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None of the three has officially any political affiliations; two, however, advocate political as well as industrial organization of the working class, and the third (the Amalgamated Clothing Workers) permits the discussion of politics in union meetings.

Their philosophy is milder than that of the W. I. I. U. and different in some respects, and it is radically different from that of the I. W. W. Nevertheless, the General Secretary of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers was arraigned by their deadly enemy, the United Garment Workers, on the charge that he had been a member of the Socialist Labor Party for

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twenty-five years, that he had been a staunch supporter of the I. W. W. during the first two years of its existence, and was, so they asserted, "always on hand to help Mr. Daniel

De Leon.in all of his attempts to disrupt the trade union ,,2

movement.

Be that as it may, the structure and tactics of the three organizations under consideration show how the militant class-conscious philosophy of revolutionary industrial unionism expresses itself in action. These unions show how an industry organizes to fight employers. They are not a matter of speculation regarding a future Industrial Republic. In them we observe how industrial unions actually conduct themselves under the present capitalistic regime.

1. He was expelled from the Socialist Labor Party a few years ago, the General Secretary of the W. I. I. U. states.

2. Proceedings of the Nineteenth Convention, United Garment Workers of America (October 14-16, 1918), 47-48.

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A convention, biennial in the case of the Ladies' Garment Workers and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, annual in that of the Amalgamated Textile Workers, is in each case the supreme legislative body. In the two latter organizations, on motion of five local unions, no two of which shall be of the same state or province, a special session may be called by general vote, a two-thirds majority to decide. The Ladies' Garment Workers require only the written request of five local unions, no two of which shall be located in any one city, in order to call a special convention. The Amalgamated Textile Workers show a distrust of officials by providing that no local shall send to the convention more than one delegate who is a paid official either of a local union or the national office. When the convention is not in session, its powers are vested in the General Executive Board.

The General Executive Board, whose membership ranges in number from eleven to fifteen, is, in the Ladies' Garment Workers, elected by the convention; in the two Amalgamated unions, it is nominated by the convention and elected by referendum of the general membership. It decides all points of law arising under the organization and all claims, grievances, and appeals from the decisions of affiliated organizations, and its decision is binding until

1. Discussion of structure of the three unions is based on their respective constitutions.

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