Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-cnmwb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-22T00:56:10.417Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Origins of the United Automobile Workers, 1933-1935*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

Sidney Fine
Sidney Fine
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

On August 26, 1935, delegates from sixty-five American Federationof Labor locals in the automobile industry gathered in Detroit to launch the International Union, United Automobile Workers of America. Although many of the delegates thought that the A.F. of L. had unnecessarily delayed the convocation of this convention, they were no doubt mindful of the fact that an international was being formed in an industry where only a little more than two years previously unionism had been conspicuous primarily because of its absence.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , September 1958 , pp. 249 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1958

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Report of Proceedings of the Fifty-fifth Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor, 1935 (Washington: A.F. of L., n.d.), pp. 739–40;Google ScholarFitch, John A., “The Clash over Industrial Unionism. Exhibit A—The Automobile Industry,” Survey Graphic, XXV (01. 1936), 41–42;Google ScholarMcPherson, William H. and Lucheck, Anthony, “Automobiles,” How Collective Bargaining Worlds (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1942), pp. 579–80;Google ScholarPerlman, Selig and Taft, Philip, History of Labor in the United States, 1896-1932 (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1935), P. 587. In 1920 the A.F. of L. Executive Council asked each of several international unions to send an organizer into the automobile industry and offered to assign an organizer of its own. Nothing, however, came of this proposal.Google ScholarTaft, Philip, The A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1957), p. 460Google Scholar.

2 Bureau of the Census, Biennial Census of Manufactures, 193; (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1938), pp. 1150, 1156Google Scholar.

3 Clark, Marjorie R., “The American Federation of Labor and Organization in the Automobile Industry since the Passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act,” Essays in Social Economics in Honor of Jessica Blanche Peixotto (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1935), pp. 74–75; Green to Executive Council, June 21, 1933, Green to Collins, June 30, 1933, Green Letterbooks, A.F. of L.—CIO ArchivesGoogle Scholar.

4 Collins to Green, June 23, July 22, 1933, Collins to Morrison, July 28, 1933, Collins File, A.F. of L.—CIO Archives; Green to T. J. Conboy, June 16, 1933, Green to Coleman Claherty, July 14, 1933, Green to Collins, July 24, 27, 1933, Green Letterbooks; W. Ellison Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining in the Automobile Industry,” (Incomplete MS [1935]), V, 23-24.

5 “Cooperative Plan of the American Federation of Labor to Provide Collective Bargaining for the United Automobile Workers of America,” handbill in Case 209, Records of the National Labor Board, National Archives, Record Group 25, Drawer 35 (henceforth, records in this group will be designated NLB); Collins to Green, July 15, Aug. 12, 1933, Collins File; Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 27-28, 32-33; Lucheck, Anthony, “Labor Organizations in the Automobile Industry” (MS, [1936]), p. 46. In a few places, like St. Louis, a single local served both the Chevrolet and Fisher Body workersGoogle Scholar.

6 The grievances of the workers are summed up in NRA, Research and Planning Division,, “Preliminary Report on Study of Regularization of Employment and Improvement of Labor Conditions in the Automobile Industry” (Jan. 26, 1935), Appendix B, Exhibit 19.

7 , DetroitLabor News, 06 21, 28, 1933; Collins to Morrison, Aug. 5, 1933, Collins File. The initiation fee for a federal labor union member was two dollars, but Collins did not insist that the full amount be paid at onceGoogle Scholar.

8 For the code hearings, see NRA Release No. 366, Aug. 18, 1933.

9 The NACC did agree to a change in the code providing that factory employees whom it had previously wished to exempt from all hours limitations should not exceed forty-two hours per week averaged on an annual basis, although they could work an unlimited number of hours in any one week. NRA, Codes of Fair Competition, I (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1933), 255, 256Google Scholar.

10 Green to Collins, Aug. 28, 1933, Green Letterbooks.

11 Green to Collins, Sept. 18, 1933, ibid. On Jan. 8, 1934, the basic thirty-five hour week provided by the code was increased to forty hours. Amendments to the code authorized on Jan. 31, 1935, provided for the fall announcement of new car models, stipulated that time and-a-half was to be paid for hours above forty-eight per week, and confirmed and continued the terms of the President's settlement of the auto labor dispute of Mar. 25, 1934. Codes, XVI (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1934), 223–24;Google ScholarCodes, XXI (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1935), 203–04Google Scholar.

