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89-616: During World War II, as part of Browderism , Communist Party USA leader Earl Browder established new communist "schools of social sciences" in major urban areas. On the East Coast, these schools included names of American patriots: the Sam Adams School (Boston), Tom Paine School of Social Sciences (Philadelphia), George Washington Carver School (Harlem, New York), Abraham Lincoln School (Chicago), and Jefferson School of Social Sciences (New York). West Coast schools used geographic names:

178-738: A 1929 ILGWU meeting in Harlem focused on enrolling black women. In 1923, Benjamin Schlesinger , the International's President, resigned. The convention elected Morris Sigman , who had previously been Secretary-Treasurer of the International before resigning in a dispute with Schlesinger, as its new President. Sigman, a former IWW member and anti-communist, began to remove Communist Party (CP) members from leadership of locals in New York, Chicago , Philadelphia and Boston . Sigman could not regain control of

267-603: A Board of Arbitration. The union also became more involved in electoral politics, in part as a result of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25, 1911, in which 146 shirtwaist makers (most of them young immigrant women) either died in the fire that broke out on the eighth floor of the factory, or jumped to their deaths. Many of these workers were unable to escape because the doors on their floors had been locked to prevent them from stealing or taking unauthorized breaks. More than 100,000 people participated in

356-576: A brief attempt to forge a "broad people's political movement", aligning the CPUSA in a new popular front with the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam War movement to amass support among baby boomers . This would've tied the CPUSA, a by-product of the Old Left , with the New Left , yet was unsuccessful. Hall also coined the term " Bill of Rights socialism ", advocating for socialist ideals to be incorporated into

445-601: A broader audience in U.S. politics. In June 1936, at the 9th National Convention of the CPUSA in New York , Browder's report proclaimed, quoting his earlier essay "What is Communism?" earlier that year, "We Communists claim the revolutionary traditions of Americanism! [...] We are the Americans and Communism in the Americanism of the twentieth century." This shift coincided with Comintern policy under Joseph Stalin , which still supported

534-451: A collective national identity. Browderism aligning communism with Americanism, a popular quote from What is Communism? being "Communism is the Americanism of the 20th Century", contrasts with other interpretations of the nationalist identity. In retrospect, American historian Wendy L. Hall argues in her 2008 book Inventing the "American Way" that Americanism was used during the Cold War as

623-540: A contrasting ideology to communism along with fascism. Nonetheless, Browderism sought to incorporate the symbology of mainstream, patriotic culture in order to present communism as a compatible ideology which fits into ideals of freedom and republicanism. Despite this nationalist alignment, Browderism continued to support internationalism and active participation in international relations . This informed its rejection of non-interventionism during World War II, with Browder supporting Roosevelt moving away from isolationism in

712-452: A democratic union – but they know who's boss." Under his leadership the union, more than three fourths of whose members were women, continued to be led almost exclusively by men. Rose Pesotta , a longtime ILGWU activist and organizer, complained to Dubinsky that she had the same uncomfortable feeling of being the token woman on the ILGWU's executive board that Dubinsky had complained about when he

801-560: A few thousand members between them. The union grew rapidly in the next few years but began to stagnate as the conservative leadership favored the interests of skilled workers, such as cutters. This did not sit well with the majority of immigrant workers, particularly Jewish workers with a background in Bundist activities in Tsarist Russia, or with Polish and Italian workers, many of whom had strong socialist and anarchist leanings. The ILGWU had

890-409: A gambler with widespread influence in the New York underworld. Rothstein was able to get the hired gangsters on both sides to withdraw. The local leadership was then able to negotiate a modified version of the agreement they had rejected before the strike began. While they had reservations about the concessions they were accepting, the left wing recommended it. Factional divisions within the CPUSA led

979-570: A period of de-Stalinization ) to reintegrate Browder back into the party, he would never rejoin. By the time Browder died in June 1973 while the Communist Party USA was under the leadership of Gus Hall , Browderism was fully removed from the party platform, as the party remained committed to orthodox Marxism–Leninism. However, within Hall's policies, there were similarities with Browderism. This included

