The first-ever "political action committee" in the United States of America was the
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
–
Political Action Committee or CIO-PAC (1943–1955). What distinguished the CIO-PAC from previous political groups (including the
AFL's political operations) was its "open, public operation, soliciting support from non-CIO unionists and from the progressive public. ... Moreover, CIO political operatives would actively participate in intraparty platform, policy, and candidate selection processes, pressing the broad agenda of the industrial union movement."
Background
In his 1993 memoir,
John Abt
John Jacob Abt (May 1, 1904 – August 10, 1991) was an Americans, American lawyer and politician, who spent most of his career as general counsel, chief counsel to the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and was a member of the Communist Party and the So ...
, general counsel for the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Indus ...
under
Sidney Hillman
Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor' ...
, claimed the leaders of the
Communist Party of the USA
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
had inspired the idea of the CIO-PAC:
In 1943, Gene Dennis came to me and Lee Pressman
Lee Pressman (July 1, 1906 – November 20, 1969) was a labor attorney and earlier a US government functionary, publicly alleged in 1948 to have been a spy for Soviet Union, Soviet intelligence during the mid-1930s (as a member of the Ware Group) ...
to first raise the idea of a political action committee to organize labor support for Roosevelt in the approaching 1944 election. Pressman approached Murray with the idea, as I did with Hillman. Both men seized upon the proposal with great enthusiasm.
Abt and Pressman become the CIO-PAC's co-counsels.
Thus, in 1943, as American spy
Elizabeth Bentley
Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (January 1, 1908 – December 3, 1963) was an American spy and member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). She served the Soviet Union from 1938 to 1945 until she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intellige ...
resurrected the
Ware Group
The Ware Group was a covert organization of Communist Party USA operatives within the United States government in the 1930s, run first by Harold Ware (1889–1935) and then by Whittaker Chambers (1901–1961) after Ware's accidental death on Augu ...
(of which Abt had been a member), could not risk involvement with her or the group. Instead, the group reformed under
Victor Perlo
Victor Perlo (May 15, 1912December 1, 1999) was an American Marxist economist, government functionary, and a longtime member of the governing National Committee of the Communist Party USA.
Biography
Early years
Victor Perlo was born May 15, 19 ...
as the
Perlo Group.
Momentum for the CIO-PAC came from the Smith–Connally Act or War Labor Disputes Act
[Malsberger, ''From Obstruction to Moderation: The Transformation of Senate Conservatism, 1938–1952'', 2000, p. 104.] (50 U.S.C. App. 1501 et seq.) was an American law passed on June 25, 1943, over President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As th ...
's veto. The legislation was hurriedly created after 400,000 coal miners, their wages significantly lowered because of high wartime inflation,
struck for a $2-a-day wage increase.
The Act allowed the federal government to seize and operate industries threatened by or under strikes that would interfere with war production, and prohibited unions from making contributions in federal elections.
The war powers bestowed by the Act were first used in August 1944 when the
Fair Employment Practices Commission
The Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) was created in 1941 in the United States to implement Executive Order 8802 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "banning discriminatory employment practices by Federal agencies and all unions and com ...
ordered the
Philadelphia Transportation Company to hire
African-Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
as
motormen. The 10,000 members of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Employees Union (PRTEU), a labor union unaffiliated with either the
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...
or the
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
, led a
sick-out strike, now known as the
Philadelphia transit strike of 1944, for six days.
President Roosevelt sent 8,000
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
troops to the city to seize and operate the transit system, and threatened to draft any PRTEU member who did not return to the job within 48 hours.
Roosevelt's actions broke the strike.
In November 1946, prior to passage of the Smith–Connally Act, the CIO's second president,
Philip Murray
Philip Murray (May 25, 1886 – November 9, 1952) was a Scottish-born steelworker and an American labor leader. He was the first president of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC), the first president of the United Steelworker ...
appointed
John Brophy (a UMW leader, by then head of the CIO's director of Industrial Union Councils),
Nathan Cowan (CIO legislative director), and
J. Raymond Walsh (CIO research director) to report on CIO political operations. Their report of December 1946 included recommendation for a permanent CIO national political group and consideration for formation of an American Labor Party. During CIO Executive Board meetings in January and February 1943, the board approved most recommendations.
