Congress of Industrial Organizations

The Congress of Industrial Organizations is identified in the book through a 1940 pamphlet that names CIO unions as especially vulnerable to political attacks. The organization is not presented through its internal structure or activities, but as a significant part of the labor movement invoked in an argument about the defense of unions and New Deal social programs.

Documentary Appearance

In a discussion of reports issued by the College Faculties Committee of the Communist Party of California, the book describes a pamphlet defending the New Deal and its domestic social programs. That report treated the Congress of Industrial Organizations not as a separate subject of inquiry but as a labor organization whose unions, it argued, faced particular danger from a broader campaign against the Communist Party.

The Pamphlet’s Argument

The report contended that eliminating the Communist Party in the United States would not reverse Soviet policy; instead, it would silence voices opposing war between the United States and Russia. It further alleged that the attacks were intended to disrupt democratic forces, weaken unions generally, and destroy CIO unions in particular. In the pamphlet’s account, the stakes extended to relief and to the wider program of peace, security, and work associated with a democratic front. These claims are the report’s political argument, rather than an independently established account of the campaign’s motives or effects.

Significance in the Book

The organization’s brief appearance links labor politics to the period’s larger conflict over communism and domestic reform. By distinguishing CIO unions from unions in general, the pamphlet made their vulnerability a concrete element in its case that anticommunist pressure could damage organized labor and New Deal programs. The evidence does not provide further detail about the Congress of Industrial Organizations’ leadership, membership, or subsequent role.