Archive Transcript: Minutes
Minutes from the December 18, 1944 Meeting
SPECIAL MEETING of the GENERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD
(New York Members)
ILGWU Council Room
December 18, 1944
PRESENT: Vice-presidents Antonini, Breslaw, Cohen, Feinberg, Greenberg, Heller, Hochman, Kreindler, Molisani, Nagler, Ninfo, Rubin, Shore, Wander and Zimmerman; Secretary Umhey and President Dubinsky, who presided.
Pres. Dubinsky placed before the Board the question of the ILGWU's future policy with respect to the Liberal Party.
Vice-president Hochman said that when a party took on life as the Liberal Party had during its recent successful campaign effort, it cannot be legislated out of existence. However, the question of the ILGWU support for the new Party was a separate and distinct matter. He said that, like a number of other people, he had found no avenue of activity within the party and therefore a general discussion was necessary and desirable.
Vice-president Feinberg said that the Liberal Party could become an effective political vehicle for the expression of progressive thought. However, he stressed the fact that a party cannot grow if it is run from the top, that it is necessary to enlist the activity of the rank and file and particularly to build clubs in the various districts. A way ought to be found, he said, for enabling people who are part of the ILGWU to play a more active role in the shaping of the policies of the party.
Vice-president Greenberg said the idea was prevalent that the new party can achieve a measure of success if it is a liberal, not a labor party, and, therefore, managed by everybody but labor except that labor is to supply the wherewithal to exist. He said that the International had one or two representatives in the leadership of the party through whom was obtained all the vailable [sic] information as to what was being done by the Party. Despite this fact, he had done everything possible to support the Party because Pres. Dubinsky felt that the prestige of the International was at stake.
Vice-president Breslaw opposed further participation by the International in the Liberal Party. While it was desirable for the union as an economic organization to be active in politics, particularly in special circumstances such as necessitated the reelection of President Roosevelt, nevertheless, it was not desirable for it to become the organizer of a political party. This was especially true in the case of the Liberal Party which, he felt, had no program and no basis for existence. He viewed the support of so-called liberals with scepticism [sic] contending they were here today and there tomorrow and it was dangerous for the union to ally itself with such unreliable elements. The continuation of the Liberal Party, said Vice-president Breslaw, would revive the right wing - left wing fight and would react unfavorably on the union. While the Liberal Party was justified as a medium for enabling many people to vote for President Roosevelt, now that this has been accomplished, there was no further justification for its existence, he said.
Vice-president Nagler said that liberal and labor groups throughout the country wanted a third party movement and the Liberal Party is an expression of that desire. As to participation in the work of the Liberal Party, he said nobody was prevented from taking part and in fact urgent appeals had been sent out for help in the organization of clubs. He had volunteered his services and worked actively for the party and others could and should do the same.
Vice-president Antonini said that if the Liberal Party folded up, the Communists would then have the political field to themselves. People who are dissatisfied with the major parties ought to be able to find a political home other than the Communist-dominated ALP. He urged that the ILG give full support to the Liberal Party and that the ILG should cooperate in stimulating similar organizations in other states.
Vice-president Cohen said that politics was as important to the worker as economics 3nd it was the members themselves who raised political questions. He hailed the accomplishments of the Liberal Party and particularly the part played by the ILG in the recent campaign. To give up the Liberal Party was impossible, he declared, urging wholehearted support for the Liberal Party.
Vice-president Shore said that an analysis of the Liberal Party vote showed that the largest part came from working class districts, though the support of liberals and dissident Republicans helped to swell the total. He would rather trust liberals like John Childs than some of his former colleagues in the ALP. Withdrawal by the ILG from the Liberal Party would turn the labor and liberal political activity in New York over to the despicable combination that now lived under the roof of the ALP. He ridiculed the idea of carrying on political action from time to time for specific purposes because hastily improvised overnight organization is ineffective as the few months experience of the Liberal Party clearly demonstrated. The Liberal Party had attracted a large following who had faith in its program and looked to it for political leadership and it was the moral duty of the ILG not to desert these elements. There was desperate need for a liberal party that will speak out boldly against disturbing symptoms of power politics which may jeopardize the hopes for a lsting [sic] peace. Vice-president Shore said that the first campaign of the Liberal Party was a magnificent performance and he was optimistic that in the near future the new party would become the dominant independent political party in the State. For the present, the Party should concentrate on building the organization in New York State and not seek to extend its efforts to other states as Vice-president Antonini had urged.
