The Perfect Crime of Mr. Taft & Mr. Hartley

The Perfect Crime of Mr. Taft & Mr. Hartley - 1947 C.I.O. Pamphlet

"WAYS TO FIGHT BACK

One way is not to use the law, and many CIO unions have already decided to take this course. The Steelworkers, the United Electrical Workers, the Auto Workers, the Longshoremen and Warehousemen and many other international unions of the CIO have stated they will have no part of the new National Labor Relations Board.

You will see when you read this booklet they have good reason.

The Board is no longer the guardian of workers rights, but a tool in the hands of the employers. Labor's Bill of Rights, the Wagner Act, has been replaced.

A new 'Bill of Rights for Employers' has been put in its place.

Another way is to ignore the law, and this the CIO intends to do in certain instances. There are higher and better laws than the one dreamed up by Mr. Taft and Mr. Hartley and one of them is the Constitution of the United States.

Where laws conflict - and some of the provisions of the Taft-Hartley law certainly conflict with the Constitution - we will choose to observe the Constitution.

Still another way is to build your union and rely on the determination and loyalty of your members to keep it strong. This is the way to win when the chips are down."

Issued by the California CIO Council in July, 1947.

The Taft-Hartley law, passed in 1947, decimated gains American unions had made in the 14 years prior since the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act. It has explicit language in regards to secondary boycotts and put extreme limitations on labors ability to picket and strike. It has provisions forbidding communists and radicals being elected to union leadership and gives the U.S. President executive power to get court injunctions against strikers and use the armed forces to this effect.

For the duration of WW2 almost all unions voluntarily signed no strike pledges, even communist led radical unions who knew their unions had to survive the war patriotism and political climate of the time. An unprecedented strike wave swept the nation at the conclusion of the war. Workers had voluntarily stomached wage freezes and production speed ups for years. Taft-Hartley was in direct response to American workers shutting down most major industries in the country.

Taft-Hartley is still in effect today and the National Labor Relations Board should be viewed as a small box that American workers have been forced to sit in.

REPEAL TAFT-HARTLEY

International Longshoremen's & Warehousemen's Union - C.I.O. Local Union list

This is a working list that is continually being expanded and cross referenced as I work through archival material. You will notice I pose questions next to some of the locals or include various notes. If you use this list as a reference please know it may not be 100% accurate. This is a continuation of my project to map the Congress of Industrial Organizations. You will notice several different charters with the same local number. The International reused local numbers as they amalgamated or ceased to exist. Making this research a tad bit more difficult. ILWU Local 1 - RAYMOND, WA (longshore) *** chartered ’37 ILWU Local 2 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA (shipscalers) *** chartered ’37 ILWU Local 3 - STOCKTON, CA, (Barge / Power Boat) *** chartered ’37 in 1950 Local 3 becomes catch all for the International Fisherman & Allied Workers after they are expelled from the CIO. Below is a list of locals that became Local 3 in 1950. I believe these numbers correspond w...

Mine Mill + Western Federation of Miners - Union Pins

International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers C.I.O. side by side with their predecessors the Western Federation of Miners - Union Pins

"The Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America advocates and practices the program and tactics of militant industrial unionism..." 1942 Constitution - Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America C.I.O.

"We, the shipyard workers, will be able best to achieve our aims as an integral part of the working class only by combining our collective strength to defend the interests of all the workers in the industry. We must at all times maintain strong unity for the achievement of a higher standard of living, and guard all gains won by standing ever alert against any encroachment on the part of the employers of the industry. Recognizing that craft unionism, as practiced in the past, has been proved during the course of history to be both ineffective and dangerous to the interests of the workers. The Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America advocates and practices the program and tactics of militant industrial unionism, based on the principle of One Industry - One Union. The Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America calls for the united front of all workers in the industry, regardless of creed, color, nationality, religion, sex or politic...

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