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1068-529: A popular front as possible. This evolved into class collaboration , where distinctions between socioeconomic classes were put aside in favour of cooperation for an underlying goal, feeding into the need to resist fascism during World War II, as Browder justified in his 1942 book Victory and After . Browder's leadership made use of softer rhetoric more in line with terms used by the Roosevelt administration such as "economic royalism". This class collaboration led to

1157-659: A short time and was restructured into the Communist Political Association. This decision from Browder, though receiving unanimous support from the National Committee as a constitutional convention for the new organization was planned for May 1944, there was bitter opposition to this change in the form of the Foster-Darcy letter, co-signed by CPUSA factional rival William Z. Foster and Philadelphia District Organizer Samuel Adams Darcy . Limited circulation of

1246-590: A sudden upsurge in membership that came as the result of two successful mass strikes in New York City. The first, in 1909, was known as " the Uprising of 20,000 " and lasted for thirteen weeks. It was largely spontaneous, sparked by a short walkout of workers of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, involving only about 20% of the workforce. That, however, only prompted the rest of the workers to seek help from

1335-420: Is not the first time girls have been burned alive in the city. Every week I must learn of the untimely death of one of my sister workers. Every year thousands of us are maimed. The life of men and women is so cheap and property is so sacred. There are so many of us for one job it matters little if 146 of us are burned to death. We have tried you citizens; we are trying you now, and you have a couple of dollars for

1424-453: The Forward , the highly influential Yiddish newspaper in New York, as Executive Vice-President of the union. Sigman did not like the proposal, but acceded to it. Five months later he resigned in a dispute with the union's executive board and Schlesinger replaced him, with Dubinsky named as Secretary-Treasurer. Schlesinger died in 1932 and Dubinsky, still Secretary-Treasurer, became President of

1513-526: The 1948 presidential election , while the ILGWU campaigned energetically for Harry S. Truman , nearly bringing New York State into his column. Dubinsky had hopes of launching a national liberal party, headed by Wendell Willkie , the Republican candidate for President in 1940 who had soured on the Republican Party after his defeat in the primaries in 1944. In Dubinsky's eyes this new party would attract

1602-645: The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations . Its initial program "promised to analyze social, economic and political questions in light of the present world struggle against fascism". It also taught the arts: the teenage Maya Angelou had a scholarship to study dance and drama. The school taught students on many subjects such as labor organization, journalism, music, drama, history, women's studies, economics and industrial arts. Union officials and professors from Stanford University and

1691-522: The Congress of Industrial Organizations as a rival to, rather than a part of, the AFL. Dubinsky also had personality differences with Lewis, whom he resented as high-handed. Dubinsky was alarmed by the presence of Communist Party members on the payroll of the CIO and the fledgling unions it had sponsored. Dubinsky was opposed to any form of collaboration with communists and had offered financial support to Homer Martin ,

1780-618: The Democratic Party itself. The new party was subject to many of the same fissures that divided the left in the late 1930s. For a while after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , CPUSA members within the ALP condemned FDR as a warmonger because of his support for Britain. At one particularly stormy meeting Dubinsky and the other leaders were only able to hold their vote endorsing Roosevelt after moving from room to room and calling

1869-472: The French Communist Party (PCF) published an article in the party's theoretical magazine, Les Cahiers du communisme , attacking Browder's positions in what became known as the "Duclos letter". Quoting the Foster-Darcy letter, Duclos criticized Browder's beliefs about a harmonious post-war world as "erroneous conclusions in no wise flowing from a Marxist analysis of the situation", and that liquidating

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1958-666: The Great Depression and presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt , which informed the development of Browderism. During the interval of the Third Period and following Adolf Hitler's rise to power , Comintern officials reversed the theory of " social fascism " after the failure of the Communist Party of Germany (one of the most ardent supporters of the theory) to unite with the Social Democratic Party of Germany in opposing

