The American Federationist Volume 28, Pts. 1-2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 Excerpt: ...of Labor. From the foregoing it is clearly evident that while Section 1, of Article 1, of the constitution of the International Federation of Trade Unions clearly states that the autonomy of the national trade union movements of each country shall be guaranteed, and while the American Federation of Labor delegates to the Amsterdam Conference of 1919 fully believed that the autonomous rights of the American Federation of Labor would be fully safeguarded and that no weakness in the existing constitution would be used to disregard those guaranteed autonomous rights, nevertheless, the interpretations placed upon the constitutional provisions by you and the actions which have followed under such wrongful interpretations have rendered null and void every autonomous right that was contemplated to be guaranteed by section 1, of Article 1, of the constitution of the International Federation of Trade Unions. It is this action on the part of the officers of the bureau, the management committee and the conference which has compelled the American Federation of Labor to decline affiliation with the International Federation of Trade Unions, at least until the autonomous guarantees have been fully safeguarded. In substantiation of our objection quoted secondly in your letter "that through the issuance of appeals and proclamations the executive body of the International Federation had committed the federation to a revolutionary principle," it must be said that your letter constitutes a misrepresentation of the whole contention made by the American" Federation of Labor and does so in a manner that is particularly objectionable inasmuch as it charges bad faith on our part. In your most recent letter you call attention to our quotations from the various proclama...