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87-581: The NMU was founded in May 1937 by Joseph Curran and his allies, which at the time included Jack Lawrenson. At the time Curran was an able seaman and boatswain aboard the Panama Pacific Line ocean liner SS  California . He was a member of the International Seamen's Union (ISU) but was not active in the work of the union. Lawrenson later married writer Helen Lawrenson . He was forced out of

174-593: A Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School . At Harvard, he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was in the same class as Alger Hiss . With future defending lawyer Edward Cochrane McLean , they served on the Harvard Law Review : Mr. Hiss: ... Lee Pressman was in my class at the Harvard Law School, and we were both on the Harvard Law Review at the same time. After graduation, he joined

261-486: A caddie and factory worker before finding employment in 1922 in the United States Merchant Marine . He worked as an able seaman and boatswain , washing dishes in restaurants when not at sea and sleeping on a Battery Park bench at night. It was during this time that he received his lifelong nickname "Big Joe." Curran joined the International Seamen's Union (or ISU; the remnants of which would become

348-550: A National Lawyers Guild convention in Cleveland, he attacked the "fallacious notion that increased wages in the interests of adequate purchasing power necessarily bring higher prices." He also attacked future Progressive Party vice presidential candidate, US Senator Glen H. Taylor , for the latter's prediction of economic uncertainty due to monopolies. He asked that an "aroused and enlightened public" make itself heard in Congress and in

435-631: A body established by AFL-CIO maritime unions and U.S. shipping companies to discuss and resolve labor issues. Curran was also vice chairman of the Seafarer's Section of the International Transportworkers Federation, an international confederation of maritime unions. Curran was also vice president of the United Seamen's Service. Curran suffered a heart attack in 1953 which left him somewhat less physically able than before. Over

522-499: A determined advance in adapting social legislation to the needs of the whole American people. On January 14, 1940, John L. Lewis retired from the CIO presidency, and Philip Murray succeeded him. On May 18, 1940, Pressman again spoke on CBS Radio, this time on the "Wagner Act." In 1941, FDR appointed CIO vice president Sidney Hill to the Office of Production Management . Hillman lobbied for

609-400: A former cruise ship waitress, in 1939. The couple had a son, Joseph Paul Curran, Jr. Retta Curran died in 1963. In 1965, Curran married Florence Stetler. Lee Pressman Lee Pressman (July 1, 1906 – November 20, 1969) was a labor attorney and earlier a US government functionary, publicly alleged in 1948 to have been a spy for Soviet intelligence during the mid-1930s (as a member of

696-582: A grievance hearing once the ship docked at its destination in New York City , and that there would be no reprisals by the company or government against Curran or the strikers. During the California's return trip, the Panama Pacific Line raised wages by $ 5 a month to $ 60 per month. But Perkins was unable to follow through on her other promises. United States Secretary of Commerce Daniel Roper and

783-513: A gymnasium, swimming pool and 900-seat auditorium. In 1973, with the union's fortunes fading with the decreased activity in the Port of New York , the headquarters building was sold to St. Vincent's Hospital . The 17th Street and Ninth Avenue buildings were sold in 1987 to Covenant House , a drug rehabilitation program, for use as a runaway shelter and educational facility. In 1988 the NMU agreed to merge with

870-429: A headquarters building at Seventh Avenue between 12th Street and 13th Street , completed in 1964, a block-through service annex at 346 West 17th Street and a plaza and "pizza-box"-shaped companion building next to it on Ninth Avenue , both built in 1966 and both named for Joseph Curran . The Curran buildings held offices for the union and its pension fund, medical and training facilities, dormitory rooms for seaman,

957-601: A major organizing drive among ship and port workers. The unions comprised by the CIO had been ejected by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in November 1936, and now Lewis wanted to launch a maritime union. His goal was to create a union as large and influential as the Steel Workers Organizing Committee out of the nation's 300,000 maritime workers. Although Lewis favored Harry Bridges , president of

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1044-538: A maritime union. His goal was to create, out of the 300,000 maritime industry's workers, a union as large and influential as the Steel Workers Organizing Committee . Although Lewis favored Harry Bridges , president of the Pacific Coast District of the International Longshoremen's Association , to lead the new maritime industrial union, the other union leaders balked. Curran agreed to affiliate with