2047-538: The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) in 2004 to create a new union known as UNITE HERE . The two unions that formed UNITE in 1995 represented 250,000 workers between them, down from the ILGWU's peak membership of 450,000 in 1969. The union published its official newspaper, Justice , in Jersey City, New Jersey. The ILGWU was founded on June 3, 1900, in New York City by seven local unions, with

2136-652: The New Deal and beyond. The ILGWU was able to turn the partial victory of the Great Revolt into a lasting victory; within two years it had organized roughly ninety percent of the cloakmakers in the industry in New York City. It improved benefits in later contracts and obtained an unemployment insurance fund for its members in 1919. At the same time political splits within the union were beginning to grow larger. The Socialist Party split in 1919, with its left wing leaving to form various communist parties that ultimately united under

2225-680: The Pacific Northwest Labor School and the California Labor School. The CLS was founded in August 1942, in premises above a car showroom at 678 Turk Street in San Francisco, and named for labor leader Tom Mooney , who had died on March 6 that year. It later moved to a 5-story building at 216 Market Street, and in 1947 bought premises at 240 Golden Gate Avenue. The school was supported by 72 trade unions , including members of

2314-426: The U.S. Constitution . However, Hall did not cite Browderism as inspiration for these policies, as there are notable differences which reflect a different era, particularly as Hall was more restrained when deviating from orthodoxy, being a committed Soviet ally. Browderism supports the organization of a popular front , an alliance of socialists with liberals and progressives in opposition to fascism . This strategy

2403-641: The University of California at Berkeley taught the courses at CLS. The most popular course at the CLS called "Mental Hygiene Today" was taught by Erik Erikson . The most important history course was called "History and Problems of the Negro in America". The school offered different kinds of services such as preparing union pamphlets and newspapers, conducting dance concerts and theatrical shows at local meetings. The largest funder of

2492-557: The University of Michigan . The Graphic Arts Workshop (GAW) of San Francisco, a cooperative print studio, was founded in 1952 by several artists from the California Labor School. From 1944 to 1948, the school ran a "counterpart" or "extension" called the "People's Educational Center" (or "Peoples Educational Center). Its head was Dorothy Healey, head of the Communist Party of Los Angeles. Frances Eisenberg of Canoga Park High School served on its board of directors. John Howard Lawson

2581-471: The shop stewards movement that had swept through British labor in the preceding decade, started building up their strength at the shop floor level. The Communist Party did not intervene in ILGWU politics in any concerted fashion for the first few years of its existence, when it was focused first on its belief that revolution in the advanced capitalist countries was imminent, followed by a period of underground activity. That changed, however, around 1921, as

2670-629: The women's clothing industry, was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States , one of the first US unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s. The union, generally referred to as the "ILGWU" or the "ILG", merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in the 1990s to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees ( UNITE ). UNITE merged with

2759-547: The 1800 students attending 135 classes. In 1948 the school was placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations and attendances declined. The school closed in 1957. David Jenkins was the initial director and Holland Roberts was the first education director for this "people's school." Archives of the school's material are held in the Labor Archives & Research Center of California State University and

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2848-707: The Amalgamated Clothing Workers, helped found the American Labor Party in 1936. At the time Dubinsky and Hillman were both nominal members of the Socialist Party, although Dubinsky had, by his own admission, allowed his membership to lapse during the factional fighting of the 1920s. The Labor Party served as a halfway house for socialists and other leftists who were willing to vote for liberal Democratic politicians such as Roosevelt or Governor Herbert Lehman of New York, but who were not prepared to join

2937-645: The CLS was the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), headed by Harry Bridges . The American Federation of Labor (AFL), Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), American Veterans Committee, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) also supported it. From 1945 to 1947 the school was accredited for veterans' education under the G.I. Bill of Rights , and by 1947 there were 220 full-time students, among

3026-578: The CPUSA constituted a "notorious revision of Marxism". In retrospect, the article was found by historians Harvey Klehr , John Earl Haynes and Kyrill Anderson to have already been written in Russian and initiated by Moscow, after they determined post-war relations would become hostile. With the end of the Pacific War , Duclos was instructed to publish the article under his own name. The article had major consequences for Browderism (sealing Browder's fate within

