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The Trade Union Unity League (TUUL) was an industrial union umbrella organization of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) between 1929 and 1935. The group was the American affiliate to the Red International of Labor Unions. It was the result of the Communist International's Third Period policy, which dictated that affiliated Communist Parties pursue a strategy of dual unionism and thus abandon attempts to "bore from within" existing trade unions.

Organizational history

Background

The Trade Union Unity League had its roots in an earlier Communist Party foray into the trade union movement, the Trade Union Educational League (1920-1929), headed by William Z. Foster.^[1] This earlier organization sought to pursue a "boring from within" tactic inside the previously existing unions, inside and outside of the American Federation of Labor — seeking to organize left wing "militants" within these unions with a view to transforming the unions themselves into revolutionary instruments.^[2]

The early 1920s saw a drop in power for TUEL and the United Mine Workers after a series of failed strikes. Profintern sought to move past the faltering groups embedded within the AFL in favor of the dual unionism. In 1928 the first of the dual unions, the National Miners Union, was established as an rival to the UMW. It was followed by the National Textile Workers Union and the Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union. In 1929 the focal transition to dual unionism was made official when the TUEL was reformed into the Trade Union Unity League in direct revolutionary opposition to AFL craft unionism.^[3]

Despite his lifelong enmity towards dual unionism, Foster remained at the helm of the TUEL organization when it changed its name and tactics at its 1929 convention.^[4] This change of line was externally driven, Foster explained to his associate from the United Mine Workers of America, Powers Hapgood at the time of the change, declaring "Powers, the Communist Party decided that policy. As a good Communist I just have to go along." ^[5]

The Formation of the TUUL was made necessary in 1929 by the worsening shape of the United States Economy and the failure of “labor misleaders” to actively organize the excluded and unorganized and for mass-expulsion practices which served internal bureaucratic power for union leaders but which did not serve the interests of the union rank-and-file.^[6]

Formation

The TUUL was founded at a convention held in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 31, 1929. This period in the Party's history has been called its "hey day" and is notable for Communists' unyielding antagonism to more moderate organizers, who were branded "social fascists." TUUL activists attempted to organize some of the most marginal populations of the working class, such as the unemployed, women, and Blacks in the racially segregated American South.^[7] However, the TUUL struggled to overcome a lack of party members in the industries it sought to organize and further discretion as Communist unions sought to avoid overt affiliation for fear of employee repression.^[8]

1st convention

The initial convention of the TUUL was attended by only three unions and a number of smaller leagues representing 50,000 workers in total.^[9] It's primary call was to “organize the unorganized” and for unemployment insurance.^[10] The TUUL sought to organize large industries such as steel, coal and textile into industrial unions in opposition with the craft-divided unions.^[11]

Unemployment activism

On March 6, 1930 massive demonstrations organized by Comintern broke out across the United States under the banner of International Unemployment Day. 50,000 demonstrators showed up in Chicago and Pittsburgh. 100,000 turned out in Detroit and 110,000 in New York.^[12] More than one million people participated in the rallies. The popularity of the event, initially misconstrued as the dawn of large-scale, popular communism in the United States, was primarily due to the widespread necessity to address unemployment. The shortcomings of mass demonstrations led to the establishment of Unemployment Councils in order to address the need for organized, stable Communist Party influence. Comintern assigned the responsibility or setting up and leading the councils to the TUUL.^[13]

The TUUL organized a National Labor Unemployment Conference at the end of March, 1930 but was unable to attract delegates from outside of the party. At the conference, the demands for “Work or Wages” through “unemployment relief at the expense of profits and for a seven-hour workday” were admittedly unrealistic and were presented as unlikely to be achieved under the current government. Plans for unemployed assistance under TUUL tended to be abstract, emphasizing the need to overthrow capitalism before such plans were possible.^[14]However, in 1931 there was an attempt to petition the US Congress for the creation of the National Committee for Unemployment Insurance. 1.4 million signatures were gathered but the efforts were ignored.^[15]

In 1931, Comintern, unsatisfied with TUUL's ability to mobilize the unemployed, develop organizational structures, and make effective demands, removed the Unemployment Councils from TUUL's control.^[16] The National Unemployed Councils organizational structure formed by the TUUL survived.^[17]

Ford activism

The TUEL and subsequently the TUUL fought since the early 1920s to organize the Ford River Rouge plant. The TUUL and its affiliate Auto Workers Union circulated a shop paper called “The Ford Worker” in an attempt to bring the conditions and worker's grievances to the forefront of the worker's mind.^[18]

