The reds in our labor unions


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THE REDS
IN OUR LABOR UNIONS

by

Richard Ginder

Is Phil Murray a Communist?

Phil Murray, president pf the CIO, is a

devout Catholic. He detests communism. One

of his most intimate friends, Charles Owen

Rice, the Pittsburgh labor-priest, says of Mur-

ray and the Reds boring into his CIO : ‘‘Often

I have talked this problem over with him. I

know that he worries and prays about it. It is

his greatest cross.”

Joseph and Stewart Alsop, writing in The

Saturday Evening Post of March 1, 1947,

report that “There is no doubt at all about

how Murray feels toward the communists. He

hates them. At a recent meeting of the execu-

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tive board of the United Automobile Workers,

he spoke with extraordinary violence, his

voice shaking with rage and contempt, of ‘the

filthy communists.’ On several occasions he

has urged pro*communist CIO leaders to look

into their hearts and make sure that their first

loyalty was to the United States. In recent

months his feelings have been growing more

intense.”

Then there are communists in the CIO?

There are and they are harder to get out

than vermin from an old mattress.

How did they get in?

The commies swarmed into the CIO when

it was being led by John L. Lewis. They were

first-class organizers and, in depression days,

when the CIO was being formed, communist

influence ran high in the country. Lewis

thought he could use them and then ditch

them. He used them all right, but then he

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found it impossible to dislodge them. So he

bequeathed them to his successor, Murray,

and now cynically points to the CIO as Red-

dominated—cynically, because it was through
his own blunder that the commies got a foot-

hold in the CIO.

But weren^t there commies in the unions
before the time of ^^Big John^^?

Yes—notably Harry Bridges on the West
Coast; the leaders of the United Electrical

Workers, CIO; the Reds in the Maritime

Union and among the United Automobile

Workers. They were there ahead of John L.,

but he did nothing to discourage them.

Do the Reds Like Lewis?

No—the parting of the ways came when
Hitler attacked Stalin. John L. had been an

isolationist—with the commies, since up until
then Hitler and Stalin had been holding hands

via the non-aggression pact and, as far as the

cx)mmies were concerned, the anti-Hitler war

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was ^‘imperialistic.” Their tune changed,

though, and it became a “people’s” war when

the Nazis marched into the U.S.S.R. John L.,

however, stood pat—still an isolationist, in
spite of Red screams for all-out aid to the

Allies.

Do the Reds Like Phil Murray?

Of course not. He took over only after a

strong anti-communist resolution had been

put through by the nominating convention

and only after he had been given a personal

assurance that Lewis would not interfere and

would never ask him to do anything against

his God, his country, or his union.

Why doesn^t Murray sweep out the
unions?

Because he has no direct control over them.

The CIO is a congress of independent unions,

somewhat as the U. S. is a federation of in-

dependent states. Murray could no more in-

terfere within an individual union than the

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President of the United States could interfere

in the affairs of a particular State. He could

expel a union, but what good would that do?

It would only cut off completely what little

influence over it he now enjoys. And the Red-

dominated unions could form their own Con-

gress and thus be an even greater nuisance

than they are now.

Why do you call a Redenominated union
a ^‘nuisance^^?

Because the control of the union has passed

from the good honest rank-and-file to the

hands of a shrewd clique who manipulate

the thing not for the best interest of the work-

ers but for the furtherance of their own screw-

ball ideas. These ideas look toward setting

up a dictatorship on the Soviet pattern in this

country; but this can hardly be done without

a revolution; and the revolution will best be

brought about by agitation, strikes and the

promotion of bad feeling generally. Besides,

they are pledged to the support of the Soviet

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foreign policy, and that accounts for the pe-

culiar resolutions passed on the conduct of.

our government, the strange causes sponsored

and aided by individual unions.

Has any progress been made in clearing
out the Reds?

Yes.—^The Textile Workers have been swept
clean; the Utility Workers; the Newspaper

Guild; the Furniture Workers; the Rubber

Workers. The Packing House Workers have

shown an improvement; and even in the Unit-

ed Electrical Workers there is a grass-root re-

volt in development.

^^Grass-root revoW^?

A purge from the bottom rather than from
the top. The assertion of their fundamental

American common-sense by the rank-and-file.

A sort of mass-impatience with communist
dictation from the officers. A refusal to be
pushed around on the part of dues-paying

members.

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Is the Southern CIO drive dear of the
commies?

Yes.

What about the AFL?

They have a pretty good record, although

some spots are Red—such as the painters in
the Bronx, some of the hotel and restaurant

workers; the Hollywood studio unions, and

many a Canadian union.

Could you name a few Kechdominated
unions?

That’s a hard thing to do, because there is

a tremendous struggle for power within the

various unions going on right now. However,

Andrew Avery writing during the summer of

1946 in the Chicago Journal of Commerce

lists the following CIO aflSliates as ‘Tn the

Communist zone”:

American Communications Association
Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied

Workers
Inti. Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s

Union

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Int, Union of Fishermen & Allied Workers
Int. Union of Fur & Leather Workers
Inti. Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter

Workers
(Just the Western Locals; the Eastern ones are

safe.

