[Trotskyist-led demonstration against conditions on the Work Project…]

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Trotskyist-led demonstration against conditions on the Work Project Assignment set up by With this book Dobbs concludes his fourrolume series on the work of the American Frotskyists in the International Brotherhood of Leamsters (IBT) between 1934 and 1941.

This period is one of the nost important in the history if the Trotskyist movement aternationally. Starting with he advantage of winning the nost capable of the Minneapolis Communist Party trade unionists to Trotskyism in 1928, the Socialist Workers party was able to demontrate in that city the power of its political leadership on a icale completely unparalleled ›Isewhere in the USA.

Powerful work For the work of Dobbs, he Dunne brothers and the est was powerful work.

Based initially around the inionisation of truck drivers und coal yard workers the Frotskyists' campaign had a nassive effect on Minneapolis abour conditions.

Between 1933 and 1939 he number of trade unionists the city doubled to $0,000. In the same period the average pay of truck Irivers rose from eleven lollars to thirty three dollars • week and average weekly lours fell from sixty to tortylour.

Extended

The drive to unionize vorkers moving forward in he name of class struggles vhich erupted in 1934 was ixtended beyond Minneapolis n the eleven-state 'over-thebad" campaign which urganised tens of thousands nd was the decisive turning oint in the growth of the BT to the size it is today.

The scale of these operaions can be seen from the act that IBT President 1 bitter opponent of the Defendants in the 1939 loward Fouts, Ralph Johnsor hi: 1 serenth victim, Eari C sker. marys. was forced to say at instant victory won Do eft=: •== over-the-road' ok: igned: 'I bate nerer known a hes conducted strike or It snon men than those were engaged in this ¡Theis statement from a man who fought thi almost every 1 balance of existed in the time.

Major In Teamster Bureaucracy Dobbs presents us with a detailed step by step account of how that power was lost, and how the threat from the Trotskyists as the war loomed nearer-a war they opposed every inch of the waynecessitated a major attack from the IBT bureaucracy backed to the hilt by the Roosevelt government.

The support enjoyed by the Trotskyists was such that only the complete destruction of IBT Local 544 and the jailing of its leaders was sufficient to make the labour movement safe for the warmongers.

Throughout its growth Local 544 had to contend with a whole series of attacks.

In 1938, for example, a section of the Minneapolis employers encouraged the use of the Silver Shields of America-a fascist organisation- which planned physical attacks on the union headquarters.

The formation of defence guard which put a sharp stop to the fascist atrocities (see SP77) was later used in the charges which led to the jailing of the Minneapolis 18.

Other attacks included the cold blooded murder of a union leader in 1937.

Legal repression-often instigated by FBI agents-was another problem Local 544 had to deal with.

For example, seven leaders of IBT locals in Des Moines, Omaha and Sioux City were jailed in 1939 on trumped up charges of truck-burning following strike some months earlier in Sioux City.

Later in the same year Sioux City frame-up of Teamste 7, Jack Maloney, Francis Quinn, arpenter, had not yet been release sixteen members of Local 544 Federal Workers Section were jailed for 'conspiring to deprive the government of workers services' after Jisputes on the Work Project Assignment set up by Roosevelt supposedly in order to reduce unemployment.

Other FBI tactics included : Trotskyists at urn shows the forces which union at that Roosevelt in the 1930's. encouragement ot opposition forces within Local 544 to take up anti red campaigns.

At the same time IBT President Tobin was sent political files on SWP members in the leadership of Local 544.

Despite consistent attempts, no opposition was ever able to shift the Trotskyists from their leadership The bureaucracy had been beaten back in the past largely by continued expansion of Local 544's influence among new layers of workers.

National retreat

The slide towards war had taken its toll on the labour movement, however, and there was a retreat on the part of the workers' movement nationally.

It would be possible in situation for a combination of legal and physical attacks to destroy the year of hard work.

At that time two national groupings of trade unions existed in the US. The American Federation of Labour (AFL) to which the IBT was affiliated had originated in the craft unions.

The initial battle of Local 544 (then 574) had been to turn the Teamsters out to unorganised, unskilled section sections of workers.

As pointed out above, the success of this move was reflected in a dramatic growth of the IBT.

Unorganised workers By the middle thirties a mass strike wave very often involving unorganised workers was sweeping the Out of this was born the Congress of Industrial Organisation which was opposed to the craft conscious conservatism of the AFL.

The leaders of IBT Local 544 decided that the best tactic open to them was to seek affiliation to the CIO.

This was done and a charter was issued in the name of the United Construction Workers Organising Committe.

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