1939: American Federation Of Labor

The membership reported by the American Federation of Labor for 1939 was a fraction above 4,000,000 and close to the all-time peak reached in 1920. In 1939 the Federation gained 400,000 members and by Aug. 1, 1939, had more than made up the losses suffered by it through the expulsion of the unions which organized the C.I.O. in 1935. Among its constituent organizations it had at least six national unions — the Teamsters with 350,000 members, the Carpenters, 300,000, the Electrical Workers, 200,000, the Machinists, 190,000, the Hotel and Restaurant Employees, 185,000, the Hodcarriers and Common Laborers, 155,000 — which were among the largest in the country.

Peace Conferences with C.I.O.

For the A. F. of L. the year 1939 was one of bitter conflict with the C.I.O. The peace conferences held in the spring of 1939 split on the fundamental issue of the method of merging unions with overlapping jurisdiction. At the very first of the conferences, convened at the White House on March 7, 1939, the chances for peace were almost permanently destroyed by a surprise proposal submitted by John L. Lewis, the terms of which were apparently unknown to both the President and the representatives of the A. F. of L. The substance of this proposal was as follows:

'Between April 15 and April 30, 1939, the Congress of Industrial Organizations and the American Federation of Labor shall each hold a special national convention. . . . The purpose of the conventions will be to pass upon and approve the following basic plan of procedure.

'(1) Not later than June 1, 1939, there shall assemble in the city of Washington, D. C. . . . a convention of representatives of cooperation (a) the American Federation of Labor, (b) the Congress of Industrial Organizations and (c) the four brotherhoods in the railroad transportation field, heretofore independent.

'(2) This convention is to organize and dedicate the American Congress of Labor, designed to supersede and embrace the membership of the C.I.O. and A. F. of L. and to include the membership of the before-mentioned railroad organizations. . . .

'(3) John L. Lewis and William Green shall not be eligible to any office in this convention. The A.C.L. will grant Mr. William Green a life tenure of his present salary for service rendered. . . .

'(4) The executive board or governing body of the A.C.L. will be composed equally of representatives of the A. F. of L. and the C.I.O., with proportionate representation of the four railroad brotherhoods. . . .'

This proposition was summarily rejected by the A. F. of L. and the conferences were resumed. While they were later adjourned to enable John L. Lewis to devote himself to the problems raised by the great coal miners' stoppage, the real reason for the adjournment and the failure of the negotiators to reconvene was the difficulty of agreeing upon a formula satisfactory to both parties. The core of this difficulty was the estimated membership of rival unions. This is plainly more than a technical issue since the membership, finally agreed upon, would determine not only the balance of power within the newly merged unions but also the fate of the officers of all of the unions in question, as well as of the C.I.O. and the A. F. of L. To meet this problem, the Executive Council of the C.I.O. proposed that a 'certified public accountant mutually acceptable be jointly employed and authorized to examine and audit the books and financial records of both the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations for the purpose of determining and certifying the true and exact paid-up membership of the two organizations covering the six months' period ending Feb. 28, 1939.' This formula proved unacceptable to the C.I.O., which answered with a counter-proposal that the C.I.O. be chartered as a separate and autonomous department of the A. F. of L., not subject to any of the rules, regulations and constitutional provisions of the A. F. of L. and not obligated to pay per-capita taxes. With the rejection of this proposal, the negotiations became deadlocked and it is not surprising, in view of the absence of any common ground for the handling of issues, that they have not been resumed.

Gains during the Year.

In the course of the conflict during the last year, the A. F. of L. probably gained more than it lost. The withdrawal of the International Ladies Garment Workers from the C.I.O. was at least an indirect victory for the A. F. of L., since this powerful and reputable union, one of the largest in the country, is reported to be considering reaffiliation with the A. F. of L. The return to the Federation of the United Textile Workers and the chartering of a union of Automobile Workers gave the A. F. of L. a foothold in the automobile and textile industries which it had hitherto lacked. Another source of added strength was the changing policy of the Labor Relations Board with respect to the craft union. By more liberal decisions in fixing the unit of bargaining, the Board has enabled the craft unions to establish themselves in many of the mass-production plants, hitherto almost wholly under the jurisdiction of the industrial unions. This development accounted in large measure for the very considerable growth, during the last year, of craft unions, like that of the Machinists. In coal-mining the organizing activities of the A. F. of L. Progressive Miners have continued a menace to the position of the United Mine Workers and not even the victory in the strike of last spring has freed that union from the threat of inroads by this Federation organization.

Issues with the NLRB.

Other rulings of the Labor Relations Board, affecting the definition of the bargaining unit, have impaired the position of the A. F. of L. The most important of these was a decision fixing the West Coast docking industry as the bargaining unit for longshoremen. Since the A. F. of L. union of longshoremen was weak in some ports and strong in others, and lacked a majority for the West Coast as a whole, the effect of this decision was to weaken, if not destroy, the A. F. of L. union in those ports in which it was previously established and recognized. Another group of decisions, which found the A. F. of L. unions to have been encouraged and dominated by employers, have particularly aroused the Federation's resentment. This was the issue in the Consolidated-Edison case in which the Board was reversed by the United States Supreme Court. It is again the issue in the case of the Eagle Picher lead mining company where the Board ordered the employer to abrogate a contract with an A. F. of L. union. This case was deemed of such importance that consideration of it occupied a prominent place in the hearings currently being held by the House Committee, which is investigating the National Labor Relations Board.

The belief of the A. F. of L. that the Board has failed to protect its legitimate interests has caused that organization to continue its attacks on the Board, to ask for changes in the Board's membership and subordinate personnel, and to press for such amendments to the Wagner Act as would limit the powers of the present Board or its successor. The opposition of the Federation prevented the confirmation of Donald Wakefield Smith to membership on the Board. And to the campaign which it has consistently waged against both the Board and the Act may well be attributed the decision, by the House of Representatives, to create a special committee to make a thorough investigation of all of the Board's activities.

Relations with the Department of Justice.

Whatever benefits may accrue to the Federation by the reorganization of the Labor Relations Board and amendments to the Wagner Act may well be dissipated by the legal actions taken against unions in 1939 by the United States Department of Justice. Through proceedings initiated by the anti-trust division of this Department, indictments against the officers of unions and the unions themselves charging violation of the anti-trust law were obtained in the building and trucking industries. The charges covered a multitude of acts but were mainly directed against collusive practices in fixing prices, the boycott of materials, and union action taken against employers under agreement with other unions. These proceedings have been received by the A. F. of L. with fear and anger not only because they entail the application of the dread anti-trust legislation to the practices of organized labor, but more particularly because, so far, they involve only unions affiliated with the Federation, and they seek to outlaw many labor union methods which have been common practice for a considerable period of time.

The issues raised by the anti-trust policies of the Department of Justice, as well as the attitude of the present administration toward the Wagner Act, promise to spread the dissension in organized labor from the industrial to the political field. In the local elections of 1938, the Federation uniformly opposed the C.I.O. In the developments of 1939, there were indications that this conflict may play a part in the national political campaign of 1940. See LABOR LEGISLATION.