1131-941: A mediating entity to OPM, and FDR created the National Defense Mediation Board (NDMB). In June 1941, NMDB and the United Auto Workers took over a North American Aviation factory during a strike. Later in June 1941, at a convention of the National Lawyers Guild in Chicago, Pressman criticized the Vinson and Ball bills before the US Congress, both of which he accused of a "long-range" plan whose aims included "destruction of workers' rights to organize, bargain collectively, and strike"; "destruction of labor organizations as

1218-527: A meeting with Soviet counterparts about the WFTU. In October 1945, he traveled to Moscow with a CIO delegation in the company of John Abt among others. On June 6, 1946, he contributed to a broadcast entitled "Should There Be Stricter Regulation of Labor Unions?" on America's Town Meeting of the Air show on NBC Radio with Sen. Allen J. Ellender , Henry J. Taylor , and Rep. Andrew J. Biemiller . In July 1946, at

1305-632: A new, rival union. The level of organizing was so intense that hundreds of ships delayed their sailing time as seamen listened to organizers and signed union cards. One of the co-founders of the organization was the later civil rights activist James Peck . In May 1937, Curran and other leaders of his Seamen's Defense Committee reconstituted the group as the National Maritime Union. (CPUSA co-founder Boleslaw Gerbert may have helped form this union. It held its first convention in July, and 30,000 seamen left

1392-846: A re-run election did not change the outcome. In 1973, shortly after Curran won re-election for a thirteenth term as union president, Morrissey sued Curran and charged him with misappropriating union funds. In a precedent-setting ruling in Morrissey and Ibrahim v. Curran , 650 F.2d 1267 (1981), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit established a broad right for union members to sue union officers for improper financial practices. Morrissey's barrage of lawsuits against Curran led him to retire suddenly on March 5, 1973. Long-time secretary-treasurer Shannon J. Wall succeeded him as president. Curran retired to Boca Raton, Florida . He died there of cancer on August 14, 1981. Curran married Retta Toble,

1479-709: A small firm called Liebman, Blumenthal & Levy, to handle Jerome's clients. In 1933, Pressman joined the Ware Group at the invitation of Harold Ware , a Communist agricultural journalist in Washington, DC : "I was asked to join by a man named Harold Ware" (See "Ware Group" sub-section, below) In July 1933, Pressman received appointment as assistant general counsel of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) by Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace . He reported to Jerome Frank, who

1566-541: A speech before the University of Cincinnati Lawyers Institute. He said: Where parties agree to union security, what objection can there be? Nine million workers are now covered by such contracts. The status of the union under the Wagner Act established the obligation not to discriminate against non-members. Why should not all employees, therefore, have an obligation to become members? ... The anti-trust law stating that

1653-584: A staff of 500, and 73,000 members. In 1948, Lee Pressman joined Joseph Forer , a Washington-based attorney, in representing Ferdinand C. Smith, secretary of the National Maritime Union along with Gerhard Eisler , supposedly the top Soviet intelligence agent in the US, Irving Potash, vice president of the Fur and Leather Workers Union ; Charles A. Doyle of the Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers Union , and John Williamson, labor secretary of

1740-564: A three-member board in October 1940 to forestall the House investigation. The board members reported to Murray that Curran, Kills and the GNYIU executive board had been advocating pro-communist policies. The GNYIU was on the verge of supporting Henry A. Wallace in an independent bid for president as well. The national CIO executive board revoked the charter of the GNYIU in November 1940. Curran denied that he

1827-418: A union-run school to retrain union members, and won large employer donations through collective bargaining to build the school. Curran was a vociferous advocate of maritime workers' rights. When Joseph P. Kennedy advocated legislation to outlaw maritime strikes and make arbitration of labor disputes compulsory, Curran called him a "union wrecker". When Kennedy was under consideration as executive director of

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1914-528: A year, the NMU had more than 50,000 members, and most American shippers were under contract. Stripped of most of its membership, the ISU became almost moribund. In July 1937, Curran and other seamen's union leaders were invited by John L. Lewis to come to Washington, D.C. , to form a major organizing drive among ship and port workers. The unions comprised by CIO had been ejected by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in November 1936, and now Lewis wanted to launch

