Harry Bridges again at the center of controversy

From: Alan L. Maki [mailto:amaki000@centurytel.net]
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 2:17 PM
To: 'SALYND@aol.com'; Michael Munk (lastmarx@comcast.net)
Subject: RE: Harry Bridges 20 years later

Mr. Staughton Lynd,

You engage in the same kind of anti-communism that Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn engage in--- you fail to educate about the real role of the Communist Party even though you are well aware of its role. While this kind of anti-communism may seem different than its more pernicious counterpart; for the working class it is just as deadly.

It is nice you write about Communists; but, the real story is about how those Communists worked through their Communist Clubs which makes the activities of these Clubs the central question needing to be articulated when it comes to what kind of grassroots and rank-and-file organizations are needed to create real change.

If one reads the books, “The Many and the Few” by Henry Kraus, “Organize” by Wyndham Mortimer, etc. the role of the Communist Party Clubs is demonstrated. Phil Raymond, who
you are aware of who built the very foundation of the UAW along with Nadia Barkan (the Communist whose name has been virtually wiped from history--- as has Phil Raymond’ for that matter) told me that he a Nadia traveled all over Michigan organizing all the Communist Party Clubs they could as a prelude to initiating the unionization drives in auto. The book, “Brother Bill McKie” also teaches about the role of Communist Party Clubs. The book that was the most widely read book of the 1930’s was, “The People’s Front” by Earl Browder which historians and writers like you, Chomsky and Zinn don’t even seem to want to acknowledge although the Communist Party itself is largely to blame for this lack of recognition of this book which would be so vital for people to read today in order to avoid many of the pitfalls you provide for people to fall into as you provided only part of the story as you seek to “explain” this dispute with Harry Bridges.

And, how is it that the work and writings of someone of such an important stature and standing in the left and progressive movements like Frank Marshall Davis has been ignored? And almost everything written about Paul Robeson these days is intentionally tinged with anti-communism yet, perhaps, Robeson’s greatest accomplishments were the hand he lent to building Communist Party Clubs all over this country.

These Communist Party Clubs have been central to all the work in labor and civil rights struggles in this country from 1919 on-ward.

It is not enough to tell the stories of these Communists without telling how they worked through their Communist Party Clubs--- even the Communist Party has largely not told this story but this does not excuse others like yourself from not telling this most important story.

I don’t say any of this to in any way demean the good work you have done; but, since you feel your point needs to be raised about Harry Bridges, I think the role of CPUSA Clubs needs to be broached, too--- since it is rather common knowledge, in spite of his denial for legal reasons, Harry Bridges was a member of the CPUSA, held a Party card and worked in a Party club… so, any problems you have with Harry Bridges is in fact a criticism of the CPUSA and his association/membership in it. Now, here you come, you want one side of a complex issue told… an issue that a book should be written about that gives well-rounded views from all sides. You want us to believe Stan Weir was merely a voice for the rank-and-file against union bureaucracy when this is far from the truth--- Weir was an opponent of “the people’s front” which gave Harry Bridges and others good reason not to work with him as he worked with Norman Thomas--- and this needs to be very clear… not only was Norman Thomas and his Socialist Party invited to participate in “the people’s front;” but, he was offered a shared leadership role in it--- as equals. Weir and Thomas CHOSE to work with the America Firsters which was nothing but a bunch of Hitler-loving fascists.

As for Finland… Hitler intended to use Finland in his plans to destroy the Soviet Union--- I’m glad Stalin was smart enough to understand what you and Zinn don’t/didn’t. Harry Bridges understood what Stalin understood, too.

There are any number of stories you could tell which would demonstrate the important role played by Communist Clubs which created the leaders of labor with untold stories--- from auto to steel to transportation to the docks to the raids against UE in communities like Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Michigan to the foundries of Muskegon, Michigan to the hard-rock miners of Mine-Mill.

Let’s tell the real story of Stan Weir which is the story of his opposition to Communist Party Clubs and the working-class heroes like Harry Bridges who were able to lead these Clubs in a way that built strong rank-and-file led unions while defending his right to remain in the United States--- there might not have been any other worker in this country who has ever been singled out for a campaign of hate intended to silence him than Harry Bridges.

I’m glad to see you at least took a little poke at that worthless Trotskyite little pip squeak Emil Mazey… Stan Weir deserves the same.

Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell Phone: 651-587-5541

E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

Please check out my blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/



From: SALYND@aol.com [mailto:SALYND@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 1:52 AM
To: amaki000@centurytel.net; lastmarx@comcast.net
Subject: Re: Harry Bridges 20 years later

Dear Alan, Michael and all,
In the book Rank and File, my wife and I included interviews with three rank-and-file women -- Katherine Hyndman, Vicki Starr, and Sylvia Woods -- all of whom had been members of the Communst Party. At my suggestion, these three were then made the subject of the documentary "Union Maids." They have now all passed on, Vicki only a few months ago.
Howard Zinn, who also passed on recently, had been perhaps my closest friend for almost fifty years since we were together at Spelman College in the early Sixties. Howard grew up in Brooklyn. He was a teenager in the late 1930s. He came out of precisely the political culture of "a popular Front led by the Communist Party." But as he describes in his autobiography You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train, step by step he developed an independent position. He opposed the Soviet invasion of Finland before World War II. He came to repudiate his own role as a bombardier in the Allied saturation bombing that was rationalized by uncritical support for World War II because it was viewed as defense of the Soviet Union.
So I don't think it works to attack me as a Trotskyist. I didn't criticize Bridges because of an alleged relationship to the Communist Party but on the merits. And as long as I can remember -- going back at least to 1950 -- I have criticized the Trotsky who told the Kronstadt rebels, "I will shoot you down like pheasants."

Staughton Lynd




----- Original Message -----
From: SALYND@aol.com
To: lastmarx@comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 2:55 PM
Subject: Re: Harry Bridges 20 years later

Dear lastmarx/Michael Munk,
I dissent from an unequivocally positive assessment of Harry Bridges.
1. Are you familiar with the protest of a number of African American longshoremen and Stan Weir to their exclusion from the union as so-called B men?
2. I was myself present at a national conference of "Labor For Peace" at the local union hall of Harold Gibbons' Teamsters local in St. Louis, in about 1970. A rank-and-file caucus presented a motion that there be a national day of protest against the war in Vietnam, each group of workers doing what made their sense in their locality: staying home from work, an extended lunch hour, a leaflet distribution, wearing anti-war buttons, whatever. I had the honor of seconding the motion. The conference sessions were chaired by a succession of national union bureaucrats. The gentleman in the chair when we made our motion (Emil Mazey) sneeringly said, "Let's take a vote on this ridiculous motion!" The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the motion. Over the lunch hour the various honchos present got together with Bridges and persuaded him to make a motion after lunch to rescind the motion approved that morning. Sadly, intimidated by Bridges' radical reputation, the delegates complied.
Let's put aside the habit of looking for some national union leader (John L. Lewis, Philip Murray, Walter Reuther, Harry Bridges, Arnold Miller, Eddie Sadlowski, Ron Carey, John Sweeney, Andrew Stern, Richard Trumka) to lead us out of the wilderness. Gene Debs knew what to say about that unfortunate strategy: If I could lead you into the Promised Land, someone else could lead you out
May I ask that you circulate this response to your list?

Staughton Lynd
Dear Staughton,

Thanks for your comments. On the issue of exclusion of Blacks: that's what my paper is about. As I wrote:

I'm working on a paper about an exception to the ILWU's record on "equal
opportunity" the lilly white (until 1964) longshore local 8 in Portland. It
will be the subject of a panel at the Pacific NW Labor History Assn
conference in Portland June 11-13. Details available...Mike

But Harry himself busted his ass against racists who used the ILWU's local autonomy constitution to keep out blacks.His International was arguably the most militantly anti racist union.

On the Vietnam war: The unions ILWU's own history celebrates its opposition:: "In the early 1960s the ILWU was the first union to stand up in opposition to US military intervention in Vietnam in 1964. Over the next decade, the union joined with a host of regional and national anti-war coalitions and demonstrations--and, led by Lou Goldblatt, helped organize Labor for Peace. The union's policy called for an end to bombing of civilian populations, the withdrawal of US military forces and a negotiated settlement of the civil war." The ILWU Story (1977) . So what was that St Louis episode about?

Although not "unequivocally positive" [some aspects of the M&M agreement, etc], I'd still consider Harry one of our most effective and principled union champions of the working class.

Per your request, circulating our exchange to my Labor list, which got the original post.

Cheers, Mike


visit my website www.michaelmunk.com

United Autoworkers and Foxwoods reach "agreement"

UAW sells out casino workers--- goes from "two-tier" wage structure to "three-tier" with a sub-minimum wage base pay and the opportunity to continue breathing second-hand smoke





Say, did anyone notice the new "contract" the United Autoworkers union (UAW) just signed with the huge Foxwoods Casino/Resort (an outfit run by a feudal tribal government for the profits of some mobsters)... a corrupt government put in place just like the puppet government in Haiti?










It's a union--- and a union contract--- management is thrilled about because the contract helps management "manage" the workers--- the dealers.










The agreement includes a sub-minimum wage for base pay.










The UAW has been busy "organizing" in Michigan, too, at two casinos we have been trying to organize--- Odawa and Island... their idea of "organizing" is to offer management "a better deal" than you can get "from a bunch of communists."










The "contract" includes a clause prohibiting workers from striking to "keep the contract in line with tribal traditions and laws."










No mention of the fact the feudal tribal government is the creation of the crooked and corrupt Indian Gaming Association.










Under the terms of this "contract" two-thirds of the workers covered by the contract will make less than $12,000.00 a year because the UAW did themselves one better and went from their "two-tier" auto contracts to a "three-tier" contract for casino workers.