3115-519: The Communist nominee for the 1936 and 1940 presidential elections . This served as a revision of the Bolshevik model of communist revolution the party embraced in its early years, seeking a pragmatic approach to present issues. As this popular front strategy progressed leading up to World War II , Browder further de-emphasized Marxist rhetoric in an appeal to American patriotism in order to appeal to

3204-490: The ILG. The failed 1926 strike nearly bankrupted the ILGWU. The International also lost, for a time, some of the locals that chose to follow their expelled leaders out of the ILGWU rather than remain within it. Sigman also proved nearly as abrasive, although not as fierce, toward the right wing within the ILGWU, leading Dubinsky to suggest in 1928 that the union should bring back Schlesinger, who had gone on to become General Manager of

3293-428: The ILGWU as well. Dubinsky proved to be far more durable than his predecessors. He did not tolerate dissent within the union, and insisted that every employee of the International first submit an undated letter of resignation, to be used should Dubinsky choose to fire him later. He also acquired the power to appoint key officers throughout the union. As he explained his position at one of the union's conventions: "We have

3382-519: The ILGWU chased down and organized manufacturers' "runaway shops" and established a strong foothold in the hinterlands of the Midwest and East Coast. Rose Pesotta played a key role in early organizing drives in the rubber and steel industries. Dubinsky was unwilling to split the AFL into two competing federations and did not follow Lewis and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers when they formed

3471-463: The ILGWU, particularly in New York City, in the early years of the decade and hoped to expand their influence. In the late 1920s, the ILGWU began focusing on recruiting African-American women, specifically. Floria Pinkney , a dressmaker from Connecticut who lived in Brooklyn , was instrumental in this focus. Pinkney spoke alongside Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters president A. Philip Randolph at

3560-642: The Jewish community, led by Louis Brandeis , mediated between the ILGWU and the Manufacturer's Association. The employers won a promise that workers would settle their grievances through arbitration rather than strikes during the term of the Agreement (a common clause in Union contracts today). It did also manage to include provisions for the establishment of the Joint Board of Sanitary Control, Committee on Grievances, and

3649-631: The Latina community, to create a union and demand better pay and working conditions. After a strike and resistance from the Merchand and Manufacturers Association, workers received some improved pay, but not all of their conditions were met. As one of the few industrial unions within the AFL, the ILGWU was eager to advance the cause of organizing employees in the steel, automobile and other mass production industries that employed millions of low-wage workers, many of them immigrants or children of immigrants. The ILGWU

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3738-563: The New Dealers, despite orders from Moscow in September 1939 to oppose Roosevelt leading to conflict within the CPUSA. A crucial deviation in Browderism from Marxism–Leninism was in its rhetoric to appeal to a wider American audience, adopting more patriotic language. Traditionally, Americanism espouses beliefs such as freedom , liberty , human rights and republicanism , all encapsulated in

3827-445: The New York locals, including Dressmakers' Local 22, headed by Charles S. Zimmerman , where the CP leadership and their left-wing allies, some anarchists and some socialists, enjoyed strong support of the membership. Local 22 rallied to prevent the International from physically retaking their union hall. Those unions led the campaign to reject a proposed agreement that Sigman had negotiated with

3916-686: The abandonment of revolution in favour of a reformist approach, combined with its appeals to Americanism. Similarly to Bill of Rights socialism, Browderism sought to integrate communism into democratic institutions to legitimize itself, as seen in their support of the New Deal. Unlike other variants of Marxism–Leninism like Maoism and Hoxhaism , Browderism has not retained relevance within American communist politics, and did not amass international influence. It has in retrospect been criticized by anti-revisionists as indicative of American exceptionalism , viewing

