My friends, it is solidarity of labor we want.
We do not want to find fault with each other,
but to solidify our forces and say to each other:
"We must be together; our masters are joined together
and we must do the same thing."
-Mother Jones
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Saturday September 2, 1905
From the American Federationists: Gompers Fans the Flames of Racial Hatred
It has been more than three months since Samuel Gompers appeared in the twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and, while addressing the issue of strike-breaking during the
Chicago Teamsters Strike, then ongoing in that city, the President of the American Federation of Labor saw fit to fan the flames of racial hatred rather than to preach solidarity. The St. Paul
Union Advocate quoted this disgraceful statement from a speech made by Mr. Gompers:
I have stood as a champion of the colored man and have sacrificed self and much of the movement that the colered man should get a chance. But the Caucasians are not going to let their standard of living be destroyed by negroes, Chinamen, Japs, or any others.
[Emphasis added.]
And the
Minneapolis Journal of May 24th reported this hateful statement from the A. F. of L. President:
Mr. Gompers spoke pointedly of the strike breaking in Chicago by negroes. He stated that organized labor desired no controversy with the negroes; "but," he said, "if the colored man continues to lend himself to the work of tearing down what the white man has built up, a race hatred worse than any ever known before will result. Caucasian civilization will serve notice that its uplifting process is not to be interfered with in any such way."
[Emphasis added.]
In stating that it was the white man who built up the unions, Mr. Gompers forgets the
heroic sacrifices made by Afro-American miners in the upbuilding of the United Mine Workers (and other unions), for example, in Raleigh County, West Virginia. He also forgets the Afro-Americans who are members of both the Chicago Teamsters and the Chicago Garment Workers and whose sacrifices helped to build up those unions.
One would think that Mr. Gompers would have had time to reflect upon these hateful sentiments given the disgraceful race rioting and tragic loss of life which took place during the Chicago Teamsters Strike. However, we can now see that Mr. Gompers appears quite proud of these proclamations of anti-solidarity for he has included them in the latest edition of the American Federationist.
In a section of the magazine called "Talks on Labor, Mr. Gompers offers us an introduction to his speeches:
Many requests are received at headquarters of the American Federation of Labor from men in the ranks of labor intensely interested in the study of the labor movement and the economic problem with which it deals. These inquiries also come frequently from professors, students, and others engaged in the study of the economic problem. Most of these requests for information are coupled with an inquiry as to the attitude of the American Federation of Labor. It is with the object of furnishing this information in the most concrete and public form that the following addresses and talks on labor are published.
This is not the first time that Mr. Gompers has attempted to divided the American labor movement on the basis of race. Readers of
Hellraisers might recall the actions of Mr. Gompers in relation to the
Oxnard Beet Workers Union of California when Mr. Gompers refused a charter to the union as long as that union continued to admit Chinese and Japanese workers. The Mexican beet workers refused the A. F. of L. charter on that basis, stating:
Better go to hell with your family than to heaven by your self.
Below the fold our readers can find the articles referenced above from "Talks on Labor."
From the American Federationist of September 1905:
ADDRESSES AT ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS.
By Samuel Gompers.
SURROUNDED on the stage by many of the most active of the leaders of the union movement, Samuel Gompers, president of the A. F. of L., made his bow on Wednesday [May 24th] evening at Mozart Hall before the St. Paul public. Among those present who are not identified with the movement of organized labor was Mayor Robert A. Smith, who was evidently much pleased with the address of President Gompers. He was quick to applaud every strong point made by the speaker throughout....
The speaker declared he was always ready to assert his patriotism on behalf of the colored man, saying: "'Tis true that some white men have been angered at the introduction of black strike breakers. I have stood as a champion of the colored man and have sacrificed self and much of the movement that the colered man should get a chance. But the Caucasians are not going to let their standard of living be destroyed by negroes, Chinamen, Japs, or any others."
Mr. Gompers said that the stories about the riot and bloodshed accompanying labor strikes reminded him of the moving pictures which had been presented to the audience that evening. The pictures themselves were but small, but when brought under the influence of the light played on them they were vastly increased in the proportion the various figures were made to assume. The boy and the girl took on the proportions of the man and woman, the man and woman were giants, and the cow was a hippopotamus. Such was an illustration of the light in which the daily press presented everything that might operate to the discredit of the union movement...
—Union Advocate, St. Paul, Minn.
[...]
SPEAKS TO BIG AUDIENCE IN MINNEAPOLIS.
