Sam-Adler Bell, from the Know Your Enemy podcast, discusses the CIO's influence on American politics, labor history, and the rise of the conservative movement. Topics include the internal struggles of the American working class, the role of communism in labor organizing, and the evolution of labor movement ideologies from progressive to right-wing. The episode explores historical figures like Father Charles Coughlin, challenges within the labor movement, and the impact of cultural alliances on the working class.
The CIO serves as a platform for both left-wing and right-wing ideologies, highlighting the complexities within the American political landscape.
The CIO's approach of sit-down strikes empowers workers and challenges management, fostering solidarity and community within seized plants.
The CIO's emphasis on equality triggers backlash, with local leaders aligning with fascist groups to resist the union's feminist and inclusive stance.
The CIO's political alliances with Democrats and confrontations with Southern Democrats reveal the early battles and resistance faced by the labor movement.
The internal division within the labor movement, exacerbated by strategic affiliations and differing goals, weakens its overall political influence post-WWII.
Deep dives
The Rise of CIO and Father Coughlin's Influence
The CIO emerges as a powerful force in the labor movement, symbolizing radical possibilities of the era. Father Coughlin, a radio priest, garners a large following through populist and anti-communist views. He sympathizes with Franco and Mussolini, aligning with the far right. However, his influence wanes as the CIO champions industrial unions and inclusivity.
Industrial Union Tactics and Sit-Down Strikes
The CIO adopts disruptive tactics like sit-down strikes, a strategy spreading globally. Workers seize control of factories, engendering a sense of community and empowerment. The approach leverages workers' collective power, challenging management's authority and initiating social order within seized plants.
Radical Egalitarianism and Backlash
The CIO promotes racial and gender equality, fostering integrated workplaces and social activities. Betty Friedan's early involvement exemplifies the union's feminist stance. However, this inclusivity triggers conservative backlash, aligning local leaders with fascist groups like the Black Legion.
CIO's Impact on Electoral Politics and Southern Democrats
In 1936, the CIO significantly invests in elections, aligning with Democrats and challenging industrialists like DuPont. Southern Democrats transition from supporting the New Deal to opposing the CIO's labor movement. This shift marks early coalitions between anti-labor elements and rivals of the CIO.
Labor Civil War and Growing Resistance
By 1937-1938, a labor civil war erupts, pitting factions within the working class against the radical CIO agenda. Part of the working class drifts away from the CIO, aligning with anti-labor sentiments and constraining the union's radical initiatives.
Liberty League and Challenge to the CIO
The Liberty League, comprising industrialists like Sloan and Raskop, opposes the New Deal and seeks alliances against the CIO. They explore partnerships with the Ku Klux Klan and Dixiecrats, aiming to unite diverse anti-CIO factions. This strategic coalition underscores the resistance faced by the CIO's progressive labor movement.
Influence of Industrialists and Labor Rift
Industrialists like Will Clayton and the Liberty League oppose the CIO, aligning with anti-labor forces. The rift within the labor movement intensifies, leading to clashes between factions supporting and resisting the radical initiatives of the CIO. The confluence of political, economic, and social forces underscores the tumultuous landscape of labor dynamics in the 1930s.
Escalation of Backlash and Resistance
The resistance against the CIO escalates as influential figures like DuPont and General Motors executives vie against the labor union's growing influence. Conservative backlash and alignment with anti-CIO sentiments mark a turning point in the industrial and political landscapes of the era.
Impact of Labor Rivalry on Political Influence
The rift between AFL and CIO leads to divisive actions within the labor movement, weakening its political influence. The AFL's purge of the CIO from local labor bodies and endorsement conditions on political candidates create divisions within the labor vote, diminishing labor's overall influence. This internal division, fueled by strategic affiliations and differing political goals, hampers the potential for a unified labor front, ultimately reducing labor's sway within political circles.
Transition of Labor Movement Post-World War II
The post-World War II landscape marks a critical shift in labor movement strategies. The CIO's efforts to navigate wartime production standards and corporatist engagements with the American state reflect a departure from earlier organizing approaches. The constraints imposed by wartime regulations, bans on strikes, and corporatist initiatives signal a transformation in labor's tactics and objectives, influencing the movement's trajectory post-WWII, shaping its interactions with government alliances and impacting its ability to maintain grassroots power.
This week our crew at Fragile Juggernaut is delivering our first special bonus episode. Tim and Ben talk with Sam-Adler Bell—an excellent writer and one-half of the brilliant Know Your Enemy podcast—about our series.
Appearing on Know Your Enemy gave us a chance to explore a new dimension of our project: to think about the CIO not only as a moment when new social forces on the left converge or spring into action, but also as a cauldron for conservatives and reactionaries—a pre-history of the modern conservative movement—some of which would continue to dominate the American political scene for generations. The episode also was an occasion to return to some core themes: an account of the American working class as internally stratified, riven with internal struggles, and shot through with competing strategies and interests. In particular, we talk plenty about the political right within the labor movement, and the vaciliations of what some might call the “middle class,” whose zigzags so often stamp the outcomes of open political contests.
Fragile Juggernaut is a Haymarket Originals podcast exploring the history, politics, and strategic lessons of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and the rank and file insurgency that produced it. Support Fragile Juggernaut on Patreon and receive our exclusive bimonthly newsletter, full of additional insights, reading recommendations, and archival materials we’ve amassed along the way.
Support us on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FragileJuggernaut/posts
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