1978 April 6

Introduction

Biographical Information
Scope and Content Note: Born August 16, in Windom, Minnesota. Father was a Methodist minister, who supported the family entirely by his ministerial activities. Because of his profession, the family moved to various locations both in Minnesota and Michigan.

Education
Scope and Content Note: Graduated from high school in Saginaw, Michigan. Attended Northwestern University, paying his own way through school on scholarships, by using the ministerial discount, and by savings he had accumulated working part time during the preceding three years. Graduated from Northwestern in 1924 with a major in English Composition, and minors in Greek and Philosophy.

He Was Uncertain What He Wanted to Do, But Knew He Did Not Want to Become a Minister, as His Father Hoped He Would
Scope and Content Note: He continued in school, and, with a variety of part-time jobs, was making about $500 a month.

Graduate Work
Scope and Content Note: Received a Master's degree in Philosophy in 1927 after writing a thesis in thirty days - working on it every night from midnight to 6 A.M.

In 1928 Cook Had Completed the Program for Bachelor of Divinity, with the Idea of Teaching Philosophy of Religion

In 1928 He And His Wife Applied for Exchange Fellowships to Germany Through the German-American Exchange Institute
Scope and Content Note: Cook married in 1926. His wife was interested in worker education schools in Germany; Cook was interested in philosophy. The Institute was financed by a Reading hosiery manufacturer of German origin.

Cook Spent Three Years in Germany
Scope and Content Note: He attended three universities: Hamburg, Berlin, and Frankfurt-am-Main. Cook did not get a Ph.D. He did work on a topic for about five months, but his professor felt he would be unable to properly evaluate the final paper as it was outside his area.

Returned to the United States in 1932
Scope and Content Note: Wife had returned in 1931, to Philadelphia. Cook unable to find work teaching philosophy.

Introduction

Philadelphia Took Early Advantage of Roosevelt Administration's Attempt to Streamline Welfare System, and Cook Found Work as a Case Work Visitor

Cook Lived and Worked in Predominately Textile Area
Scope and Content Note: About half of the total textile industry in Philadelphia was organized. At one point Cook had a caseload of a two-square-block area containing over 500 families who had never been visited by a case worker. Almost all of the people were unemployed textile workers.

These Textile Workers Generally Shared What Work Was Available

It Took Six Months for Cook to Find This Job
Scope and Content Note: The agency where he worked was temporary, under the auspices of the city government, with the payroll coming from the federal government.

Cook Learned the Conditions of the Textile Industry from This Job and from His Membership in the North Philadelphia Socialist Party
Scope and Content Note: Members of the Party were almost all in the labor movement, including Emil Rieve. The Party was very active. Cook became a socialist in Germany where most of his friends had been socialists and trade unionists.

Anecdote about Organizing Philco
Scope and Content Note: The Socialist Party, the Communist Party, and the AFL regional office were all trying to organize Philco; yet when Philco did organize, no one had contacts in the departments that walked out; it was a more or less spontaneous demonstration by the workers. When police interfered with the Philco picket line, 2,000 hosiery workers came to bolster the pickets.

Cook Was Fired from His Job in 1933 for Allegedly Inspiring His Co-Workers to Organize
Scope and Content Note: His office knew he was organizing on his own time, but the charge was unwarranted.

Digression into John Edelman and the Hosiery Workers Housing Complex
Scope and Content Note: Story of how the Hosiery Workers got a check for $1.25 million from the government before they had even purchased any land or done any extensive planning.

Transferred to Harry Hopkins Transient Bureau
Scope and Content Note: John Edelman convinced Cook's boss that it would damage her liberal image if word got out that she fired Cook for organizing. So, she saw to it that he was able to transfer to the Transient Bureau. Ironically, Cook, at the time, had “a sort of contempt for the white-collar group” and was only interested in organizing blue-collar workers. Worked at Transient Bureau from October 1933 to January 1937.

Purpose and Description of the Transient Bureau
Scope and Content Note: Large building put up transients on a night-to-night basis. Purpose was to help these people return to their original homes. Also included work programs for alcoholics. Cook became a supervisor after six months.