2001-530: Is adequate protection in State courts for breach of collective bargaining agreements. Federal legislation will limit the protection labor unions now have under the anti-injunction statute. Litigation for alleged breach of contract is negation of collective bargaining and would merely clutter up the courts. He also asserted that labor unions do not constitute monopolies, compared with industrial combines. In June 1947, Pressman also wrote an influential critique of

2088-582: Is not going to tell me what to ask. I won't take this from Pressman. Remember that. Pressman: I'll remember all I say. Hoffman: You keep a civil tongue in your head. In September 1941, Pressman received a pin from pro- Communist Mike Quill , leader of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), a CIO member, during a TWU strike. Pressman then urged TWU strikers to stand up to the New York City government, as he had four years earlier in 1937 when

2175-604: The 1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike , in part to improve working conditions and in part to embarrass the International Seamen's Union (ISU). The four-month strike idled 50,000 seamen and 300 ships. Curran, believing it was time to abandon the conservative ISU, began to sign up members for a new, rival union. The level of organizing was so intense that hundreds of ships delayed their sailing time as seamen listened to organizers and signed union cards. In May 1937, Curran and other leaders of his nascent movement formed

2262-659: The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America under Sidney Hillman , claimed the leaders of the Communist Party of the USA had inspired the idea of the CIO-PAC: In 1943, Gene Dennis came to me and Lee Pressman to first raise the idea of a political action committee to organize labor support for Roosevelt in the approaching 1944 election. Pressman approached Murray with the idea, as I did with Hillman. Both men seized upon

2349-527: The CPUSA ). On May 5, 1946, Pressman and Forer received a preliminary injunction so their defendants might have hearings with examiners unconnected with the investigations and prosecutions by examiners of the Immigration and Naturalization Service . In 1958 the union decided on an aggressive building program, and hired New Orleans –based architect Albert C. Ledner to design some unique buildings for them, including

2436-601: The Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association (MEBA) to form District 1, MEBA-NMU. The merger did not last. MEBA members charged that the merger referendum was rigged by MEBA president C. E. "Gene" DeFries . The accusations were serious enough that the United States Department of Justice began an investigation. Union members were even more outraged when they learned DeFries and five other union officers paid themselves more than $ 2 million in severance payments. During

2523-530: The Seafarers International Union of North America ) from 1937 to 1973, and a vice president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Curran was born on Manhattan's Lower East Side . His father died when he was two years old, and his mother boarded with another family. He attended parochial school , but when he was 14 he was expelled during the seventh grade for truancy . He worked as

2610-665: The Taft-Hartley Act , used by President Harry S. Truman as background material to justify his "bristling" veto of the measure. Co-sponsor, US Senator Robert A. Taft belittled Truman's veto: "The veto message covers the Pressman memorandum which the Senator from Montana ( James E. Murray ) put in the record and to which I replied. The veto message substantially in detail follows the Pressman memorandum ... point by point." Taft's accusation drew considerable attention for days. On July 4,

2697-425: The Taft-Hartley Act . In January 1947, he appeared on "New York Times radio" station WQXR-FM with US Senator Carl A. Hatch , former National War Labor Board chairman William Hammatt Davis , and General Precision Equipment Corporation general counsel Robert T. Rinear, to debate the topic "Do we need new labor laws?" While endorsing a Truman commission plan, he attacked any labor legislation passed hastily ahead of

National Maritime Union - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-569: The United Rubber Workers ; and Reid Robinson , president of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers . "Left forces" failed to have Joseph Curran , president of the National Maritime Union, elected vice president. Further, Lewis demoted Harry Bridges from West Coast CIO director to California state CIO director. In 1939, New York Times reported on further internal conflict. On January 3, 1940, Pressman discussed

2871-464: The Ware Group ), following his recent departure from Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) as a result of its purge of Communist Party members and fellow travelers . From 1936 to 1948, he represented the CIO and member unions in landmark collective bargaining deals with major corporations including General Motors and U.S. Steel . According to journalist Murray Kempton , anti-communists referred to him as "Comrade Big." Pressman

