Louis, Denver, Indianapolis and San Francisco.
staff.
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees
1892
The Homestead strike-organized labor's first confronta-
established.
tion with a modern manufacturing corporation-is called
by the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel & Tin
Workers against the Carnegie Steel Co. at Homestead,
1888
A. F. of L. President Gompers tours 33 cities "advocating
Pa. A boatload of Pinkertons, 300 armed men, beaten off
the unity of labor," travels nearly 10,000 miles, makes
by strikers, but state militia takes over and breaks strike
speeches and returns home $90 "out of pocket." (Col-
after three detectives, seven workers die, and scores are
lections made to finance his travels.)
wounded.
A. F. of L. engages an organizer for the Ohio Coal
Miners' Amalgamated Association; renews drive for 8-
1893
Western Federation of Miners founded.
hour day.
American Railway Union established; Eugene V. Debs,
First federal arbitration law provides "voluntary arbitra-
president. An industrial union, it enrolls 125,000 railroad
tion" for railroad disputes by a presidentially appointed
workers before first convention in 1894.
three-man board. Law never used.
A. F. of L. endorses free coinage of silver.
United States Department of Labor established but with-
out cabinet standing.
Illinois Central Railroad offers first stock ownership plan
as a benefit.
First federal eight-hour law passed; covers Government
Printing Office and letter carriers.
1894
Pullman strike-American Railway Union members re-
In Atlanta, Georgia, the International Association of
fuse to handle Pullman cars in sympathy with fellow
Machinists is organized.
workers on strike against wage cut, rents at Pullman-
owned houses and firing of strike committeemen. Boy-
cott affects 20 railroads rolling in and out of Chicago.
1890
The first fully accredited female delegate attends A. F. of
Pullman cars hitched to mail trains gain intervention of
L. convention-Mary Burke of the Retail Clerks.
federal troops, injunction under Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
United Mine Workers established in Columbus, Ohio.
Debs, other strike leaders arrested for "conspiracy"; ARU
forced to call off boycott; members blacklisted and starved
Resumption of 8-hour day movement; A. F. of L. picks
into submission.
Carpenters to lead; contributes one-half of its total in-
come of $24,000 to support Carpenters' 8-hour strikes.
1895
Despite depression, over 23,000 carpenters in 36 cities
A. F. of L. sends first organizers into South-Robert
win 8-hours; another 32,000 in 234 cities secure 9 hours.
Howard of the Cotton Spinners and Frederich Estes, a
Building trades follow suit, and 8-hour day spreads.
printer.
74
75
1896
American Federation of Musicians formed.
1900
International Ladies' Garment Workers founded.
Fourteen new internationals chartered by A. F. of L.; 734
federal and trade locals affiliate.
1897
United Mine Workers becomes largest union in U.S., re-
taining this position for nearly three decades.
A. F. of L. aids Granite Cutters to obtain shorter work
day.
A. F. of L. convention sends aid to striking textile workers
in Atlanta.
Anthracite coal strike settled with 10 per cent increase in
rates.
Latimer Massacre-Sherif and deputies gun down miners
peacefully marching in support of strike against prices in
National Civil Federation established by Mark Hanna,
company stores; 19 killed, 40 wounded.
Samuel Gompers and John Mitchell, to promote industrial
peace.
1898
Congress passes the Erdman Act, providing for mediation
and arbitration on the railroads.
1901
Scranton Declaration-A. F. of L. defines rights of af-
National union of team drivers established at convention
filiates within their jurisdictions.
called by A. F. of L.
58,000 Machinists strike for 9-hour day.
Coal companies in Virden and Pana, Illinois, erect stock-
The United Textile Workers of America founded.
ades during strike and import Negro strikebreakers-an
act that is denounced by Alabama Afro-American Labor
National Metal Trades Association announces "open
and Protective Association. Seven miners, five guards
shop" drive, establishes strikebreaking service, employs
killed over disembarkment of strikebreakers. Victory as-
labor spies.
sures unionization in Illinois coal fields until early 1920s.