Cook's Interest Was in Organizing, and He Continued Work with Both Textile and Socialist Party Groups

Organizing the Yellow Cab Company
Scope and Content Note: 1100 drivers were pulled out on strike the day of the University of Pennsylvania Thanksgiving Day football game. Cook worked with the welfare committee, which was able to get all but about 25 on welfare; and that made the strike successful. There was much violence during the strike. The company imported goons who were easy to spot by their straw hats. Most scabs lasted on the job only two or three days because the job was so hazardous.

Introduction

More on Organizing Yellow Cab
Scope and Content Note: Worked some with the strike committee but mostly with the welfare committee.

Between 1932 and 1934 the Textile and Socialist Party Groups with Whom Cook Worked on Organizing Did Not Encourage Affiliation with the AFL
Scope and Content Note: They favored industrial organization. They would steer shops into the United Textile Workers (UTW), which was an industrial organization, but they tried to keep other local industrial unions independent. The Philco union joined the AFL when the AFL offered strike leader James Carey a job. Kept the Yellow Cab union independent until the CIO came along.

How Cook Got Involved in TWOC
Scope and Content Note: Cook's wife, Alice, was working as secretary to Amalgamated Clothing Workers (ACW) Philadelphia Joint Board Manager Charles Weinstein. So Cook knew in 1936 that the ACW was going to try to organize the textile industry, that Weinstein was going to be in charge of organizing the American Viscose chain, and that Weinstein would hire him if he wanted the job.

Background of Lewis' Organizing of U.S. Steel

Sidney Hillman Hoped to Employ the Same Approach with the American Viscose Corporation
Scope and Content Note: UTW had done some organizing in all (five) Viscose plants during the 1934 strike. Lewistown (Pennsylvania) and Nitro (West Virginia) plants maintained organizations; Marcus Hook (Pennsylvania) plant's organization had been wiped out.

Description of the Technical Operations of the Viscose Industry and Their Impact on Strikes
Scope and Content Note: Sensitive to prolonged strikes because pipes must be emptied to prevent solidification. In 1934 strike at Marcus Hook the company simply shut down after six months and it took another six months to get everything ready for production again after the strike ended. Hence, the plant was closed for over a year, and the local union did not survive.

Because Weinstein Sat on the Regional NLRB with the President of American Viscose, Who Had a Liberal Reputation, It Was Decided to Make American Viscose an Early Target of the Drive to Organize Textiles

Cook Decided to Wait for a Job in Textiles Rather Than Going to Work for the Steel Workers Organizing Committee in Its Drive to Organize Little Steel

Cook Hired by TWOC in March 1937
Scope and Content Note: Hired by Jacob Potofsky whom Hillman had given the job of setting up TWOC. George Baldanzi assigned him to work in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Reasons for Choosing to Work with Textiles Rather Than Steel
Scope and Content Note: Had no use for David McDonald. Knew more about textiles and the people involved with it, including Weinstein and Rieve.

Responsibilities of Rieve and Sol Barkin within TWOC
Scope and Content Note: Cook claims larger role for Rieve than he probably actually had.

Cook the Sixth Person Placed on TWOC Payroll

Reba Gilpin Canzano

UTW, Through Baldanzi, Had Done Some Organizing in All Viscose Plants
Scope and Content Note: They all had organizing committees. At Meadville a voluntary committee had secured 800 signed cards out of 1400 employees before Cook even arrived.

First Contract with Viscose
Scope and Content Note: American Viscose President Frank Griffin did not consult with his subordinates, the plant managers, when working out the contract. The plant managers' reaction to the contract was to attempt to sabotage the Union.

There Were 25 Company-Paid Spies in the Viscose Plants - 5 Per Local Union
Scope and Content Note: They were easily spotted by their regular attendance at union meetings.

Company Spy in Meadville Became President of the Local
Scope and Content Note: Cook fed him stories.

Weinstein Dropped Out after the First Year Because It Was Too Time Consuming and Because Griffin Could Not Get Cooperation from His People

Introduction

More on Viscose Managers' Attempts to Break the Union

Anecdote Regarding Cook's Move to Meadville
Scope and Content Note: The plant manager was holding meetings with his spies at the same hotel Cook was staying in. The manager was thus forced to move his meetings to a town 25 miles away.

Herb Payne Took Over after Weinstein Left as Coordinator of the Viscose Campaign
Scope and Content Note: Cook was transferred to the Marcus Hook plant, where there was some difficulty with organizing because the employees were older; Meadville employees were younger and much easier to organize.