2958-550: The Washington Post' s Drew Pearson noted "There've been considerable charges and counter-charges that CIO Counsel Lee Pressman ghost-wrote the hot White House veto message on the Taft-Hartley labor bill. Truth is that he had no direct hand in writing the message, though some of his words did creep in." Pearson explained that White House Assistant Clark Clifford had penned the veto with help from William S. Tyson , solicitor of

3045-814: The Works Progress Administration by Harry L. Hopkins . A joint resolution dated January 21, 1935, called the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 , passed in the United States Congress and became law on April 8, 1935. As a result, on May 6, 1935, FDR issued Executive Order 7034, that essentially transformed the Federal Emergency Relief Administration into the Works Progress Administration. "Pressman set to work analyzing

3132-409: The "1940 Legislative Program of the CIO" on CBS Radio. orIn his speech, Pressman said: On pretexts of economy, more money for war purposes and similar catch cries, the reactionary financial interests and their political henchmen hope to reduce appropriations for the unemployed and for publish works, to emasculate labor and social legislation, and to restrict our civil liberties. The CIO ... calls for

3219-601: The "National Health Bill" (part of the Reorganization Act of 1939 ), sponsored by US Senator Robert F. Wagner . He attacked the American Medical Society 's position against the bill as "reactionary," which he felt had kept the bill from going "far enough." From May through August 1939, Pressman attacked support for the " Walsh amendments" to the 1935 National Labor Relations Act (AKA the "Wagner Act"). In May 1939, when AFL president William Green supported

3306-562: The "economic mercy" of employers. Further, he urged Congress to use the US Supreme Court's definition of "work" as activities of an employe which required physical or mental exertion for an employer's benefit and under an employer's control. Any legislation that ended portal-to-portal claims, he said, would "most seriously undermine" and in fact threatened "the entire future, operation" of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act . Again at month's end, he attacked labor curb bills in Congress during

3393-518: The 1946 fall elections: This Congress has sought to stifle labor organization and at the same time has fought vigorously to assure expanded profit levels through tax and price policies. It has resisted any effort to lighten the tax burden on the lower income groups, but has acted swiftly to remove the excess-profits tax on corporations while continuing the carry-back provisions permitting gigantic tax rebates out of excess-profits tax payments of prior years. In 1947, Pressman became involved in passage of

3480-612: The Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and Bridges remained president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union . In June 1936, he was named a counsel of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO—later AFL-CIO ) for the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC—later, the United Steelworkers of America ), appointed by union chief John L. Lewis as part of a conscious attempt to mobilize left-wing activists on behalf of

3567-715: The CIO and the SWOC. He remained in this position for the next decade. (According to his obituary in the New York Times, he was general counsel from 1936 to 1948. ) In August 1938, Pressman criticized the American Bar Association in The CIO News in his own "bill of particulars," which included the following: In May 1939, Pressman spoke on behalf of the CIO before the US Senate's Education and Labor sub-committee to support

National Maritime Union - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-612: The CIO's two vice presidents, that pre-dated the Hitler-Stalin Pact (announced the previous month). Instead, Lewis would empower eight member of the CIO's 42 executive committee members. Further, Lewis increased the number of CIO vice presidents from two to six with: R. J. Thomas , president of the United Automobile Workers ; Emil Rieve , president of the Textile Workers of America ; Sherman Dalrymple , president of

3741-519: The CIO, but refused to let Bridges or anyone else take over his union. His views were reflected among those of the other union leaders, and the CIO's maritime industrial union never got off the ground. During the next 36 years, Joseph Curran worked to make American merchant seamen the best-paid maritime workers in the world. NMU established a 40-hour work week, overtime, paid vacations, pension and health benefits, tuition reimbursement, and standards for shipboard food and living quarters. Curran even built

3828-560: The Civil War might grant the federal government authority to intervene in strikes in terms of Free Speech, like strikes in Harlan County, Kentucky . In February 1939, when President Roosevelt made Murphy United States Attorney General , Murphy created a Civil Liberties Unit within the criminal division of the United States Department of Justice . In June 1938, Pressman moved back to Washington, D.C., to become full-time general counsel for