12 When the code was extended on Nov. 2, 1934, the President ordered an inquiry into the problem of regularization of employment in the industry. This inquiry, which was directed by Leon Henderson, provided A.F. of L. auto workers an opportunity to air their grievances.

13 Romer, Samuel, “That Automobile Strike,” The Nation, CXL (02. 6, 1935), 162. The Blue Eagle was the symbol of compliance with the NIRAGoogle Scholar.

14 Codes, I, 253. For the A.P.E.M. code, see ibid., II (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1933), 599-609.

15 Green to Collins, Aug. 28, 1933, Green Letterbooks.

16 , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 33–34, IX, 10-11; Constitution of the A.F. of L., Article X, A.F. of L., Proceedings, 1935, xxviii; Green to Philip Johns, Aug. 9, 1934, Green to Shipley, Nov. 26, 1934, Green Letterbooks; Shipley to Green, Apr. 29, 1934, A.F. of L. Strike File, Local 18347, A.F. of L.—CIO ArchivesGoogle Scholar.

17 The A.F. of L. plan for organizing the auto industry in 1927 provided that the workers were to be placed in federal labor unions but were to be transferred to international unions as rapidly as possible. Lorwin, Lewis L., The American Federation of Labor (Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1933), pp. 246–47Google Scholar.

18 Green to Max Hayes, July 28, 1933, Eric Peterson to Wharton, May 23, 1934, Wharton to Green, June 1, 1934, May 13, 1935, Brown to Green and Morrison, July 17, 1934, Green Letterbooks; McPherson, William H., Labor Relations in the Automobile Industry (Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1940), pp. 7–8; Brown to Wharton, July 27, 1933, Brown to Collins, Mar. 26, June 22, 1934, Wharton to Green, July 29, Aug. 8, 1933, IAM File, A.F. of L.—CIO Archives. For the jurisdictional worries of the Metal Polishers,Google Scholarsee A.F. of L., Proceedings, 1935, PP. 743–45Google Scholar.

19 Green to Collins, Oct. 18, 31, 1933, July 23, 1934, Green to Wharton, Nov. 14, 1933, Apr. 9, 1935, Green to Organizers, Feb. 19, 1934, Green to Dillon, May 21, 1935, Green Letterbooks.

20 Collins to Green, Oct. 14, 28, 1933, Collins File; Shipley to Green, Apr. 29, 1934, A.F. of L. Strike File, Local 18347; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 34–35Google Scholar.

21 Collins to Morrison, Oct. 21, 1933, Feb. 16, 1934, Collins File; Proceedings of the First Constitutional Convention of the International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, 1935 (Detroit, n.d.), pp. 22–24. The A.F. of L. received $47,000 in per capita taxes from the auto workers during the six-month period ending July 1, 1935. Green to George F. Addes, July 16, 1935, CIO Historical File, Reel 1, A.F. of L.—CIO Archives. For methods the A.F. of L. might have used to devote more funds to organizing,Google Scholarsee Morris, James O., “The Origins of the C.I.O.: A Study of Conflict within the Labor Movement, 1921-1938” (Ph.D. thesis, University of Michigan, 1954), pp. 293–94Google Scholar.

22 Collins to Green, July 22, Aug. 12, 26, Oct. 28, Nov. 7, 1933, Collins to Morrison, Sept. 22, Dec. 9, 1933, Collins File; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 23–24Google Scholar.

23 Collins interview, Feb. 4, 1957; Nicholas Kelley interview, Feb. 4, 1957; Leo Wolman interview, Feb. 4, 1957; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” VII, 24Google Scholar; , Clark, “A.F. of L.,” p. 79Google Scholar.

24 Green to Collins, June 30, 1933, Green Letterbooks; “Cooperative Plan,” Case 209, NLB Drawer 35; , DetroitNews, 06 29, 1933Google Scholar; Wieck, Edward A., “The Automobile Workers under the NRA” (MS, 08. 1935), pp. 33-36, 240–42;Google Scholar, Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 31–32Google Scholar.

25 , DetroitLabor News, 09. 22, 1933; Chalmers to William Leiserson, Sept. 17, 1933, Case 141, NLB Drawer 22Google Scholar.

26 Only one third of the auto employees in 1934 worked throughout the year, and 25 per cent worked less than six months. Tolles, N. A. and LaFever, M. W., “Wages, Hours, Employment, and Annual Earnings in the Motor-Vehicle Industry, 1934,” Monthly Labor Review, XLII (03. 1936), 521Google Scholar.