Cook Became Payne's Unofficial Deputy on All American Viscose Matters

Frank Griffin Hired an Industrial Relations Manager, Fred Kraft
Scope and Content Note: Kraft was recommended by Hillman. Kraft was experienced, able, and knowledgeable; he understood how unions could perform a useful function.

In 1938 a New Comprehensive Contract Was Worked Out
Scope and Content Note: It took Kraft, Payne, and Cook six months to negotiate. Plant managers were again very unhappy and a counterproposal, without a checkoff and with a weakened grievance procedure, was submitted, which the Union negotiators rejected. Griffin, Kraft, Payne, and Cook then met and examined both proposals line by line. With some language changes most provisions were reinstated and it was approved by the Local. From then on there was a real solid organization in American Viscose.

Because This Contract Had a Good Arbitration Clause, the Managers Were Not Able to Sabotage It
Scope and Content Note: The Union pursued over 100 cases to arbitration the first year and won most of them. Kraft convinced Griffin that the company's position was being weakened by pursuing so many losing cases. As a result, there were so few arbitration cases the next year that the arbitrator asked to go on retainer.

Leadership of the Celanese Corporation the Opposite of Viscose's Griffin and Kraft
Scope and Content Note: Celanese top management listened to its plant managers and fought the Union.

1948 Celanese Strike at Rome, Georgia
Scope and Content Note: Plant organized during the war when management was more cooperative because of the War Labor Board (WLB). When organized, Cook warned the workers they would have to strike sooner or later because of the attitude of Celanese management. Company tried to force the cotton settlement on this plant, rather than accepting the more lucrative synthetics settlement. The strike was long, but less than 200 of the 2100 employees scabbed. Rieve stepped in and made a settlement with top management. From then on the company respected the Union and cooperated with it.

Dyeing Industry Easiest Branch of Textiles to Organize
Scope and Content Note: Industry more concentrated, workers more willing to organize, and good indigenous leadership sprang up.

Synthetics Easier to Organize Than Most Other Branches
Scope and Content Note: Younger workers with less loyalty to the company. High wages.

DuPont
Scope and Content Note: Used to have policy of paying the highest wages in the community. This, plus the fact that they gave their company unions considerable authority, effectively kept unions out of DuPont plants. TWUA was able to take over the company union at DuPont's Old Hickory, Tennessee, plant when the company union got annoyed with management. At Buffalo, New York, TWUA got the maintenance workers - the highest-paid workers in the plant - but could not get the production workers, because they were still paid higher wages than any other production workers in the area.

Effects of 1937 Recession on Synthetic Plants
Scope and Content Note: They were not as badly affected as cotton because of the increasing demand for synthetic products as compared to cotton. Some synthetic plants did lay off employees.

Marcus Hook Plant During the Recession
Scope and Content Note: It was the oldest synthetic plant in America (built in 1910) and therefore had the oldest machinery. The company was barely breaking even during good times and was able to keep operating only because of experimental fibers. They proposed to the Union a ten percent wage cut in exchange for a guarantee that the plant would stay open for at least one more year. The Union rejected this.

Introduction

More on Marcus Hook Viscose Plant and the First Pension in Synthetics
Scope and Content Note: Proposal made in 1939. In addition to the wage cut, management also proposed to lay off all workers 65 years of age and older, offering them a small pension, the first pension ever proposed in synthetic industry. The Union countered that an investment should be made to modernize the plant; management ultimately agreed to this. The plant remained open for another 30 years. A follow-up study of the retirees showed those without any outside interests were nearly all sick or dead within two years, while those with outside interests seemed to grow younger.

Beginning of TWUA
Scope and Content Note: TWOC should not have ended so soon because many people began to be more concerned with their own internal position in the Union than with organizing.

The South and TWUA Politics
Scope and Content Note: While never enough organized to be dominant, the Southern staff was often used by others as the weight which would decide national office elections or staff appointments. TWUA constitution always gave undue weight to small locals.

1939 Convention and the Possibility of Full Organization of the Textile Industry
Scope and Content Note: Odds were against TWUA success in the South, but in favor of organizing success in most of the synthetic industry, with the possible exception of DuPont. Cook had little confidence that the Southern staff could overcome its past losing experiences.

Southern Staff
Scope and Content Note: Middle-level staff and organizers all came out of losing experiences. State directors brought in from the North with successful organizing experiences made a difference, but only with the smaller textile companies.