4005-465: The accusations of "imperialist war" the party previously made. This led to the brief end of class conflict and beginning of class collaboration in Browder prioritising the popular front in the party's appeal above all else. These tendencies of Browderism, emphasizing an uncompromising popular front and aim to popularise the party with Americans culminated in 1944, when the CPUSA was officially dissolved for

4094-493: The agreement. But even so, the strike won a number of important gains. It encouraged workers in the industry to take action to improve their conditions, brought public attention to the sweatshop conditions. With some 20,000 shirtwaist workers as new members, Local 25 became the largest local affiliate of the ILGWU. Several months later, in 1910, the ILGWU led an even larger strike, later named "The Great Revolt", of 60,000 cloakmakers . After months of picketing, prominent members of

4183-577: The bird? The hunter or the dog?" The ILGWU began reducing its support for the CIO and, after a few years in which it attempted to be allies with both sides, reaffiliated with the AFL in 1940. Dubinsky regained his former positions as a vice president and member of the executive council of the AFL in 1945. He was the most visible supporter within the AFL of demands to clean house by ousting corrupt union leaders. The AFL–CIO ultimately adopted many of his demands when it established codes of conduct for its affiliates in 1957. Dubinsky and Sidney Hillman , leader of

4272-484: The calling of a strike of the entire industry. The crowd responded enthusiastically and, after taking a biblical oath in Yiddish, "If I turn traitor to the cause I now pledge, may this hand wither from the arm I now raise," voted for a general strike. Approximately 20,000 out of the 32,000 workers in the shirtwaist trade walked out in the next two days. Those workers – who were primarily women and immigrant workers – defied

4361-484: The circumstances of class struggle and conflict with the bourgeosie as not applying to the United States. Anti-revisionists also argue that the broad popular front Browderism envisioned subordinated the CPUSA to the interests of the bourgeosie via the Democratic Party , and that the threat of fascism used as justification was non-existent. Communist Party USA member John Gates called Browderism "a valuable instrument in

4450-503: The communist world, both domestically within the party, and internationally following the publication of the Duclos letter attacking the ideology. Following Browder's expulsion, a snap election held in July re-elected William Z. Foster as party leader. As a Stalinist , Foster reverted the party back to traditional Marxism–Leninism. The influence of Browderism waned in the party's ideology, as under

4539-546: The controversial president of the United Auto Workers , who was being advised by Jay Lovestone , a former leader of the Communist Party turned anti-communist, in his campaign to drive his opponents out of the union. Lewis was unconcerned with the number of communists working for the CIO. He told Dubinsky, when asked about the communists on the staff of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee , "Who gets

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4628-597: The election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act , which promised to protect workers' right to organize. As in the case in other industries with a history of organizing, that promise alone was enough to bring thousands of workers who had never been union members in the past to the union. When the union called a strike of dressmakers in New York on August 16, 1933, more than 70,000 workers joined in it – twice

4717-591: The funeral march for the victims. The fire had differing effects on the community. For some it radicalized them still further; as Rose Schneiderman said in her speech at the memorial meeting held in the Metropolitan Opera House on April 2, 1911, to an audience largely made up of the well-heeled members of the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL): I would be a traitor to these poor burned bodies if I came here to talk good fellowship. We have tried you good people of

4806-449: The hands of U.S. imperialism in its plans for world war and counter-revolution." Today, the CPUSA has remained critical of Browderism, calling its ideas "opportunistic", the result of communist parties' "theoretical confusion and their abandonment of core principles and core working-class constituencies" along with Eurocommunism . ILGWU The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union ( ILGWU ), whose members were employed in

4895-438: The industry in 1925, bringing more than 30,000 members to a rally at Yankee Stadium to call for a one-day stoppage on August 10, 1925. After Sigman called a truce in the internecine war with the left-led locals, followed up by a reform of the ILGWU's internal governance system that gave proportional weight to locals based on the size of their membership, the left wing of the union was even stronger than before. Sigman depended on

4984-490: The industry with which our workers' earnings are intimately bound ... 2. To serve as a central information agency: (a) To determine the level of 'fair piece rates.' (b) To record the production system and manufacturing techniques, under which these rates are paid. (c) To assist in training shop members and committees in distinguishing bad time study practices and good time study practices in the determination of rates." This emphasis on cooperation between labor and management using

