pote

Abel addresses

Mine-Mill meet

in Tuscon

‘This merger is

a big turn in
the wheel of

trade-union history’

=
N
coe Momentots occasion, per-
Pon first to bring you the fra-
ner. Ai greetings and good wishes
the Uniteace One million members of
Steelworkers of America.

embers of y i
he member your union and

S of our union, this is a
y ce In fact, it is a happy

4D0r movement as a whole.

h eh
ay for Foes hand, it is an unhappy

Union g Se who Prefer to play one

hose whs Beans another, and for

ing of aa ould rather not see a unit-
Ons with common goals.

“\ Certify that your

On iain Our union have here in Tuc-

y fashioned a more potent

ar Industrial democracy.

capita the fact that we

ate i i i

na marries, and In this city

‘Vanicing the p for ward toward ad-

© are’ gg cumpetae of the members

| resent ; Proud and Privileged to re-
erha Ss :

a a re etger factor in the achieve-
Ould sury; Y was not that each union
Ontrary oe and make progress —

the past nat might have been said

apne ut Inthe honest recogni-
8ress would come more

Mati
4s one, together

Wif
: ny We worked
ed

Final] :
atural petty Came because of the
Pach held et and understanding that
histori the rich, proud traditions

c Struggles of the other.

S exami

ne, for a mi
g : minute, the
ae Parallels jn

zi gor example, that the
seer "ganizing Committee
eas Staffed Primarily by a
N tn the mid-thirties. The

'§ the riches out of the
i at earth, in effect, gave
: to the Mine Mill Union
Pet peg nited Steelworkers.
Hoo Storic truth that when
‘Me ie oa 1935 formed the Com-
Mine yi, ef Ndustrial Organizations,
AFL inter 4S One of a group of eight
im; pay unions which helped
Ustria} pete the most successful in-
tican ‘ais gee Organizing drive in Am-
hat 2ave eae This was the CIO drive
and Steelworkers the inspira-

!0n
cess.
tee], ®ssary support to organize

Dounin i

panlens had an illustrious
which Cr Predecessor organ-
i ea azed a bold trail of

Ur case,
ners, ra)
© fi

the Western Federa-
ganized in 1893, in-
"St Serious attempt to or-
€trous workers in tha
Smelters of the west.
SS0ciation 1874, the Amalgamated
Orkers pac Iron, Steel and Tin
Performed a similar pioneer-

ing effort for today’s United Steelwork-
ers of America.

Both of these predecessor unions
encountered violent opposition. Their
fortunes ebbed and flowed. There were
great advances, but more often there
were bitter struggles and defeat. Both
experienced initial victories only to be
crushed later by the combined might
of a powerful industry and its agents
in government.

It can be said that out of the cru-
cibles of Idaho mining and Pennsylva-
nia steelmaking in 1892 the die was
cast for the eventual organization of
the two industries—even though both
unions that year suffered heartbreak-
ing setbacks.

The Coeur d’Alenes mines of Idaho
in 1892 was the site, of the notorious
“bull pens,’ where some 600 union
members. and: their sympathizers were
arrested after they had protested pay
cuts. They were herded, branded as
“conspirators” and “anarchists’’ and
later convicted, but eventually freed
by the United States Supreme Court.

In that same year, history records
that the Amalgamated was locked out
of its unsuccessful fight against steel-
master Henry Frick at his Home-
stead, Pennsylvania plant, after steel-
worker wages also had been slashed.
Hundreds of Pinkertons were dis-
patched by Frick to confront the work-
ers on the river banks of the Monon-
gahela, and seven workers were bru-
tally killed in the clash that followed.

And on the identical day that the
Pennsylvania National Guard was

called out to crush the Homestead,

steelworkers—July 11, 1892—a_ pitch-
ed battle was fought at Coeur d’Alenes
between miners and strikebreakers...

Nor has violence against our two
memberships remained a thing of the
past. Many of our members still recall
vividly the Memorial Day Massacre of
1937, near the Republic Steel plant at
Chicago. This is where seven of our
steelworkers were killed instantly,
three died later and more than 90
others were wounded when police open-
ed fire on parading men, women and
children supporting the Little Steel
Strike. In that same strike, others died
on picket lines in Massillon and
Youngstown, Ohio. Only six years ago,
your illustrious vice president, Asbury
Howard, was shackled on a chain gang
in Alabama for five months, as punish-
ment for urging Negroes to attempt to
register and vote.