The Basic Problem in Trying to Organize the South Was Lack of Community Support

Cook Unofficially Became Payne's Assistant in the Synthetic Division in 1939
Scope and Content Note: After World War II began, Cook handled all WLB cases for the Synthetic Division. He also handled various southern synthetic organizing campaigns, although responsibility for organizing always rested with the State and Regional Directors. Payne became more involved with cotton WLB problems.

TWUA Constitution Did Not Overly Concentrate Power in the International Office
Scope and Content Note: TWUA structure compared to United Auto Workers (UAW) structure. There was local autonomy particularly in the Dyers Federation and the Synthetic Division. The Synthetic Division was different from the rest of the industry and small enough to be cohesive.

Checkoff in the Synthetic Industry
Scope and Content Note: When World War II ended, every organized synthetic plant had a checkoff, with almost 100 percent dues-paying membership.

Introduction

Wartime Government Intervention into the Economy Was of Major Importance to TWUA
Scope and Content Note: 1937 recession had not affected Dyers and Synthetic as it had other divisions; it had a severe impact on cotton, wool, etc. Lend-Lease and U.S. preparedness in general helped these divisions recover. War gave some anti-union employers an excuse to compromise. It was patriotic to help unions since they were helping the war effort. With the more resistant anti-union employers, there was the recourse of the WLB. The checkoff got firmly established in industrial plants during WLB days.

TWUA Would Not Have Achieved the Size and Influence It Did by the Late 1940s Were It Not for the War
Scope and Content Note: Cook estimates TWUA membership peak would have been only about half as high if there had not been a war.

Synthetic Industry Did Not Undergo a Marked Change Technologically During the War
Scope and Content Note: Changes were ongoing. Employment remained stable between 1937 and 1960, but production quadrupled. In other divisions, however, employment declined.

Fringe Benefits Became an Issue During the War Due to Ceilings on Wage Increases
Scope and Content Note: Employers were also interested in getting fringe benefits to keep turnover in the plants to a minimum.

Textiles Got Wage Increases During the War Other Unions Could Not Get
Scope and Content Note: Rieve was influential in affecting WLB policy. Hosiery Workers were one of the earliest unions to collaborate with government agencies, and Rieve put this experience to work for TWUA. Furthermore, textile employers, especially in cotton, were eager to get wage increases approved so as not to lose workers to the higher-paying, heavy industries.

It Was Not as Easy for Unorganized Mills to Pick Up Fringe Benefits During the War
Scope and Content Note: Because of the tripartite makeup of the WLB, it was easier to get a request through the Board if it was sponsored jointly by union and management.

Cook Favored More Money for Organizing

There Were a Few Communists in Local 1874, Cumberland, Maryland, But Most Were Just Sympathizers and Not Actual Members of the Party
Scope and Content Note: George Meyer, president of Local 1874 for many years, became a Communist Party organizer in Baltimore after he left the mill. The Communist caucus was estimated to have 15-35 members, who were active in the Union - shop stewards, department chairmen. Most of these, however, were probably not Party members.

Ethnic Background Was a Key Factor in the Lower Percentage of Communists in TWUA Than in Other Unions
Scope and Content Note: Most textile workers had no natural source of contact with the idea of Communism because of concentration in the South where there were few recent immigrants.

Communism and the United Electrical Workers
Scope and Content Note: James Carey needed skilled leaders to pull off the split from the AFL and the only ones available were Communists.

UTW Had Anarchists in the Early Days
Scope and Content Note: These anarchists, drawn from various ethnic groups, had become more Americanized by the time of the CIO.

Introduction

Rieve and Baldanzi Were Very Much in Favor of Ridding the CIO of Communists in the Late 1940s
Scope and Content Note: Both came out of the Socialist movement, which was anti-Communist. The labor movement would not be able to grow, particularly in the South, if it was in any way associated with Communism. Neither man objected to working with Communists at the local level of the Union as long as they followed TWUA policy, but having the labor movement identified with the public's image of Communism would be very detrimental. John L. Lewis accepted Communists when setting up the CIO in order to maximize the number of unions and skilled leaders who would join the CIO. Lewis did not ostracize his political opponents if they were competent people who could help the Movement.

