Labor Dis-Unity: A 1920’s Source of Left-Wing anti-Communism

Abstract

The Communist Party’s (CP) “Third Period” shift in labor policy from the Trade Union Education League (TUEL) effort of “boring from within” mainstream unions to the Trade Union Unity League (TUUL) effort to create new independent “revolutionary” unions is dismissed in much of the literature. In a close study of New York’s independent hotel workers, we see a more complex story. The CP and TUEL thwarted leftwing unionists’ efforts to organize a federation of independent, amalgamated industrial unions called the Labor Unity Council in the early 1920’s. Activists who resented the hasty directive to recreate an independent “Unity” federation of radical unions a few short years later became an early pocket of left-wing anti-communism. We also see how one union, the Amalgamated Food Workers, negotiated and resisted CP directives, as well as how its breakaway TUUL competitor, the Food Workers Industrial Union, was divisive until the New Deal National Recovery Administration labor codes forced the unions into a degree of coordination and eventually merger that preceded the CP shift toward the “Popular Front.”

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Edward P. Johanningsmeier, “The Trade Union Unity League: American Communists and the Transition to Industrial Unionism: 1928-1934,” Labor History, 42, no. 2 (May 2001): 168.

2 Victor G. Devinatz, “A Reevaluation of the Trade Union Unity League, 1929-1934,” Science & Society, 71, no. 1 (January 2007): 33–58.

3 Howard Kimmeldorf wrote an excellent book about how NYC’s hotel workers were part of a little-noticed trend of former IWW strongholds winding up in the AFL instead of the CIO. The twists and turns of the Communist Party line were outside the bounds of his narrative. Howard Kimeldorf, Battling for American labor: wobblies, craft workers, and the making of the union movement. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.)

4 “Belmont Waiters Refuse To Go Out,” New York Times, January 12, 1913.

5 David J. Saposs, Left Wing Unionism. (New York: International Publishers, 1926), 153.

6 Kimmeldorf, Battling for American Labor, 129–130.

7 International Workers in the Amalgamated Food Industries. Constitution of the International Workers in the Amalgamated Food Industries adopted at the joint convention of the International Federation of Workers in the Hotel, Restaurant, Club and Catering Industry, and the Journeymen Bakers' and Confectioners' International Union of America, held in New York City, May 24–29, 1920. (New York: The Co-operative Press, 1920).

8 Ibid., p. 10.

9 Ibid., p. 7.

10 Ibid., pp. 18–19.

11 “Notice To Branches,” Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, February 1, 1921.

12 Op Cit., International Workers in the Amalgamated Food Industries. 1920, p. 20.

13 Matthew Josephson, Union House, Union Bar; the History of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, AFL-CIO. (New York: Random House, 1956), 142–144.

14 This is also a story worth telling, and I will tell it, but in another publication. For now, the best book on the subject is Mary M. Stolberg’s account of Thomas E. Dewey’s politically-motivated racketeering prosecutions of the 1930’s. Fighting Organized Crime: Politics, Justice, and the Legacy of Thomas E. Dewey (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1995).

15 Op. Cit. Saposs, 155.

16 Marion Dutton Savage, Industrial Unionism in America, (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1922), 28.

17 The entire history of the Amalgamated Textile Workers is masterfully documented in David J. Goldberg’s A Tale of Three Cities: Labor Organization and Protest in Paterson, Passaic and Lawrence, 1916–1921 (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1989).

18 Op. Cit., Saposs, 155.

19 Op Cit., Savage, 112.

20 It is unclear how many AFW activists were involved in the underground communist faction fights that preceded the Workers Party but the independent union received positive coverage in the Communist Labor Party’s Toiler newspaper.

21 “The Workers Party,” Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, January 15, 1922.

22 "'Outside unions form central body: new united labor council declares war on the American federation. 25 locals organize here members must indorse declaration that conflict exists between workers and employers." New York Times, July 07, 1920. 

23 “Towards Unity,” Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, January 15, 1922.

24 “United Labor Council of America,” The Toiler, December 3, 1921.

25 “Resolution on the Red Trade Union International,” Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, January 15, 1922.

26 Vladimir I. Lenin, Left Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder. (New York: International Publishers, 1940), 38.

27 “First National Conference of the Trade Union Education League,” The Labor Herald, September, 1922.

28 “Progress Backward,” Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, September 15, 1922.

29 “Resolutions and Decisions of the First International Congress of Revolutionary Trade and Industrial Unions,” The American Labor Union Educational Society, 1922, 62.

30 “Contradictions–Confusion,” Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, February 15, 1923.

31 Ibid.

32 Ibid.

33 William Z. Foster, “Five Vital Conferences,” Labor Herald, January 1923.

34 “National Committee Activities,” The Labor Herald, March, 1923.

35 “National Committee Activities,” The Labor Herald, March, 1923.

36 “The T.U.E.L. and the Independent Unions,” Labor Herald, April 1923.

