Problems of Labor Unity

The re-unification of the CIO and AFL, after twenty long years, will send hopes soaring in the battered House of Labor. The word “unity” has a magic which deeply affects not only the man at the lathe but his intellectual friend as well. It conjures a picture of a strong, single-minded labor movement battering down the pillars of poverty and making its voice resound through the halls of Congress.

Much will undoubtedly be gained. CIO and AFL will no longer have to “consult,” nor to bicker, for united action; the two groups will work through one executive committee and speak with one voice. In suggesting amendments to the Taft-Hartley law, for example, the united federation will not stumble about as at present, with the AFL proposing changes that help the building trades primarily, and the CIO proposing others of a contradictory kind. Multiply this by scores of lobbying activities, by the thousands of local actions, and it adds up to something of substance. The joining of research staffs, educational committees, political action forces, foreign affairs groups; the merging of newspapers and magazines; the elimination of overlaps in organizing staffs—these too are gains. Many people will be released for other activities; much can be done.

Reunification is a defensive measure, born of internal and external fears, essentially aimed at regaining some stature in the political arena. Internally Reuther has his steelworker McDonald, threatening to “take a walk”; Meany has his teamster Beck, still a big question mark. Externally there is the mounting pressure from Washington, the conversion of the National Labor Relations Board into a virtual management instrument, the prosecution of quite a few union officials (mostly bad, but a few good), the “right to work” laws in one-third of the states and threatening to spread further. These and other threats hastened the marriage, and if unity can change things somewhat it will be all to the good.

But we should not be mesmerized by the idea of unity. In its contemplated form it is rudimentary indeed. In fact, if more were attempted at this particular moment the schism would unquestionably remain. For what is being united is the two national federations, not the actual unions. AFL and CIO are essentially lobbying bodies, with no mandatory rights over their 144 national affiliates. Each of these latter is an autonomous body of its own, with the right to decide its own dues, call its own strikes, negotiate its own contracts, discipline its own members. AFL can not instruct the AFL machinists on when or how or if to conduct a strike; the machinists international union is the true power center—along with 109 other such centers in the AFL and 34 in the CIO. What is now being united is not these power centers. It is hoped that rival organizations come together at some time in the future— that AFL electrical workers and CIO electrical work...