It Would Not Have Been Possible to Begin a Labor Party in the United States in the Late 1940s
Scope and Content Note: If it had been possible, Cook would have supported it. The first time he ever voted for a Democrat, rather than for a Socialist, was Roosevelt's fourth election.

The Impact of Taft-Hartley on TWUA
Scope and Content Note: The Union's difficulties were influenced more by both government indifference and an unwillingness to act on existing legislation than by Taft-Hartley itself - both, however, were a sign of the times. Taft-Hartley was as useful as propaganda for the Union as it was a hindrance.

Although Rieve Had Pretty Good Standing within the Labor Movement, TWUA, as an Organization, Was Considered a Poor Relative

Why TWUA Was Losing Big NLRB Elections and Winning Small Ones by Late 1940s
Scope and Content Note: Big plants were harder to organize; they were owned by corporations with money to hire experienced people to fight the Union, and cotton textile usually provided Union benefits in non-union plants. The only effective organization weapon was collective bargaining - the right to argue with the boss - and the larger the plant the more difficult it was to use this argument to swing a majority vote.

In the Late 1940s Few People in the Union Felt That the Southern Textile Industry Would Be Organized in the Next Ten Years
Scope and Content Note: There was no possible way TWUA could finance an organizing drive in the South on its own, and the rest of the labor movement was unwilling to commit the necessary cash and manpower.

Cook's Experiences as a Member of the Marshall Plan Team, 1948-1952
Scope and Content Note: Cook was selected to work for the Marshall Plan partly as a result of his having studied in Europe and his knowledge of the European labor movement. He was assigned to Austria, where he became the contact with the labor unions and the Socialist Party, working on economic rehabilitation. Except for France, most Marshall Plan countries had a more thoroughly organized labor force than the United States. Socialists and the labor movement in Austria agreed with the goals and plans of the Marshall Plan, though they did not realize this until Cook arrived and provided liaison.

Introduction

When Payne Became Ill in the Fall of 1951, Cook Was Asked to Return to Take Over As Director of the Synthetic Division
Scope and Content Note: Rieve polled business agents and others in the division and Cook was the unanimous choice to replace Payne. Cook became Director in February.

Causes of the Rieve-Baldanzi Split
Scope and Content Note: People associated with Baldanzi were organizers rather than administrative types, and they urged him to be more aggressive in representing the organizing standpoint within the Union. Rieve, and those associated with him, represented the administrative aspect of the Union's work. The New England faction felt Mariano Bishop would be a more competent Executive Vice President than Baldanzi. Rieve's and Baldanzi's personalities were not compatible.

Cook Was a Personal Friend of Baldanzi; But When He Returned from Europe, He Saw No Alternative But to Support Rieve

There Was Evidence of Strain within the Union Even Before Cook Left for Europe in 1948
Scope and Content Note: Payne was strongly anti-Baldanzi early on.

Baldanzi's Role in the Union
Scope and Content Note: He kept the Dyers in TWOC in 1939 when some UTW locals returned to the AFL and was very active in organizing Synthetics. The role of Executive Vice President was not well defined in the constitution. Cook does not understand why the Union began with three general officers instead of just two.

Most Synthetic Local Officers Supported Cook's Position During the Internal Fight

Organizing the South Was an Issue in the Split
Scope and Content Note: New England felt too much money was being put into the southern organizing drive, and the southern staff felt the funding was too limited.

Baldanzi's Running for President at the 1952 Convention Was the Only Way to Settle the Situation
Scope and Content Note: Cook feels the bolt to the UTW was not conceived until after the convention.

Synthetic Division Supported Rieve
Scope and Content Note: A majority of the delegates from Cumberland supported Baldanzi, but there was no question of their seceding from the Union. All other synthetic locals were pretty solidly for Rieve.

Bishop's Death and William Pollock's Succession to the Executive Vice Presidency
Scope and Content Note: Rieve's unwillingness to make a decision concerning Pollock's succession as Executive Vice President was caused by the shock of Bishop's death. Rieve wanted to retire and felt very comfortable leaving the Union to Bishop, but uncomfortable leaving it to Pollock. Bishop would have been very competent as Rieve's successor; he had good administrative ability and a good personality.

There Was No Way Baldanzi Could Have Remained in TWUA after the 1952 Convention

Neither Baldanzi nor His Supporters Had Much Hope of Remaking UTW
Scope and Content Note: Baldanzi was pretty much content to have a relatively small, trouble-free organization.

