1. Postwar Purges I.The Problem A.Communism B.Corruption II.Pressure from below A.Popular anti-Communism B.Democratic desires III.Pressure from above A.Political winds B.Ambition & Sensationalism C.New Laws IV.Reds or Rackets? A.Anti-Communist purge B.The War on Gangsterism C.The Hollow core?

2. Radicalism Issues: –Loyalty to U.S. –Apologists for tyranny –Undermines labor’s hard-won legitimacy –Ambivalent attitude towards democracy Police battle Minneapolis teamsters, 1934 Farrell Dobbs, chair, Central States’ Drivers Socialist Workers’ Party

3. Corruption Embezzlement Tolerate gang power Gangsters are seldom effective unionists –Exploit workers for personal benefit Deny democracy, crush dissent –Teamsters –Laborers  Con Shea Jimmy Hoffa  Dave Beck

4. Popular anti-Communism React to pressure, propaganda –Government –Church But also genuine concern about Communist control –USSR expands control over Eastern Europe –Suppresses Catholicism –Stalin’s crimes exposed UE workers vote to disaffiliate their local, 1949

5. Democratic Desires Rank and file workers rise up against the leaders of the International Longshoremen’s Association –East Coast dockworkers –Controlled by New York hit man Albert Anastasia –Kickbacks, favoritism, coercion, tyranny Longshoremen stage wildcat strike, 1948Rev. John Corridan, S.J., 1951

6. Political Winds House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), 1938-1975 –Attacks domestic Communists, socialists, liberals, & racial egalitarians World War II –Smith Act of 1940 Election of 1948 –Harry Truman (D) –Thomas Dewey (R) –Strom Thurmond (Dix) –Henry Wallace (Prog) Rep. Martin Dies (D-TX) exhibits criminal records of CIO officials

7. Scandals & Accusations Murder Inc. Garment unions contain both Communists and gangsters Hillman fights both Conservatives hope Lepke will implicate Hillman Sidney Hillman ACWA president Louis “Lepke” Buchalter

8. Ambition & Sensationalism HUAC Kefauver, 1951 McClellan, 1957-8 Bobby Kennedy, 1957

9. New Laws Taft-Hartley Act, 1948 –Limits strikes, boycotts –Restores federal labor injunctions –Outlaws closed shop, allowed states to bar undermine union shops –Unions officers must file affidavits swearing not to be Communists Landrum-Griffin Act, 1959 –Regulates internal union affairs –Forbids former-Communists and ex- cons from holding a union office for five years Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 1970 Senator Robert Taft (R-OH)

10. Anti-Communist Purge Major internal fights: –UAW –Steelworkers Between 1949-51, CIO expels eleven unions, over one million members In 1955, CIO expels: –Seafarers –Marine Engineers Harry Bridges defends Communist CIO unions, 1949

11. The War on Gangsterism Journalists, politicians, unionists themselves seek to stem corruption Targets fight back But the 1930s are over Government demands unions be responsible Riesel describes his blinding, 1956

12. The Hollow Core? AFL-CIO purges some of labor’s most aggressive unions What remains is conservative, mainstream, & reasonably honest But what remains is not equipped to deal with the insurgent corporations of the period 1980-present.