Bill Bailey

by The Kid from Hoboken- An Autobiography (epub)

  Chapter XV: Selling the War

  The war in Korea took on savage proportions. The press played up stories of captured GIs being found executed with their hands tied behind their backs as the North Koreans retreated. General Douglas MacArthur was constantly in the news. The Chinese government had warned against the encroachment of its borders, promising strong counteractions against anyone who dared ignore them. MacArthur did ignore these warnings, as his troops chased some North Koreans into Chinese territory and faced a charging Chinese Army that drove him and his troops to the other end of Korea.

  While the rank-and-file of the Party fumbled with questions of how best to function under all the attacks, the government continued with its tactic of arrest--this time of the second echelon of the leadership. Six leaders were nabbed in Maryland, six in Pittsburgh, seven in Honolulu, and twelve in California. All were charged under the Smith Act.

  Things within my own union were following some devious trends. While the leadership of the union was right-wing in their everyday viewpoints, we all got along on issues that were directly union-oriented, such as wages and conditions. We often fought like hell to get a resolution passed on such issues as world peace or civil liberties. It was now becoming obvious that the right wing had become more active and aggressive on the floor of the meetings. Even the members of the Association of Catholic Trade Unions were becoming very vocal.

  The Korean War had given them the edge. At every membership meeting one of the better-known right-wingers would hit the floor with a question: "Will one of you Commies out there who has a pipeline to Joe Stalin kindly tell us when this damn war is going to end?" I detected in the way the union leadership dealt with the known left-wingers that they were aware of something about to happen, something that could only be detrimental. We of the Left were too concerned about the Party leadership and the protection of their good names to pay proper attention to the rank-and-file trade union members drifting away and developing an aloofness from our presence and advice. That would cost us.

  The head of the Firemen's Union was a conservative named Vincent Malone. He believed that when fighting the shipowners more could be gained by using tact and diplomacy--lots of handshakes with a few cocktails in between--and threats that if they didn't come across, the Communists would take over the union. He knew from his years of dealing with the left-wingers and Party members in the union that once in a while it was smart to cede to our demands rather than fight us on the floor and make martyrs of us in front of the rank-and-file. At times he seemed easy-going, full of smiles and ready to listen to any beef. But he was conservative to the core.

  Malone was not too happy with the reds in the union. In fact, he did not like any of them. But he did respect a few of them, including me. He believed that most Reds were talkative, loud and one-sided. He knew from experience that I had a reputation as an honest official and that I took pride in my word as my bond. He had heard me shout and condemn fascism, and when it came time to join in the fight against it, I had gone to Spain to join 40,000 other anti-fascists from around the world. He admired that and never uttered a bad word against me. Thus I found it easy to talk with this man from time to time.

  It was now time for one of those talks. Too many things were happening politically in both the country and our union that demanded some answers. I never told anyone in the Party that I intended to talk with Malone but went ahead one morning and barged into his office. I had my union book in my hand, because I wanted to use the visit to pay two months' current dues. He was cordial and welcomed me. He took my book, looked at it, then laid it down on his desk, without making notations or entering the dues stamps.

  "Vince," I said, "there are all sorts of rumors making the rounds that don't seem to fare well for the unions. One rumor is that the government is going to take control of all maritime unions, and the unions' only function will be to register the members for shipping purposes. Another rumor is that because of the Korean War the government will make every member of the Firemen's Union a member of the Naval Reserve. That means no strikes and maybe an end to ships' delegates on board. Then there is the rumor that the shipowners will refuse to sign on any known militant in the unions, and the union officials intend to offer no resistance. Any of these rumors more than rumors?"

  He leaned back in his chair, screwed a cap on his fountain pen, and looked at me rather sadly. "Bill, the waterfront, the country and the world are changing whether we like it or not. I hear these rumors all the time, and I do know that there are going to be changes on this waterfront that will affect you and your left-wing friends. I know it's been in the hopper for a long time, just waiting for the right moment to be sprung. Since Hoover is driving all you Reds underground, the government thinks the moment is now ripe to oust all the lefties from the unions. I won't argue against that if it should materialize, as you know my position on the Party. I hate like hell to see guys like you suffer because of it, but, you know, we've had these little talks before, and I always told you you weren't getting anywhere being a Red. I no longer just think the government is going to lower the boom on you lefties, I know it to be certain. When will it happen? Soon."

  "But, Vince, are you telling me that the union won't defend any member, even the left-wingers who may be the victims, against being victimized by the Coast Guard?"

  "The only victims will be the Left, the Party people. If there are followers who wish to continue sticking their necks out for the Party people, then they will get the same treatment. I don't think many will follow that path."

  "And the union will do nothing to assist the victims?" I asked.

  "Nothing," he replied, quickly adding, "But I'll leave that to the membership."