Formation
Upon passage of the Smith–Connally Act on June 25, 1943, Murray called for a political action committee. The CIO-PAC formed in July 1943 to support the fourth candidacy of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
for U.S. President in 1944 toward the end of
World War II. It also provided financial assistance to other CIO-endorsed political candidates and pro-labor legislation (e.g., continuation of the
Wagner Act
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and ...
against the
Taft–Hartley Act
The Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, better known as the Taft–Hartley Act, is a United States federal law that restricts the activities and power of labor unions. It was enacted by the 80th United States Congress over the veto of Presid ...
in 1947). CIO member unions funded it. Its first head was
Sidney Hillman
Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor' ...
, founder and head of the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Indus ...
, from 1943 to 1946.
First members of the CIO-PAC included the following:
*
Sidney Hillman
Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor' ...
, chairman (founder and head of the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Indus ...
or ACW)
*
R. J. Thomas, treasurer (president of the
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) ...
or UAW)
* Vann Bittner, member (national organizer for the
United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing worke ...
or UMW)
* Sherman Dalrymple, member (president of the
United Rubber Workers The United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America (URW) was a labor union representing workers involved in manufacturing using specific materials, in the United States and Canada.
The union was founded in 1935 as the United Rubber Wo ...
) or URW)
*
Albert Fitzgerald, member (president of the
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), is an independent democratic rank-and-file labor union representing workers in both the private and public sectors across the United States.
UE was one of the first unions to be ...
or UE)
*
David McDonald, member (secretary-treasurer of the
United Steel Workers of America or USWA)
John Abt and Lee Pressman became the CIO-PAC's co-counsels.
Calvin Benham Baldwin left government at that time to go work for the CIO-PAC. (By August 1948, the ''Washington Post'' had dubbed Baldwin along with
John Abt
John Jacob Abt (May 1, 1904 – August 10, 1991) was an Americans, American lawyer and politician, who spent most of his career as general counsel, chief counsel to the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and was a member of the Communist Party and the So ...
and
Lee Pressman
Lee Pressman (July 1, 1906 – November 20, 1969) was a labor attorney and earlier a US government functionary, publicly alleged in 1948 to have been a spy for Soviet Union, Soviet intelligence during the mid-1930s (as a member of the Ware Group) ...
(the latter two members of the Soviet underground
Ware Group
The Ware Group was a covert organization of Communist Party USA operatives within the United States government in the 1930s, run first by Harold Ware (1889–1935) and then by Whittaker Chambers (1901–1961) after Ware's accidental death on Augu ...
involved in the
Hiss-
Chambers
Chambers may refer to:
Places
Canada:
*Chambers Township, Ontario
United States:
*Chambers County, Alabama
*Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County
* Chambers, Nebraska
* Chambers, West Virginia
* Chambers Township, Holt ...
Case) as "influential insiders" and "stage managers" in the
Wallace presidential campaign.)
20th century
After 1944,
Lucy Randolph Mason worked with the CIO-PAC in the South, helping to register union members, black and white, and working for the elimination of the
poll tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources.
Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
. She also forged lasting links between labor and religious groups.
On October 17, 1950,
New York State Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited ci ...
Judge
Ferdinand Pecora
Ferdinand Pecora (January 6, 1882 – December 7, 1971) was an American lawyer and New York State Supreme Court judge who became famous in the 1930s as Chief Counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency during its investi ...
and US Senator
Herbert H. Lehman (D-NY) gave radio addresses on behalf of the CIO-PAC during prime (10:30–11:15 pm.).
In 1955, when the CIO rejoined the
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...
to form the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
,
Jack Kroll
John Kroll (''ca.'' 1926 – June 8, 2000) was a ''Newsweek'' drama and film critic. His career spanned 37 years – more than half the publication's existence.
Biography
Kroll was born in Manhattan. His mother was an Earl Carroll showgirl and ...
became head of the CIO-PAC, which merged with the AFL's "League for Political Education" to form the AFL–CIO
Committee on Political Education.
21st century
PAC activities by AFL–CIO and its members continue into the 21st century. In 2015, an AFL–CIO's moratorium on federal PAC contributions by its member unions began to fall apart weeks after its announcement. Defiant unions included:
United Food and Commercial Workers
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...
, the
International Association of Machinists
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada.
...
, and the
Laborers' International Union of North America
The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA, stylized as LiUNA!), often shortened to just the Laborers' Union, is an American and Canadian labor union formed in 1903. As of 2017, they had about 500,000 members, about 80,000 of whom ...
–13% were non-compliant.
References
External sources
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{{Authority control
United States political action committees
Organizations established in 1943
1943 establishments in the United States
Organizations disestablished in 1955
1955 disestablishments in the United States