|
Container
|
Title
|
U.S. Mss 117A/11C
|
Subseries: File C: William Green Papers, 1934-1951: File C deals almost entirely with the policy and administration of William Green as the President of the A.F.L. during the period of the formation of the C.I.O and the succeeding period of conflicting relations between the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. Grouped within File C is correspondence filed under the following headings: - Historical File
- Convention File
- Relations with the C.I.O.
- Political Collaboration with the C.I.O.
- Papers Favoring A.F.L. C.I.O Unity
- National and International Union Correspondence
- State Federations of Labor Correspondence
- Central Labor Union Correspondence
- Local Union Correspondence
- Miscellaneous Correspondence
|
|
|
Historical File
This file contains a report of the 1934 A.F.L. Convention, which shows a great many resolutions were introduced proposing organization of industrial unions. The report states that, with the passage of the Wagner Act defining and protecting the right of workers to organize, a great clamor arose for the organization of the unorganized workers. This 1934 convention took place in San Francisco, where delegates stated that many industrial unions had been formed and were asking for A.F.L. charters. The report shows that a Committee on Industrial Organization was appointed at this convention, which was to render its report at the 1935 convention at Atlantic City.
These records also contain a minority report of the Committee on Industrial Organization, which was presented and defended by Charles P. Howard, later Secretary of the C.I.O. There is a copy of a news release, dated November 10, 1935, announcing the formation of a new Committee on Industrial Organization, which would operate on the basis of the minority report. Letters by William Green in this period of the file show grave concern that the labor movement would be split and destroyed by internal struggles. A December 17, 1935 letter by John P. Frey states that there was satisfaction to employers who wish to see labor weakened, and to communists, who hoped to enter the struggle.
The Executive Council of the A.F.L., August 5, 1936, issued a report, which takes up several hundred pages in this file, on the C.I.O., and which includes a lengthy statement by Henry Ohl, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Labor. This Executive Council report contains statements on jurisdictional strikes, violence and intimidation, communist activity, and propaganda. Through 1937 and 1938 the file contains press releases and letters about the A.F.L. - C.I.O. conflict, and about revocations of charters of state, central, and local unions, as well as of their reorganization.
There is also a folder of letters from congressmen and senators, and a letter from John L. Lewis resigning as president of the C.I.O. One group of news releases concerns the Harry Bridges Defense Committee in 1941.
|
|
Box
1
|
1934-1936
|
|
Box
2
|
1935-1936
|
|
Box
3
|
1936-1942
|
|
|
Convention File, 1935-1952
Box 4 contains the initial group of these files received in the Archives. It consists of correspondence preparatory to conventions, resolutions passed by conventions, Executive Council reports of actions pursuant to convention decisions, and related correspondence. There is an overlapping of dates in the correspondence relating to each annual convention because of the continuity of the subject matter considered from year to year. The 1947 convention file, for example, may contain correspondence dated 1946 and 1948. The file includes a 60-page typewritten report on the relations between the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. which was given to the 1937 convention. Charlton Ogburn, counselor for the A.F.L., wrote a letter, included here, outlining the legal basis for suspending C.I.O. unions and the possibility of obtaining a permanent injunction against them. Attorney Joseph A. Padway, in an October 1937 letter, cites authority whereby the A.F.L. may refuse to seat convention delegates.
This file shows that negotiations between the two great unions were resumed with a 1942 “No-raid” agreement, and in 1943 with a proposal by Philip Murray to arbitrate jurisdictional disputes. By 1945, letters to Green show Murray was organizing the building trades. In 1947, after the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, letters in the file proposed a joint effort to meet attacks by industrialists and lawmakers, and co-operation in post-war reconversion of industry, housing, and unemployment.