)

Inland Boatmen^s Union of the Pacific

Marine Cooks and Stewards Association

Transport Workers Union

United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers

United Farm Equipment & Metal Workers
United Furniture Workers
(Lately merged with the Woodworkers, a safe

outfit.

)

United OflSce & Professional Workers
(whicS lately absorbed the Federation of Archi-

tects, Engineers, Chemists & Technicians.)

United Public Workers,
(“Formed by recent merger of United Federal

Workers and the State, County & Municipal Work-
ers, CIO.”)

Joe Curren is trying desperately to pull his

National Maritime Union away from Red in-

fluences.

“As leaning toward communists,” Mr.

Avery lists:

Barbers & Beauty Culturists

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United Gas, Coke & Chemical Workers
(“organized during Stalin-Hitler pact by com-

munists who seceded from United Mine Workers.
But since then communist influence has weakened,

and there may be a further shift away from com-
^ munism.”)

Of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers,

Mr. Avery says: ‘‘This was Sidney Hillman’s

Union. He bossed it. Although allied with

the communists in the CIO and in Moscow-

dominated World Federation of Trade

Unions, he didn’t let them get important in

his own union. He was ready to turn against

them whenever it might be to his advantage.

It remains to be seen whether his death has

left the union so weak at the top that the com-

munists will overcome the barriers he built

against them.”

Are any of the CIO affiliates against
communism?

Yes:

United Brewery Workers
United Chemical Workers

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Amaiganuited Lithographers
Marine & Shipbuilding Workers
American Newspaper Guild
(excepting the Red-controlled New York chap-

ter.)

^ Oil Workers International Union
Packinghouse Workers
Retail & Wholesale Workers
United Rubber Workers
United Steel Workers
(Phil Murray’s union.)

Textile Workers
Transport Service Workers
Utility Workers
Woodworkers
Paper Workers

These are all pretty solidly anti-communist.

How can I find out the color of my
union? / don^t see it on any of your
lists.

Write to the Reverend Charles Owen Rice,

61 Tannehill Street, Pittsburgh 19, Pennsyl-

vania. Father Rice is a well informed “labor-

priest” with access to unusually complete files

of informatioh. He will gladly answer your

letter and tell you how your union stands.

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How would you estimate communist
strength in the CIO?

The Alsop Brothers’ estimate ‘‘gives the

communists control of unions having about 25

percent of the CIO’s membership, and power-

ful influence in unions having another 25

percent.” They stress the fact that this is a

constantly shifting picture.

f am a Catholic belonging to a Red^
dominated union. Must I quit?

While no Catholic may be a communist,

you do not become one by belonging to a

communist-controlled union. Don’t quit. Stick

in there and swing your weight.

You say no Catholic may be a commum
ist. What about Mike Quill?

If he’s a communist, he’s no Catholic, no

matter what he says.

How does communism square with Prot-^
estantism?

Communism is essentially atheistic, teach-

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ing that Religion is the opium of the people

—^hence that Protestants are dopes and their
ministers are frauds.

Vm just a lone card^holder. I detest com-
munism, but what can I do?

You can do plenty. Go to all your council

and union meetings. Don’t miss one of them;

and sit them through to the bitter end. Part

of the Red strategy is to make these meetings

so long and dull that only the communist

fanatics will have the strength to last them

out. They’re only waiting for you to yawn

and go home so that they can vote things the

way Stalin wants them.

Find out the standing of your union on

communism. If it is Red-controlled, use your

vote to drive the rascals out and put in a set

of Americans. Express yourself by applause

or jeers. Get your friends around you and

form a claque. Talk down communism at

your job, explaining how the Reds are either

dupes or traitors. Read up on the subject.

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Isn^t this what they call ^‘Red^baiting^^ ?

Yes, but what of it? Why shouldn’t traitors

be baited and hounded, and driven out of the

country? Red-baiting right now is a patriotic

duty, as long as we are sure that our victims

are communists. The test will be their stand

on Soviet aggression in Poland, Yugoslavia

and Finland. If they condemn them, they’re

OK. But if they give Stalin (with his 10,000,-

000 labor slaves) a clean bill of health

—

watch them

!

Where cm I get more information on
communism?

A list of valuable publications can be had
by writing to the National Catholic Welfare

Council, Washington 5, D. C.—or to the pub-
lishers of this leaflet.

Information on the color of any particular

union may be had, as was said earlier, by

writing to Rev. Charles Owen Rice, 61 Tanne-

hill Street, Pittsburgh 19, Pennsylvania; or

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by writing to A.C.T.U., 226 Lafayette Street,

New York 12, New York; or to A.C.T.U., 58

West Adams Street, Detroit 26, Michigan

—

whichever is closest.

Published By

THE CATHOLIC INFORMATION SOQETY
214 West 31st St., New York 1, N. Y.

( OPPOSITE PENN TERMINAL

)

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