37 “The T.U.E.L. and the Independent Unions,” Labor Herald, April 1923.

38 “The T.U.E.L. and the Independent Unions,” Labor Herald, April 1923.

39 “Second General Conference of the Trade Union Education League,” Labor Herald, October 1923.

40 “The T.U.E.L. and the Independent Unions,” Labor Herald, April 1923.

41 “Second General Conference of the Trade Union Education League,” Labor Herald, October 1923.

42 Op Cit., Johanningsmeier, p. 168.

43 Edward P. Johanningsmeier, Forging American Communism: the Life of William Z. Foster. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998), pp. 227–228.

44 James R. Barrett, William Z. Foster and the Tragedy of American Radicalism. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999), 171

45 Edward P. Johanningsmeier, “The Trade Union Unity League: American Communists and the Transition to Industrial Unionism: 1928–1934,” Labor History, 42, no. 2 (May 2001): 165.

46 Ibid. p. 175.

47 “Burkhart, Lore Man, Maintains Hold On Locals,” The Daily Worker. April 12, 1928.

48 Sam Kramberg, “The Food Workers Need a Union,” Free Voice, March 1, 1929.

49 “Amalgamated Food Workers Start Drive Today to End 12 Hour Day in Cafeterias,” Daily Worker, March 18, 1929.

50 “Dress Strike Spreads As More Workers Join,” Daily Worker, February 8, 1929.

51 “Restaurant Workers Order Strike Today,” New York Times, April 4, 1929.

52 “13 Pickets Seized in Cafeteria Strike,” New York Times, April 5, 1929.

53 “Extend Cafeteria Strike,” New York Times, May 5, 1929.

54 “Delays Enjoining Strikers,” New York Herald Tribune, April 17, 1929.

55 “45 Pickets Seized in Cafeteria Strike,” New York Times, April 16, 1929.

56 “Soviets Greet Cafeteria Strikers,” New York Times. May 25, 1929.

57 “Strikers Rout 200 Diners.” New York Herald Tribune, April 23, 1929.

58 “39 More Arrested in Cafeteria Strike,” New York Times, April 21, 1929.

59 “East Side Cafeterias Damaged By Strikers,” New York Times, May 3, 1929.

60 “Drastic Ban Signed Against Picketing,” New York Times, May 9, 1929.

61 “2 Leaders Fined $250 in Cafeteria Strike,” New York Times, May 18, 1929.

62 “Strikers Prefer Prison to Fines,” New York Times, June 2, 1929.

63 “Extend Cafeteria Strike,” New York Times, May 5, 1929.

64 Labor Unity, March 1929.

65 Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes and Kyrill M. Anderson. The Soviet World of American Communism (Hartford CT: Yale University Press, 1998), 50–51, 58

66 “Intl Pres. Hotel, Res., Employees Int. All. Aids Bosses Break N.Y. Cafeteria Strike,” Labor Unity, June 8, 1929.

67 “Composition Shows Mass Base of T.U.U.L.,” Labor Unity, September 14, 1929.

68 “Struggle for Demands of T.U.U.L.,” Labor Unity, September 14, 1929.

69 “Food Workers League Going Full Speed,” Labor Unity, October 5, 1929.

70 “Convention Discussions,” Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, December 1, 1929.

71 Leilah Danielson, American Ghandi: A.J. Muste and the History of Radicalism in the Twentieth Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), 179.

72 Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, February 1, 1931.

73 Bryan D. Palmer, James P. Cannon and the Origins of the American Revolutionary Left 1890-1928 (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2007), 323–331.

74 James P. Cannon, The History of American Trotskyism (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1972), 126–127

75 “Convention Takes Steps to Build Union,” Food Worker, December 1931.

76 “Jay Rubin. 100-HQ-253223,” Federal Bureau of Investigations, 129 (Documents in possession of the author).

77 “Jay Rubin. 100-HQ-253223,” Federal Bureau of Investigations, 47, 103 (Documents in possession of the author).

78 “Michael J. Obermeier. 100-HQ-96104.” Federal Bureau of Investigations, 59 (Documents in possession of the author).

79 “Michael J. Obermeier. 100-HQ-96104.” Federal Bureau of Investigations, 59 (Documents in possession of the author).

80 Victor G. Devinatz, “A Reevaluation of the Trade Union Unity League, 1929-1934.” Science & Society, 71, no. 1. (Jan. 2007), 33–58.

81 Melvyn Dubofsky, The State and Labor in Modern America. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994), 111–119.

82 Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, October 1, 1933.

83 Op Cit. Josephson, 191.

84 “Unity is Urgent Need in NY Hotel Strike, Says Industrial Union,” Daily Worker, January 27, 1934.

85 “Throngs Quit the Waldorf Hungry As 600 of Staff Strike at 7 P.M,” New York Times, January 24, 1934.

86 Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, January 1, 1934.

