Lessons Taught to Labor.
On May Day, of all days, the men, women and children of the working class, whatever line of work they may be engaged in in a given industry, are appealed to by industrial union representatives to form one compact union of the workers of the industry, and all such industrial unions to form one nation-wide union of the working class.
They are taught that to accomplish this unification of the labor forces the labor union must be an open union; that it is criminal and suicidal for labor to prevent a single wage-earner, whatever his creed, color, nationality or race may be, from becoming or remaining a member of the union of his or her industry; that, consequently, exclusion laws against wage-earners of any race or nationality whatever, high initiation fees, assessments and dues, catchy trade examinations of applicants for membership, practically prohibitory apprenticeship rules, “closing of union books,” driving of members from the union by imposition of unjust and excessive fines, that these and similar measures are only contrivances to prevent the forces of Labor throughout the country and throughout the world from coming together to advance their common interests.
The workers are taught on May Day that a true, up-to-date labor union must recognize that it is not true that wealth is the joint product of capital and labor, in other words, of the capitalist class and the working class whose claims can and should be harmonized through “collective bargaining” and methods of conciliation, mediation and arbitration.
It must recognize that, on the contrary, LABOR ALONE PRODUCES ALL WEALTH and TO LABOR BELONGS ALL IT PRODUCES.
It must recognize that the employing class as a class of social parasites, has no real claim to any part of the wealth produced that the workers should be bound to respect.
It must recognize that instead of the absurd aim of securing “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” the labor union movement must aim to secure for the wealth producers the opportunity to enjoy with their families every particle of the wealth they helped to produce and all the benefits of a civilized society.
It must recognize that such a union, planted upon the ground of the class struggle instead of class peace, must, in order to succeed, be militant in character, democratic in conduct, and be guided in all its acts and utterances by the spirit of brotherhood and solidarity of the international working class. It follows therefrom that:
To preserve and develop its militant spirit the union must leave the work of providing for sick benefits, death benefits and other such ambulance and insurance features to insurance companies, fraternal orders and other such organizations outside of the union proper;
The union must never conclude contracts or agreements with employers which in the least interfere with the right of any member of the union to strike or deal any blow at the employers whenever considerations of self-preservation or of solidarity of the Labor Movement require it;
To protect itself against being sold out, against favoritism, corruption and demoralization the membership of the union must retain in its own hands and not entrust in the hands of a leader or leaders the final power of ordering or calling off strikes, control over distribution of jobs, etc.