The Augusta Courier

Labor Unions Pile Up Millions At Expense Of Workers

Big Contributions Made By Executives To National, State Political Campaigns

The bigger labor unions are piling up millions at the expense of the little fellow who belongs. As an example, David Dubinsky's International Ladies Garment Workers Union has on hand one hundred and sixty-six million dollars. This money is used to make campaign contributions and to guarantee the union bosses' security. This one union contributed two hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars to Adlai Stevenson's campaign fund in 1952. These enormous funds and big campaign contributions explain the source of the political power of these unions. These big contributions explain why the politicians shake and quiver when the union boss speaks. Allston Calhoun in a recent radio speech delivered over many radio stations in the Southeast painted this picture and here's what he said: "All of you folks who have been hearing these labor racketeers literally pleading with you to join their unions should pay careful attention to this quote I am about to give you, coming from a New York newspaper. It will give you an idea of just what is behind these union racketeers who are working busy as bees to get you into their control as members of their unions. In true Communist style, they cover their real intentions with a show of great love and concern for the people whom they wish to get into their power. They tell you how sad they are over what they call your low estate in life, and they run down your present employers. Of course, they always say it is only through joining their unions that you will ever be able to secure 'your rights and privileges.' "In a recent labor union broadcast the labor propagandist went so far as to say that by joining his union the worker would then become his own boss and make his own rules as to how he should work and how much he should receive for his work. "They blindly ignore, of course, the fact that our American workers, and particularly those of the South, enjoy a higher standard of living, with better pay, more privileges and more real liberties and freedoms than has any other worker in the history of the world. But that is one of the main precepts of purely Communist propaganda to run down and discredit that which they covet for themselves. "In this quote from the New York newspaper reporting conditions where the unions have long been in force, you will see just who does benefit and profit from these labor unions which the union spokesmen are trying to induce you to join 'for your great benefit,' as they say. I quote: " 'David Dubinsky's AF of L International Ladies Garment Workers Union has just made public an accounting of its assets. These total $166,000,000 dollars. Only four of Chicago's 46 banks have deposits amounting to more than that. The International Ladies Garment Workers Union dabbles expensively in politics. It kicked in nearly $265,000 dollars to Adlai Stevenson's campaign fund. It has recently given the local Liberal Party $50,000 dollars, plus, and tossed another $50,000 dollars to the queer thing called Americans for Democratic Action.' "(By way of explanation, folks, both the so-called 'Liberal Party' and the 'Americans for Democratic Action' are nothing more than militant fronts for Socialism and eventual out-and-out Communism in our country.) "In continuing the report from the New York newspaper, we see that Mr. Dubinsky also handed over $35,000 dollars to an outfit called the American Federation of Labor's League for Political Education. And in spite of all this great generosity of Mr. Dubinsky (with the workers' money), we see that he still has the astounding sum of $166,000,000 dollars of their money 'socked away,' where he can spend it as he pleases. "But the joke of the entire report comes from Mr. Dubinsky's explanation of how he came by this nearly two hundred million dollars over which he himself now has the absolute control and disposal. According to this report, labor union leader Dubinsky says he got this huge fortune from 'voluntary contributions' by the members of his union, and to this the newspaper reporting the matter simply adds the comment, Oh, yeah!' "On seeing Mr. Dubinsky's comment that his huge take of $166,000,000 had come from 'voluntary contributions' by members of his union, two members of that union had the courage to write this New York newspaper 'letters to the editor' stating just how 'voluntary' or rather involuntary those contributions had been. And when I say that they were courageous in writing these letters to the editor, I really mean that, because such an act on the part of a union member virtually amounts to an invitation to bodily harm on the part of the union leaders. This may take the form of the worker being beaten up by union goons, having his house bombed or even, in some cases on record-death itself. Now here's the letter of one of these workers. I quote: Your editorial comment of, 'Oh, yeah!' about Mr. David Dubinsky's statement that all the money used by his International Ladies Garment Workers Union for 'political purposes' came from voluntary contributions by union members was perfectly justified. I was a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union of New York for four years. Each year they deducted (money from my pay). Most of it went supposedly to 'charity,' the rest to the Liberal Party. If you objected, your job was in danger.' "Now, folks, with the report that Mr. Dubinsky still has $166,000,000 dollars in the bank, that is ample evidence to support this worker's inference that the deductions from his pay check might not all have gone to charities and to the Liberal Party. Being that