3915-596: The East Coast struck to protest the treatment of the California's crew. Curran became a leader of the 10-week strike, eventually forming a supportive association known as the Seamen's Defense Committee. The S.S. California strike was only part of a worldwide wave of unrest among American seamen. A series of port and shipboard strikes broke out in 1936 and 1937 in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico . In October 1936, Curran called

4002-708: The GNYIU. The United States House of Representatives appointed a special investigative subcommittee to look into the matter. Several CIO unions were investigated, including the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America , the Teachers Union of the City of New York , the United Public Workers of America and the Department Store Employees Union . CIO president Philip Murray appointed

4089-567: The Hatch Act made it illegal for the federal government to employ anyone who advocated the overthrow of the federal government. The left-leaning United Public Workers of America (UFWA) immediately hired Pressman to challenge the constitutionality of the Hatch Act. In October 1939, during a closed-door session during a CIO convention, president John L. Lewis declared his intent to rid the CIO of "Communist influence." This decision came in response particularly from Philip Murray and Sidney Hillman ,

4176-445: The ISU to join the NMU. Curran was elected president of the new organization. The black, Jamaican-born Ferdinand Smith was elected as the union's secretary-treasurer. Within a year, the NMU had more than 50,000 members, and most American shippers were under contract. Immediately after the NMU's founding convention in July 1937, Curran and other seamen's union leaders were invited by John L. Lewis to come to Washington, D.C. , to form

4263-400: The NMU became an autonomous affiliate of the Seafarers International Union of North America, and in 2001 it fully merged with that union (now called " Seafarers International Union "). Joseph Curran Joseph Curran (March 1, 1906 – August 14, 1981) was a merchant seaman and an American labor leader. He was founding president of the National Maritime Union (or NMU, now part of

4350-445: The National Maritime Union (NMU). The Seamen's Defense Committee reconstituted itself as a union. It held its first convention in July, and 30,000 seamen switched their membership from the ISU to the NMU. Curran was elected president of the new organization. Elected secretary-treasurer of the union was Jamaican -born Ferdinand Smith . Thus, from its inception NMU was racially integrated. Within six years, nearly all racial discrimination

4437-407: The New York City area to support an "emergency peace mobilization" opposing U.S. entry into the war in Europe. In 1940, Curran was elected a vice president of the CIO. When the CIO and AFL merged in 1955, he was appointed a vice president of the merged organization as well. Curran was also elected president of the Greater New York Industrial Union . The Greater New York Industrial Union (GNYIU)

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4524-543: The New York City law firm of " Hays , St. John, Abramson, and Schulman" and "Is this Lee Pressman's firm?"; Koch confirmed "yes." ( Osmond K. Fraenkel , a fellow member of the National Lawyers Guild, was also a member of Hays, St. John, Abramson, and Schulman. ) In his role as the CIO's general counsel, Pressman was influential in helping to stop the attempt to deport Communist Longshoreman's Union official Harry Bridges . He continued to interact with Bridges well into June 1948, as longshoremen continued to threaten strikes on

4611-423: The Pacific Coast District of the International Longshoremen's Association , to lead the new maritime industrial union, the other union leaders balked. Curran agreed to affiliate with the CIO, but refused to let Bridges or anyone else take over his union. His views were reflected among those of the other union leaders, and the CIO's maritime industrial union never got off the ground. By 1946, the NMU had 46 branches,

4698-438: The Panama Pacific Line declared Curran and the strikers mutineers . The line took out national advertising attacking Curran. When the ship docked, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents met the ship and began an investigation into the "mutiny". Curran and other top strike leaders were fined two days' pay, fired and blacklisted . Perkins was able to keep the strikers from being prosecuted for mutiny, however. Seaman all along

4785-421: The Panama Pacific Line declared Curran and the strikers mutineers. Curran and other top strike leaders were fined two days' pay, fired and blacklisted, but Perkins was able to keep the strikers from being prosecuted for mutiny. Seamen all along the East Coast struck to protest the treatment of the California' s crew. Curran became a leader of the 10-week strike, eventually forming a supportive association known as

