The Union Times

Fascism A Danger In U.S.

The danger of Fascism hangs over America, President Charles J. MacGowan of the Boilermakers warned last week in an address to an important international conference of his union in Chicago.

All grand lodge officers and over 200 international representatives, railroad general chairmen and local business representatives of the union attended the parley.

In a vigorous keynote speech, the Boilermakers' chieftain charged that "the very employers in this country who, by cartel arrangements, worked hand in glove with Hitler are now attempting to destroy the free trade union movement and takeover this country"

The Taft-Hartley Act is one of the instruments they plan to use to obtain power, he declared. For the present, he said their strategy is to "tread softly" on use of the "T.-H. Act" until after the fall election.

"If the reactionaries win that election, they plan to crack down on organized labor," MacGowan declared. "They have greased the skids for us, and if they think it necessary, they will make the Taft-Hartley Act even more drastic."

This threat, he said, "makes it all the more imperative for the workers of America to see that the complexion of this Congress is changed in November."

"We must register and vote as never before," he urged. "We must step up our efforts to defeat Taft-Hartley congressmen and stop the march toward reaction."

MacGowan refuted propaganda to the effect that the "T.-H Act" does not apply to railroad workers. Some sections don't, but many of its shackles, including the political "gag"on all labor, affect railmen equally with all other workers, he stressed.