76-11-10
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Labor[edit]
Transcript[edit]I'm going to preface my remarks by saying that I have the utmost confidence in the rank-and- file membership of organized labor. I believe in their patriotism and their fairness. They are part of that great body of Americans who pay the freight charge for government, support good causes and provide the manpower when the nation is threatened with war. I say this so the distinction will be very clear when I criticize-- as I intend to -- the top leadership of organized labor. Too many of those top leaders believe they know what is best for the rank-and-file members better than do the members themselves. Victor Riesel, the columnist -- perhaps the best informed commentator on the doings of organized labor -- has recently revealed how the leadership is planning to raise additional funds to influence elections and get a Congress even more subservient to its will. Already the election laws are so rigged as to allow the Committee on Political Education of the A.F.L. - C.I.O. opportunities not available to the rest of us for support of candidates. COPE's headman, Al Barkan, has come through with a new strategy for raising tens of millions of dollars. According to Riesel, the plan was unveiled with all the secrecy of a military campaign at a meeting of top labor officials in Bal Harbour, Florida. It calls for having management pay a modest, per- employee contribution to union-controlled political funds. This will be a collective bargaining demand and it means that in the future the employers will finance labor's political activities. It was pointed out that these contributions could be camouflaged in many fashions. And, during the closed sessions, the 250 political specialists were urged to keep the project quiet so employers couldn't mobilize and plan against it. Some of the political activists said a check-off as low as a nickel could result in tens of millions of dollars. Those present made it plain they want the plan in operation in time for the 1978 elections. Incidentally, confirming what I said about the leadership not reflecting the desires of the members, the reason for the new plan is found in the carefully guarded financial records of COPE. Right now the fourteen-and-a-half million members of A.F.L. - C.I.O. are not contributing voluntarily in any significant way. Most of COPE's money is coming from the Union's central treasuries. This is only legal if the money goes for registration drives and for contacting the members themselves. It can't be used to propagandize the public. As Riesel says, -- QUOTE -- "the smell of money and powerful political machinery being geared up for the next congressional and presidential campaigns permeated the jam-packed room." -- UNQUOTE. Money means precinct power. Among those on hand urging backing for this, according to Riesel, was California's Senator Cranston. If management gives in to this demand, it will deserve whatever happens to it, for it will be supporting the most powerful special interest group in America. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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