B ~
Ga. Y LOUIS SAILLANT

_ Secretary of the World
Gtion of Trade Unions

| TE past year has seen the

A gro ome ;
e at Within the interna-

| MENt OF the trade union move-

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a s ed
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By WILLIAM ALLAN

F Ir
Eis DETROIT
cr 4S only a problem be-

a Make ;
7 the la Problem, t, then it would

ase a making
q : a dynamic,
Ue rau in this country,
Dre 'Dout.» % that this thing is
Side aid Walter Reuther,
in the United Auto
ar unig, 2 SPeech at a white
te’ told Conference here.
 orterg ne delegates: “These
bet Omethine been after me to
We ‘ng on
ac me 1 the problems
ij 8nd George Meany.
€tween two men

» Pprestice
“nts” Wouldn't Be ence

nical and scientific demands of
modern production justify such
meetings.

Scientific bodies, research
workers, scientists, economists
and doctors of all kinds meet
on the international level with-
out discrimination, to exchange
experiences and to communicate
to one another the results of
their particular work.

Last summer, at big interna-
tional sports meetings, we saw
on the victory stands of vast
stadiums, the flags of certain
states which are, for the mo-
ment, not represented at the
United Nations. They belong to
the socialist world.

Is it not unthinkable that one
single category of human asso-
ciation, the trade unions, should
remain outside this fertile move-
ment for the expansion of inter-
national relations? It is unthink-
able. The trade unions are also
committed to taking this correct
path.

It is also useful to examine
realistically what is possible and
what is not, at least for the
moment.

In this examination that is
needed there emerges the search
for internationa! trade union di-
alogue..-This is inevitably act
number one in breaking away
from a period without unity or
understanding among trade uni-
on organizations that have been
distant from, and often opposed
to, one another in international
trade union affairs.

I am not so naive as to think
that there are no more obstacles

A world labor leader says:

along the path to unity. Unfor-
tunately there are some serious
ones. But the view is making
headway that well-known ideo-
logical differences should not be
an obstacle to discussion among
trade unions about the common
or parallel practical activities of
the unions in defending the im-
mediate interests of the work-
ers and authoritatively repre-
senting these interests in official
international discussions.

The resistance, only too well
known, that exists to the devel-
opment of this view, will be
overcome all the more easily if
trade union programs are studied
and carried. into effect, bearing
in mind the present needs and

- new requirements for the devel-

opment of the struggles of the
workers and the trade unions.
I do not want to interefere in

the internal affairs of the Inter-_

national Confederation of Free
Trade Unions. There is no doubt,
however, that inside it some-
where lies the root of the pre-
sent lack of understanding of
the fact “that no trade unionist
can play a decisive part...
nationally, and even more so in-
ternationally, unless he works to-
gether with other representative
organizations of the genuine
forces of labor’.

I have borrowed this last quo-
tation from the view expressed
by Italian brother trade unionists
after a recent meeting in Rome
of the European organization of
the ICFTU.

From the starting point of this
correct viewpoint, a new type

of dialogue could be brought
about among all the trade union
organizations in the European
Economic Community, and even
in the whole of Western Europe.

In what way would this be a
new type of dialogue? This is
not the main thing. The new
feature would be that this dia-
logue were held at all.

All the representative trade
union centres of the genuine for-
ces of labor in Western Europe,
members of the ICFTU, the
WFTU and the Christian trade
union international have an in-
terest in bringing this about.

We should note that a new
type of dialogue saw the light
of day in 1965, and more so in
1966, between some Western
and Eastern national trade union
centres in Europe. This is ano-
ther variety of trade union dia-
logue.

Among other things we may
mention the following correct
viewpoint expressed in the issue

- of Nov. 18, 1966, of Arbrecht,

journal of the Luxembourg Con-
federation Workers, itself affili-
ated to the ICFTU. I think it
will be useful to quote in full:

“The moment has come for
an exchange of objective ideas,
making. it possible to. clarify
many things in this area and
that, and thus to get rid of some
old, outmoded ideas.