As a result of the initial success of the Liberal Party, the prestige of the ILG which had played such a large part in the organization of the new party, had risen tremendously both in New York and in Washington. It was important, he said, for the International to be recognized as a power not only on the industrial field but also in the political arena. For example the Liberal Party is an instrument through which influence can be exercised on the forthcoming mayoralty election in New York City.
Referring to the fact that many leaders of the ILG may feel somewhat aggrieved because they were not given a sufficiently prominent role in the Liberal Party, Vice-president Shore explained this had resulted from the policy of the Liberal Party to keep them in the background to avoid the impression that it was an ILG party, particularly in view of the Hillman-Dubinsky rift which had been widely though erroneously interpreted as due to personal rivalry. It was desired that the public regard the Liberal Party as a new political instrumentality not as an adjunct of the ILG. However, Vice-president Shore admitted that there were a number of things that could and should be continued but such matters should be taken up in due course and opportunity afforded for a wider participation in the formulation of Liberal Party policies and decisions.
Pres. Dubinsky conceded that trouble might develop if the ALP declined and its adherents attempted to colonize and capture the Liberal Party. As to the argument that participation in the Liberal Party will give rise to conflicts between left and right wing adherents, he pointed out that such quarrels took place in the union, nevertheless, there was never any thought of surrendering to the Communists.
The only way to avoid such quarrels was to give up your convictions and follow the Communist line for example by failing to protest against the murder of Ehrlich and Alter or to criticize Russia when it is wrong or refraining from supporting the Jewish Labor Committee. If the ALP had a clear political field with no Liberal Party in existence, the influence of the Communists in the ILGWU would be strengthened and the standing of the ILG leadership would be weakened not only in the union but also politically.
The membership was interested in political activity and looked to the union for leadership, Pres. Dubinsky said. As to the recognition given by the Liberal Party to ILG officials, he pointed out that they had five of them on the Administrative Committee and fifteen on the State Executive Committee. Most of them, he stated, failed to attend the meetings. While Pres. Dubinsky favored the development of an independent national political party, he believed it undesirable to press this issue at the present time, referring in this connection to the blow to the third party movement dealt by CIO-PAC with its statement that it was treason to attempt to organize a third party.
Pres. Dubinsky believed the Liberal Party had definite possibilities, particularly because in addition to labor it makes a strong appeal for liberal and middle class support and had the most constructive program of any political party in the country. The party was organized not merely to reelect President Roosevelt but to serve as a political instrument for the future. If the ILG decided to continue its activity in the Liberal Party, Pres. Dubinsky stressed the necessity for taking an even more active and aggressive interest in building the party than heretofore because if it was intended to adopt a merely passive role, he said, it would be better to withdraw from the party now.
Vice-president Breslaw reiterated his opposition to the union's participation as such in a political party pointing out that for similar reasons, he had opposed the organization of the AJJP along permanent lines. He favored the Gompers conception on labor's role in politics and said the PAC was merely a modern version of it. Far from desiring the union to withdraw from the political arena, he insisted that it could be a factor in future elections without being connected with the Liberal Party or any other party. He reaffirmed his belief that participation in the Liberal Party would embroil the ILG in unnecessary internal union conflicts. While the union was a match for the Communists when it came to trade union matters, it could not compete with them in political matters because they were better organized for this type of activity. Having demonstrated its power in meeting the emergency necessitating the reelection of President Roosevelt, a decision by the ILG to withdraw from the Liberal Party would not be interpreted as a sign of weakness, he held. Vice-president Breslaw concluded with a warning as to venturing on a course that may not succeed and therefore weaken the prestige of the union.
On motion, duly made and seconded, it was decided, only Vice-president Breslaw dissenting, that the GEB continue to support the Liberal Party and that a statement be issued on behalf of the G.E.B. and the local unions in the State of New York be notified accordingly.
THE MEETING WAS THEREUPON ADJOURNED.
Respectfully submitted,
Frederick Umhey (SIGNED)
Executive Secretary