In Spring 1932, TUUL orchestrated a collaboration between the AWU and the Detroit Unemployed Councils to form a march demanding jobs for laid-off Ford workers, a slowdown at the plant, and a halt in home-foreclosures. The Ford Hunger March drew as many as 5000 marchers. The march as disbursed by Ford “servicemen” who fired on the march and killed four.^[19]

The AWU was ultimately unable to develop a lasting organization at the Ford River Rouge plant but succeeded in developing a small, class-conscious group dedicated to “radical social objectives and rank-and-file democracy.”^[20]

National industrial recovery act

Section 7A of the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act granted collective bargaining to workers. The subsequent rise in union membership overwhelmed the TUUL unions in membership. Communist spokespeople and unions reported faltering numbers and even newly formed independent unions soon grew larger than their TUUL rivals.^[21]

1934 strike

A series of large strikes in 1934 in which TUUL played no significant role represent the end of its relevance.^[22] The Auto-Lite strike in Toledo, Ohio featured a collaboration between the AFL and the Trotskyist Teamsters Union of Minneapolis but the TUUL was absent. The absent was more indicative in August during the AFL's United Textile Workers strike in which 500,000 abandoned their work. TUUL's National Textile Workers Union had led several strikes in 1933 but was uninvolved in 1934. The maritime strike in San Francisco did see TUUL participation but in aid and support rather than as a key factor.^[23]

Failure

TUUL suffered from consistent “abstract politicization of strikes” and failed to apply their political call to the needs of workers. TUUL strikes called for worker government and unemployment insurance at the expense of wage and working condition issues.^[24] The TUUL was also stretched too thin. Their attempts to form a radical workers movement was bore by the backs of their own organizers rather than the workers they meant to organize. There were not enough TUUL organizers to make up for the lack of a “revolutionary wave.”^[25]

Dissolution

In December 1934, Comintern proposed the dissolution of the TUUL and the return of its unions to the AFL body.^[26] The TUUL was dismantled in 1935 when the Comintern switched to the Popular Front strategy. CPUSA organizers then joined the industrial union movement under the Congress of Industrial Organizations, where they applied skills developed during the TUUL era.

Aftermath

The dissolution of the TUUL coincided with John L. Lewis' resignation as vice-president of the AFL and move to create the Committee for Industrial Organizations. The new CIO was in great need of experienced organizers and the former TUUL leaders were available. Hundreds of former TUUL organizers reapplied their resolve and expertise regarding industry and unionization to bolster the fledgling CIO.^[27] By the end of the 1930s, approximately 40% of CIO unions had significant Communist ties.^[28]

Demographics

The TUUL's Unemployment Councils brought in large numbers of individual Black workers and women who played active roles in committee functions.^[29] However they failed to gain a significant foothold in Black communities and Black membership in TUUL unions was sparse.^[30]

Methods

The TUUL was a direct appendage of the Communist party. Its leaders were drawn from within the party and its strategy and rhetoric regarding the destruction of the AFL, development of united fronts, and support for revolutionary struggles were direct products of communist Third Period ideology.^[31] The TUUL operated relatively small unions which were intended to directly compete as radical alternatives with conservative AFL analogs.^[32]

The TUUL carried out educational campaigns which advocated unionism by militant and progressive class struggle. These campaigns were aimed to educate the workers in the union and also reach the ears of many outside of the union.^[33]

Members of the TUUL were sent into existing unions in order to subvert the power of “reformists and Social Democrats.”^[34]