“The free trade unions will not
stand aside from these efforts.
Quite the contrary. In almost all
European countries trade union-
ists and trade unions belong
precisely to the groups of men

WALTER REUTHER:

It’s time for a dialogue

and organizations which are
ready for a frank, open discus-
sion in the interests of better
understanding among the peo-
ples.”

I hope that such a reasonable
expression of opinion will be
widely seen as valid among all
the member organizations of the
ICFTU. If this viewpoint were
not acceptable to any affiliated
organizations of the WFTU
(which is doubtful in Europe) we
could not support this negative
response. But these would be
only minor, unrepresentative and
fairly irresponsible events.

-And so, little by little, the
difficulties of the past are being
overcome. May it continue to be
so in the future. Let us, if pos-
sible, make better, quicker pro-
gress.

All this will be followed with
close attention throughout 1967,
because the many-sided forms
of trade union dialogue, aimed at
extending the field of united ac-
tivity of the trade unions, will
give rise to new obligations for
the WFTU, and for the 11 trade
union internationals that exist
in the WFTU for different bran-
ches of industry.

These 11 trade organizations
now have, under the new article
13 of the WFTU constitution,
internal autonomy, giving ther
greater responsibilities in the
search for unjted trade union
action in each of the categories
of industry concerned.

Here also the many-sided
forms of trade union dialogue
need know no limit.

movement needs a different spirit’

the AFL back in ’55 I was pre-
sident of CIO, we made it clear
we weren't interested in posi-
tions on top. The top spots went
to the AFL.

“I had more bargaining power
experience than Meany. He
never sat at a bargaining table
in his life, but we were inter-
ested in program and policies,
just as we are today, to get
American labor movement off
dead centre. All the press re-
leases out of Miami Beach won't
change that and you don’t have
to be a labor reporter to know
that’s the truth.

“When the merger took place
the CIO pledged $4-million for
an organizing campaign and
don’t forget the AFL was bigger
yet they never matched our $4-
million — they never came up
with a penny. In February, 1966,
some 19,000 people were at a
park in Miami wanting to hear
myself and Meany on getting

into unions. Miami, mind you,
that was the measure of the pos-
sibilities for organizing the un-
organized. But it’s a tragedy that
some labor leaders are only in-
terested in their little piece of
labor. The mine workers, the
garment unions, helped us get
started, it’s up to us to help the
smaller unions to grow big like
we did.”

Reuther charged also that the
AFL-CIO top leaders did no-
thing on the farm worker's
strikes but that the UAW and
its Industrial Union Department
carried the entire cost of that
struggle. “

“This is no negative, griping
contest with Meany, we are ad-
vancing a positive program. We
will come out with 10 or so pro-
posals, will take them before the
AFL-CIO, go through the pro-
cess, the process that I have
been made a prisoner of for 11
years by these ancient men of
labor. We will go and talk to

them, then we will see what is
going to happen.

“We want to organize the un-
organized, the craft workers, the
white collar, professionals, the
agricultural workers, the work-
ing poor. Too many people in
this labor movement have bank-
er mentalities. They are worried
about how much they’ve got in
the bank. The labor movement
has to have a different spirit. I
don’t mind going to Florida, but
not to the Gold Coast, to the
Eden Roc, the Fountainbleu, I
object to taking the labor move-
ment there.” :

A great roar of applause greet-
ed this last remark.

He pointed to the rise of
monopolization in American in-
dustry where some combinations
produce more than 100 items
and seek to play one union
against another. In Union Car-
bide, he said, some 20 unions
are bargaining with that com-

pany and the IUD-AFL-CIO, of
which Reuther is president, got
together all the unions to bar-
gain collectively. He said IUD
did the same thing in General
Electric and in the bronze and
copper negotiations.

“This is what the AFL-CIO
top leaders should be doing, but
it’s being done by IUD, because
we can’t wait,” said Reuther.

“The future of this American

labor movement lies in organiz- ~

ing the unorganized millions,
and not just taking care of the
field we did in the past,” he
said.

He said in 1967 if necessary
he would call out “the troops to
back up in negotiations if the
corporations give us no other al-
ternative”. He said a top de-
mand will be for a guaranteed
annual income, pay by the year,
better pensions, and use of the
strike weapon against companies
farming out work to other em-
ployers.

March 31, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5