‘Communist Activities in Baltimore’ by Comrade P. from Party Organizer (Communist Party Internal Bulletin). Vol. 7 No. 5-6. May-June, 1934.

When we discuss Baltimore, it is not just a matter of discussing some small section. Baltimore is one of the main war centers in the country. In this city we have a steel mill which employs 12,000 people; out of these about 2,000 are young workers and close to 3,000 are Negro workers.

This industry is very busy in the production of war materials in the form of special barbed-wire, plate for battle ships and scrap iron, and I think it is the only plant in the country which is located on the waterfront for the transfer of war materials from the factory in ships for foreign countries.

Also in the city of Baltimore we have a large aviation plant. Here the company at the present time is making 48 high powered bombing planes, the most high powered planes ever built yet, which will have a speed of 250 miles per hour.

Also we have several chemical plants in Baltimore which at the present time are producing poison gases. Besides this we have the water-front. Especially in Baltimore, it is very busy in the shipping of scrap iron to Japan. I have found one specific case, a certain steamship company that sends empty ships to New Orleans. There they take out War materials and charge them for another company. This ship goes to the west coast and there it is chartered to another company, a new crew is hired and from there the War materials are taken direct to Japan. I want to show that one of our main fights is a fight against war in Baltimore.

Our activity in the steel mill in the last few months has been, in the main, action against the company union. We came out boldly for the boycott of the company election and when the election came up the workers boycotted the election in most bodies. This came first, through the struggles developed inside the mill, and second, through general agitation outside. Here too the union began the issue of a weekly union paper, and here we boldly exposed the AA company union and the NRA.

Before this, certain struggles were carried out in the mill. In one department a wage cut was to take effect. One comrade who. worked in this department got all the workers who were affected by the cut, to elect a committee which was to go to the boss as soon as the cut was announced. When the company heard about it nothing more was said about the cut. Through our action on such issues, the workers saw our program was correct, and through our agitation against the NRA and AA, supported us in the fight for boycott of the election; and when the election came Up over 70 percent boycotted the company election. Our main fight at the present time is for an increase in wages and establishment of shop committees and this has taken form, a part of which is being carried out. In the fight against the company union our comrades in the YCL and the young workers in the union were most active in these struggles. In one department we had a young worker who joined the YCL. He told the workers there to boycott the company union. When he came before the ballot boxes, all the workers looked at him; and because he refused the ballot everyone refused to vote. This young worker was called into the company office, and the boss said, “if you don’t cut out your agitation, you will be fired.” He said, “if you fire me, instead of 8 hours of work for you, I will spend 24 hours organizing the workers,” and he is still there. In another mill they were using the older workers against the young workers. On a particular job, if the young workers did not put out as much work as the older, the boss said, “You’re going to be fired.” We discussed this in our unit, decided to get the fellows to balance the amount of production. So the fellows agreed to it and they do not have competition on this thing. This shows when the YCL unit and the Party start discussing the problems in the mill, certain things can be done, and hot only organizers from the outside can carry out certain actions. In the mill, cooperation between the Party and the League has not been a difficult question.

Comrades, I emphasize the young workers are the most militant in the fight, especially in the steel mills, and when the youth join the union, our comrades see they are pushed forward, they are drawn into leadership, and when a campaign is organized the youth are drawn in, and today young workers are making headway and building the union. This should be a lesson to other districts. We are getting fresh material and through these real American elements we will be able to build a revolutionary movement.

In the unit one comrade gave me 15 names. He wanted to build a youth club. He just recently joined, and this was on his own initiative. This shows when we recruit American elements in our organization we can discuss things in our units, and they go out and carry it out. This shows, comrades will carry it through if we teach them how.