87 “Strike Closes Main Waldorf Dining Rooms: 600 Chefs and Waiters Quit Posts at Dinner Hour in Protest Over Notice Served on Cook Union Threatens City-Wide Walkout Oscar Rallies Staff for 3 Formal Meals,” New York Herald Tribune, January 24, 1934.

88 “Waldorf Strike Solid,” Daily Worker, January 26, 1934.

89 “Unity is Urgent Need in NY Hotel Strike, Says Industrial Union,” Daily Worker, January 27, 1934.

90 “Festive Crowds Celebrate Here,” New York Herald Tribune, January 31, 1934.

91 “2,000 Strikers Join in Waldorf Demonstration,” New York Herald Tribune, January 31, 1934.

92 “Two Hotels Join Strike, Hail Unity,” Daily Worker, January 31, 1934.

93 “Strikers in March Picket 50 Hotels,” New York Times, January 31, 1934.

94 “Riot at Waldorf Quelled By Police,” New York Times, February 6, 1934.

95 “Hotel Strikers Mass on Picket Lines,” Daily Worker, February 7, 1934.

96 “Hotel Strike Ends,” New York Times, February 16, 1934.

97 “Field in Final Move to Betray N.Y. Hotel Strike,” Daily Worker, February 16, 1934.

98 “N.R.A. Board Announces End of Hotel Strike,” New York Herald Tribune, February 16, 1934.

99 “1500 Hotel Strikers in Mass Demonstration,” Daily Worker, February 12, 1934.

100 “Hotel Strikers Crash Windows as Truce Fails,” New York Herald Tribune, February 17, 1934.

101 “Hotel Strikers Picket Despite Betrayal Move,” Daily Worker, February 19, 1934. “Hotel Picketing Resumed,” Daily Worker, February 21, 1934.

102 “How Field, Cannon, and Gitlow Betrayed N.Y. Hotel Strike,” Daily Worker, March 5, 1934.

103 Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, May 1, 1934.

104 Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers, April 1, 1934.

105 Throughout the N.R.A. negotiations, Field refused to meet with Cannon’s Communist League and he was communicating less and less with his own executive board and strike committee. With the FWIU gaining members and influence, Cannon worried that Trotskyists would get a bad reputation for not knowing how to run effective strikes and that his Stalinist rivals would take advantage. “We had the name of leading the strike but not the influence to shape its policy, thanks to the treachery of Field,” he explained years later. The Trotskyists put Field on trial in absentia and expelled him from the League.

Cannon writes about this in pages 132–133 of his History of American Trotskyism (Pathfinder Press, 1972). His ham-fisted writing has led latter-day Trotskyists to conclude that the lesson was that a union president should be subject to party discipline if he does not take orders from a tiny sect with no real connection to the workers (as the International Socialist Organization justified its expulsion of the president of the Chicago Teachers Union in recent years). It is clear from reading the primary source documents (Not just the Free Voice, Food Worker, Daily Worker and Militant newspapers, but also the New York Times and Herald-Tribune) that Field was an inept leader who lied to his members on the rare occasions that he deigned to meet with them, who actively avoided hearing advice from more experienced organizers, was a subject of ridicule at the NRA and Hotel Association and who was losing not just the strike but the entire union. Cannon was right to sever his organization’s reputation with the man.

106 Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers,. May 1, 1934.

107 Free Voice of the Amalgamated Food Workers,. July 1, 1930.

108 “Amalgamated Officials Are Ousted by Rank and File,” Food Worker, April 1934.

109 “Amalgamated and Food Union Plan for National Merger,” Food Worker, May 1934.

110 “Statement of the Food Workers Industrial Union on Merger,” Food Worker, Food Worker,. May 1934.

111 “Who Wants to Unite?” Food Worker,. Volume III, Number 15 (June 1934).

112 “All Want to Amalgamate,” Free Voice, June, 1934.

113 Stuart Bruce Kaufman, A Vision of Unity: The History of the Bakery and Confectionery Workers International Union, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987), 114

114 Jay Rubin, “For One Union,” Food Worker, October–November 1934.

115 Op. Cit. Devinatz, p. 53.

116 Free Voice, January 1, 1935.

117 Op. Cit. Kaufman, p. 114.

118 Shaun Richman, “Ideology Vs. ‘Rule or Ruin’ Politics in the Downfall of the Communists in the NYC Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, 1934–1952,” American Communist History, 11, no. 3 (2012), 243–264.

119 Bryan D. Palmer. “Rethinking the Historiography of United States Communism,” American Communist History, 2, no. 2, (2003): 139–159.

120 James R. Barrett. “The History of American Communism and our Understanding of Stalinism,” American Communist History, 2, no. 2 (2003): 179.

121 Most of these are archived at the New York Public Library; HRE Local 6 and the New York Hotel Trades Council’s files are deposited at New York University, and, for some reason, 1919’s Hotel Worker is found exclusively at the Department of Labor’s Wirtz Library.