27 Collins to Green, June 23, Nov. 4, 1933, Collins File.

28 Collins to Green, Nov. 18, Dec. 15, 1933, ibid.; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 26–27Google Scholar.

29 Collins to Green, Nov. 18, Dec. 15, 1933, Collins File; Collins interview, Feb. 4, 1957; Richard Frankensteen interview, Apr. 10, 1957; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 24–25;Google Scholar, DetroitLabor News, 06 16, 23, 30, 1933Google Scholar; , DetroitNews, 08. 7, 1934Google Scholar; Business. Week., 08. 18, 1934, p. 16Google Scholar.

30 Auto Workers News, 12. 30, 1933, Jan. 13, Mar. 10, Apr. 7, 21, May 5, 19, July 21, Aug. 4, 18, 1934Google Scholar; Michigan Worker, 06 1, 1933Google Scholar; “Directives on Work within the A.F. of L. and Independent Trade Unions,” Communist, XIII (01. 1934), 113–15. The AWU dissolved itself in December 1934, and advised its members and sympathizers to join the A.F. of L. if they were production workers and the Mechanics Educational Society of America if they were tool and die makers.Google ScholarDaily Worker, 12. 25, 1934Google Scholar.

31 Collins to Green, July 22, Sept. 9, 1933, Collins File; Dillon to Green, Aug. 18, 1934, Apr. 4, 1935, Dillon File, A.F. of L.—CIO Archives; Dillon to Green, Dec. 22, 1934, A.F. of L. Strike File, Local 19059; UAW Weekly News Letter, 08. 25, 1934, Vertical File, A.F. of L.—CIO LibraryGoogle Scholar.

32 Collins to Morrison, July 28, 1933, Collins File. While the Automobile Labor Board was functioning (Mar. 29, 1934–June 16, 1935), employers voluntarily reinstated 1,129 workers who brought charges of discrimination, and, in addition, the ALB decided in several cases that discrimination had been practiced. In its final report, however, the ALB stated that discrimination because of union membership was “not by June, 1935, a problem of any magnitude in the automobile manufacturing industry, and had not been for some months previously.” “Final Report of the Automobile Labor Board” (Aug. 1935), pp. 15, 23.

33 Green to Richard Byrd, Feb. 8, 1934, Green Letterbooks; , Wieck, “Automobile Workers,” pp. 42-47Google Scholar;, Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 4–23Google Scholar;General Motors, “Labor Relations Diary,” Sec. I (1946), pp. 20–22Google Scholar.

34 Subcommittee of Senate Committee on Education and Labor, Violations of Free Speech and Rights of Labor. Hearings Pursuant to S. Res. 266, 74 Cong. …, 75 Cong., 1 Sess., Part 4 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1937), pp. 1206Google Scholar, 1211-13, 1215; Part 5 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1937), pp. 1621, 1690-93; Part 6 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1937), pp. 1879, 1907, 1911, 1915, 1928, 1970-73, 2042-43; Senate Committee on Education and Labor, Violations of Free Speech and Rights of Labor, 75 Cong., 2 Sess., Sen. Report No. 46, Part 3 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1939), pp. 23–24Google Scholar.

35 Collins to Green, Sept. 9, 22, Oct. 14, 28, Nov. 18, 1933, Jan. 6, Feb. 9, 1934, Collins to Morrison, Dec. 9, 1933, J. F. Anderson to Morrison, Nov. 12, 1933, Collins File; file of correspondence in Case 209, NLB Drawer 35; case files involving auto industry in Detroit Regional Labor Board Boxes 281, 282; Pontiac Fisher folder, Records of the NRA, National Archives, Record Group 9, Automobile Labor Board Drawer 4103 (henceforth, Automobile Labor Board records will be designated ALB; other NRA records will be designated NRA); Buick folder, ALB Drawer 3991; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 37–42. The NLB was created by President Roosevelt on Aug. 5, 1933, to adjust “differences and controversies” arising out of the President's Reemplyoment Agreement. Its powers were subsequently enlarged by the President, and on Feb. 1, 1934, it was specifically authorized to conduct elections of employee representatives for collective-bargaining purposes. The NLB began establishing regional boards in the latter part of October 1933Google Scholar.

36 Collins to Green, Jan. 6, 20, 1934, Collins File; case files involving auto industry in DRLB Boxes 281, 282; Buick folder, ALB Drawer 3991.

