International May Day and American Labor Day: A Holiday Expressing Working Class Emancipation Versus a Holiday Exalting Labor's Chains — John Shaqi
International May Day and American Labor Day: A Holiday Expressing Working Class Emancipation Versus a Holiday Exalting Labor's ChainsReinstein, Boris
History
International May Day and American Labor Day: A Holiday Expressing Working Class Emancipation Versus a Holiday Exalting Labor's Chains
Reinstein, Boris
Labor Day; May Day (Labor holiday); Socialism; Working class -- Political activity
“It’s O. K.” concluded the Governor, approached Jim Lynch,—and
discovered, or at least surmised, that he was the very man who was
pulling the wires through his friends, the politicians, to prevent the
State Senate from ratifying Mitchell’s appointment so that the job
should go to him, Jim Lynch. The friendship between dogs ceases when a
bone is thrown to them. The friendship and “solidarity” between “labor
lieutenants” of the capitalist class ceases, and they are ready to stab
each other in the back, when a good job is at stake. As to the Governor,
it made no difference to him who got the job, Mitchell, Lynch or anybody
else, so long as his political fences were thereby mended. So the upshot
of it was that Jim Lynch who was drawing $3,500 yearly salary as
President of the International Typographical Union was named for New
York State Commissioner of Labor with an $8,000 yearly salary. May God
have mercy on the souls of the working people of New York State when
James T. Lynch is in charge of the Labor Bureau!
While handing out this political plum to Lynch, Governor Sulzer, to make
assurance doubly sure, gave to another “labor lieutenant,” Charles J.
Chase, leader of union locomotive engineers, another good political job.
He made him member of an up-state Public Service Commission.
Many more such cases of “labor politics” could be cited, but the above
will suffice to show the character of the political fruits of the
American Federation of Labor. And the Sun of Labor Day helps to ripen
them!
Corrupting Influences.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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