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were, however, disrupted when the passage of an anti-CIO resolution was thwarted
for a time by a rebellion of unionists from Allegheny County, who complained that
the convention should have been held as scheduled in Cumberland, but that the
leadership changed the site because it was fearful of CIO strength in that city. And
red-baiting the CIO was a major pass-time at the convention, but it was taken to
new heights during the closing session when, in comparing the AFL to the CIO
during his major convention address, national AFL president William Green
rhetorically asked, "Can we believe in men and women who believe in America, or
in men who get their inspiration and orders from Moscow?" This convention had
the largest group of Black delegates ever — 9 out of over 200 — and the extent of the
convention's obsession with the CIO can be seen in the admission to the Afro by
several of these delegates that they joined the white majority in opposing a
resolution to organize unskilled Black laborers and domestic workers because the
delegates who proposed the bill, who were also Black, were suspected of CIO
leanings.
In contrast, the CIO focused, not on the controversy with the AFL, but on its
own future. Indeed, 1937 was the year that CIO regional machinery was fully
established in the Baltimore metropolitan area. In July, the Baltimore Industrial
Council (BIC) was established during a meeting of 77 CIO delegates at the NMU
hall in Baltimore. BIC claimed a membership 27 local unions representing
approximately 40,000 workers. Maryland CIO Director, Frank Bender, originally
from the UMW, was elected president; other key officers included Pat Whalen of
the NMU, Ulisse De Dominicis of the ACW, Angela Bambace of the ILGWU, and
John J. Mates of SWOC.53
Then, in early November, the first convention of the Maryland and District
of Columbia Industrial Union Council (MDCIUC) was held at Moose Hall in
Baltimore. Present were 215 delegates from 98 CIO locals. As was the case with
the BIC, a leader from the UMW, John T. Jones, was elected president. Also, the
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