4872-428: The Seafarers International Union), but was not active in the union at first. In 1936, Curran led a strike aboard the ocean liner S.S. California , then docked in San Pedro, California . Curran and the crew of the Panama Pacific Line's California went on strike at sailing time and refused to cast off the lines unless wages were increased and overtime paid. The strike was essentially a sitdown strike . Curran and

4959-409: The Seamen's Defense Committee. In October 1936, Curran called a second strike, the 1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike , in part to improve working conditions and in part to embarrass the ISU. The four-month strike idled 50,000 seamen and 300 ships along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Believing it was time to abandon the conservative International Seamen's Union, Curran began to sign up members for

5046-417: The Soviet Union as "guests of the USSR Sea and River Workers Union," visiting various ports and Khrushchev in the Kremlin, according to the October, 1960, edition of the journal "USSR." Curran served on a number of other committees, boards and positions with other organizations. For many years, he was chair of the AFL-CIO 's Maritime Committee. He was also co-chair of the Labor-Management Maritime Committee,

5133-525: The TWU first left the AFL for the CIO. In July 1942, the National War Labor Board sought advice on FDR's wage stabilization policy by increasing wages in the four " Little Steel " companies with a combined 157,000 employees by one dollar. CIO president Philip Murray and Pressman both supported the increase. In July 1943, the CIO formed a political action committee , the " CIO-PAC ," chaired by Sidney Hillman, and supported by Pressman and John Abt as co-counsels. In his 1999 memoir, Abt, general counsel for

5220-458: The US Labor Department, and Paul Herzog , chairman of the National Labor Relations Board – and their "analyses" of the bill bore striking resemblance to Pressman's analysis." Later on June 24, 1947, Pressman appeared again on CBS Radio with Raymond Smethurst, general counsel of NAM to discuss the effect of the new labor law. In August 1947, he gave a strong speech to the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW) against

5307-405: The United Seamen's Service (an association which assists, feeds and houses American merchant seamen overseas), Curran successfully opposed the multi-millionaire's candidacy. Curran put such pressure on Kennedy that on February 18, 1938, Kennedy resigned as chair of the United States Maritime Commission . Curran was also a strong supporter of far-left-wing causes. In August 1940, he urged unions in

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5394-465: The WFTU and in working with pro-Soviet American unions, "the active role played by" Pressman "in writing and rewriting convention resolutions helped to smooth possible conflicts." In April 1945, Pressman represented Harry Bridges before the U.S. Supreme Court in Bridges v. Wixon with the help of Carol Weiss King and her recruit, Nathan Greene who penned the brief. Later that month, Pressman joined Murray, Abt, and other CIO officials in Paris for

5481-494: The amendments on CBS Radio , the CIO's response, penned by Pressman, accused Green of colluding with the National Association of Manufacturers against not just the CIO but also the AFL, i.e., workers. In August 1939, Pressman appeared before the Senate Labor Committee to state that Green's support did not represent AFL rank and file . Also in August 1939, Congress passed the Hatch Act of 1939 , which restricted political campaign activities by federal employees. A provision of

5568-498: The attitude, "There were too many Ivy League men, too many intellectuals, too many radicals, too many Jews." By December 1933, Frank had hired John Abt and Arthur (or Howard) Bachrach (brother of Abt's sister Marion Abt Bachrach ) to develop litigation strategies for agricultural reform policies. In February 1935, Chester Davis fired many of Frank's cadre, including Pressman, Frank, Gardner Jackson, and two others. By April 1935, Pressman had been appointed general counsel in

5655-504: The barrier to unchecked monopoly profits"; and "complete control of the national economy and the government by big business." Pressman continued to give as good as he got. In February 1940, he held a "heated exchange" with US Representative Clare Hatch during a hearing of the US House Labor Committee, again on the issue of amendments to the NRLA (Wagner Act): Pressman: I'll answer the question all right, Mr. Hoffman. Representative Thomas can take care of himself. Hoffman: This boy