Baldanzi Would Have Been Happy Just to Maintain the Position He Held within TWUA Before the Split
Scope and Content Note: He was as much a victim of the situation as a cause. There was no guarantee that Baldanzi would have succeeded Rieve, even if there had been no fight.

After the 1952 Convention Some Baldanzi Supporters Chose to Leave TWUA, Others Stayed, and Some Were Forced to Leave
Scope and Content Note: No one in synthetics was forced to leave. Many staff people voluntarily left because they no longer felt comfortable.

1978 April 7

Introduction

Impact on TWUA of the 1952 Split
Scope and Content Note: [Cook begins by answering the question in regard to the effect of the 1964 internal fight. He then corrects himself and goes on to say the following about 1952.] The administration and the efficiency of the Union improved although there was no increase in the membership. Secession did not have any great impact. The locals that did secede were so strongly in favor of Baldanzi that the Union did not fight their departure very strongly.

Causes of the Decline of TWUA
Scope and Content Note: TWUA growth was due largely to skillful use of the WLB and to the low-resistance level of employers during the war due to the competition for workers that the higher-paying, war-related industries provided. Both of these factors had disappeared by the late 1940s. When Northeastern mills went bankrupt or moved to the non-union South, the Union was unable to recoup its membership losses by new organization in large plants.

To Change This Trend, TWUA Tried to Interest the Major AFL-CIO Unions in Organizing in the South
Scope and Content Note: These unions did not have an area in the South in which they were interested in working or in which they were willing to commit the necessary funds. Aside from textile, the construction industry was the only industry that was universal in the South; and the building trades unions showed little interest in Southern organization.

TWUA Leadership Was Realistic About the Decline of the Industry

J.P. Stevens Selected as Main Union Target
Scope and Content Note: The Union had had more success with Stevens than the other major textile firms, largely because Stevens mills were smaller. It was felt that a breakthrough in any of the top half-dozen textile companies would result in making inroads in the other big companies.

Union People in the Synthetic Industry Did Not Have to Deal with the Problems of Decline
Scope and Content Note: Because synthetics was a viable branch of the industry, Cook and his staff did not have to deal with the psychological problem of decline. It was not so much that the successful branches of the Union were unconcerned about the problems of decline in the other branches, but rather that the long hours put in by Union staffers did not permit them the time to worry much about those areas with which they did not have daily contact.

Imports Affect the Synthetic Industry
Scope and Content Note: The import price for staple fiber is much lower because the value-added tax is refunded to foreign manufacturers.

Factors in Successful Organizing During the Recession of the 1950s
Scope and Content Note: A lot depended upon whether or not management was willing to deal with the Union. Companies which were not basically textile firms, but got into textile manufacturing and had been used to dealing with other unions, were usually more cooperative and easier to organize. Also, smaller plants usually could not afford financially to fight the Union. However, larger companies, in areas where there were no other unions and no community support for unions, could usually successfully resist organization.

Introduction

The Loss of the Crusading CIO Spirit
Scope and Content Note: There were two great organizing waves in the textile industry. The first was in 1934, which was “the relaxation after the worst of the depression was over.” The second came during the war. There was no opportunity for the Union to re-establish either of these atmospheres. TWUA was thus left with the task of day-to-day organizing.

Those Who Became Leaders in the Local Unions Were Almost Never the Same Ones Who Had Done the Initial Organizing
Scope and Content Note: Organizing talents and administrative talents were rarely found in the same individual.

Emil Rieve
Scope and Content Note: An able and competent administrator of the Hosiery Workers. As President of TWUA he was a good tactician who would not enter negotiations until there was a deadlock. Rieve's judgment and leadership prevented TWUA from becoming as small as UTW during the 1950s. Management liked working with him because he impressed them as someone who was honest and frank.

Rieve's Greatest Contribution to TWUA
Scope and Content Note: He had a good sense of what was possible within a given situation and how to maximize that possibility. He was interested in all phases of the Union, but he did not interfere unless there were complaints.

Comparison of Rieve and Pollock
Scope and Content Note: Since the structure of the Union was established, the shift in leadership did not have any immediate effect. Pollock did not have a high opinion of his own abilities; for example, he did not want to get involved in negotiations. Whereas Rieve was able to get along with people he did not like, Pollock found it difficult.