37 Collins to Morrison, Mar. 3, 1934, Collins File; Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 42-49; , DetroitFree Press, 03. 5, 6, 1934. This was the fourth such conference called by CollinsGoogle Scholar.

38 Collins to Green, Sept. 9, 22, 1933, Collins to Morrison, Sept. 16, 1933, Collins File; Collins interview, Feb. 4, 1957; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” V, 43–44, 48-49Google Scholar.

39 Collins to F.D.R., Mar. 4, 1934, Wagner to Collins, Mar. 6, 1934, Case 209, NLB Drawer 35; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” VI, 1–4;Google Scholar, DetroitNews, 03. 6, 7, 8Google Scholar.

40 NLB, Stenographic Report of Hearing. In the Matter of Buick Co … Mar. 14, 15, 1934, NLB Drawer 68; F.D.R. to Collins, Mar. 20, 21, 1934, Collins to F.D.R., Mar. 20, 1934, Official File 407-B, Box 18, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park (henceforth, Official File will be designated O.F.); The New York. Times, 03. 17, 21, 1934Google Scholar; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” VI, 13–15Google Scholar.

41 The wages and hours issue was blunted on March 13 when the NACC announced it had advised member firms to reduce the average work week from forty to thirty-six hours and to institute compensatory wage increases.

42 Collins to Johnson, Mar. 20, 1934, O.F. 407-B, Box 18, F.D.R. Library; NACC to Johnson, Mar. 21, 1934, Roy Chapin Papers, Michigan Historical Collections; The New York. Times, 03. 14, 18, 19, 20, 1934Google Scholar.

43 The terms of the settlement and the President's amplifying remarks are given in full in The New York. Times, 03. 26, 1934. In his amplifying remarks, F.D.R. stated that he looked forward to the development of “a kind of works council in industry in which all groups of employees, whatever may be their choice of organization or form of representation, may participate in joint conferences with their employers. …”Google Scholar.

44 Ibid.; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” VI, 19Google Scholar.

45 The New York Times, 03. 25, 28, 1934Google Scholar; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” VI, 25, 40Google Scholar.

46 Detroit News, 03. 26, 1934Google Scholar; , DetroitFree Press, 03. 27, 1934Google Scholar; The New York Times, 03. 26, 1934Google Scholar; , FlintWeekly Review, 03. 30, 1934Google Scholar.

47 Alvan Macauley to F.D.R., Mar. 21, 1934, O.F. 407-B, Box 18, F.D.R. Library; Macauley to Johnson, Mar. 25, 1934, Chapin Papers.

48 Joseph Sherer to NLB, Mar. 9, 1934, DRLB Box 280; , FlintWeekly Review, 03. 16, 1934Google Scholar; , Wieck, “Automobile Workers,” p. 95Google Scholar.

49 Green to Executive Council, Mar. 27, 1934, Green to Matthew Woll, Mar. 30, 1934, Green Letterbooks. The paid-up membership figures were supplied to me by the bookkeeping department of the old A.F. of L. on Aug. 17, 1955.

50 , FlintWeekly Review, 03. 30, 1934Google Scholar; The New York, Times, 03. 27, 1934Google Scholar; , DetroitTimes, 03. 27, 1934Google Scholar.

51 The automotive parts and equipment manufacturing industry was brought within the jurisdiction of the ALB on Apr. 27, 1934, provided that both parties submitting a question to it subscribed in full to the March 25 settlement. Codes, IX (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1934), 936. The parts plants were otherwise under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations BoardGoogle Scholar.

52 Collins to F.D.R., Apr. 9, 1934, O.F. 407-B, Box 18, F.D.R. Library; Wolman interview, Feb. 4, 1957; “Report of the Activities of the A.L.B. to Feb. 5, 1935,” pp. 1-2; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” VII, 1, 12, 41–46Google Scholar.

53 “Report of the A.L.B. to Feb. 5, 1935,” p. 2; Cleveland Plain Dealer, Apr. 11, 13, 16, 1934; Wolman to Collins, Apr. 12, 1934, ALB Drawer 3999; statement of ALB, Apr. 16, 1934, ALB Drawer 4107.

54 , ClevelandPlain Dealer, 04. 17, 18, 23, 30, 1934Google Scholar; Iron Age, CXXXIII (04. 26, 1934), 40Google Scholar; ibid. (May 3, 1934), 44; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” VII, 19Google Scholar.