About a year ago, when gold miners
in South Dakota’s famous Black Hills
once again chose a union—this time
the United Steelworkers—the pages of
labor history again turned back to the
previous union at Homestake—Miners
Local 2 of the Western Federation of
Miners—which was broken by hired
gunmen at the turn of the century.

You've had your martyrs and your

heroes. “Big Bill’ Haywood, first secre-
tary-treasurer of the Western Federa-
tion of Miners, was charged with ‘“‘mur-
der” along with two other miners in
a celebrated 1906 trial where Clarence
Darrow took up the defense. Joseph
Hillstrom—better known as Joe Hill—
an immigrant Swedish miner at Bing-
ham, Utah, was also framed on a “mur-
der” charge because of his organizing
activities and then executed by a firing
squad.

In Steel, we had our martyrs and
heroes too. The bravery of such men
as Hilding Anderson, another Swede
killed in the Memorial Day Massacre,
is immortalized by Local 65 of the
United Steelworkers which proudly
bears his name. In Maryville, Tenessee,
the name of Henson Click became
legend after he gave his life on an
Alcoa. picket line during a strike in
1937.

Our two unions represent more than
107 years of never-ending struggle by
men who believed in industrial democ-
racy and were willing to pay the sup-
reme price for it. It is out of. this
meaningful sacrifice that we are all
here today, adding still another chapter
to the story of our ceaseless fight for
social and economic justice. . .

This newly-forged unity comes at
an opportune time.

As a first step, shortly after this
Convention is adjourned, we will be
convening a united nonferrous metals
conference to prepare for collective
bargaining in brass and copper.

Those sitting across the table from
us will soon realize that these contract
talks will be different. There will be
no playing off one union against an-
other. There will be no undermining of
One another’s bargaining position.
There will be no race to see who can
settle first at the expense of the rest.

As a result of our new-found unity,
we shall have a singleness of purpose,
undivided concentration on bargaining
issues, backed by the unified strength
of not only the organized workers in
the nonferrous industry, but support-
ed also by a powerful reserve of more
than a million brothers and sisters who
stand solidly behind you. Moreover,
these negotiations will have the full
moral weight provided by the entire
AFL-CIO and its Industrial Union De-
partment. ;

In a sense, these major negotiations
will provide an initial test for our
Union’s new policy formulated to offer
the rank and file a greater voice in
collective bargaining. The nonferrous
industry conference will be the first
of four to be established within the
United Steelworkers, as a result of
policy changes voted at our 13th Con-
stitutional Convention in Atlantic City
last September.

Aside from solidifying our collective
bargaining position, there are many

other areas in which the combined
strength of our merged union can be
put to good use.

Inspired by a fresh sense of unity
and solidarity, our combined efforts
can now be rededicated to the unfinish-
ed task of organizing the organized.

_There are hundreds of thousands of

workers still unorganized within our
jurisdiction, who will join our ranks if
a real organizing effort is made io
bring them in.

Freed of rivalry, we can now con-
solidate our efforts in the organizing
field and in the areas of social justice,
political action and improved legisla-
tion. Our union is emphasizing a broad
program for union members acting not
only as production workers, but also
as consumers and politically alert citi-
zens. We are developing a concept of
unionism that will be a vital part of-
the community’s life, and sensitive to
the relationship of its own function
and the general good. We will pull no
punches on the issues of civil rights,
the war against poverty and the right
of all citizens to share equitably in our
affluent society.

Our united union will affirm that a
worker is more than a hired hand orc
a clock number employed by the hour
and pushed around at the whim of a
boss.

We have within our power the op-
portunity to build a greater instrument
of service to people. We can do much
to make life easier, more enjoyable,
safer and healthier for our members
and their families. We can give them
hope. We can give them confidence.
We can provide them with a sense of
participation in shaping the destiny of
our society.

This merger is a big turn in the
wheel of trade union history. It will
help create a new atmosphere and a
fresh spirit in the labor movement of
America. :

The merger does not mean that the
experiences and traditions of our two
unions will now be tossed aside. Far
from it. The best of the knowledge and
the spirit of the past will be fused with
the insights and ideas of the present
as we march forward in our continuing
struggle for social and economic jus-
tice.

I say to you this is not the end of
the International Union of Mine, Mill
and Smelter Workers. This is the be-
ginning of a fresh, historic chapter in
the eternal struggle of our people to
win for themselves and their families
a brighter and better tomorrow.

We have made a great decision. We
have now joined our hands. Let us
join our hearts, our minds and our
energies so we Can move onward, to-
gether, to build a greater and more
united union, a better American trede
union movement, and a better Ameri-
Ca.

February 24, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5