Vol. 73/No. 35      September 14, 2009

The book is written by Farrell Dobbs, a coal-yard worker at the time of Local 574’s first victory, who became one of the central leaders of the strikes and subsequent organizing drive to expand union power throughout the Midwest.

The successful struggle against the trucking bosses, their big-business allies, and the local and federal governments, paved the way for the continent-wide rise of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) as a fighting social movement in the United States.

The book, one of a four-part series, illustrates the revolutionary potential of the working class and records invaluable lessons for workers—who may hail from any corner of the globe—engaged in struggles within the borders of the United States and beyond. Dobbs dedicates his account “to the men and women who gave me unshakable confidence in the working class, the rank and file of General Drivers Local 574.”

Among the book’s most valuable lessons as illustrated by Dobbs is the indispensable role of a revolutionary party organizing to emulate the course laid out by the Bolshevik Party in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Dobbs himself was won to the communist movement in the preliminary stages of the Minneapolis struggle, becoming a central leader of the Communist League of America and its successor, the Socialist Workers Party.

In the first chapter of the book, Dobbs wrote, “A key aspect of the local situation was, of course, common to industry as a whole, namely, radicalization of the working class under the impact of severe economic depression. The main difference lay in the presence locally of revolutionary socialist cadres who proved highly capable of fusing with the mass of rebellious workers and adding vital know-how in the struggle against the capitalist ruling class.”

The story retains all the relevance and importance for the working class as when it was printed in 1972.

As the introduction to the Spanish edition by Jack Barnes, national secretary of the Socialist Workers Party, puts it: “In a new century, increasingly marked by looming economic catastrophe, and an accelerating drive toward bloody wars unleashed by the final imperialist power attempting to extend its life, the concrete experiences of the men and women of Local 574 will prove ever more current and valuable.”
 

In an editorial hailing the union victory, The Organizer took note that “the strike ends but the struggle does not end.” It warned that the bosses would be up to their usual sneaky tricks in the Labor Board elections to be held on August 28. There were to be two opposing tickets: Local 574’s and a company-union slate.

Several employer devices were used in an effort to steal the elections. Payroll lists were padded with office workers and salesmen. Attempts were made to leave some union members off the list. There were also cases in which a boss tried to put the name of a good union member on the company-union slate.

To combat these maneuvers Local 574 organized for the elections as it had prepared for the strike, using The Organizer as the main weapon. Daily publication of the union paper continued throughout the preelection period. (After the elections, The Organizer continued briefly as a weekly and publication was then suspended for lack of funds.) As reports came in from union members of each boss trick, the paper would publish a general alert and explain how to combat the underhanded move. The union campaign was climaxed by a big open rally the night before the vote. Nonmembers from within the industry were invited and the speakers explained in a friendly way why these workers should vote for the victorious union and join it.

The election returns made Local 574 the bargaining representative for 61 percent of the employees in the general trucking industry. Majority votes gave the union the right to speak for all employees in sixty-two firms. At fifteen companies there were tie votes. In these cases Local 574 had the right to represent its half of the employees, thereby gaining union recognition on these jobs. At nearly all the large companies the workers voted about three to one for Local 574, and the bloc of twenty-two market firms went solidly for the union… .

Our strikes had unfolded during the fifth year of the great depression and the second year of the revival of labor. They constituted one of the three outstanding class battles of 1934, the others having been waged by the Toledo auto workers and the San Francisco longshoremen. All these strikes were led by radicals, over the opposition of conservative union officials. They tended to spill over narrow jurisdictional lines and were militantly conducted in the face of harsh police repressions. These combats not only demonstrated that the workers would and could fight for their rights—they showed that genuine rank-and-file actions could win. In all three cases the bosses were beaten and forced to recognize the union.

This series of victories gave a tremendous lift to the morale of insurgent workers throughout the country. The increasing labor momentum led to historic struggles in basic industry that resulted in the formation of the CIO and culminated in the wave of sit-down strikes that began two years later. A basic understanding on our part of this developing phenomenon was vital to the charting of Local 574’s future. The mounting groundswell of labor combativity could lend us objective support in our coming battles, provided we clearly grasped the meaning of events and maintained a good sense of timing.

In more immediate terms, objective trends were already leading toward national reinforcement of our party’s trade union cadres. Parallel to the May strike in Minneapolis the American Workers Party had led the comparably militant struggle of auto workers at the Electric Auto-Lite Company in Toledo, Ohio. It had also built a substantial unemployed movement, centered in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and contiguous areas. The AWP was centrist in character, containing both potential revolutionaries and political opportunists. Important to us was the presence in its ranks of militant workers who were moving in our direction politically. A collateral consideration was to prevent the Stalinists from knifing into the AWP while we drew the militants over to our revolutionary program.

With this object in mind, the Communist League opened a friendly discussion with the AWP. By December 1934 our efforts had led to fusion of the two organizations into a new formation called the Workers Party of the United States. Soon after the fusion a joint national tour was made by Jim Cannon, who had headed the Communist League of America, and A.J. Muste, who had been the central leader of the American Workers Party. Their arrival in Minneapolis was greeted with great jubilation. All the comrades became doubly inspired to go forward both in the trade-union and party-building work.

Locally our victorious strike struggle had already set the tone, given an example, and shown the way toward further working-class advances. In its August 24 issue the Minneapolis Labor Review had declared: “Winning of this strike marks the greatest victory in the annals of the local trade union movement… . It has changed Minneapolis from being known as a scabs’ paradise to being a city of hope for those who toil.”

Confirmation of the declaration came swiftly. By August 27 the laundry workers, who had gone on strike after Bloody Friday, wrested an agreement from the laundry bosses to raise wages and improve working conditions. Their victory, which came on the heels of Local 574’s triumph, helped inspire other workers to square off against the bosses. Strike after strike began to take place as more and more workers joined in the campaign to make Minneapolis a union town. In every case help and guidance was sought from Local 574, which had emerged as a major power in the Minnesota labor movement.  
 
 
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