Morris Iushewits or Iushewitz (November 7, 1901 – September 18, 1981) was a union activist and leader of the Newspaper Guild, 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 ...

(CIO), and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations ( AFL–CIO).

Background

Morris Iushewitz was born in 1901 in Ukraine and emigrated age one with his family to the United States. In 1916 during World War I, he served in the Canadian Army in France, Italy, and Palestine. Returning, he held various jobs including farming in the Midwest while finishing high school and then studied at the University of Wisconsin.

Career

In the 1920s, Iushewitz worked for newspapers in Milwaukee and Chicago. In 1930, he moved to New York City, where he rose from freelance report to cable editor of the Jewish Telegraph Agency.

Newspaper Guild

In 1933, Iushewitz was a founding member of the Newspaper Guild (today, the NewsGuild-CWA).

CIO

Iushewitz served on the New York City Council of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, where duties included research director (1943) and secretary-treasurer (1949). On September 9, 1948, Dubow and Joseph Forer (the best known pro-Communist lawyer in Washington and prominent member of the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild) served as legal counsel to

Maurice Braverman Maurice Braverman (1916–2002) was a 20th-century American civil rights lawyer and some-time Communist Party member (and Party lawyer) who was convicted in 1952 under the Smith Act, served 28 of 36 months, then immediately faced disbarment, again ...

before HUAC. During a 1952 hearing of the U.S. Senate's Committee on the Judiciary,

Benjamin Mandel Benjamin Mandel (October 2, 1891 – August 8, 1973) "Bert Miller" was a New York city school teacher and communist activist who later became an ex-communist director of research for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and the Senate ...

, director of research, read into the record a letter from Iushewitz concerning the Teachers Union (as member of the United Public Works Union):

EXHIBIT No. 21
NEW YORK CITY CIO COUNCIL
New York 1, N.Y., March 1, 1950
Hon. WILLIAM O'DWYER
Mayor of the City of New York
City Hall, New York, N.Y.
Dear Mr. Mayor: I am taking: this means of informing you that the United Public Workers of America has been expelled from the Congress of Industrial Organizations effective today. By an overwhelming vote, the Executive Board of the national Congress of Industrial Organizations concluded that "The policies and activities of the United Public Workers of America are consistently directed towards the achievement of the program and the purposes of the Communist Party rather than the objectives and policies set forth In the CIO constitution."
As a result of this expulsion, the United Public Workers of America is to day outside the ranks of organized labor In our country and has been exposed as an instrument of the Communist Party.
On behalf of the New York City CIO Council, I respectfully request you to please Inform the City Departments of the change in the status of the United Public Workers. I would further ask you instead to recognize the Government and Civic Employes Organizing Committee—CIO which has been set up by the CIO to represent CIO in this field. There are already functioning locals of civil service employees in a number of City Departments which have affiliated with the Government and Civic Employes Organizing Committee—CIO.
It is our sincere hope that you and the Administration which you head will extend cooperation to the duly recognized CIO group of civil service employees.
Sincerely yours,
Morris Iushewitz, Secretary-Treasurer

AFL-CIO

In 1955, when the AFL and CIO merged, Iushewitz carried on as secretary-treasurer of

New York City Central Labor Council New York City Central Labor Council (NYCCLC) is the largest local labor membership organization under the direction of the national AFL–CIO. Founded in 1959 the NYCCLC represents over 400 local New York City unions in both the public and private ...

for the AFL-CIO.

Personal life and death

Iushewitz married Clara Weiner and had three children. During his union years, Iushewitz devoted much time to education matters. He served as the first union official on the

New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

. He also served as a trustee of the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

. Iushewitz died age 79 in New York City after a long illness.

References

External sources

Library of Congress
Rev. Martin Luther King receiving check for Alabama voter registration drive from

Albert Shanker Albert Shanker (September 14, 1928 – February 22, 1997) was president of the United Federation of Teachers from 1964 to 1985 and president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) from 1974 to 1997. Early life Shanker was born on Manhatta ...

, president of the United Federation of Teachers, and Morris Iushewitz (1965)
Cornell University Library
Morris Iuschewitz Interview Audiorecording and Transcript (1972) {{DEFAULTSORT:Iushewitz, Morris 1901 births 1981 deaths Trade unionists from New York (state) University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States State University of New York people Jewish American writers 20th-century American Jews