The Daily Worker

STEEL UNION MEN DEMAND A. F. L. DRIVE
Force Executive Council To Consider Organizing of Mill Workers
(Daily Worker Washington Bureau)

WASHINGTON. Feb. 12.- The Organization Committee representing the majority of the Amalgamated Association of Iron. Steel and Tin Workers have forced the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor to place an organization drive in steel on their immediate order of business.

Before an assembled press corps, President William Green of the A.F. of L. last night publicly informed the committee that the Executive Council would formulate plans for the organization drive in steel this week.

Led by President William J. Spang of District One, Pittsburgh. the committee today again pressed Green to bring them before the council to aid the steel campaign. Refused a definite appointment. however. and informed from their homes that their presence is needed to advance the organization campaign already launched by the rank and file of the steel union. the committee left the capital declaring, "It is impossible for us to wait around Washington any longer. We are going home to continue to build the union."

Compel Green's Recognition

It was the opposition of President Michael Tigue of the A. A. to the rank and file campaign to organize the steel workers that led to Tighe's effort to expel the committee and their supporters, the majority of the union.

Despite Tighe's telegraphed insistence that the committee be denied "recognition," Green again received the committee today. As the committee departed. Green implied that they would be included in the Executive Council's organization plan.

Green smiled warmly.

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Steel Men Want Foster Hails
A.F. of L. Drive Move to Issue
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Italian
Daily
"Do you realize what an immense
job you're getting yourselves into?"
"Yes, sir," replied Althea, Presi-
dent of the Apollo, Pa., lodge. "be-
cause I've been working in the mills
and organizing steel workers all
my life."

Without depending on the Execu-
tive Committee, however, the com-
mittee left Washington saying:

"As we told President Green, we
know it will be impossible for the
Executive Council to make any
realistic plans to organize steel
workers without calling us in, for
we are the ones who have built the
Amalgamated Association, the only
union that has jurisdiction in the
steel industry. We are going home
to advance the drive we launched
weeks ago to build the Amalga-
mated Association."

Group Make Gains
In addition to placing the organi-
zation campaign on the agenda of
the Executive Council, the commit-
tee marked two other small achieve-
ments here:

1. They placed President Tighe's
expulsion program before the
Council and, thus confronted by
the representatives of the major-
ity of the membership, both the
Council and President Green
refrained from endorsing Tighe's
stand.

2. The Committee was notified
of the first break in the ranks of
President Tighe's official family.
One of the international officers
who formerly supported Tighe
came out publicly against his ex-
pulsion program, the Committee
learned.

This happened while
delegates representing 25 A. A.
lodges, in the face of Tighe's
threat of expelling individuals
and lodges supporting the rank
and file program, held week-end
meetings and endorsed this same
program and specifically con-
demned Tighe's action.

The Committee pressed
upon
Green, both last night and today,
their proof that Tighe, who accuses
the membership of acting "uncon-
stitutionally" in holding an organ-
ization conference which was
planned in the presence of six in-
ternational officers, himself acted in
direct violation of the constitution
in attempting to expel those par-
ticipating in the conference, and in
stationing gangsters at union head-
quarters to eject the rank and filers
last Thursday. In both interviews,
the Committee asked Green how the
Executive Council could attempt to
organize steel workers without first
countermanding Tighe's effort to
"throw us out of the window for
doing just that—organizing." Green
gave no answer to this.

No Family Row, Says Group
Green told the press last night
that he couldn't intervene because
the expulsion action is "a family
row." To this the committee re-
torted in a statement:

"We say it is the concern of the
entire labor movement of the United
States. We recognize that the
strength of the Committee's posi-
tion now rests upon the support we
have received both from the ma-
jority of the steel workers and from
the Central Labor Bodies, through-
out the country. This support is
growing."

These
supporters, Committee
members said on leaving, will let
the Executive Council and President
Green hear from them from the
field. Spangler declared the rank and
file will bring new members into
the A. A., hold mass meetings, tele-
graph the Executive Council and
otherwise show their determination
that their union shall grow and
gain the demands of the steel
workers.

Emphasizing that the Council's
and Green's assurances of an or-
ganization drive in steel reflect that
they are already acutely aware of
the strength of the rank and file
drive, the Committee declared last
ight: It was for this action to
organize the steel workers—that we
have been mobilizing the lodges and
districts of our union for months.
It was President Tighe's opposition
to this that culminated in his ex-
pulsion threats."

Green told the committee today
that he would let them know im-
mediately the decisions of the Ex-
ecutive Council on the steel organ-
ization drive.

The full text of the statement is-
sued by the steel workers' Organiza-
tional Committee upon leaving
Washington follows:

"The Executive Council is no
doubt familiar by now, that this
whole situation developed because
the membership decided that the
feeble and inadequate attempts
by President Tighe to organize
the steel industry led the mem-
bership to a position that we de-
cided to undertake the organiza-
tion of the industry ourselves, in
a practical and energetic man-
ner.

"This we are doing and this we
are going to do regardless of what
obstacles are encountered. The
Amalgamated Association must be
built into a powerful union.

Even had not the insane ac-
tions of Mike Tighe precipitated
the present situation, it was our
intention to come to the Executive
Council on the question of the
organizational drive for steel.

"When the 54th Convention of
the American Federation of La-
bor announced its intention to
undertake an organizational drive
in the steel industry it gladdened
the hearts of hundreds of thou-
sands of severely oppressed steel
workers.

Situation Ripe
"Never was the situation more
ripe for a successful organiza-
tional drive. Already our initial
efforts, despite the opposition of
Tighe, has met with encouraging
success.

"The trade union movement
and its Executive Council owes
to the steel workers its aid and
support to crush the most power-
ful enemy of organized labor in
the world . . . the Steel Trust.

"In accomplishing this task not
only will the trade union move-