amount of $25 * * * June 1935, there is an entry Oakley Mr. Johnson refused on previously specified grounds to testify_in regard to any of these transactions with World Tourists, Inc. 20 He did state, however, that in the summer of 1939, he was the organizer of a tour which visited the Soviet Union for 30 days.21 The record shows that Johnson has been generous in allowing the use of his name to float various Communist front organizations, but he refused on the usual grounds to testify about his connection with the following organizations: American Committee for Struggle Against War, Reception Committee for the Soviet Flyers, under the auspices of the Friends of the Soviet Union, National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners, National Student League.22 Johnson admitted his connections in 1930 with the League of American Writers, an organization which has been cited as subversive by the Attorney General.2 23 CONCLUSION At least six American colleges have been penetrated by Oakley C. Johnson, in the course of his teaching career, despite the facts that he has been a Communist Party member of long standing, that he has been an active Communist propagandist and teacher in Communist schools in the United States and the Soviet Union, and that he was associated organizationally with Jacob Golos, for a number of years head of a Communist spy ring in the United States. 20 Ibid., pp. 365, 366. 21 Ibid., p. 364. 22 Ibid., p. 360. Struggle Against War, October 1933, official organ of the American Committee for the Struggle Against War, which has been cited as subversive by the Special Committee on Un-American Activities. Booklet of the Friends of the Soviet Union, which has been cited as subversive by the Attorney General. Undated letterhead of the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners, which has been cited as subversive by the Attorney General. Daily Workers of America on p. 2, shows Oakley Johnson as the signer of an appeal for the National Student Leaguer, Sep, which was cited as subversive by the Attorney General. 23 Ibid., p. 361. SECTION IX PROPOSED ALLIANCE OF TRANSPORTATION UNIONS Not since the 1950 railroad strike has the Nation's economy faced a threat such as that posed by the proposed alliance of dockworkers and trucking unions. Even the logistic functions of the military would be dangerously disturbed. The subcommittee recently reviewed the history of the organizations and principal personalities involved and submitted this record, with its findings, to the Defense Department with the suggestion that it seek new laws if needed, and to the Justice Department with the recommendation that it bring the facts before a grand jury for study to determine if antimonopoly laws were being violated.1 Joining in a call issued last July to "all unions in the transportation industry" to participate in forming a "continuous and permanent" conference on transportation unity, were the following: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, headed by James R. Hoffa; National Maritime Union, headed by Joseph Curran, and the International Longshoremen's Association, headed by Capt. William V. Bradley. Harry Bridges, president of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, subsequently announced that he and other officials of ILWU would participate in the organizational meeting, at Hoffa's invitation. These four unions claim a membership of more than 1,750,000 transport workers from coast to coast and in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. Largest is the Teamsters Union, which includes chauffeurs, warehousemen and helpers, and blankets the Nation with 1,600,000 members. The ILWU, which operates on the west coast, Hawaii, and Alaska, claims 70,000 members, including Hawaii's sugar workers, many public employees, and some fishermen's unions in the United States and Canada. The International Longshoremen's Association lists 52,000 dockworkers on the east coast, the gulf coast, the Great Lakes, and Puerto Rico. The National Maritime Union, with 40,000 members, also operates on the east coast (p. 11).2 The three larger unions are "independents." The Bridges union (ILWU) was ousted by CIO in 1950 on the ground that its policies were 1 As the subcommittee's 1958 annual report was being readied for printing, the threat of a nationwide strike as a protest against an antitrust law for unions was voiced by James Hoffa, president of the Teamsters' Union, at a South Atlantic and gulf coast convention of the Longshoremen's Union. Page citations in this section refer to the subcommittee's report of December 17, 1958, entitled "The Alliance of Certain Racketeer and Communist-Dominated Unions in the Field of Transportation as a Threat to National Security." 36554-59 consistently directed toward the achievement of the program ILA was dropped as an AFL affiliate in 1953 as a gangster-controlled, racket-ridden operation. The Teamsters were orphaned by AFL-CIO for failing to clean house when ordered to do so by the parent organization after the Rackets Committee revelations in 1957. Both ILA and the Teamsters are reputedly trying to get back in AFL-CIO. HUGE RESERVOIR OF POWER Apparently, referring to the Teamsters and the two east coast maritime unions which signed the conference call, Bridges said in a statement published by the Washington Daily News and the Wall Street Journal: There's one thing I know. If the Teamsters and the two dock unions got together they'd represent more economic power than the combined AFL-CIO. They are so concentrated an economic squeeze and pressure can be exerted that puts any employer in a very tough spot-and furthermore puts the