The Great Swindle (1948) Part 1-2

[bridgit]

Run time: 09:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1C2W6ZUayA   Posted on YouTube: July 30, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: August 30, 2007 By DU Member: bridgit Views on DU: 821

 
'film criticizing monopoly control of the US economy and advocating union membership as a defense against corporate power....The Great Swindle 1948 Union UE AFLCIO AFL-CIO'

The Great Swindle (1948) Part 2

[pnorman]

1. The United Electrical Workers (UE) was NOT "of the AFL-CIO"

It was one of about 11 unions that were driven out or expelled from the old CIO in 1949, for being "commie-led". It was shamelessly raided by other unions, CIO as well as AFL, but it managed to hold on, and with head held high. Here's their website: http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/ UE and the ILWU (west coast longshoremen) are the only survivors of that shameful red-baiting episode. The rest were taken over by other unions, or destroyed altogether. It set the American labor movement back any years. ILWU returned to the AFL-CIO some time back, but UE remains independent.

But thanks for that video clip. I had seen it some time back but had neglected to save it.

pnorman
On edit: I had posted this mainly from memory, and it needs some "fleshing out".Here's some: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Electrical,_Radio_and_Machine_Workers_of_America

[bridgit]

3. OK, when you follow link to youtube, and copy/paste the title back into...

the engine, you'll come to the text/blurb that i think concerns you the most; i little tinker with the details of these matters as they are found for moments just such as this one

when you do get there, you may well notice a dangling "of the AFL-..." the "CIO" in that instance was added by my self :7

[pnorman]

4. Here's what I get from Googhle:

"THE GREAT SWINDLE (1948, 32:09)
It was inevitable that during the "after the war" times that labor would find opportunity to turn to management and demand more while sacrificing less. This film goes a very long distance towards doing just so, with the intention of recruiting membership for the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers for the fight against corporate interests." http://www.earthstation1.com/Merchant/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=E&Product_Code=WWIPIGTWDVVC&Category_Code=WWIID "demand more while sacrificing less" --- That was a "less than friendly" characterization of that film,. That tone wasn't present in their summaries of any of the other films in that list (many of which are clearly corporation productions).

The UE was a CIO union, one of it's larger and more "leftish" ones, and wasn't "of the AFL". I didn't use your flight plan with Google, but if it was identified as "of the AFL", that would have been a false identification. The CIO ("Committee for Industrial Organizations") left the American Federation of Labor (AFL) around 1937, and became the "Congress of Industrial Organizations" (keeping the same "CIO" initials). The two federations were reunited in the late 50s, and became the AFL-CIO.

All this may seem like Talmudic hair-splitting but it's necessary to understand, how the once powerful labor movement of the Thirties, became as "marginalized" as it is today. The expulsion of those "commie-led" unions were a major part of that.The CIO's "Operation Dixie" around that time, was s prime example. It TANKED, and the South became almost solidly "Right to Work" country from that time on. As a "left-libertarian" (aka: anarchist"), I have little warmth for the CPUSA. But their members were dedicated fighters for what most here at DU hold in high regard. We need as MUCH (authentic) history as we can get!

pnorman

[whistle]

2. Wow, 60 years have passed and nothing has changed but the faces

...and during that same period the big money people found cronies like Joseph McCarthy to demonize the plight of working men and women and their efforts to organize by labeling the cause as a communist conspiracy sponsoring people like Joseph McCarthy and using the FBI and racketeers and thugs to break up the unions. The very same rhetoric is repeated on RW talk shows today.

<snip>
McCarthyism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

McCarthyism is the term describing a period of intense anti-Communist suspicion in the United States that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. This period is also referred to as the Second Red Scare, and coincided with increased fears about Communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents. Originally coined to criticize the actions of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism" later took on a more general meaning, not necessarily referring to the conduct of Joseph McCarthy alone.

During this time many thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies. The primary targets of such suspicions were government employees, those in the entertainment industry, educators and union activists. Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person's real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly exaggerated. Many people suffered loss of employment, destruction of their careers, and even imprisonment. Most of these punishments came about through trial verdicts later overturned,<1> laws that would be declared unconstitutional,<2> dismissals for reasons later declared illegal<3> or actionable,<4> or extra-legal procedures that would come into general disrepute.
<MORE>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

[provis99]

5. pretty disgusting, isn't it?

I'm not too sure, but didn't the civilian standard of living double during the war years? Something like that was totally unprecedented, especially since military production is economically unbeneficial. What happened after the war was that business became free again to essentially redistribute wealth from the working class to the rich. The right complains when wealth redistribution is undertaken by a democratic government, but when its done by corrupt and immoral corporations, they're ok with it. Sickening.