Erdman Act provides for settlement of rail disputes, estab-
1902
Anthracite miners strike in Pennsylvania. After four
lishes first permanent federal mediation service. Act sanc-
months, President Theodore Roosevelt personally inter-
tions collective bargaining by prohibiting employers from
venes to propose arbitration. Union gains pay increases,
requiring workers to refrain from joining unions as a con-
shorter work days from Presidential Commission.
dition of employment. This provision later declared un-
constitutional (Adair v. U.S., 1980).
1903
Women's Trade Union League organized; founded by
1899
Mary O'Sullivan, bindery worker and first woman orga-
John Mitchell elected president of United Mine Workers.
nizer of A. F. of L.; Mary Kehew, Boston philanthropist;
Order of Railroad Telegraphers becomes first rail union
Jane Addams, Hull House; Mary Donovan, shoemaker;
to affiliate with A. F. of L.
Leanora O'Reilly, International Ladies Garment Workers;
Ellen Landstrom, United Garment Workers; Mary Free-
A. F. of L. employs first full-time organizers; 17 employed
tas, Textile Workers.
in addition to 550 volunteer organizers. Nine international
unions formed; 405 federal and trade locals organized.
Idaho governor calls in federal troops during strike at
1904
Western Federation of Miners strike at Cripple Creek,
Coeur d'Alene mines. Mine dynamited; 700 miners ar-
Colorado, for shorter hours. Troops called in; bomb kills
rested; one convicted of second-degree murder, 10 con-
mine superintendent, dynamite wrecks railroad station,
victed of interfering with the mails.
killing 13 non-union miners. Union men. driven out.
76-
77
Strikers-mostly women-win 52-hour week, wage in-
1905
Formation of Industrial Workers of the World (Wob-
creases.
blies), William D. "Big Bill" Haywood, president. IWW
favors unions running economic institutions; supports di-
Strike against U.S. Steel by Amalgamated Iron and
rect action, sabotage. It fades after losing the Seattle
Steel Workers and Tin Plate Workers begins in July; A. F.
General Strike of 1919.
of L. organizes support from 36 unions, sparks House
(Stanley) investigation of steel industry. Strike drags into
following year; company recruits immigrant workers to
1906
break strike.
A. F. of L. places Bucks Stove Company on "We Do
Not Patronize" list for discharge of worker; ignores in-
First free speech fight in Spokane, Washington; hundreds
junction against "boycott"; Gompers and others held in
of Wobblies converge, soap-box, deliberately court arrest
contempt of court.
to jam jails.
First "political conference" called by A. F. of L.; 51 in-
Railway Employees Department established; (dissolved in
ternationals meeting with Executive Council issue "Bill of
1981.)
Grievances" declaring Congress unresponsive to labor's
Union Label Department established.
needs. Start of drive towards Clayton Act.
A. F. of L. enters political arena; Gompers campaigns
1910
Some 50,000 cloakmakers call a strike in New York;
against anti-labor Congressman Charles Littlefield of
Louis D. Brandeis, a lawyer later named to Supreme
Maine. Republican high command responds-Littlefield
Court, designs "Protocol of Peace" to end dispute on con-
re-elected but by a reduced majority.
structive note-establishing machinery for conciliation
A. F. of L., railway unions and farmers' organizations
and arbitration. Workers win preferential union shop,
hold conference, call for amendment to Sherman Anti-
abolition of homework, 10 paid holidays, pay in cash,
Trust Act.
piece rates fixed by joint union-employer committee.
Gompers and several Executive Council members attend
both Democratic and Republican conventions.
1911
Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire-Women workers
trapped; many jump to their deaths; 146 killed. New York
Twenty unions establish A. F. of L. Building Trades De-
sets up Factory Investigation Committee with Frances
partment.
Perkins; stimulates factory inspection and safety legisla-
tion.