55 Collins to ALB, Apr. 27, 1934, ALB Drawer 3990; , FlintWeekly Review, 04. 27, 1934. The Kansas City and St. Louis locals had seceded from the A.F. of L., but they reaffiliated shortly after the strike ended. The Tarrytown organization also joined the A.F. of L. after the strikeGoogle Scholar.

56 , ClevelandPlain Dealer, 04. 30, 1934; Green to Charlton Ogburn, May g, 1934, Green LetterbooksGoogle Scholar; , Wieck, “Automobile Workers,” pp. 105–08; ALB, Stenographic Report of Hearing. In the Matter of: Fisher Body Corporation, Apr. 30—May 2, 1934, Michigan Historical CollectionsGoogle Scholar.

57 , ClevelandPlain Dealer, 05 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 20, 1934Google Scholar; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” VII, 20–23;Google Scholar, Wieck, “Automobile Workers,” pp. 112–13; “Final Report of A.L.B.,” p. 25Google Scholar.

58 By June, 1934, there were only 18,244 paid-up members in the federal locals. This figure was supplied by the bookkeeping department of the old A.F. of L., Aug. 17, 1955.

59 Collins to Wolman, May 23, 1934, and enclosed petition, T. Woody and G. Rymer to F.D.R., May 28, 1934, ALB Drawer 4105; Buffalo Central Labor Council Herald, 05 25, 1934; Charles M. Schang to Wolman, June 7, 1934, ALB Drawer 3999; Collins to Green, Apr. 14, 1934, Collins File; Ogburn to Green, Oct. 26, 1934, NRA Box 657Google Scholar.

60 Collins to Green, Mar. 31, 1934, Collins to Morrison, July 21, 1934, Collins File; Green to Arthur Greer, July 23, 1934, Green to Ogburn, June 28, July 23, 1934, Green to Collins, July 24, 1934, Green Letterbooks; Collins and Dillon to Wolman, July 26, 1934, ALB Drawer 4105; Wieck, “Automobile Workers,” p. 188; Official Proceedings of First Session, National Council United Automobile Workers Federal Labor Unions, July 9-14, 1934, Joe Brown Collection, Wayne State University Library; Tracy M. Doll interview, Dec. 17, 1957.

61 Ogburn to Wolman, July 7, 1934, ALB Drawer 4106; Green to F.D.R., Sept. 11, 12, 1934, and enclosed resolution of National Council, Aug. 31, 1934, O.F. 466, Box 7, F.D.R. Library. For an account of Public Resolution 44, the Steel Labor Relations Board, the NLRB, and the Houde case, see Lorwin, Lewis L. and Wubnig, Arthur, Labor Relations Boards: The Regulation of Collective Bargaining under the National Industrial Recovery Act (Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1935), pp. 258-61, 291–352Google Scholar.

62 It was not at all unusual for three months to elapse between the time a case was filed and the decision rendered. For an analysis of ALB decisions see “Report of the National Labor Relations Board on an Inquiry into Industrial Relations Boards” (Feb. 26, 1935), pp. 27-730, O.F. 716, Box 2, F.D.R. Library.

63 Green to F.D.R., Sept. II, 1934, Green to Alfred Reeves, Jan. 8, 1935, enclosed with Reeves to F.D.R., Jan. 14, 1935, O.F. 466, Box 7, F.D.R. Library; Green to Ogburn, Sept. 24, Oct. 8, 1934, Green Letterbooks.

64 ALB Memorandum, Dec. J, 1934, ALB Drawer 4019.

65 Twentieth Century Fund, Labor and the Government (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1935), pp. 90, 94–95;Google Scholar, Wolman, Ebb and Flow in Trade Unionism (New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1936), pp. 78–83Google Scholar.

66 Green to Dillon, Dec. 8, 1934, Green Letterbooks; Detroit District Council of UAW Resolution, Dec. 10, 1934, Dillon to Wolman, Jan. 11, 1935, ALB Drawer 4105; Dillon press releases, Dec. 8, 18, 1934, Jan. 25, 26, 1935, Dillon File; House Committee on Labor, Labor Disputes Act. Hearings on H.R. 6288, 74 Cong., 1 Sess. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1935), pp. 213-14, 245-46, 248, 253-54.