Mr. Dubinsky still has $166,000,000 dollars 'socked' away, it appears that he must have held out a few pennies for himself from these 'voluntary contributions' he got out of his union members. "And here's another letter from one of his union members: I can tell you how voluntary my contribution to Adlai Stevenson's campaign fund was. In our union you can't get any benefits or vacation pay unless your book is paid up dues, assessments and everything else. In order to get my vacation money, I had to contribute to the Stevenson campaign fund. In those shops where the boss pays vacation money direct to his employees, the amount is $120 to $150 dollars. But where the union pays out the vacation money it is likely to be $50 to $60 dollars. No wonder the union has $166,000,000 dollars in its treasury!' "There you have it, folks—the secret of this great solicitude that these union representatives and spokesmen are now showing for our good people in the South. What they really want is to cut themselves in on the good, new pay checks of our Southern workers, who are now making an average of four times what they were earning 20 and 25 years ago. The real reason these union front men are hopping around so fast, and chattering like a bunch of monkeys as to how much they can do for you in your poor down-trodden state,' as they say,-the real reason is how much they are going to make you do for them in the way of dues, fees and assessments if you are so unwise as to fall for their line of propaganda and join up with their organizations. "But the real truth of the matter is— the situation is far more serious than that, for if our Southern workers are ever so unwise as to fall into the control of these labor racketeers, they not only will find themselves being forced to contribute to these racketeers in the way of dues. fees and assessments, but they are most likely to find that, as in other sections of the country, where the unions have long been in control, that they have literally taken the kiss of death, as far as their jobs are concerned. I am basing this statement on the fact that in New England, the original home and the stronghold of the textile industry, and where these same unions were able to get the workers of that section into their complete control some 20 years ago with the passage of the old Wagner Labor Relations Act, there has been a loss of over 149,000 textile jobs up until the present time. The union racketeers have so badgered not only the workers but the employers, themselves, that the employers have found it difficult to continue doing business in that area and have simply closed down their plants. "Just what kind of suckers do these labor union racketeers take our good Southern workers to be when they come here with their loud claims of how much they can do for our people when it is known that they have been primarily responsible in destroying the jobs of over 149,000 textile workers in New England, the original home of the textile industry in this country, where everyone once lived in prosperity, but where there now are deserted towns, empty factories, and with the textile workers either living off the dole or their friends. "Here is an item from a labor union publication relative to just one section of the New England area. This is the community of Nashua, New Hampshire, where, in the words of the labor union leaders, themselves. the textile workers have long enjoyed the 'blessings' of the unions. This union paper reports that when just one company closed its plant in Nashua and liquidated its holdings in that area that over 4,000 textile workers lost their jobs. The union paper reports that some new industries had come into the area and were doing some hiring- but for as little as 80 cents an hour. "But the sad part about it was that these new industries had very little desire to hire the textile workers who had formerly worked in the very same buildings before the textile companies, harassed to death by the unions, had closed down their plants and moved out. The new plant was hiring younger workers trained in electronics, and the men and women with years of textile experience behind them were left unemployed. "But the really sad part about this item as reported in this labor paper from the sections of the country where the textile workers have long been under the control of the labor unions, was the statement that most of the textile workers of that area had already used up their unemployment benefits long ago, with quite a few of them going on city relief, and with the older workers finding themselves dependent on their children. "Now folks. this sad state of affairs had been taken from a labor union paper reporting actual conditions as they are today in the area of Nashua, New Hampshire which was once the heart of the very prosperous textile workers of New England, the original home of the textile industry in our country. Those workers were once the highest paid and most fortunate workers in the world during a long period of time before the unions got control of them. "But unfortunately for those workers, and as sad as it might have been, they listened to the false promises of the labor union racketeers and joined the unions, giving the union leaders control of both their futures and their fortunes. They now have neither future nor fortune, and 149,000 of them have lost their jobs. "But as to the union itself, it had a cash income of over SIX MILLION DOLLARS in the fiscal year of 1951! "SO LONG, FOLKS-Do you see just who these union leaders are concerned about when they promise you anything to get you to join their unions? But should you join their unions, you will find that it is not what they can do for you, but WHAT THEY WILL MAKE YOU DO FOR THEM!!