Anecdote Concerning Cook's Assistant Ralph Cline
Scope and Content Note: Cline thought he knew Pollock well enough to give him advice on how to run TWUA. Cline found out otherwise, and it cost him the directorship of the Synthetic Division when Cook was “booted out.”

The Resolution of the 1956 Convention Condemning White Citizens Councils Had No Influence on the Synthetic Division, Though It May Have Made Organizing More Difficult in Cotton

Blacks Constituted about Ten Percent of the Workforce in the Synthetic Plants of Roanoke and Front Royal, But There Were Very Few Blacks in Other Synthetic Plants

The Upgrading of the Wages of Blacks in Synthetics
Scope and Content Note: WLB helped equalize wages for blacks. This was relatively easy to sell to the white workers because they had, through the Union, acquired a certain amount of economic judgment; they realized that an equalized wage scale for blacks would prevent the company from using blacks as scabs. It was much more difficult to open up higher-paying jobs to blacks.

Introduction

TWUA Pushed Equality in All Phases of Plant Operations, But It Did Not Always Have the Desired Results
Scope and Content Note: Seniority in synthetics was established departmentally with separate lists for blacks and whites. When the Union attempted to incorporate the lists, blacks objected because with separate lists they had more job security. Transfers between departments were infrequent for both blacks and whites because a transfer meant loss of seniority.

Pollock and the Possibility of Merger Between TWUA and UTW
Scope and Content Note: After 1964, Pollock would have liked merger because he would have preferred Baldanzi, over any TWUA leader, to succeed him as President. Before 1964, Pollock did not really want merger because an influx of UTW people, combined with the existing opposition to him within his own Union, would have placed him in a minority position and threatened his re-election as President. Cook feels that, for this reason, Pollock did not push hard for merger in the late 1950s when UTW was vulnerable because of McClellan Committee findings.

The Effort to Keep Pollock from Becoming Rieve's Successor
Note: Throughout much of this discussion there is a confusion of dates. The question was about possible opposition to Pollock in 1956; but Cook gives a 1953 answer.

Scope and Content Note: There was strong sentiment after Bishop's death to make John Chupka the heir apparent. The effort collapsed when Chupka settled for the position of Secretary-Treasurer instead of running for Executive Vice President as the anti-Pollock people wanted.

Pollock Was the Basic Issue of the 1964 Fight
Scope and Content Note: The Majority felt the Union could not progress under Pollock. His lack of assistance to the directors of the Union and his lack of influence with other unions, whose help was needed, were but two factors. His only interest seemed to be in balancing the budget. People in the higher administrative positions opposed him because of this lack of assistance. They also felt Pollock was spending too much energy and money on the projects of lesser staff people in order to maintain their allegiance. Pollock was not a good speaker; like Rieve, he read his speeches.

Guaranteed Annual Wage, Which Pollock Called for at the 1962 Convention, Was Rarely Used in TWUA Negotiations

Pollock Complained That He Was Not Part of the Decision-Making Processes of the Union While Rieve Was President

Rieve Was Unhappy About the Change in His Title to That of President Emeritus in 1960
Scope and Content Note: Pollock felt Rieve had too much influence as Chairman of the Executive Council.

Pollock Wanted to Be Made President Emeritus When He Resigned Because of the Financial Factor

Pollock Was Told He Should Resign Because He Would Be Unable to Get Himself Re-Elected in 1972
Scope and Content Note: By this time anti-Pollock sentiment extended to the rank and file delegates.

In the Early 1960s There Was No Assumption on How Long Pollock Would Remain as President, But the Hope Was That He Would Not Be in for Too Long

Introduction

The Majority on the Executive Council Began Caucusing as a Separate Group Sometime after the 1962 Convention

Chupka Did Not Take a Definite Position in Favor of Pollock Until About Three Months Prior to the 1964 Convention

Chupka and Sol Stetin Were Considered by the Majority to Be “Swing” People
Scope and Content Note: Cook feels their support of the Majority at the 1964 convention would have defeated Pollock. Neither wanted to jeopardize his position; Chupka, since he felt that he would eventually be President anyway; and Stetin, because he wanted a higher position within the Union. Stetin would have swung to the Majority if Chupka had.