5073-638: The internationalists in the Republican Party and the bulk of the Democratic Party, without the white Southern conservative bloc that commanded so much power in Congress. He proposed that Willkie begin by running for Mayor of New York City in 1945; Willkie, however, died before the plan could get off the ground. Dubinsky and the ILGWU played an active role in the Liberal Party for most of the 1950s and up until his retirement in 1966. The ILGWU ended its support for

5162-719: The law beats us back, when we rise, into the conditions that make life unbearable. I can't talk fellowship to you who are gathered here. Too much blood has been spilled. I know from my experience it is up to the working people to save themselves. The only way they can save themselves is by a strong working-class movement. Others in the union drew a different lesson from events: working with local Tammany Hall officials, such as Al Smith and Robert F. Wagner , and progressive reformers, such as Frances Perkins , they pushed for comprehensive safety and workers' compensation laws. The ILG leadership formed bonds with those reformers and politicians that would continue for another forty years, through

5251-439: The leadership of Gus Hall , attempts to recreate a new popular front and align its aims with American circumstances under Bill of Rights socialism ; however, these efforts were removed from Browderism, which has since been scrutinized by anti-revisionists . Browder became General Secretary of the Communist Party USA in 1930 and served as the party's unilateral leader and public face throughout his leadership, coinciding with

5340-419: The leadership, unwilling to appear less militant, joined in urging rejection of the deal. That ended negotiations with the employers and kept the strike going another four months, at the end of which the union was nearly bankrupt and the left leadership almost wholly discredited. Sigman took over negotiations, settled the strike and then proceeded to drive the Communist Party from any positions of influence within

5429-498: The letter was tolerated within the party leadership, but later would lead to Darcy's expulsion by a CPA committee headed by Foster, who submitted to party discipline as emphasized by Browder. Following the Tehran Conference in 1943, Browder hoped for the alliance between the Allied powers to continue after the war in peaceful coexistence , yet with the beginning of the Cold War and McCarthyism , Browderism became open to scrutiny. Jacques Duclos , Comintern member and leader of

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5518-434: The name of the Communist Party USA . Those left wing socialists, joined by others with an IWW or anarchist background, challenged the undemocratic structure of the ILGWU, which gave every local an equal vote in electing its leaders, regardless of the number of workers that local represented, and the accommodations that the ILGWU leadership had made in bargaining with the employers. Left wing activists, drawing inspiration from

5607-438: The number that the union had hoped for. It did not hurt that the local leader of the National Recovery Administration was quoted as saying – without any basis in fact – that President Roosevelt had authorized the strike. The union rebounded to more than 200,000 members by 1934, increasing to roughly 300,000 by the end of the Depression. At the same time in Los Angeles, Rose Pesotta was organizing women dressmakers, primarily from

5696-428: The other way. A group of wealthy women, among them Frances Perkins , Anne Morgan , and Alva Vanderbilt Belmont , supported the struggles of working class women with money and intervention with officials and often picketed with them. Newspapers dubbed them "the mink brigade " because they used their wealth and privilege to try to protect the strikers. The strikers did not always welcome their help; Emma Goldman told

5785-445: The party after Dubinsky left office. The ILGWU established its own industrial engineering office, called the Management Engineering Department, in 1941. This followed two unsuccessful attempts to begin such a program in 1916 and 1919. The 1916 attempt had been suggested by future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Morris Hillquit, who invited Taylor Society co-founder R. G. Valentine to set up an experiment to demonstrate

5874-401: The party attempted to create a base for itself in the working class and, in particular, in the unions within the AFL . The party had its greatest success and failure in that effort in the 1920s in the garment trades, where workers had experience with mass strikes and socialist politics were part of the common discourse. Party members had won elections in some of the most important locals within