5742-482: The budget request that would transform FERA into the WPA." By mid-summer 1935, Rexford G. Tugwell appointed him general counsel of the Resettlement Administration . Pressman split his time between the two agencies. However, by year's end (he recollected in a letter to Tugwell in 1937), he came to believe that New Deals changes occurred only when "major controlling financial interests" concurred or when "financial interests had been able to seize effective control of

5829-520: The code and manipulate it to enhance their power." Pressman left government service in the winter of 1935-36 and went into private law practice in New York City with David Scribner as Pressman & Scribner. Clients included the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (MEBA), the United Public Workers CIO , and other unions. In 1943, during hearings by a Dies Committee "Special Committee on Un-American Activities," director of research J.B. Matthews asked whether witness Lucien Koch had retained

5916-409: The commission's results, saying, "Judging from the bills now before Congress, their purpose is merely to penalize labor organizations." Senator Hatch agreed with him that severe wage cuts in terms of real wages and increased cost of living would not find resolutions in terms of legislation that addresses only jurisdictional disputes or secondary boycotts. "We need additional and new laws on all phases of

6003-404: The course of their findings, a group of MEBA members (Led by Alex Shandrowsky , Jesse Calhoon , and Don Keefe ) peacefully occupied MEBA's Headquarters in Washington, DC after DeFries refused to disclose information to union members. DeFries and others were later indicted for crimes relating to their manipulation of union elections and misuse of union offices. US versus DeFries ( et al. ) became

6090-421: The crew refused to leave the ship, for the owners would have simply replaced them with strikebreakers . The crew remained aboard and continued to do all their duties except cast off the lines. The California remained tied up for three days. Finally, United States Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins personally intervened in the California strike. Speaking to the crew by telephone, Perkins agreed to arrange

6177-408: The first successful criminal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) prosecution of the governing body of a labor organization, which resulted in the conviction of 18 officials of MEBA), for RICO, RICO conspiracy, embezzlement, extortion, and mail fraud. NMU disaffiliated from the Marine Engineers in 1993. Louis Parise was elected the newly independent union's president. In 1999

6264-539: The general problem of labor-management," Hatch said. Again in January 1947, on the topic of the related Portal to Portal Act of 1947 , publicly before the US Senate Judiciary Committee , he urged Congress to make that act a simple authorization to employers and unions to settle portal claims through collective bargaining, while prohibiting management from attempting such settlements with individual workers at

6351-536: The government, Philip Murry of the CIO with Pressman as counsel for unions, John Stevens with Chester McLain of U.S. Steel for industry. During 1945–1947, Pressman worked with John Abt for the CIO to help create the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) as successor to the International Federation of Trade Unions , itself seen as dominated by communist and socialist parties. During formation of

6438-616: The law firm of Chadbourne, Stanchfield & Levy (currently Chadbourne & Parke ) in New York City. (During the Great Depression , founder Thomas Chadbourne asserted that the capitalist system itself was "on trial" and became an early champion of both collective bargaining rights and profit sharing for workers. ) There, he worked for Jerome Frank (future chair of the SEC ). When Jerome left in 1933 to work in FDR 's New Deal , Pressman joined

6525-601: The new labor federation. According to scholars, "One of Pressman's unofficial roles in the CIO was liaison between the CIO's Communist faction and its predominantly non-Communist leadership." In 1936-1937, he supported the Great Flint Sit-Down Strike . In 1937, Michigan Governor William Francis Murphy supported workers rights and the nascent United Auto Workers in a sit-down strike at General Motors plants. He listened to advice Pressman that civil rights statues passed to protect African-American voters during

6612-481: The next few years, he gradually cut back his workload, and stopped visiting local unions and attending most union meetings. In the mid-1960s, he turned over most of the union's daily business to secretary-treasurer Shannon J. Wall . By the mid-1960s, Curran was being criticized for ignoring his members' needs and concerns. His $ 85,000-a-year salary was one of the highest in the American labor movement even though his union

6699-517: The proposal with great enthusiasm. Thus, in 1943, as American spy Elizabeth Bentley resurrected the Ware Group (of which Abt had been a member), could not risk involvement with her or the group. Instead, the group reformed under Victor Perlo as the Perlo Group . In September 1943 at a conference of the National Lawyers Guild, Pressman praised labor for reducing strikes and promoting