67 “Final Report of A.L.B.,” Appendices A and B; Wieck, “Automobile Workers,” pp. 161, 164-68. The NLRB ordered elections in the Bendix and Kelsey-Hayes plants, but these orders were appealed by the employers to the courts, and before decisions could be rendered, the NIRA had been declared unconstitutional.

68 Green to Reeves, Jan. 8, 1935, enclosed with Reeves to F.D.R., Jan. 14, 1935, O.F. 466, Box 7, F.D.R. Library; Green to Ogburn, Oct. 8, 1934, Jan. 9, 1935, Green to Perkins, Jan. 12, 1935, Green Letterbooks; , DetroitNews, 01. 25, 1935Google Scholar.

69 Executive Council Minutes, Apr. 30–May 7, 1935, Auto Workers File, 1935-37, A.F. of L.—CIO Archives.

70 Shipley to Green, Apr. 29, 1934, Shipley to John L. Lewis, May 27, 1935, A.F. of L. Strike File, Local 18347; Collins to Morrison, June 2, 1934, Collins File; entry for June 5, 1934, Minute Book of Local 19324 (UAW Local 95), State Historical Society of Wisconsin. The St. Louis local had been interested in establishing an international as early as December 1933. Collins and Paul Smith to Green, Dec. 6, 1933, Collins File.

71 Collins to Green, May 26, 1934, Collins to Morrison, June 2, 1934, Collins File; Green to Collins, May 29, 1934, Green Letterbooks.

72 Collins to Automobile Workers, June 6, 1934, Collins to Morrison, June 19, 1934, Collins File.

73 My account of the conference is based on the following: UAW Weekly News Letter, 05 27, 1934Google Scholar, Vertical File, A.F. of L.—0CIO Library; Daily Worker, June 25-28, July 17, 1934; Auto Workers News, July 21, 1934; The New York. Times, 06 24, 25, 1934Google Scholar; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” IX, 1–13;Google Scholar, Wieck, “Automobile Workers,” pp. 126–28; Tracy M. Doll interview, Dec. 17, 1957Google Scholar; MESA Voice (06 1934). The delegates indicated their dissatisfaction with the A.F. of L. organizers by voting to take the privileges of the floor away from themGoogle Scholar.

74 Stolberg, Benjamin described Mortimer as “a Stalinist from the very beginning.” The Story of the CIO (New York: Viking Press, 1938), p. 164Google Scholar.

75 , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” IX, 13–17;Google Scholar, DetroitFree Press, 08. 4, 5, 7, 9, 1934Google Scholar; , DetroitNews, 08. 5, 7, 8, 1934. Greer was later accused of being on the Pinkerton payroll and thereupon left the labor movement. Doll interview, Dec. 17, 1957Google Scholar; Walsh, J. Raymond, C.I.O.: Industrial Unionism in Action (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1937), p. 110Google Scholar.

76 The first session of the National Council (July 9-14, 1934) was mainly concerned with relations between the A.F. of L. and the ALB. Official Proceedings of First Session, National Council, Brown Collection. The chief interest of die second session (Aug. 28-31, 1934) was the renewal of the auto code. The Second Session of the National Council of United Automobile Workers Federal Labor Unions, Aug. 28–31, 1934, ibid. For the third session (Feb. 23—Mar. 2, 1935), see below.

77 Daily Worker, 08. 22, Sept. 18, Nov. 15, 1934, Jan. 9, 30, 1935; Call to Conference on Jan. 26, 1935, Labadie Collection, University of MichiganGoogle Scholar; Labor Digest, 03. 15, Apr. 5, 1935Google Scholar.

78 Second Session of National Council, Brown Collection; Collins, Important Notice to All Automobile Workers, II.d., ibid.; Dillon to Auto Workers, Jan. 11, 1935, Dillon File.

79 Green to Collins, Dec. 12, 1933, Green to Shipley, Nov. 26, 1934, Green Letterbooks; Green to Leo A. Powers, May 28, 1934, A.F. of L. Strike File, Local 18384.

80 Report of the Proceedings of the Fijty-fourth Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor, 1934 (Washington: A.F. of L., n.d.), pp. 192–93, 214-15, 586–98Google Scholar.

81 Dillon to National Council, Jan. 17, 1935, Dillon press release, Jan. 25, 1935, Dillon File; Michael J. Manning, Forrest G. Woods, Otto E. Kleinert to Executive Council, Feb. 1, 1935, Brown Collection; Executive Council Minutes, Jan. 29—Feb. 14, 1935, Auto Workers File, 1935-37.

