THE THREAT TO THE LABOR MOVEMENT
preservation of the trade unions demands the expulsion of these elements from offices and control.
The unions must remain free from outside domination and from the interference of all political parties! Individually every worker may follow any religious or political creed, but the unions must remain independent of all.
We therefore call for war upon Communist disruption. We call for all workers in all unions to unite against the internal enemy, the disrupter, who is destroying the unions for the benefit of the external enemy, the capitalist. It is a common fight for all workers who believe that their protection lies in the preservation of their unions.
The division between the Communist adventurers and the trade union movement shall be definitely established! There shall be nothing common between these irresponsible elements and the trade unions. The labor movement shall lend no assistance to any undertaking which, directly or indirectly, shall include the Communists. It shall be war to their finish. Down with Communism! Long live the trade unions!
The "Call to Action" was signed by the following trade union officials:
Abraham Beckerman, Manager, Joint Board, Amalgamated Clothing Workers; Louis D. Berger, Manager, Neckwear Makers' Union; Samuel A. Beardsley, President, District Council, Jewelry Workers' Union; Morris Feinstone, Secretary, United Hebrew Trades; Rose Schndeiderman, Women's Trade Union League; A. I. Shiplacoff, International Pocketbook Workers' Union.
So much for the organizational preparation for "war"—it is the word used in the "Call to Action"—against the Communists and the left wing in the needle trades. It must be kept in mind in this connection that the left wing in the I. L. G. W. and the Furriers' Union in New York is actually the union itself, so big is its majority. The attack on the left wing, including the Communists, is really an attack on the union.
The Right Wing Press.
THE needle trades press plays the same note.
The Advance, official organ of the Amalgamated, devoted its whole editorial page to the Cloakmakers' strike and said:
What has happened since the beginning of the cloakmakers' strike and what is happening in the Cloakmakers' Union now is but the inevitable outcome of the way in which the Communist Party plays trade union politics. It is the inevitable outcome of the initial sacrifice of industrial policy to politics.
"Justice," official organ of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, likewise devoted its whole editorial page to the strike and the right wing offensive. Speaking of a circular sent to all members of the union except known Communists and left wingers by the General Executive Board, "Justice" says:
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