Foxwoods is one of the most profitable capitalist enterprises in the world and this is the best the UAW can do for workers... but, its like Ron Gettelfinger has said, "We are going to have to pick up the dues we are losing in auto from some place else."










Workers at the Odawa Casino/Resort in Petoskey, Michigan told the UAW to get lost... at the Island Casino in Escanaba, Michigan workers weren't quite as polite.










The UAW has refused to join us in challenging the "Compacts" creating the Indian Gaming Industry for fear it might offend their "coalition partners," the Democratic Party which gets tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the Indian Gaming Associations and the UAW doesn't want to insult corrupt tribal governments which work together with the Indian Gaming Associations to assure a pool of cheap labor through the perpetual breeding of racist unemployment and poverty so there will be enough workers to employ in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights under state or federal labor laws.










Rumor has it the lead UAW negotiator from the Foxwoods' "gentlemen's agreement" has been offered a job with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.










The UAW thinks its alright for workers to breath in second-hand smoke as long as it "doesn't bother them;" of course, the American Cancer Society and the Heart & Lung Foundation might take a different view of this as does the Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council--- no smoking in the workplace, period.










In Minnesota, with the help of State Senator Tom Bakk, now a candidate for Governor supported heavily by the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association; the UAW, USW and the building trades unions have joined with Bakk in looking after the rights of non-union employees in the hospitality industry by helping them save their jobs by freeing these workers from having the minimum wage enforced in the hospitality industry.










The UAW-Foxwoods agreement is the worst union contract in U.S. history; the washer-women in the Jamestown Settlement were able to negotiate a better union contract.










Alan L. Maki




Director of Organizing,




Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council










58891 County Road 13




Warroad, Minnesota 56763










Phone: 218-386-2432




Cell Phone: 651-587-5541










E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net










Check out my Blog:




http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

A response to Richard Trumka

Trumka: Obama Absolutely Right to Make Jobs Top Priority

By Mike Hall

January 29, 2010 - 8:31am ET

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Obama’s call this week to make jobs his No. 1 priority in his State of the Union message is the right message, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. As Obama said in his speech:

Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010, and that is why I am calling for a new jobs bill tonight.

Obama called for small business tax breaks to encourage hiring and infrastructure spending. He urged passage of tax incentives for larger business to keep and create jobs in the United States, and an end to tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. He also proposed taking $30 billion of the money Wall Street banks have repaid and use it to help community banks give small businesses the credit they need to stay afloat—a proposal similar to one in our AFL-CIO jobs initiative.
As Trumka said:

We must act on a scale that will be meaningful: We need more than 10 million jobs just to get out of the hole we’re in. We want health care fixed. We want our leaders to break the stranglehold of Wall Street and the big banks and make them pay to repair the economic damage they created.

Obama praised the House for passing a jobs bill last month and urged the Senate to do the same. And as lawmakers on Capitol Hill have slowed reform of health care, Obama urged Congress not to walk away from reform.
He also rightly pointed to how the steps his administration has taken have alleviated the economic suffering of working people. Steps that included the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which has ensured that 2 million Americans are working right now who would otherwise be unemployed. The act is on track to add another one and a half million jobs to this total by the end of the year. All this was done while cutting taxes for working Americans, Obama said.

We cut taxes for 95% of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college.

Saying that America’s workers are frustrated and angry, Trumka said, “the President was right to call out Republicans for obstructing change and putting politics ahead of progress.”

Now it’s time for all of us to get busy and work together to bring the big changes that are essential—starting with enacting a jobs bill that is big enough to create jobs for the millions of people who want to work and can’t find jobs. The time for small change is long gone. We were pleased to see that the President embraced two of the job creation proposals we have made—investing in infrastructure and helping small businesses get credit through TARP funds.

The AFL-CIO’s five-point plan to create jobs immediately would begin to put people back to work and ease the economic hardships on Main Street’s working families who, unlike Wall Street bankers and brokers, have borne the brunt of the economy’s meltdown. The plan, which Trumka says will soon be expanded, includes:

1. Extending unemployment insurance for the long-term jobless (due to run out next month) along with expanding food stamp assistance, and health care benefits (COBRA) for unemployed workers and their families through COBRA.
2. Rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
3. Increasing aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services and jobs.
4. Funding jobs in neglected communities.
5. Using left over bank bailout funds to get credit moving to small Main Street businesses.

Trumka also says the AFL-CIO is gearing up for a nationwide jobs campaign with allies and communities. While we “will not agree with every aspect of every proposal,” he says, we will

continue to be an independent voice for middle class Americans and fight for the change working families need—and we are ready to do more. This is the time for a broad movement of Americans demanding jobs and an economy that works for all, and we’re ready to put our energy and leadership into building that movement—taking the fight to the doorstep of the banks that are exploiting struggling homeowners, of corporations that are running away from communities and of lawmakers who choose to back them up.

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