Federation of Textile Representatives (FTR) Was Formed in 1962 Purely for Economic Reasons; It Was Not Part of the Internal Dispute
Scope and Content Note: FTR was organized by the Southern staff who were working closely with AFL-CIO people who were making more money.

In 1962 Four Positions on the Executive Council Changed Hands
Scope and Content Note: The internal politics of an area, not the internal politics of the International, was the determining factor in who assumed the positions. Although two of the new people supported Pollock and two supported the Majority, this was not known at the time of their selection to the slate. At least three of the four who left the Council were Pollock supporters.

Local 1790, Brooklyn, Brought the Split in the Executive Council Out in the Open
Scope and Content Note: [Although this issue dominated much of the Executive Council's time in the year prior to the 1964 convention, Cook claims he can recall none of the details or the issues involved. His answer here is, by his own admission, largely speculation.] Cook claims that Local 1790, as far as he knew, was no different than any other local in the Metropolitan area. Violence and questionable practices were common in that area, and Cook feels Local 1790 was singled out by Pollock simply because its leaders, Miraglia and Gordon, were strong-willed individuals who opposed him.

William Gordon, Victor Canzano, J. William Belanger, and Cook Were the Leaders of the Majority
Scope and Content Note: In theory at least, the members of the Majority faction represented, geographically and industrially, the vast majority of the membership, except for a geographic band extending from New Jersey across to Minnesota. There were holes in this, however, particularly in New England where there was a good deal of antipathy to Belanger and a good deal of support for Chupka.

Why Belanger and Cook Were Selected to Oppose Pollock and Chupka at the 1964 Convention
Scope and Content Note: Belanger ran as President by default, and Cook ran to keep Canzano off the slate. Both Belanger and Cook were prepared to leave the Union; Cook was tired of being away from home so much, and Belanger had another job lined up. Even if the Majority had won, Cook would have left the Union within two years. Though he spoke confidently at the time, he knew the Majority did not have the votes, and he did not want Canzano to run because defeat would have meant his elimination from the Union.

Anecdote Concerning the Firing of Belanger and Cook

Introduction

Cook Feels That Calling a Special Convention to Resolve the Split, as Pollock Wanted, Would Not Necessarily Have Changed the Outcome

Rieve's Speech at the 1964 Convention May Have Been an Attempt by Him to Clear His Conscience of Guilt for Having Supported Pollock in the First Place
Scope and Content Note: Rieve did not consult with the Majority before giving the speech.

Having Viewed How Pollock Ran the Office of President, the Trustees of TWUA Supported the Majority at the 1964 Convention

There Were Never Any Suggestions of Other Possible Ways of Getting Rid of Pollock

From Cook's Personal Viewpoint the 1964 Fight Was Much More Bitter Than the 1952 Fight

The Union Did Not Really Suffer During the Period of the 1964 Fight Since It Was at a Standstill Anyway
Scope and Content Note: Routine administration could pretty much take care of itself.

The Majority Used the Issue of Merger with the UTW Against Pollock
Scope and Content Note: Cook maintained fraternal relations with Baldanzi, meeting occasionally on matters pertaining to the synthetic industry. Baldanzi, though somewhat skeptical of Pollock's intentions, probably did favor merger. Current UTW President Francis Schaufenbil and the head of the big UTW Brooklyn local opposed merger, fearing submersion of their union; their influence was enough to thwart merger, despite the intentions of Pollock and Baldanzi. Pollock by this time favored merger as one method of preventing anyone from the Majority faction from succeeding him.

There Was No Attempt to Fire Canzano, But His Function Was Reduced

Cook Made No Effort to Get His Job Back after He Was Fired
Scope and Content Note: Many of the Synthetic locals and Cook's staff wanted to fight, but Cook dissuaded them. Cook's only interest was in getting his pension and, after applying some AFL-CIO pressure, was successful in this.

Cook Does Not Recall Discussions When the Decision Was Made to Target J.P. Stevens
Scope and Content Note: The discussions and decision probably took place within the industrial division.

After Leaving TWUA, Cook Retired Until January 1966
Scope and Content Note: At the suggestion of John Edelman, Cook headed the drive to get people to sign up for Medicare under the auspices of the Washington, D.C.-based United Planning Organization (UPO); this project lasted five months. He stayed with UPO as Director for Staff Training for four years until he was asked to resign. For the next five years, until the compulsory retirement age of 72 years, Cook worked with the Washington Technical Institute.