Affiliated unions

Partial list

Footnotes

^ The best history of TUEL and its activities remains Philip S. Foner's multi-volume History of the Labor Movement of the United States. See: Volume 9: From TUEL to the End of the Gompers Era, (New York: International Publishers, 1991) and Volume 10: The TUEL (New York: International Publishers, 1994).
^ See: David Saposs, Left Wing Unionism: A Study of Radical Policies and Tactics. New York: International Publishers, 1926; "Chapter 3: Communist Boring From Within," pp. 48-65.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 46. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ James R. Barrett, William Z. Foster and the Tragedy of American Radicalism. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1999; pp. 160-161.
^ Quoted in Saul Alinsky, John L. Lewis: An Unauthorized Biography. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1949; pg. 58.
^ Zipser, editorial committee Philip Bart, chief editor, Theodore Bassett, William W. Weinstone, Arthur (1979). Highlights of a fighting history : 60 years of the Communist Party, USA (1st ed. ed.). New York: International Publishers. p. 149. ISBN 0-7178-0559-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Devinatz, "Trade Unions As Instruments of Social Change: Does Ideology Matter?", WorkingUSA, January 2007; Smethurst, The New Red Negro: The Literary Left and African American Poetry, 1930-1946, 1999.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 65. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 64. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Zipser, editorial committee Philip Bart, chief editor, Theodore Bassett, William W. Weinstone, Arthur (1979). Highlights of a fighting history : 60 years of the Communist Party, USA (1st ed. ed.). New York: International Publishers. p. 54. ISBN 0-7178-0559-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Zipser, editorial committee Philip Bart, chief editor, Theodore Bassett, William W. Weinstone, Arthur (1979). Highlights of a fighting history : 60 years of the Communist Party, USA (1st ed. ed.). New York: International Publishers. p. 139. ISBN 0-7178-0559-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Zipser, editorial committee Philip Bart, chief editor, Theodore Bassett, William W. Weinstone, Arthur (1979). Highlights of a fighting history : 60 years of the Communist Party, USA (1st ed. ed.). New York: International Publishers. p. 60. ISBN 0-7178-0559-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 60. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 61. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 62. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ . p. 62. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ Zipser, editorial committee Philip Bart, chief editor, Theodore Bassett, William W. Weinstone, Arthur (1979). Highlights of a fighting history : 60 years of the Communist Party, USA (1st ed. ed.). New York: International Publishers. p. 60. ISBN 0-7178-0559-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Zeitlin, Judith Stepan-Norris, Maurice (2003). Left out : reds and America's industrial unions (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 100. ISBN 0-521-79212-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Zeitlin, Judith Stepan-Norris, Maurice (2003). Left out : reds and America's industrial unions (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 100. ISBN 0-521-79212-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Zeitlin, Judith Stepan-Norris, Maurice (2003). Left out : reds and America's industrial unions (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 100. ISBN 0-521-79212-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 71. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 71. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 72. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 65. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Zeitlin, Judith Stepan-Norris, Maurice (2003). Left out : reds and America's industrial unions (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 37. ISBN 0-521-79212-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 72. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 81. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 83. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Zipser, editorial committee Philip Bart, chief editor, Theodore Bassett, William W. Weinstone, Arthur (1979). Highlights of a fighting history : 60 years of the Communist Party, USA (1st ed. ed.). New York: International Publishers. p. 60. ISBN 0-7178-0559-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 76. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 64. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Laslett, John H.M. (2014). Sunshine was never enough : los angeles workers, 1880-2010. [S.l.]: Univ Of California Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-520-28219-3.
^ Zipser, editorial committee Philip Bart, chief editor, Theodore Bassett, William W. Weinstone, Arthur (1979). Highlights of a fighting history : 60 years of the Communist Party, USA (1st ed. ed.). New York: International Publishers. p. 149. ISBN 0-7178-0559-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Zipser, editorial committee Philip Bart, chief editor, Theodore Bassett, William W. Weinstone, Arthur (1979). Highlights of a fighting history : 60 years of the Communist Party, USA (1st ed. ed.). New York: International Publishers. p. 149. ISBN 0-7178-0559-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 71. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 73. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl (1992). The American communist movement : storming heaven itself. New York: Twayne. p. 65. ISBN 0-8057-3855-X.
^ Zipser, editorial committee Philip Bart, chief editor, Theodore Bassett, William W. Weinstone, Arthur (1979). Highlights of a fighting history : 60 years of the Communist Party, USA (1st ed. ed.). New York: International Publishers. p. 149. ISBN 0-7178-0559-X. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Publications

Problems of Strike Strategy: Decisions of the International Conference on Strike Strategy, held in Strassburg, Germany, January 1929 New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1929.
The Trade Union Unity League, Affiliated to RILU: Its Program, Structure, Methods and History. New York: Trade Union Unity League, 1929.
William Z. Foster, Victorious Socialist Construction in the Soviet Union. New York: Trade Union Unity League, 1930.
William Z. Foster, Little Brothers of the Big Labor Fakers: Report of a Speech against the Conference for Progressive Labor Action, Made in New Star Casino, New York City on May 10, 1931. New York: Trade Union Unity League, 1931.
The Trade Union Unity League (American Section of the RILU): Its Program, Structure, Methods and History. New York: Trade Union Unity League, n.d. (1930s).