1908
Danbury Hatters Case-U.S. Supreme Court finds Hatters
1912
Lawrence, Massachusetts textile strike-50,000 workers
Union members guilty of "conspiracy" under Sherman
Anti-Trust Act for pursuing national boycott against a
walk out when mill owners, responding to a state legisla-
ture action reducing the work week from 54 to 52 hours,
non-union company in Danbury, Connecticut. A. F. of L.
cut pay rates without prior notice. IWW provides leader-
runs national fund raising campaign to pay off huge fine
and save strikers' homes from being seized.
ship; 36 strikers arrested; dynamite planted by company
provocateurs. When police and militia attack peaceful
Metal Trades Department established.
demonstrations, public sides with unions; 400 children
of strikers "adopted" by sympathizers. Women and
children clubbed at rail station when authorities decide no
1909
more children to be allowed to leave. Public protest forces
Uprising of the Twenty Thousand-First mass strike in
companies not only to restore pay cuts but boost wages to
needle trades when shirtwaist and dress makers in New
more realistic levels-gains soon extended, to thousands
York City demonstrate in crucial test for ILGWU.
more workers all over New England.
78
79
Massachusetts adopts first minimum wage law for women
Bricklayers affiliate with A. F. of L.
and minors.
A. F. of L. Executive Council endorses "voluntary union
Walsh Commission on Industrial Relations is created to
of nations, a league for peace, to adjust disputes.
investigate industrial unrest in the nation.
First federal child labor legislation (the Keating-Owens
Act) prohibits interstate or foreign movement of goods
produced by firms employing children under 14. Law de-
1913
U.S. Department of Labor created with Cabinet status.
clared unconstitutional in 1918.
William B. Wilson, former secretary-treasurer of UMW,
Bomb explodes during preparedness parade in San Fran-
appointed Secretary.
cisco, killing nine marchers and spectators. Thomas J.
Federal Mediation Service created.
Mooney and Warren K. Billings, labor organizers, indicted.
First strike settled by Federal mediators, involves Railway
Clerks.
1917
A strike led by the IWW in the copper mines of Bisbee,
Arizona, ends when the sheriff deports 1,200 strikers.
1914
The Clayton Act passed by Congress, limiting use of in-
A. F. of L. active in behalf of pardon for Tom Mooney
junctions in labor disputes and providing that picketing
and Warren Billings. Pardon secured in 1937.
and other union activities shall not be considered unlaw-
President Woodrow Wilson becomes first Chief Executive
ful; amends Sherman Act to declare labor of a human
to address A. F. of L. Convention.
being is not a "commodity", thus not subject to Sherman
Act. A major forward step for unions.
Supreme Court upholds "yellow dog" contract in Hitchman
Coal & Coke Co. V. Mitchell.
Joe Hill, IWW troubador and organizer, executed in Utah
for alleged murder of shopkeeper.
Ludlow Massacre-Colorado militia attacks strikers' tent
1918
A. F. of L. appoints Committee on Reconstruction to
colony with machine guns, sets fire to tents during night.
draft post-war program.
Thirty-nine men, women and children are killed. Enraged
Samuel Gompers joins campaign for amnesty for World
miners rout militia, climaxing 20-year class warefare in
War I political prisoners, including Eugene Debs.
Rockies, but fighting ends when President Wilson sends
in federal troops. All who participated in massacre are
National committee for organizing iron and steel workers
absolved.
formed by 16 A. F. of L. unions; Gompers, chairman;
John Fitzpatrick, Chicago Federation of Labor, vice-
The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America formed.
chairman; William Z. Foster, secretary.
First distinct U.S. Employment Service created within De-
1915
partment of Labor.
The La Follette Seamen's Act passed by Congress, estab-
lishing much-improved working conditions, food and al-
A. F. of L. sends delegation to attend inter-allied labor
lowances for sailors. It also protects them from human
conference in London.
sharks who exploit them in port.
1919
Samuel Gompers plays major role in creation of Interna-
1916
The Adamson Act passed by Congress provides eight-hour
tional Labor Organization under initial sponsorship of
day for railroad workers, spurs eight-hour drive in in-
League of Nations. (ILO survived the League, became a
dustry.
UN agency after World War II.)