About three years after acquisition of the first group of A.F.L. papers, the Archives received additional material for the Convention File, covering the period 1947 to 1952, now in Box 5-23. The newer material covers much the same subjects as were treated in conventions prior to 1947. In addition, nearly one half the 1947 to 1952 file is concerned with such matters as the International Labor Organization, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, formation of an international labor organization not dom1nated by communists, European Recovery Program, United Nations, and other related matters.
|
|
Box
4
|
1935-1948
|
|
Box
5
|
, 1947 A to Hol
|
|
Box
6
|
, 1947 Int to Lab
|
|
Box
7
|
, 1947 Lab to Pay
|
|
Box
3
|
, 1947 Pas to Taf
|
|
Box
9
|
, 1947 Taf to Wor
|
|
Box
10
|
, 1948 A to Int
|
|
Box
11
|
, 1948 Int to Pub
|
|
Box
12
|
, 1948 Rep to Wor
|
|
Box
13
|
, 1949 A to Int
|
|
Box
14
|
, 1949 Int to Int
|
|
Box
15
|
, 1949 Int to Lat
|
|
Box
16
|
, 1949 Leg to Wor
|
|
Box
17
|
, 1950 A to Int
|
|
Box
18
|
, 1950 Int to Int
|
|
Box
19
|
, 1950 Jew to Wor
|
|
Box
20
|
, 1951 A to Int
|
|
Box
21
|
, 1951 Int to Mex
|
|
Box
22
|
, 1951 Mut to Wag
|
|
Box
23
|
, 1952 A to W
|
|
|
Relations with the C.I.O.
Letters in this file show a great deal of organizing activity on the part of the A.F.L. as well as the C.I.O. In a July 31, 1936 letter, President M. F. Tighe, of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers, said there was quite a bit of confusion, and that, in organization of steel workers, Philip Murray seemed to be running the show. Rather than suspend certain A.F.L. unions for C.I.O. activities, a letter from Charlton Ogburn suggested that it would be better to wait until the unions were automatically disqualified for non-payment of dues. A letter from Organizer Francis Fenton to Green, September 28, 1937, disclosed that the C.I.O. was issuing charters to member unions. The ensuing correspondence of this period in the file relates to litigation over funds of defecting unions, jurisdictional strikes, membership raids, and peace committees.
A letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt, September 30, 1939, appears in this file, asking both the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. to form a joint peace committee.
|
|
Box
24
|
1935-1941
|
|
Box
25
|
1941-1949
|
|
Box
26
|
Political Collaboration with the C.I.O., 1937-1947 : In this file a letter from Rhode Island Federation of Labor President Joseph T. Cahir to Green, December 29, 1937, states that Rhode Island has a Labor's Non-Partisan League, of which Cahir is president, and the A.F.L. in control. Green's return letter replies that the Labor's Non-Partisan League is considered a C.I.O. adjunct. Many letters from local and central unions tell of cooperation with the C.I.O., to each of which Green's letters reply that there should be no collaboration. Green's letter, January 28, 1938, to Kenneth I. Taylor, legislative agent for the Massachusetts Federation of Labor, states, “We can not delegate authority and power to some C.I.O. auxiliary to formulate and execute a political policy for the American Federation of Labor.”
|
|
|
Papers Favoring A.F.L.-C.I.O. Unity : This file consists of letters, telegrams, resolutions, and memoranda from individuals and from organizations in labor, government, industry, churches, and other sources.
|
|
Box
27
|
1935-1938
|
|
Box
28
|
1938-1939
|
|
Box
29
|
1939-1951
|
|
|
National and International Unions Correspondence
Correspondence of national and international unions is arranged according to the commonly used name of each union. The United Auto Workers Union is listed under “A” for Auto Workers. The international Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers, and Helpers is listed under “B” for Blacksmiths. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters is listed under “C” for Carpenters.
National and international union correspondence consists of communications between the Office of President William Green and the unions. The same subject matter is covered by correspondence in this file as in the ones previously listed, except that it pertains more directly to the unions named. More noteworthy correspondence is that of the Newspaper Guild, the Mine Workers, the Auto Workers, and the Steel Workers.