  "Do you consider that right? Even non-Reds as union brothers pledged to extend a hand to another union brother when called on for assistance. Is this right?"

  "Bill, you can sit there till the cows come home arguing that point and getting nowhere. You know me, I don't need the government to come in here and do my job for me, but the government says we are too slow, too liberal with our approach on this question. Therefore they intend to take it out of the hands of the union officials and do it themselves once and for all. The chips will fall where they may. Some nice people, some decent guys like yourself will be bound to get hurt, but like I told you a long time ago, it's your choice. Bill, take it from me. I think I have a better idea of the picture than you at the moment."

  "Vince," I said, "there's something that bothers me. If, as you say, a crackdown is about to take place, the government, or the F.B.I., or whoever conducts it, will have to know who is who in the union. How are they going to distinguish the so-called Reds from some friendly supporters, or are they all going to be tarred with the same brush?"

  "You should be able to answer that question better than I. Do you remember a couple of years back when, at a membership meeting, all you Reds took the floor and insisted it go in the minutes that you were all members of the Party and proud of it? Remember that night? I counted 15 of you people all eager to hit the deck and make the announcement. I was surprised to see a few that I had not known of. There were several that I thought shouldn't be members of the Salvation Army let alone the Communist Party. All those names went to all the branches, so those names were available for anyone to copy and do what they wanted with. Besides, the FBI is well-aware of who is who. I hear the Communist Party is full of FBI men, so don't worry about separating the wheat from the chaff. One thing bothers me, Bill. What was the motive, what possessed you guys that night to hit the deck and insist upon getting it into the record that you were all avowed Communists? I always wondered about that."

  I didn't answer and he didn't probe further. He kept his eyes focused on the desk, not caring to look me in the face. I didn't care to ask any more. He had answered the doubts in my mind, confirmed that some form of disaster was about to hit the waterfront and the left-wingers in particular.

  "Well, Vince, can you bring my union book up to date w
ith two months dues?"

  "I think you better save your money, Bill. You may be needing it."

  "Whatever happens, Vince, I'd like those who are about to put my head in a vise to be able to say one thing--he went out in the end like a good union man, with all his dues paid up." He took my money.

  I walked out into the street and the bright sunlight. The thing that rattled me more than anything was his remark about the Reds hitting the deck in that membership meeting to declare ourselves members of the Party, insisting that it go into the union record. I remembered it well. Orders had come down from the National Committee back in New York that in the trade unions throughout the country, Communist Party members should declare themselves openly to be members of the Party. At the time I was opposed to the idea, even though I had always worked openly as a Communist. I thought it stunk and said so, but I was outvoted and ended up following the majority opinion. I said then that it could add nothing worthwhile to the Party's cause. I did not think at that time, as I do now, that it was the work of FBI plants within the Party. There was no doubt about it, we had members of the FBI within the ranks, from top to bottom. Hell, the Party was the easiest thing to join, and nothing could prove that better than the recruiting done at mass meetings, where the applications were handed out in droves. Well, if anyone wanted a list of the Party members in that union, they sure had it now. So much for Party philosophy or how to prepare for the underground.

  Chapter XVI: Some Knew Him as a Liberal

  Making hay from the anti-Red hysteria during the Korean War and from the arrest of the Party's leadership was U.S. Senator Magnuson from the state of Washington. He dropped a bombshell on the progressive seamen on the American waterfront with his bill calling on the United States Coast Guard to issue new seamen's documents for every seamen. The document in question was a "Z" card, with the seaman's picture, birthdate and ratings. This was a mandatory document necessary to sign on vessels. Without it you are an ex-seaman, tied to the land.

  The right-wingers in the maritime unions, meaning of course the leadership and those they influenced, had unbeknownst to the rank and file submitted to the Coast Guard the names of every leftwinger and left-wing follower. It was duck soup for the Coast Guard. They themselves had no idea who was who in what union, and in fact, most didn't give a damn one way or another. But now they had a congressional act to follow, and all they had to do was check over the list of names. When you came to the Coast Guard for your new seaman's documents, if your name was on the list you were denied your new documents and handed a slip of paper stating that you were suspected of belonging to an organization whose program was not considered favorable to the best interests of the United States. You were requested to appear before a committee to clear yourself of such a charge. Until then, there was no chance of being hired on board ship. It was to be a tough blow to the progressive element in the maritime unions, and a heyday for the right-wingers.

  What they could not accomplish on the floor of the membership meetings they could now accomplish through this so-called security mandate. They easily brushed off any blame on themselves by proclaiming that it was not their idea, but that of the government. The progressives attacked this screening program, as it was later to be called, as another effort of the shipowners to weaken and eventually destroy the effectiveness of trade unions by blackballing from the industry men who fought hard to create and sustain militant trade unions and to improve conditions. We insisted that the union not only go on record against screening, but to have the leadership use all union resources to arouse the American people and to turn the tables on the McCarthyites and their union-wrecking legislation. The officials, of course, accepted screening with smiles in their hearts and smirks on their faces. They knew it was the death knell of the Left.

