Questioning Union RaidsYvonne Martinezbyline‚ Apr. 22‚ 2008“Is raiding that bad?” California Nurses Association (CNA), Executive Director, Rose Ann DeMoro wants to know. The McCarthy-Era Taft-Hartley Act loyalty oaths were the pretext for wholesale raids against unions in the 1950’s. At the same time that the film industry drove out writers and actors, HUAC was also being used to investigate unions and union leaders who did not fall into line with the AFL-CIO’s cold war collaboration. Steelworkers with ties to the Klan raided Alabama locals of the Mine and Milne workers who had succeeded in integrating its ranks. AFL craft unions have historically seen fit to exclude “rabble” from its ranks. Since its cigar roller craft oriented inception, the AFL limited organizing to the crafts. Craft unions were organized to protect the work for and of “its own.” |