- 80
81
First nationwide steel strike, conducted by A. F. of L.,
A. F. of L. Executive Council endorses Presidential can-
seeks end of 12-hour day and other improvements. Strike
didacy of Robert LaFollette on the Progressive Party
broken by steel industry's refusal to bargain, plus armed
ticket.
violence and heavy propaganda.
1925
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters founded by A.
Philip Randolph, Ashley Totten and Milton Webster.
1920
Launching of so-called "American Plan" for the open
shop to weaken unions, keep them out of major industrial
John L. Lewis and UMW hit with 19 injunctions restrain-
plants. Mixture of spurious patriotic slogans, intimidation,
ing interference with production of coal in non-union
company unions and "yellow dog" contracts barring union
mines of West Virginia.
membership, results in heavy losses for the labor move-
ment.
1926
Railway Labor Act enacted. Provides for collective bar-
Union membership peaks at 5,047,800.
gaining and settlement of disputes on the nation's rail-
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers launches labor bank
roads.
movement.
Labor Bank movement of 1920s peaks 35 banks with
First compulsory arbitration law passed in Kansas. Por-
resources in excess of $126 million.
tion later declared unconstitutional.
Women's Bureau established in Department of Labor.
1927
Supreme Court, in Bedord Cut Stone Co. V. Journeymen
First federal legislation providing funds for training dis-
Stone Cutters, holds stone cutters refusal to handle non-
abled workers enacted. (Smith-Fess Act.)
union limestone to further unionization unlawful.
Railroads, seized by government during war, returned to
private owners.
1930
A. F. of L. urges adoption of 5-day week, vacations with
Tripartite Railroad Labor Board established to determine
pay, that Federal government establish public employment
labor relations.
offices, initiate public works, and appoint a commission
to study technological unemployment.
1921
Workers' Education Bureau founded with help of his-
1931
Congress passes Davis-Bacon Act; requires payment of
torians Charles and Mary Beard.
prevailing wage for construction workers on government
contracts.
Meat Cutters' packinghouse strike broken, in part, by
importation of black strikebreakers from the South.
First state-wide relief program in New York.
Employment Stabilization Act creates board to advise
President on economy.
1922
Conference for Progressive Political Action formed,
sparked by rail unions.
Unemployment leagues organized.
National Committee on Labor Injunctions formed to pro-
mote anti-injunction measures.
1924
William Green, secretary-treasurer of United Mine Work-
ers, becomes president of A. F. of L., following death of
Samuel Gompers.
1932
Deep depression envelops American economy; unemploy-
82
- 83
ment soars to nearly 14 million; union membership plum-
Committee for Industrial Organization formed by Charles
mets.
P. Howard, ITU; Sidney Hillman, ACW; David Dubinsky,
Congress passes Norris-LaGuardia Act, severely limiting
ILGWU; Thomas T. McMahon, UTW; Harvey C. Frem-
federal court judges from issuing injunctions.
ming, Oil Field, Gas and Refining Workers; Max Zaritsky,
Hat, Cap & Millinery Workers; Thomas H. Brown, Inter-
national Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers; John
L. Lewis, United Mine Workers. John Brophy selected as
1933
National Recovery Act's Section 7a gives unions right to
director. Not all participants remained in the CIO.
bargain with employers.
Organizing drives launched in coal fields and garment
centers sign up 450,000 new members.
1936
Industrial unions banded in Committee for Industrial Or-
ganization launch organizing drives in steel, auto, rubber,
textile and other mass production industries.
1934
President Roosevelt, by executive order, extends power of
First CIO strike, which includes a mile-long picket line,
National Labor Board to hold elections to determine em-
ends in victory for rubber workers at Akron, Ohio Good-
ployees' choice of collective bargaining representatives.
year plant.
National Labor Board elections at H. C. Frick Coke Com-
pany won by UMW; check-off of union dues awarded.
1937
Steel workers win first contracts from U.S. Steel. Other
big corporations begin to recognize industrial unions for
Pacific Coast longshore and seamen strike sparks gen-
first time.
eral strike in San Francisco; strikers win union recognition,
30-hour, six-day week, joint operation of hiring halls.
Auto workers win bargaining rights after historic sit-down
strike at Flint, Mich., GM plant.
