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From New Militant, Vol. II No. 16, 25 April 1936, pp. 1 & 2.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
On Friday, May 1, 1936, New York City will witness and take part in the largest and greatest May Day celebration and demonstration in many a year. A far larger number and variety of labor and political organizations are participating in the vast parade that will march for many hours, with bands playing, floats and banners by the many thousands, through the streets of New York, hailing labor’s solidarity.
For the first time in many years, since 1919 in fact, numerous political tendencies of labor will march together, proclaiming common cause against the capitalist system. The Communist Party (Stalinists), the Workers Party (“Trotskyist”), the Socialist Party (Militant Socialists) and other political bodies and large numbers of labor unions, fraternal and workers’ organizations of varying kind, are among the participating bodies on this May Day.
The labor movement of New York as a whole, its official Central
Labor body, etc., are not yet taking part directly or officially in a
common May Day demonstration, but the more advanced and increasing
class-conscious and radical forces of New York Labor have at last
established a United Front for May Day 1936. Hence, this May Day
represents marked progress in the development of labor solidarity and
the united front on specific issues and slogans.
There are, nevertheless, important influences hampering the solidification of labor’s ranks this May Day. The S.P. Old Guard, for one, vociferously attack the United Front May Day Committee and call upon workers not to participate in the parade and demonstration. But these elements only continue the reactionary role they have been playing in the labor movement for years. Today they try to divide labor’s ranks on Labor’s May Day. Today they attack the fundamental tenets of the great Russian Revolution and hail only the backward forces and processes which Stalin and his degenerated bureaucracy have set into motion against bona fide Bolshevism, as exemplified by Lenin and Trotsky.
Tomorrow these Old Guard Socialists (Oneal and Co.) and others of like ilk will demonstrate their extreme treachery by calling upon the American working class to support actively any war which American imperialism proclaims. But that is the function of the Old Guard or reactionary socialism as against the policies of revolutionary socialism; and against the Old Guard’s treachery on May Day and all the time, there can only be war to the end.
The Old Guard’s anti-Sovietism is expressed in their effort today to break the May Day United Front Naturally, the slogan lor the unconditional defense of the Soviet Union against any form of imperialist attack is a major slogan of the United Front May Day; this slogan represents a heart-felt desire of every militant and class-conscious worker, and on May Day they want to assert this widely and demonstratively. The Old Guard on this May Day hence concretely expresses its anti-Sovietism and anti-working class character by their sabotage of a united May Day demonstration.
But additional forces (Old Guard Socialists and others) also are trying to hold back the urge for united action and solidarity on May Day by the workers. It must be admitted that these elements are succeeding in some measure in blocking united ranks on May Day here, but more and more of their following hesitate or do not listen to their false counsel.
Three major unions of New York City, the international Ladies Garment Workers, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers and the Millinery Workers Unions, speaking through their officialdom, are also doing all they can to disrupt the forces of labor, to crack the growing numbers and unity of labor on May Day. These unions have organized a demonstration at the Polo Grounds for May Day and are opposed to the United Front or May Day achieved by the participating bodies. They stand opposed to the great parade that will take place on May Day with or without the official support of these powerful unions. It would be the greatest error to give up the street parade of hundreds of thousands of workers in order to have, instead, a polite gathering at the Polo Grounds, interspersed with a few innocuous or labor-dividing speeches and sporting events. The United Front May Day Committee has correctly rejected such a demand. The parade through the streets is the manner to emphasize and mobilize Labor’s increasing solidarity and understanding of its problems on this historic day.
The officialdom and lackeys of the A.C.W., I.L.G.W, and Millinery Unions have endeavored in the local unions to have the membership declare for participation only in the Polo Grounds meeting and to declare against marching on May Day with the United Front These attempts to sabotage the mobilization of labor’s organized ranks have been sharply rejected by the largest locals of these unions. They will march in the United Front demonstration and also later take part in the Polo Grounds affair, thus trying, if possible, to cement labor unity on May Day despite the official edicts and aims of the union officialdom.