6786-666: The service of the human being is a commodity is a negation of the Constitution, of the 1918 Clayton Act and the [1932] Norris-La Guardia Act ... The employer's right of free speech is fully protected ... The act has not created inequality between employers and employees for collective bargaining. The fairness of the Labor Board has been established by decisions of the Supreme Court ... [A compulsory] "cooling-off period" [would] actually discourage collective bargaining ... There

6873-421: The strike. Speaking to the crew by telephone, Perkins agreed to arrange a grievance hearing once the ship docked at its destination in New York City , and that there would be no reprisals by the company or government against Curran and the strikers. On California ' s return trip, Panama Pacific Line raised wages by $ 5 a month to $ 60 per month. However, United States Secretary of Commerce Daniel Roper and

6960-553: The union in 1947, and according to his wife, Curran essentially wrote Lawrenson out of the union's history. From March 1 to March 4, 1936, Curran led a strike aboard California , then docked in San Pedro, Los Angeles , California. Curran and the crew of California went on what was essentially a sitdown strike at sailing time, refusing to cast off the lines unless wages were increased and overtime paid. United States Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins personally intervened to resolve

7047-532: The war effort. He praised the National War Labor Board's policy for recognizing labor unions as institutions within the basic framework of our democratic society. He criticized "selfish blocs" in Congress that had opposed FDR's program. In 1944, Pressman participated in resolution of a labor dispute of a national case in basic steel, involving some six hundreds unions on strike. The six-person board consisted of David L. Cole and Nathan P. Feisinger for

7134-511: Was a communist before both the CIO executive board and the Joint Commerce Committee of the U.S. Congress. Curran became increasingly anti-communist thereafter. In 1946, he pulled the NMU out of a Committee for Maritime Unity which was led by Harry Bridges. After World War II, he purged thousands of members and elected leaders he suspected of harboring communist sympathies. In 1960, Curran, along with several other union leaders, visited

7221-908: Was born Leon Pressman on July 1, 1906, on the Lower East Side of in New York City, first of two sons of immigrants Harry and Clara Pressman of Minsk . His father was a milliner on the Lower East Side of New York City . As a child, Leon survived polio. In his teens, the family moved out to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. In 1922, he entered Washington Square College of New York University , where classmates included Nathan Witt and possibly Charles Kramer (later, fellow AAA and Ware Group members), then transferred to Cornell University, where he studied under labor economist Sumner Slichter . In 1926, Pressman received his bachelor's degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York . In 1929, he received

7308-442: Was eliminated in hiring, wages, living accommodations and work assignments. A hallmark of the new union was the formation of hiring halls in each port. The hiring halls ensured a steady supply of experienced seamen for passenger and cargo ships, and reduced the corruption which plagued the hiring of able seamen. The hiring halls also worked to combat racial discrimination and promote racial harmony among maritime workers. Within

7395-573: Was general counsel. The New Dealers saw the AAA as complementing the National Recovery Act (NRA – where fellow Ware Group member and lifelong Hiss friend Henry Collins worked). As they arrived at AAA, two camps quickly arose: previously existing officials who favored agribusiness interests and New Deal appointees who sought to protect small farmers (and farm laborers) and consumers as much as agribusiness. Or, as Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. summarized

7482-602: Was organized by the CIO in 1940 as a central labor body for New York City . CIO-affiliated local unions in New York City and the nearby vicinity were its primary members. At the organization's founding convention on July 24, 1940, Curran was elected president of GNYIU. Saul Kills, a member of the American Newspaper Guild , was elected its secretary-treasurer. The organization had 250 local union affiliates, representing more than 500,000 workers. By 1948, however, there were serious concerns about communist infiltration of

7569-514: Was small and shedding members. He enjoyed an unlimited expense account, and traveled by chartered jet and private limousine. He cajoled the union's executive board into building a massive, Art Deco headquarters in Manhattan, and had the edifice named after himself. In 1966, with the surreptitious help of NMU staffers, union member James B. Morrissey challenged the results of Curran's 1966 re-election as fraudulent. The Department of Labor agreed, but

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