Minneapolis teamsters strike ties up city; sparks organiza-
tion of over-the-road truckers.
"Little Steel" strike at Republic, Bethlehem, Inland and
Youngstown Sheet & Tube involves 70,000 workers in
Cotton textile workers strike; 10,000 troops called in six
confrontation with management.
states; 13 killed; strike called off at President's behest.
Memorial Day Massacre-Police fire on unarmed steel-
Kohler Company strike illustrates weakness of NRA, Sec-
workers outside Republic Steel plant in Chicago. Ten shot;
tion 7-a; two strikers killed; National Guard called in;
30 others, including one woman and three minors,
Company agrees to an election; "independent" union wins
wounded; 28 beaten, hospitalized; 30 more injured.
in questionable circumstances.
Electric Auto-Lite strike in Toledo won, sparks further
1938
International Federation of Trade Unions, with A. F. of L.
efforts among auto workers.
backing, rejects affiliation of Soviet "unions."
CIO holds first convention, becomes Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations, with John L. Lewis as its president.
1935
Congress passes National Labor Relations Act (Wagner
Fair Labor Standards Act is passed. It sets a minimum
Act) vastly broadening right of unions to represent workers,
wage and outlaws child labor.
negotiate collective bargaining agreements and protect
members from employer intimidation or coercion against
unions.
1939
Supreme Court declares sit-down strikes illegal.
A. F. of L. convention debates craft V. industrial unionism;
craft unions win debate.
1940
John L. Lewis endorses Wendell Wilkie, pledges resigna-
- 84
- 85
tion as CIO president if Franklin D. Roosevelt not de-
creases; virtually all industries affected: railroad, auto,
feated for third term.
steel, agricultural implements, meat-packing, coal, oil, re-
Ford recognizes United Auto Workers after years of bitter
fining, electrical manufacturing, longshoremen.
opposition.
More than 4,000 strikes in nation involve 2.3 million
1946
When rail strike halts all trains, President Truman takes
workers; 23,000,000 man-days lost. Communists active in
over nation's railroads, settles dispute on his terms.
fomenting many strikes, implementing new line imposed
as consequence of Stalin-Hitler Pact.
Congress, with labor support, passes full employment law
setting goals for national economy.
Lewis steps down, Philip Murray becomes president of
CIO.
Maritime Trades Department established.
1947
1941
March on Washington Movement-A. Philip Randolph,
Congress passes Taft-Hartley Act, severely limiting rights
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, threatens march on
previously contained in Wagner Act. Bill becomes law after
nation's capital against job discrimination. Pres. Roose-
overriding of Pres. Truman's veto.
velt issues Executive Order 8802 banning discrimination
A. F. of L. establishes Labor's. Educational and Political
in defense industries and establishing a Committee on
League; Joseph Keenan, director.
Fair Employment Practices to investigate complaints.
"Little Steel" companies agree to bargain with Steel-
1948
workers.
A. F. of L. and CIO endorse Marshall Plan for European
recovery.
A. F. of L. and CIO begin first joint efforts in support of
national war effort. Pres. Roosevelt keeps urging two labor
UAW negotiates first cost-of-living "escalator" clause.
groups to seek unity.
1949
First pension agreements signed in steel, auto industries,
1942
National War Labor Board is established; issues the "Little
principle spreads quickly to other industries.
Steel" formula which pegs wage increases to rises in the
Communications Workers of America affiliates with CIO.
cost of living.
1952
1943
CIO-PAC established.
William Green and Philip Murray die. George Meany,
previously AFL secretary-treasurer, is elected AFL pres-
Bituminous coal miners strike; government seizes mines.
ident; Walter P. Reuther, president of United Auto Work-
ers, is elected CIO president.
1944
Sewell Avery, president of Montgomery Ward, carried out
of his office by federal troops as government enforces War
1955
AFL and CIO merge into unified labor federation.
Labcr Board decision backing Retail Clerks representation
rights.
Industrial Union Department established.