Another important thing: A short time ago was held the Congress Against War and Fascism. One Party member and one YCL member were in our delegation and the rest were outsiders. One member from the union went to this Congress. Next day he went inside the mill and he told the fellows he was going to the New York Congress, and the 15 fellows said, “We want to send someone too.” So he told them to elect a delegate and they did, and they had a delegate at the Congress. This shows, when we carry this campaign inside the mill we can actually recruit basic workers to take part in these important conferences. In the water-front of Baltimore we have at the present time a unit of over 22 young workers. Of these, 11 or more are from ships, and at the present time we have one YCL ship nucleus. This was carried thru primarily because of comrades active on the waterfront and it was thru the cooperation of the Party that we were able to build the Young Communist League on the waterfront, and today we can record results on the waterfront of Baltimore. In the majority of the actions on the waterfront, where ships were on strike, our comrades were the leaders of these strikes. We have a particular case where four YCL members were on one ship and thru the action of these YCL members this ship went on strike. This came about thru the activity of the YCL on board this ship, and also the actions on the ships near the steel mill where the YCL sent a comrade down to this section. This comrade has been able to bring out several ships on strike. And these strikes have had a tremendous effect on the steel workers in building the industrial union and is gaining more sympathy and prestige for the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union.

Most of the comrades discuss their work and picture it like everything is hotsy totsy. But I think that when comrades discuss things they don’t criticize enough. We have plenty of failings, more failings than good things, and we fail to look at this side. In the past, in the YCL work especially, comrades did work here and there and the section committee wondered what they were doing. As for the Party, they paid practically little attention to the work carried on in this place and in Sparrow Point itself, which has been a national concentration point for a number of years.

In Baltimore we have the beginning of an anti-war movement. Our League against War and Fascism there has been more or less the policy that we get together a few students etc., and set up a committee, but the only thing that was carried thru was the question of mass meetings, and we expect to fight war and fascism. In Baltimore we tried to set an example. We have set up a war committee with steel workers, and a few students and this committee will carry out some action. We have set ourselves the following task at the present time: We have a YCL nucleus of 6, and we have set ourselves the task of having a nucleus of 15 by June, by the YCL national convention, to issue a monthly shop paper and with leading comrades to be responsible to work with comrades working in the mills, to discuss the problems in the mills and carry out action in this mill. We hope to catch up and try to surpass the Party in membership on the waterfront in Baltimore, and I am sure that with the young comrades we have there, we will give the Party real competition. To organize 3 shop nuclei on the waterfront, to organize o anti-war committees abroad ship, to carry thru a petition campaign against war and fascism on all ships coming thru Baltimore. Last week we organized the first anti-war committee on board a ship in Baltimore. We are holding a youth conference against War and Fascism in Baltimore on April 29th, and the purpose of this conference is for the preparation of National Youth Day, which we hope will be held in Baltimore and before the National Convention of the YCL we will be able to carry thru one certain action. In our resolutions in the past. We have always heard this question, that in order to fight war effectively we must penetrate the basic industries and arouse the masses of workers on the ships against shipping munitions. Let’s put this into practice at least once, and we in Baltimore pledged ourselves by the National Convention of the YCL to develop action around one ship against the shipping of ammunitions. We have put into action every comrade on the waterfront and in the steel mills, and this is the best guarantee that when we come to the National Convention of the YCL we can report some real anti-war action in Baltimore, and this will be the step in establishing the beginning of a real youth movement in Baltimore which will be an example to the other sections in the United States.

The Party Organizer was the internal bulletin of the Communist Party published by its Central Committee beginning in 1927. First published irregularly, than bi-monthly, and then monthly, the Organizer was primarily meant for the Party’s unit, district, and shop organizers. The Organizer offers a much different view of the CP than the Daily Worker, including a much higher proportion of women writers than almost any other CP publication. Its pages are often full of the mundane problems of Party organizing, complaints about resources, debates over policy and personalities, as well as official numbers and information on Party campaigns, locals, organizations, and periodicals making the Party Organizer an important resource for the study and understanding of the Party in its most important years.

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