|
|
Box
30
|
Actors Union
|
|
Box
30
|
Auto Workers
|
|
Box
30
|
Bakery Workers
|
|
Box
30
|
Barbers
|
|
Box
30
|
Boiler Makers
|
|
Box
30
|
Boot and Shoe
|
|
Box
30
|
Brewery Workers
|
|
Box
30
|
Bricklayers
|
|
Box
30
|
Bridge Workers
|
|
Box
30
|
Building Service
|
|
Box
30
|
Carpenters Union
|
|
Box
30
|
Cement Workers
|
|
Box
31
|
Furniture Workers
|
|
Box
31
|
Garment Workers
|
|
Box
31
|
Glass Blowers
|
|
Box
31
|
Glass Workers
|
|
Box
31
|
Glove Workers
|
|
Box
31
|
Grain Processors
|
|
Box
31
|
Government Employees
|
|
Box
31
|
Handbag Workors
|
|
Box
31
|
Hatters
|
|
Box
31
|
Hod Carriers
|
|
Box
31
|
Hotel and Restaurant
|
|
Box
31
|
Jewelry Workers
|
|
Box
31
|
Leather Workers
|
|
Box
31
|
Letter Carriers
|
|
Box
31
|
Locomotive Engineers
|
|
Box
31
|
Longshoremen
|
|
Box
31
|
Machinists
|
|
Box
31
|
Marine Engineers
|
|
Box
31
|
Maritime Unions
|
|
Box
31
|
Match Workers
|
|
Box
31
|
Metal Polishers
|
|
Box
31
|
Mine Workers
|
|
Box
32
|
Mine workers, continued
|
|
Box
32
|
Molders
|
|
Box
32
|
Municipal Employees
|
|
Box
32
|
Musicians
|
|
Box
32
|
Newspaper Guild
|
|
Box
32
|
Office Workers
|
|
Box
32
|
Oil Workers
|
|
Box
32
|
Packinghouse Workers
|
|
Box
32
|
Painters
|
|
Box
32
|
Paper Workers
|
|
Box
33
|
Pattern Makers
|
|
Box
33
|
Photo Engravers
|
|
Box
33
|
Plasterers
|
|
Box
33
|
Plumbers
|
|
Box
33
|
Powder Workers
|
|
Box
33
|
Pressmen
|
|
Box
33
|
Quarrymen
|
|
Box
33
|
Railway, Street and Bus
|
|
Box
33
|
Rubber Workers
|
|
Box
33
|
Seafarers, Masters, Mates & Pilots
|
|
Box
33
|
Sheep Shearers
|
|
Box
33
|
Ship Builders
|
|
Box
33
|
Shoe Workers
|
|
Box
33
|
Sleeping Car Porters
|
|
Box
33
|
Steel Workers
|
|
Box
33
|
Switchmen
|
|
Box
33
|
Teachers
|
|
Box
33
|
Teamsters
|
|
Box
33
|
Technical Engineers
|
|
Box
33
|
Telegraphers
|
|
Box
33
|
Telephone Workers
|
|
Box
33
|
Textile Workers
|
|
Box
33
|
Tobacco Workers
|
|
Box
33
|
Trainmen, Railroad
|
|
Box
33
|
Typographical Union
|
|
Box
33
|
Upholsterers
|
|
Box
33
|
Wallpaper Craftsmen
|
|
|
State Federations of Labor Correspondence
Correspondence of the state federations of labor is filed by state in alphabetical order. This covers subjects previously listed, but concerns the situation within a given state. Letters from Green's office indicate to officers of state federations that they may not continue to accept membership of locals belonging to suspended international unions, or of any C.I.O. union. Montana and Oregon files record convention contests with C.I.O. sympathizers.
Canadian unions are listed under “C”. There are no folders for Alaska, Florida, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, and Missouri.
|
|
Box
34
|
Alabama
|
|
Box
34
|
Arizona
|
|
Box
34
|
Arkansas
|
|
Box
34
|
California
|
|
Box
34
|
Canada
|
|
Box
34
|
Colorado
|
|
Box
34
|
Connecticut
|
|
Box
34
|
Georgia
|
|
Box
34
|
Idaho
|
|
Box
34
|
Illinois
|
|
Box
34
|
Indiana
|
|
Box
34
|
Iowa
|
|
Box
34
|
Kansas
|
|
Box
34
|
Kentucky
|
|
Box
34
|
Louisiana
|
|
Box
35
|
Maryland
|
|
Box
35
|
Massachusetts
|
|
Box
35
|
Michigan
|
|
Box
35
|
Minnesota : Also available on Micro 568.