A. Philip Randolph and Willard S. Townsend, United
Transport Service Employees, elected first black members
1945
Postwar strikes express long pent-up need for wage in-
of AFL-CIO Executive Council.
- 86-
87 -
1957
AFL-CIO convention resolution spells out plans for
1968
COPE, Federation's political arm, expels three unions on
Memphis sanitationmen strike; AFSCME mounts march,
headed by Martin Luther King, Jr.
charges of corruption.
1959
Congress passes Landrum-Griffin Act, containing further
amendment of Wagner Act.
1969
AFL-CIO Labor Studies Center opens.
Transportation-Communication Employees merge with
1960
Congress, with labor's support, passes occupational safety
Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks.
and health law (OSHA).
Charleston, S.C., hospital workers win major strike.
Two bakery unions merge to form Bakery & Confectionery
Workers.
1962
President John F. Kennedy signs Executive Order 10988,
declares: "the efficient administration of the government
and the well-being of employees require that orderly and
1970
United Farm Workers grape boycott wins contracts with
constructive relationships be maintained between employees
25 major California growers.
organizations and management." De-facto recognition of
collective bargaining by federal government.
Walter P. Reuther killed in airplane crash, May 9.
1963
Equal Pay Act for Women passed by Congress with strong
1971
Merger forms Postal Workers.
labor support.
AFL-CIO urges $2.00 minimum wage.
A. Philip Randolph, vice-president, AFL-CIO, and presi-
UAW and AFL-CIO join forces behind National Health
dent of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, organizes
Security.
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Aug. 28;
blacks, liberals and trade unionists make up crowd of
200,000; Martin Luther King, Jr., gives famed "I have a
1972
dream speech.
AFL-CIO sets up nationwide system of price monitoring.
Mergers form Paperworkers and Graphic Arts unions.
1964
With strong labor backing, Congress passes Civil Rights
Act.
1973
AFL-CIO calls for impeachment of President Nixon.
Steelworkers launch Experimental Negotiating Agreement.
1967
AFL-CIO rallies support for Israel during Six-Day War.
Hispanic unionists form Labor Council for Latin American
Advancement.
Farm Workers win first contract at DiGiorgio in California.
AFL-CIO raises $1-million in support of Farm Workers.
UAW, Rubber Workers and ILGWU negotiate major con-
tracts.
SPACE, forerunner of Department for Professional Em-
1974
Employment Retirement Income Security Act enacted.
ployees, chartered by Federation.
Coalition of Labor Union Women formed.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act enacted.
Cigar Makers merge into RWDSU.
I I 88--
- 89 -
Clothing Workers win first-ever representation election at
Sleeping Car Porters merge into BRAC:
J. P. Stevens.
Labor steps up ERA drive as ratification deadline is ex-
Twenty-four unions form AFL-CIO Public Employees
tended.
Department.
Merger forms Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers.
1975
President Ford's vetoes prompt special session of AFL-
1979
CIO General Board to call for job creation.
George Meany steps down as president of AFL-CIO. Lane
Kirkland elected president; Thomas R. Donahue, secre-
Ford vetoes common situs picketing bill he pledged to
tary-treasurer.
sign.
AFL-CIO hosts Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's first U.S. address.
1979
Merger of Retail Clerks and Meat Cutters into United
AFL-CIO urges acceptance of 100,000 refugees as South
Food and Commercial Workers creates largest union in
Vietnam falls.
AFL-CIO.
AFL-CIO walks out of ILO when Palestinian terrorists
are seated.
1980
George Meany dies.
J. P. Stevens boycott ends after 17 years when company
1976
Clothing and Textile unions merge.
recognizes Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers
Rubber Workers strike four months to win major tire
Union at seven plants.
agreements.
Steelworkers win first contract at Newport News (Va.)
Food & Beverage Trades Department chartered.
Shipbuilding.
AFL-CIO creates Polish Workers' Aid Fund.
1977
Minimum wage law goes to $3.35 minimum in four steps.
Joyce Miller elected first woman on AFL-CIO Executive
Council.
House passes labor law reform.
Boot & Shoe Workers merge with Retail Clerks.