U.S. Government on a tough spot. The Bridges union and elements of the Teamsters already seem to have some sort of working agreement. Bridges, who has been an initiatory and active force in this movement, is currently in Moscow. In the past, Communist leaders have secured both guidance and finances for subversive purposes in Moscow. In June 1958 representatives of the warehouse division of the Teamsters and of ILWU met in Los Angeles. Quoting "a participant," the Los Angeles Times listed as among the meeting's accomplishments agreements that (1) if one union strikes, the other will; (2) neither union will reach any agreement with an employer unless it is acceptable to the other union, and (3) negotiators for the two unions will coordinate their bargaining strategy against employers. Another participant, also unnamed, was quoted as saying: "There will be *** * in time-when, I don't know-a merger.' Two weeks later, the ILWU "Dispatcher" spoke of "the unity of purpose and common determination of the ILWU and the Northern California Teamster Warehouse Local" in negotiating a contract settlement with the Distributors Association of Northern California. Last September a dispatch to the New York Times from Honolulu, where the ILWU has what is virtually a labor monopoly, said that one Mike Singer, a Teamster organizer, set out to organize nonunion meat dealers. Though the campaign was launched without an employee election or approval of the National Labor Relations Board, Singer established a picket line on the docks and ILWU members refused to cross it.3 Bridges, himself, has been fully aware of the corruption within the Teamsters Union. The campaign was abandoned within a few days. He is quoted, for instance, in the Daily Worker of April 3, 1957, as having told the ILWU convention of that year: The dilemma the ILWU faces is whether to attack Beck and other Teamster leaders, or whether the ILWU can afford to close its eyes to the terrible danger to all of labor from the kind of legislative straitjacket the Senate committee could develop on the pretext of helping the rank and file. Of course, Dave Beck is no longer president of the Teamsters and, while Hoffa has had troubles, legal and otherwise, as a result of the investigation of Teamster union personnel by the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field (Rackets), he has been able to ride them out. There are indications that Irving Velson, east coast "observer" for Bridges, may have tried to help Hoffa in one legal engagement. Miss Katherine Barry was a member of a New York jury which handled a wiretap indictment against Hoffa early in 1957. She reported to the judge that she had received a telephone call from the editor of a labor paper. The Rackets Committee had information that Richard Pastor, editor of a retail store union, had made the call at the instance of Velson. Questioned by the Rackets Committee, Pastor invoked the fifth amendment, refusing to answer for fear of possible self-incrimination. He took the same course on questions about his past and present membership in the Communist Party. There is one element which may strongly affect Bridges' thinking about the combine. Now ILWU is blocked off from the mainstream of organized labor-an outcast. By joining in with the Teamsters he would again attach to himself a large segment of the labor movement. As a member of the alliance, he would be one of four leaders. with an army of a million and three-quarters. THE RECORD ON COMMUNISM Of Bridges, his secretary-treasurer, Louis Goldblatt and his principal eastern representatives, the interim report has this to say: Harry Bridges, president of the ILWU, has been identified by numerous witnesses as a member of the Communist Party: J. P. Hentschel (September 10, 1937); John E. Ferguson (December 7, 1938); Joseph Kornfeder, also known as Joseph Zack (September 30, 1939); Arthur Kent (December 22, 1937); Irving N. Markheim (February 15, 1938); and by many others in the course of numerous court proceedings. The Daily Worker has referred to him as the "west coast Communist leader." His relations with the Communist Party are voluminously dealt with in the House Committee on Un-American Activities "Report on the CIO Political Action Committee," pages 90 to 97. Bridges has denied or evaded these accusations. Louis Goldblatt, secretary-treasurer of the ILWU, is reputed to be the "brain trust" of the organization, whose power will be unchallenged when Bridges' predicted early retirement takes place to further facilitate the merger. Goldblatt's membership in the Communist Party has been the subject of testimony by at least three witnesses: Hugh Inzer, William P. Branhove, and Louis Rosser. When Of Velson, who described himself, in testimony before this subcommittee, as an "observer" on the New York waterfront for the ILWU: Irving Charles Velson was born as Irving Charles Shavel- In September 1943, Velson was fired as president of Local Velson was identified under oath as a member of the Mr. Gladnick added some details regarding Velson's activity: "I came to New York, and I contacted Velson *** and we put out a third edition of this paper (Shipmates' Voice) *he was in charge (of the military apparatus of the Young Communist League) under Peters." ** The record shows that Velson was in frequent contact with Roy Hudson, one-time Communist commissar of the maritime industry. Velson's former wife was Ruth Young, a well-known Communist, with whom he had spent some time in Moscow. Mr. Velson has had an opportunity to appear before both the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee and the House Un-American Activities Committee with reference to these |