  In 1951, the newspapers carried the headline "U.S.-Fleeing Red Captured in Mexico," then went on to report that Gus Hall, one of the 12 convicted members of the National Committee, was seized in Mexico where he had hidden out. He was turned over to American federal authorities and returned to the United States. The FBI announced that the other three who had failed to appear to serve their sentences were still at large and being sought.

  My immediate reaction to the arrest of Gus Hall was, that dumb bastard. With all his training and experience he couldn't stay out of the way of the gendarmes. He deserved to be caught, the jackass. I hoped the other three guys would show a little more class and do a better job if they intended to operate in the underground.

  During that period, it seemed that our movement's main function was to raise money for the defense of cases pending and of those to come, money that went for attorneys and other facets of the struggle to keep the Party legal and the leadership free. Most other projects that depended on Party financing were not even considered. There were house parties, dinners, requests for days' pay. No matter what kind of a job you held or what your financial straits were, a day's pay was requested across the country.

  Every day brought something new to the political scene. McCarthy's anti-Communist hysteria was rising as fast as the Senator could corral a few cameras to make some further accusations that would end up as headline. He had a "gift" for seeing Communist spies everywhere, especially in the State Department, which he accused of being top-heavy with Reds. In homes throughout America, television sets were turned on for a front row seat to the McCarthy show. People sat back, wondering who was going to be nailed to the cross next. The right-winger, conservative or downright reactionary loved it. It was something they had wanted for a long time. They now had their hero, their knight in shining armor. It was Joe McCarthy.

  It was a sad period in America, and sadder still when fear was able to reach into the homes and workplaces of people. In a Midwest city, someone sought signatures on a petition at a busy street corner. The petitioner simply asked people to sign their names to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States. It was a simple request that most people would have been delighted to perform, but not during this period. McCarthy had already put out a warning that the petitions were a ploy of the Communists. People feared signing anything but their paychecks. It was that fear, the cream and substance of McCarthyism, that slowly but surely entered into the lifestream of American society. It would remain there for a long time to come. Our conditions would be undermined. Our trade union movement would receive its share of kicks in the "`stones" from those wearing the Florsheims, and civil rights would fight for survival.

  Chapter XVII: "God Bless You All"

  "No Communist, no left-winger, no one who owes his allegiance to the Moscow government can be trusted to work on any American vessel that transports our boys and material to Korea. It is time that our government take every step necessary to drive the Commies out of our unions and off this waterfront, so we no longer have to worry about being stabbed in the back by the evil menace of the Communist copperhead snakes in our midst. I say thank God for the screening program, thank God for the Magnuson bill, thank God for America. God bless you all."

  These were the words spoken at the Marine Firemen's Union membership meeting by an official of the union and a proclaimed member of the Association of Catholic Trade Unions. Those words started a series of motions and resolutions from right-wingers that would deny refuge or membership to anyone who was refused new documents by the Coast Guard. The first motion proclaimed that dues would be refused from any member without the new documents, and it specified that no one without such documents would be allowed into the union hall.

  One might well ask at this stage, what happened to the years of intensive work among the rank-and-file membership? What happened that could cause the rank and file to forget so easily and side with those ready to support the Coast Guard screening of militants from the union? Never had the membership been faced with such a situation, where the holding of one small document or card meant your whole livelihood was at stake.

  It was not the shipowners who were now holding the ace in the hole. They to
o took a back seat and glowed with delight as the government took charge and did the dirty work that they had not been able to do. The top cards were now being dealt by the government.

  The union officials and the rest of the conservatives made it their business to get the word around to the rank and file that their behavior was carefully being monitored, and those that dared show any support to any screened member would himself be considered a security risk and lose his seagoing documents--guilty by association, guilty by suspicion.

  It was no accident that when I was walking down the street and came within recognizing distance of another member of the union who had been declared "loyal," he would quickly abort any possible meeting. The word had been passed around that the FBI was tapping all phones of the "Commies," and reading their mail to seek out "Commie supporters." So the rank and file were advised to go about their business and be happy that they were able to work and continue going to sea. Too bad about that handful of lefties, but maybe they deserved what they were getting.

  Chapter XVIII: The Black Gang News

  It is not a pleasant feeling to wake up one morning and discover you have been cut off from all your shipmates, or your shipmates have been cut off from you. The union hall had been declared off limits for all the "screened-out" characters. The union newspaper would not print my letters of protest, and the membership would be putting their livelihoods in jeopardy just by being seen with me.