1981
September 19, Solidarity Day-Greatest rally in labor
AFL-CIO convention greets Israeli and Egyptian labor
history draws 400,000 working men and women and their
ministers.
allies to the Mall in Washington, D.C. to protest philosophy
Congress, with strong labor support, passes Humphrey-
and actions of the Reagan Administration.
Hawkins Act reinforcing government statement in support
November 16-20-AFL-CIO holds its Centennial conven-
of philosophy of full employment.
tion in New York City.
1978
Senate filibuster kills labor law reform.
Missouri voters defeat right-to-work.
Steelworkers win election at Newport News shipyard; sig-
nificant breakthrough for southern organizing.
90
91
New York, International Publishers, V. 1-1947, V. 2-1955, V. 3-
1964, V. 4-1965, V. 5-1980. "Undertakes to present a new in-
terpretation of the history of the labor movement in the U. S.
based on manuscripts, newspapers, pamphlets and the existing
monographic materials." Preface, p. 11. Latest volume ends in
1915.
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trial Society. 2nd ed. Tampa, Fla., Russell, 1958. Reprint of
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1909-11 edition. 10 v. A basic source book for American labor
IWW as told by the "Wobblies" themselves through their tracts,
history.
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4 V. A basic, seminal history of the American labor movement.
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93
of 1967 ed. Covers the 50 years between the Civil War and
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95
OFFICIAL BOOK OF AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR.
3
American Federation of Labor.
CRAFTS-ALL
-TOGETHER!
President,
SAMUEL GOMPERS, 21 Clinton Place, New York.
Secretary,
P.J. McGUIRE, P. O. Box 884, Philadelphia, Pa.
AMERICIAN
FEDERATION
CF
REGISTER OF TRADE UNIONS LED BY THE AMERICAN FEDERATION
OF LABOR.
TRADES.
No. of
Total
TITLES OF TRADES UNIONS.
Local
Member-
Unions
ship.
CONGRESS
AFL
LABOR
C/O
on
OFFICIAL ADDRESSES.
Bakers
Journeymen Bakers' National Union
Barbers
7 New Chambers St., New York
70
National Union of Barbers
19,000
Muskegon, Mich., H. G. Hoch
Boatmen
12
International Boatmen's Union
5,500
26 Albany St., New York
Bollermakers.
2
Intern. Brotherhood of Iron Shipbuilders
1,000
227 Spring St.,
Bookkeepers
32
3,600
CF
Federation of Bookkeepers
103 Hoyt St., Brooklyn, N. Y
Bottleblowers
4,000
Druggists' Ware Glassblowers' League, E.
19 Third Ave.,
3,500
ORGANIZATIONS
W.
Michigan City, Ind., L. Arrington
Brakemen
Brotherhood of R.R. Brakemen
4,500
Galesburgh, III., E. F. O'Shea
Brewers
264
12,000
INDUSTRIAL
Brewers' National Union
213 Forsyth St., New York
21
Bricklayers
Intern Bricklayers' & Stonemasons'
2,500
Union
Box 1074, Cohoes, N. Y., T. O'Dea.
161
Building Laborers
Building Laborers and Hodcarriers
23,000
26 Colony Sr., S. Boston, Mass
30
8,000
Carpenters
Amalg. Society of Carpenters and Joiners
627 First Ave., New York
33
2,270
Bro. of Carpenters & Joiners of America.