5963-429: The party continuing to espouse Browderism in the form of Distributors Guide: Economic Analysis: A Service for Policy Makers , a weekly newsletter outlining his own vision for Soviet–American relations in contrast to the unfolding Cold War. On February 5, 1946, Browder was fully expelled from the party altogether; outside of a brief effort during the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (which marked

6052-408: The party leadership to reject the offer. As one member of the CPUSA and a leader in Local 22 recalled the scene, one of the members of the committee said, when presenting the agreement to a meeting of the shop floor leaders, "Maybe we could have gotten more, but ...", at which point a party leader interjected, "They didn't get more. If there is a possibility of getting more, go and get more." The rest of

6141-422: The party's message, shifting away from the revolutionary socialism previously touted by the CPUSA. Moreover, Browderism rejected class conflict entirely, instead advocating for class collaboration with the bourgeosie under a popular front . Browderism served as the ideological line of the CPUSA's platform from 1942 until Browder's expulsion from the party in 1945. It was controversial for its revisionism in

6230-402: The party) and the American communist movement, as the article had circulated worldwide amongst Comintern officials. The Communist Party USA was re-established at a snap election in July 1945, and Browder was removed from his position as general secretary, with Foster, who led the effort against Browderism, appointed as chairman and Eugene Dennis appointed as general secretary. Browder remained in

6319-444: The police to arrest those who had disrupted the meeting. Dubinsky ultimately left the Labor Party in 1944 after a dispute with Hillman over whether labor leaders in New York, such as Mike Quill , who either were members of the Communist Party or were seen as sympathetic to it, should be given any role in the ALP. When Hillman prevailed, Dubinsky and his allies left to form the Liberal Party. The ALP went on to endorse Henry Wallace in

6408-474: The popular front strategy worldwide up until the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the beginning of World War II. Due to the undermining of the Soviet Union's anti-fascist reputation, the CPUSA's ranks and recruitment numbers diminished. Browder was imprisoned in 1941; following his early release a year later, he returned to the general secretary position strongly in support of the American war effort, contrasted by

6497-440: The preconceptions of many conservative labor leaders, who thought that immigrants and women in general could not be organized. Their slogan "We'd rather starve quick than starve slow" summed up the depth of their bitterness regarding the sweatshops in which they labored. The strike was a violent one. Police routinely arrested picketers for trivial or imaginary offenses, while employers hired local thugs to beat them as police looked

6586-469: The press that "If the strike is won, it will be on its merits, not because it was assisted by wealthy ladies." The strike was only partially successful. The ILGWU accepted an arbitrated settlement in February 1910 that improved the workers' wages, working conditions, and hours, but the settlement did not provide union recognition. A number of companies, including the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, refused to sign

6675-408: The public and we have found you wanting. The old Inquisition had its rack and its thumbscrews and its instruments of torture with iron teeth. We know what these things are today; the iron teeth are our necessities, the thumbscrews are the high-powered and swift machinery close to which we must work, and the rack is here in the firetrap structures that will destroy us the minute they catch on fire. This

6764-524: The rise of Nazism . The necessity of a popular front to ally against fascism massively influenced Browder's thinking and strategy. On January 6, 1935, Browder gave a public speech outlining an alliance with the Socialist Party of America (of whom Browder was a former member from 1907 to 1912). The Socialist Party was skeptical of such an alliance due to vilification over the past decade, though their leader Norman Thomas admitted specific areas where

6853-430: The sorrowing mothers, brothers and sisters by way of a charity gift. But every time the workers come out in the only way they know to protest against conditions which are unbearable the strong hand of the law is allowed to press down heavily upon us. Public officials have only words of warning to us – warning that we must be intensely peaceable, and they have the workhouse just back of all their warnings. The strong hand of

6942-476: The support of David Dubinsky 's cutters union, many of the Italian locals, and the "out-of-town locals", many of which were mere paper organizations, to retain his presidency at the 1925 convention. The showdown came the next year. The International supported the recommendations of an advisory board appointed by Governor Al Smith that supported the union's demands that wholesale jobbers be financially responsible for