Samuel Gompers, president of the A. F. of L., delivered a masterly address on the labor problem to over 2,500 people who crowded the big Auditorium.
The address was a practical demonstration of the subject from a labor point of view. It was enlivened with witty sallies, and the attention of the audience was held by the speaker every moment throughout his discourse.
Mr. Gompers is a man of fine figure and striking appearance. Upon taking the stage, he is one who at once creates a favorable impression.
He opened his address with an expression of his appreciation of such a large audience.
"One would be less than human," he said, "if he did not appreciate the honor of addressing an audience like this, so great in numbers, so representative of the people of Minneapolis."
After some further introductory remarks, he plunged into his subject for the evening.
The Labor Problem
"It is one of the sad commentaries on the thought of our times," he said, " that the question is frequently heard, 'Is there a labor problem?' There are men, and men, too, who are considered intelligent observers of the social and industrial conditions of the day, who declare that the "labor problem" exists only in the vaporings of the modern labor agitator.
Go to our great modern industrial centers. Glance into the sweat-shops, and see old men, frail women and children, poring over their work, every stitch drawing out their heart's blood. See their pinched cheeks, their dwarfed figures, and their premature signs of old age. Then see the strong men out of employment standing idly at the doors of the factories, and say, if you can, that there is no labor problem.
This will not be the verdict, but there will come in thunder tones the declaration that the labor problem is the living, burning question of the day and hour. The industrial problem overshadows all other problems of our time. The problem is presented in many forms, and it makes demands that can not be diverted, shirked or sidetracked. The labor problem seeks as its solution to make life worth living for uncounted thousands.
Everybody Wants More.
Everybody asks for a little more. The men who are receiving thousands want a few thousands more, but in asking it they are spared the vituperation that falls on the head of the lowly laborer whose further wants are expressed in cents. The labor movement has its inception from the under dogs. Those who fight its battles are the men in the social scale who receive little but do much.
Organization is the keynote of modern progress. There is in Minneapolis a manufacturers' association, an association of master builders, a chamber of commerce, a ministers' association, associations of lawyers and doctors. All these are unions. But when workingmen organize their organizations are often denounced as labor trusts.
The unions meet in no luxurious offices. The men who compose them have sprung from ancestors who were workingmen through centuries. For this reason it should not be surprising that in the ranks of the unions are to be found men intelligent as well as dullards; selfish and unselfish; those who work to bring about good and those who would bring about evil.
Attitude Toward Strikes.
The speaker spoke of the right of organized labor to strike. He said that labor must be in a position to go to battle when war is forced upon it.
Mr. Gompers spoke pointedly of the strike breaking in Chicago by negroes. He stated that organized labor desired no controversy with the negroes; "but," he said, "if the colored man continues to lend himself to the work of tearing down what the white man has built up, a race hatred worse than any ever known before will result. Caucasian civilization will serve notice that its uplifting process is not to be interfered with in any such way."
He concluded: The object of the unions is not destructive; it is constructive, though the unions do go down deep into the causes of misery and despair. Organized labor wishes our country to lead the world in industrial production, in morality, in religious liberty, in the conception of all that makes men noble, women beautiful, and children bright and happy.
Organized labor appeals for aid to accomplish emancipation from industrial injustice, to establish universal brotherhood, to help make each day brighter than that which has gone before, for your sympathy and cooperation that countless millions yet unborn will rise up and say your name is blessed.—Minneapolis Journal, May 24.
[Emphasis added.]
~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCE
The American Federationist, Volume 12
(Washington, D. C.)
ed by Samuel Gompers
American Federation of Labor, 1905
https://books.google.com/...
AF-Sept 1905
https://books.google.com/...
"TALKS ON LABOR. ADDRESSES AT ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS."
By Samuel Gompers.
https://books.google.com/...
"SPEAKS TO BIG AUDIENCE IN MINNEAPOLIS."
https://books.google.com/...
IMAGES
Samuel Gompers, Oakland Tribune, May 17, 1905
http://www.newspapers.com/...
American Federationist Sept 1905
https://books.google.com/...
See also:
Tag: Chicago Teamsters Strike of 1905
http://www.dailykos.com/...
"Mother Jones and the Massacre of the Raleigh County Miners"
by JayRaye
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Search: Oxnard + JayRaye
http://www.dailykos.com/...
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Solidarity Forever
-Angela Kelly & Troy Coman of UAW Local 898/Rawsonville
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WE NEVER FORGET |
William Dodson |
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William Clark |
Richard Clayton |
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