P. O. Box 884, Philadelphia, Pa
484
Cigarmakers
53,240
Cigarmakers' International Union
Buffalo, N. Y., A. Straeter
260
28,000
Carriagemakers
Carriage and Wagonmakers' Union
117 E. Fourth St., N. Y
Coalminers
1,000
Nat Fed. of Miners and Mine Laborers
New Straitsville, O., C. Evans
35,000
Minors' and Laborers' Amalg. Association
Scottdale, Pa., W. H. Mullen
6,000
Kumroy. O., Ebenezer Lewis
14,000
Carbon, Ind., P. H. Penna
52
7,000
Miners' Protective Association
Springfield, III., P. H. Donnelly
10,000
Conductors
Order of Railroad Conductors
Cedar Rapids, la., C. S. Wheaton
8,000
Coopers
National Union of Coopers of the U. 8
531 W. 49th St., New York
11
15,000
Elastic Web Weavers
Amalgamated Association U. S. A
39 William St., Bridgeport, Conn
7
1,000
Engineers
Amalgamated Society of Engineers
333 E. 18th St., New York
47
2,430
Brotherbood of Locomotive Engineers
Cleveland, O., P. M. Arthur
394
25,000
Brotherhood of Stationary Engineers
Cincinnati, O., G. G. Minor
6,000
Firemen
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
Terra Haute, Ind., E. V. Debs
380
19,000
Furnitureworkers
Furnitureworkers' Union of America
339 E. 21st St., New York
26
5,800
Glassworkers
Flint Glassworkers' Union of N. America
Pittsburgh, Pa.. W. J. Dillon
83
6,000
Granitecutters
Granitecutters' National Union
Lock Drawer II. Barro, Vt
86
5,000
Hairspinners
Hairapinners' National Union of America
1727 BaltimoreSt., Baltimore, Md.
4
900
Hatters
Hatfinishers' Intern. Assoc. of N. America
56 Pulaski St., Brooklyn
15
4,450
Hatmakers' Intern. Assoc. of N. America
39 Union Ave., Jamaica Plain, Mass
12
3,500
Silk Hatters' Association
212 Broadway, New York
17
1,000
Wool Hatters Association
Matteawan, N. Y., A. M. Taylor
12
800
Horse Collarmakers.
Horse Collarmakers' Union
Bt. Louis, Mo., T. Holland
21
1,500
Horseshoers
Horseshoers' Association
367 E. 67th St., New York
32
8,000
Ironmoulders
Ironmoulders' Union of North America
Cincinnati, O., P. F. Fitzpatrick
250
28,671
Iron & Steelworkers.
Amalg. Assoc. of Iron and Steelworkers
Plitsburgh, Pa., W. Welhe
117
35,000
Metalworkers
Metalworkers' Union of North America
Baltimore, Md George Appell
12
1,200
Musicians.
Musicians' National League
1203 Chestnut St., Philadelphia
18
9,000
Oystermen
National Trade Union of Oystermen
254 W. 15th 81., New York
11
1,000
Patternmakers
National Patternmakers' League
Philadelphia, Pa., W. J. Johnson.
9
1,000
Painters & Decorat's
Broth of Paintersand Decorators of Amer.
Baltimore, Md., T J. Elliot
116
5,500
Planomakers
Planomakers' Union
502 Graham Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y.
5,000
Plasterers
Operative Plasterers' Internat. Union
St. Louis, Mo., Jos. McDonnell
20
2,500
Plumbers
Journeymen Plumbers and Gasfitters' P.
and B. Society
Newark, N. J., J. A. Harris
6,000
Printers
International Typographical Union
56 Vance Block, Indianapolis
275
24,000
German-American Typographia
115 Park Row, New York
20
1,100
Switchmen
Brotherhood of Railroad Switchmen
Ohicago, III., Jos. D. Hill
58
5,000
Shoelasters
Lasters Protective Union
Lynn. Mass., Ed. L. Daly
66
9,500
Spinners
Mulespinners' Union
Fall River. Mars., R. Howard
10,000
Stonecutters
Stonecutters' Union
Box 2260, St. Paul, Minn., T. Ward
20
1,500
Tailors
Journeymen Tailors' Union of America
85 E. 7th St., New York
70
9,500
Telegraphers
Brotherhood of Telegraphers
76 Cortlandt St.,
6,000
Textileworkers
Textileworkers' Prog. Union of America.
Philadelphia, P., R. Hoffman
8
1,000
Umbrella and Cane-
Umbrella, Pipe & Caneworkers' National
workers
Union of America.
Jersey City, N. J., T. Mendles
5
1,300
Woodcarvers
Woodcarvers' Union
90 Pitt St., New York
9
1,000
Total, 1888-89
549,461
Facsimile page from "Official Book," A. F. of L. Convention, 1889.
96