|
|
Box
35
|
Mississippi
|
|
Box
35
|
Montana
|
|
Box
35
|
Nebraska
|
|
Box
35
|
Nevada
|
|
Box
35
|
New Hampshire
|
|
Box
35
|
New Jersey
|
|
Box
35
|
New Mexico
|
|
Box
35
|
New York
|
|
Box
35
|
North Carolina
|
|
Box
35
|
North Dakota
|
|
Box
35
|
Ohio
|
|
Box
35
|
Oklahoma
|
|
Box
35
|
Oregon
|
|
Box
35
|
Pennsylvania
|
|
Box
36
|
Rhode Island
|
|
Box
36
|
South Carolina
|
|
Box
36
|
South Dakota
|
|
Box
36
|
Tennessee
|
|
Box
36
|
Texas
|
|
Box
36
|
Utah
|
|
Box
36
|
Vermont
|
|
Box
36
|
Virginia
|
|
Box
36
|
Washington
|
|
Box
36
|
West Virginia
|
|
Box
36
|
Wisconsin
|
|
Box
36
|
Wyoming
|
|
|
Central Labor Union Correspondence
Correspondence of central labor unions is filed according to the state, then the city, of its location. Letters of the Trades and Labor Council of Contra Costa County, California, are a good example of the process in which part of the organization became C.I.O., and the remainder was reorganized by the A.F.L. Correspondence with the Minneapolis Central Union recounts jurisdictional disputes, infiltration of communists, endorsement of Hubert Humphrey as candidate for mayor of Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis Teamster strike of 1946.
Central unions of Canada are listed under “C”. There are no folders for Delaware, Colorado, Maine, Idaho, New Mexico, Mississippi, Vermont, and Wyoming.
|
|
Box
37
|
Alaska
|
|
Box
37
|
Alabama
|
|
Box
37
|
Arizona
|
|
Box
37
|
Arkansas
|
|
Box
37
|
California
|
|
Box
38
|
Canada
|
|
Box
38
|
Connecticut
|
|
Box
38
|
Florida
|
|
Box
38
|
Georgia
|
|
Box
38
|
Hawaii
|
|
Box
38
|
Illinois
|
|
Box
38
|
Indiana
|
|
Box
38
|
Iowa
|
|
Box
38
|
Kansas
|
|
Box
38
|
Kentucky
|
|
Box
38
|
Louisiana
|
|
Box
39
|
Maryland
|
|
Box
39
|
Massachusetts
|
|
Box
39
|
Michigan
|
|
Box
39
|
Minnesota : Also available on Micro 568.
|
|
Box
39
|
Missouri
|
|
Box
39
|
Montana
|
|
Box
39
|
Nebraska
|
|
Box
39
|
Nevada
|
|
Box
39
|
New Hampshire
|
|
Box
39
|
New Jersey
|
|
Box
39
|
New York
|
|
Box
40
|
North Carolina
|
|
Box
40
|
Ohio
|
|
Box
40
|
Oklahoma
|
|
Box
40
|
Oregon
|
|
Box
40
|
Pennsylvania
|
|
Box
40
|
Rhode Island
|
|
Box
40
|
South Carolina
|
|
Box
40
|
South Dakota
|
|
Box
40
|
Tennessee
|
|
Box
40
|
Texas
|
|
Box
40
|
Utah
|
|
Box
40
|
Virginia
|
|
Box
41
|
Washington
|
|
Box
41
|
West Virginia
|
|
Box
41
|
Wisconsin
|
|
Box
42
|
Local Union Correspondence, 1937-1947 : Local union correspondence is filed by the commonly used name of the union, according to years. There is comparatively little direct correspondence between local unions and the president of the A.F.L. One exception is the file in the Aluminum Workers local of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, which concerns litigation on the part of the A.F.L. to recover funds from the local, which had defected to the C.I.O.
|
|
|
Miscellaneous Correspondence : This file contains such varied materials as a report by John P. Frey on British Trade Unionism, January, 1937; and letters concerning labor's war efforts in World War II, housing, the New Deal, and communism. There are many letters in the file from lawyers, churchmen, politicians, and industrialists, offering unsolicited advice on relations with the C.I.O.
|
|
Box
43
|
1936-1938
|
|
Box
44
|
1937-1940
|
|
|