82 , Chalmers, “Strike Plans. Sept. 1, 1934,” Brown CollectionGoogle Scholar.

83 The New York. Times, 02. 1, 1935Google Scholar; , DetroitNews, 01. 31, Feb. 1, 1935Google Scholar; Swing, Raymond Gram, “The White House Breaks with Labor,” The Nation, CXL (02. 13, 1935), 181Google Scholar; Swing, “Pursuing a Prevarication,” ibid., CXL (Feb. 27, 1935), 241; Codes, XXI, 204.

84 Dillon to Auto Workers, Jan. 30, 1935, Dillon press release, Feb. 20, 1935, Dillon File; The New York, Times, 02. 18, 24, 1935Google Scholar; , DetroitNews, 02. 23, 1935Google Scholar; , DetroitLabor News, 03. 1, 1935Google Scholar.

85 Minutes of Third Meeting of National Council of United Automobile Workers Federal Labor Unions, Feb. 23—Mar. 2, 1935, Labadie Collection.

86 Green to Reeves, Feb. 27, 1935, Green Letterbooks; Reeves to Green, Mar. 7, 1935, NRA Box 661.

87 Green to Chapin et al., Mar. 18, 1935, John T. Smith to Green, Apr. 17, 1935, Green Letterbooks; The New York Times, 04. 10, 1935; Green to Shipley, Feb. 7, 1935, A.F. of L. Strike File, Local 18347; Executive Council Minutes, Apr. 30—May 7, 1935, Auto Workers File, 1935-37Google Scholar; Iron Age, CXXXV (03. 7, 1935), 37Google Scholar.

88 My account of the Toledo strike is based principally on the following: A.F. of L. Strike File, Local 18384; Dillon to Officers and Members UAW, May 17, 1935, Dillon File; G.M., Labor Relations Diary, Sec. I, pp. 54-63; Stride Truth, 04. 26, May 7, 1935; Chalmers analysis of the Toledo strike, Apr. 24, 29, May 16, 17, 18, 1935, MS in Brown CollectionGoogle Scholar; , Chalmers, “Collective Bargaining,” XII, 1–42;Google ScholarToledo, News-Bee, 04. 22—May 15, 1935Google Scholar; , ToledoMorning Times, 04. 23—May 15, 1935Google Scholar; , ToledoBlade, 04. 23—May 15, 1935Google Scholar.

89 William K. Siefke to Green, May 24, 1935, Green Letterbooks.

90 Business Week., 05 18, 1935, p. 9Google Scholar; Iron Age, CXXXV (05 23, 1935), 41; Dillon to Green, May 17, 23, 31, June 10, 1935, Dillon FileGoogle Scholar.

91 Executive Council Minutes, Apr. 30—May 7, 1935, Auto Workers File, 1935-37; Dillon press release, June 18, 1935, Dillon File. Only 28 of the 107 locals to which the questionnaire had been sent responded, but these locals represented 16,143 of the 35,228 paid-up members as of that date; 98.1 per cent favored an international. Green to Automobile Workers Federal Labor Unions, June 19, 1935, “Automobile,” July 12, 1935, CIO Historical File, Reel 1.

92 Shipley to Lewis, May 27, 1935, A.F. of L. Strike File, Local 18347.

93 “Automobile Workers Unions Affiliated with the A.F. of L., Aug. 23, 1935,” CIO Historical File, Reel 1; Executive Council Minutes, Apr. 30–May 7, 1935, Auto Workers File, 1935-37.

94 The AIWA grew out of the ALB bargaining agency at the Dodge plant and then spread to other plants and particularly to other plants, Chrysler. Proceedings of the Second Convention of the International Union, United Automobile Workers of America, 1936 (Detroit, n.d.), pp. 138-44Google Scholar; Frankensteen interview, Apr. 10, 1957. The MESA was an organization of skilled tool and die makers, although it also included some production workers.

95 “Automobile Workers Unions Affiliated with the A.F. of L., Aug. 23, 1935,” CIO Historical File, Reel 1.

96 For accounts of the conference, see Proceedings of the First Constitutional Convention of the U.A.W., passim; Levinson, Edward, Labor on the March (New York: University Books, 1956), PP. 88–93;Google Scholar, DetroitNews, 08 25–Sept. 1, 1935Google Scholar.

97 A.F. of L., Report of Proceedings, 1935, pp. 95-96, 283-85, 729-50, 824–25Google Scholar.