Communists in the U.S. Labor Movement (1937-1950)

The Communist Party (CP) and its allies played a role in the United States labor movement, particularly in the 1930s and 1940s, but never succeeded, with rare exceptions, either in bringing the labor movement around to its agenda or in converting their influence in any particular union into membership gains for the Party. The CP has had only negligible influence in labor since its supporters' defeat in internal union political battles in the aftermath of World War II and the CIO's (CIO) expulsion of unions in which the party held the most influence in 1950.

Historians disagree why the American union movement never formed a labor party and why American workers have never embraced socialist parties in any numbers. Some have argued that a strain of American exceptionalism made U.S. workers resistant to parties that emphasized class struggle; others have contended that downplaying political and social agendas for the sake of unity, short-term gains and building strong unions was at the cost of a potential labor party. Others contend instead that the left lost its power to lead the labor movement by what commenters charged were 'ideological zig-zags'. The CP's history within the labor movement support parts of all of these theses.

After playing a leading role in the United Automobile Workers's (UAW) victories in Flint against General Motors Corporation and against Chrysler Corporation in 1937, the CP found itself under sharp attack from its opponents within the UAW. Homer Martin, first president of the UAW, sought to drive out all of the left activists within the UAW in order to eliminate any rival contenders for power. Martin brought in Jay Lovestone, former executive secretary of the CP before his expulsion in 1929, as his advisor and installed Lovestone supporters in key positions throughout the union.

Martin only succeeded, however, in bringing about his own downfall. After he failed to persuade the UAW Convention in 1937 to give him authority to fire organizers and eliminate local union newspapers, Martin set out to expel his rivals. After firing or transferring a number of CP members who had played prominent roles in the Flint sit-down strike, Martin first suspended, then expelled, Mortimer and his other opponents on the UAW's Executive Board. The CIO leadership, alarmed by the possibility that sectarian infighting might destroy the UAW, forced Martin to reinstate the Executive Board members. When the reconstituted Executive Board ordered Martin to sever his ties with Lovestone and to submit all his public announcements to it for its approval, he attempted to suspend the majority of the Board, including both his opponents associated with the CP, such as Mortimer, their allies, such as Richard Frankensteen, and the UAW leaders associated with the Socialist Party, such as Walter Reuther.

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