7031-452: The support of the right-wing locals loyal to Sigman, would be a quick success; it was not. Employers hired "Legs" Diamond and other gangsters to beat up strikers. The union hired their own protection, led by "Little Augie" Orgen , to retaliate. When the strike entered its third month, the left wing leadership went to A.E. Rothstein, a retired manufacturer, to ask him to intercede. He suggested they talk to his estranged son, Arnold Rothstein ,

7120-489: The techniques of scientific management . However, Valentine died before the experiment could be carried out. This was followed by a demonstration program carried out in Cleveland from 1919 to 1931 under Morris L. Cooke and Francis P. Goodell. The ILGWU listed its objectives in setting up the management engineering department as: "1. To assist in improving the manufacturing techniques and operating methods of all branches of

7209-572: The two parties could work together. Browder also sought to form new mass organizations such as the American League Against War and Fascism in 1933 and the American Youth Congress and League of American Writers , both in 1935. At the same time, the party's stance towards the Roosevelt administration was modified from hostility to mutual cooperation, influencing Roosevelt's New Deal policies while Browder continued to serve as

7298-432: The union. The firm locked out its employees when it learned what was happening. The news of the strike spread quickly to all the New York garment workers. At a series of mass meetings, after the leading figures of the American labor movement spoke in general terms about the need for solidarity and preparedness, Clara Lemlich rose to speak about the conditions she and other women worked under and demanded an end to talk and

7387-492: The variant of Marxism–Leninism developed in the 1940s by American communist politician Earl Browder , who led the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) from 1930 to 1945. Characterized by deviations from orthodox Marxist–Leninist policies and principles, it sought to revise Marxism to align the party with mainstream American politics and present events; this involved incorporating Americanism and its nationalist values into

7476-468: The wages owed by their contractors and that workers be guaranteed a set number of hours per year, while allowing employers to reduce their workforces by up to 10% in any given year. While Sigman and Dubinsky supported the proposal, the CP-led and CP-influenced locals denounced it. The New York Joint Board called a general strike on July 1, 1926. The left-wing locals may have hoped that a general strike, which had

7565-450: The wake of increasing tensions amid the rise of fascism in Europe. However, due to Browderism's pragmatic and reformist character, its form of internationalism differed from the proletarian internationalism espoused by Marxist–Leninists. Under Browderism, the need for class conflict against the bourgeosie by the proletariat was de-prioritized and downplayed by the necessity for as broad

7654-580: Was adopted by the Comintern from 1934 until the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, and popular front governments briefly held power in Spain , France and Chile during the 1930s. Browder's push for such a broad anti-fascist coalition was due to the rise of fascism in Europe and the popularity of the New Deal , which Browder was initially hostile to, but then came to seek an alliance with

7743-647: Was an instructor there. Robert E. Stripling stated that the center succeed the writers school of the League of American Writers . Sam Wood testified that Edward Dmytryk taught there. Oliver Carlson testified that William Wolfe of the ILGWU education department ran it, succeeded by Sidney Davison (sent from New York); Herbert Biberman taught there (Soviet theater), as did Guy Endore Robert Lees. Advisors included Lees, Lawson, Healey, Herbert Sorrell, Frank Tuttle, and Sondra Gorney. Browderism Browderism refers to

7832-680: Was one of the original members of the Committee for Industrial Organization, the group that John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers formed within the AFL in 1935 to organize industrial workers, and provided key financial support and assistance. The organizing momentum gained over the Depression would carry over into the new decade. By the end of the 1940s, the ILGWU had added roughly 70,000 new members and expanded out of its traditional enclaves of New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. During this drive

7921-440: Was the only Jew on the AFL's board. The union did not make any significant efforts to allow women into leadership positions during Dubinsky's tenure. As weak as the ILGWU was in the aftermath of the 1926 strike, it was nearly destroyed by the Great Depression . Its dues-paying membership slipped to 25,000 in 1932 as unionized garment shops shut or went nonunion or stopped abiding by their union contracts. The union recovered after

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