The leaders and sponsors of the Polo Grounds “celebration”, the heads of three major New York unions, are allegedly progressive leaders of labor, even “socialists”, who want a Labor Party; they are “class-conscious” – especially for Franklin D. Roosevelt. Yes, they are even outstanding leaders of a major movement for industrial unionism, the Committee for Industrial Organization – Dubinsky, Zaritsky, Hillman, et al. But they are playing the bosses’ game, they are playing a backward game in trying to divide the ranks of labor on May Day; by their hope and aim to diminish, if they cannot break up, the forthcoming gigantic United Front May Day demonstration. These sponsors of the Polo Grounds turn-out show their real “progressive’ color by their open, declared support of Roosevelt, the Democratic president, for the 1936 national elections. These are the Judases of labor on May Day and every other day. If is even said by many that these progressive and “socialist” leaders in these unions may try to turn this allegedly May Day Affair at the Polo Grounds into a demonstration on behalf of Roosevelt.
The policy of the United Front May Day Committee is to endeavor to
prevent any “competition” between the Polo Ground and
U.F. May Day parade and demonstrations. This is correct. The United
Front May Day Committee calls upon the members of these unions and
other organizations to give full support to both demonstrations and
to endeavor to give to the Polo Grounds gathering a distinctly
working class character. Many organizations have already signified
their intention to take part in both gatherings – among them
many unions and also the Socialist Party. The United Front May Day
Committee is doing everything possible to unify labor’s ranks
on May Day; failing so far to get the I.L.G.W., A.C.W. and Millinery
Workers Unions to call off the Polo Grounds get-together in favor of
one gigantic, united May Day Parade, culminating at Union Square, the
May Day Committee continues to call, with some success, upon workers
organizations to support both demonstrations. Nevertheless, it would
be folly not to recognize that fundamentally the counter – Polo
Ground demonstration has as the aim of its sponsors the sabotage of
May Day solidarity, and cannot help but effect in some measure the
size of the genuine May Day demonstration supported and organized by
the United Front Committee.
The Communist Party (Stalinists) are an important part of the United Front May Day Committee represented on all committees of the U.F. But this year the Stalinists are watching their step in this united front in order not to upset the apple cart as they have so often done in past years. Gone are their cries of “Social-Fascist!” against the Socialist workers; gone are their howls for the fictitious “united front from below”; gone their stupid, false setting-up, in all the circumstances then, of independent and dual trade unions; gone much of the lunatic tactics of the notorious “Third Period”. The Stalinists have jumped out of their skins both in fright at their misdeeds, and in their desires to promote their opportunistic and social patriotic line on the war question, in the unions, the 1936 elections, their ballyhoo for a third capitalist party, euphemistically called a Farmer-Labor Party, and similar objectives reflecting their somersault.
The Stalinists could, if they wished, easily dominate the May Day
United Front Committee mechanically through their numerous stooge and
duplicating auxiliary organizations. But they are refraining from so
doing and are letting the S.P. Militants run the show, even though
organizationally the “Militants” could stand more
practical assistance on various aspects of the demonstration. But
having gotten into the United Front, and with opportunity provided to
proclaim their substitute – a Farmer-Labor Party for a genuine
revolutionary party, they are content this time to let well enough
alone and to act as primly and politely as a little Lord
Fauntleroy.
The Workers Party of New York is participating in the May Day united front and is represented on the Executive Committee. We are giving full support to the basic objectives of May Day. We, better than any other organization of labor, can fittingly participate in and promote the United Front on May Day and on other specific issues and occasions. Our Party has always held a sound position on the tactic of the united front as a medium for the mobilization of wide masses of workers on specific matters. Our Party, unlike the social-patriotic Stalinists, never labeled Socialists as “Social-Fascists”, even though the W.P. continued to make criticism of the inadequacies of the socialists and other bodies in respect to program, theory and action.
Among the main slogans are: for Defense of the Soviet Union;for the class-war prisoners; against war and Fascism; for a farmer-labor Party, etc. Our organization, the Workers Party, as per its official position, is against the slogan and formation of a “farmer-labor” or “Labor” Party. Under the circumstances, we regard it as a petty bourgeois combination, a bulwark, if formed, against a developing militant and revolutionary working class. Nor, for that matter, does a genuine base, rooted in the mass of labor unions, actually exist today. For the most part the existing “labor party” movements are fictitious organizations, or rather, paper bodies with some scattered individual support. But the complete position of the Workers Party on this issue is expressed essentially in its declaration of Principles and in other expressions of policy toward concrete manifestations of such a movement. Suffice that the Workers Party, while giving full support to the 1936 May Day and the arrangements thereof, states its separation from the advocacy of the Labor Party slogan in the parade.
Members and supporters of the Workers Party! March on May Day in the United Front!
Workers! Out on the streets for May Day! Mobilize for Labor Solidarity against Capitalism!
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