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| 34 COJHU1TISM HI LABOR Communism in the American Federation of Labor, The problem of Communism has never become a serious national issue in the A* F. of L, There are two reasons for this situation* The first is that the constitutions of the A. F. of L. unions give relatively more power to the national union • and less to the constituent local bodies. As a result, national officers' are better able to stamp out Communism by executive action. If necessary, they can suspend the autonomy of the local body and appoint an administrator to clear up the situation. The very centralization of power which has led at time to autocracy and other abuses is the most effective protection against Communism, The second reason for slow penetration is the fact that in the older A. F, of L, unions, the members are trained and experienced unionists. They are not easily fooled by a clique of clever parliamentar- ians. Many of the locals are sufficiently small in size, in contrast to giant mass-production industry locals, to permit personal Imowledge and appraisal of officers. As a result, there has been relatively little penetration by Communists on a national scale. In the A. F. of L, there are several local situations where Communists have complete power over local and oven occasionally national unions. Such a condition obtains as a rule because of geographical concentrations of Communists in a given locality. Such v,rould be the case in Hew York. In other situations, Communists have made extraordinary efforts to capture locals, as happened with many motion picture locals in Hollywood, Cleveland and San Francisco"are other districts where there is some Communist strength in the A, F, of L, The most dramatic current example of attempted penetra- tion was the attempt of Communists to seize control of the International Longshoremen's Association, currently headed by Joseph Ryan, Harry Bridges came East to direct this fight in person, and Nathan Witt is attorney for the insurgent group, with Vfilliam E. Warren formerly leading the "rank-and- file11 members'. The Communisb controlled C.I.O. unions connected with maritime v/ork, namely, the National Maritime Union, the American Communica- tions Association, Marine Cooks and Stewards Association, and also the unaffiliated'but Communist Marine Firemen*s, Oilerst, TTatertenders1 and Wipers Union, were all actively supporting the insurgent group and incidental- ly tying up shipping. Warren later admitted that "Blackie" ityers of the N,II.U< contributed 025,000 to the rank-and-file, What makes this situation some- what obscure, however, is the fact that the Communists are exploiting a real grievance, lir. Ryan is an autocrat and is alleged to rule by means of a murderous "goon squad" which terrorizes the waterfront. It is interesting to note that a second insurgent group, non-Communist in character, is beginning to take shape. It is also significant that in addressing the Hew York State Communist Convention on Saturday, August 11, John Steuben said: "We propose to go back to the waterfront, Joe Ryan has had it too easy for several years." (Confidential trade union source) Comments on the A. F. of L, in both Conventions, obtained from a unionist who attended and took good notes, are worth summarizing, since they may aid in understanding future developments. The main Communist objective is to oust the alleged reactionary leadership of the A. F. of L, and to force that body to enter the World Federation of Trade Unions (T7FTU), In doing this, Communists'feel that they have some chance of penetrating'the building trades unions, hitherto most conservative. As proof of this, Steuben cited the changed attitude towards Comrade Louis Tfeinstock (Painters), who is "now a recognized leader in the building industry." The |