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Relations industrielles / Industrial Relations

American Labour’s Cold War Abroad: From Deep Freeze to Détente, 1945-1970, By Anthony Carew (2018) Edmonton: AUPress/Athabaska Press, 510 pages. ISBN: 978-1-77199-211-4 Jeffrey Muldoon

Volume 75, Number 2, Spring 2020

URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1070359ar DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1070359ar

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Publisher(s) Département des relations industrielles de l’Université Laval

ISSN 0034-379X (print) 1703-8138 (digital)

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Cite this review Muldoon, J. (2020). Review of [American Labour’s Cold War Abroad: From Deep Freeze to Détente, 1945-1970, By Anthony Carew (2018) Edmonton: AUPress/Athabaska Press, 510 pages. ISBN: 978-1-77199-211-4]. Relations industrielles / Industrial Relations, 75(2), 412–414. https://doi.org/10.7202/1070359ar

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the more interesting contributions of The Braham Dabscheck Long Deep Grudge. Senior Fellow Melbourne Law School IH was unhappy with the way in which University of Melbourne it had lost control to FE. In the last section, Australia Gilpin documents how IH decided to take on FE and reduce its role on the shop floor. Note It won a long strike in 1952 which forced 1 Much has been written on the Haymarket the FE to agree to reduce the power of bombing. For an engaging account, see shop stewards and the ability of workers James Green (2006) Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago. The First Labor Move- to use wildcats. A number of FE leaders ment and the Bombing that Divided Gilded retired or moved on and numerous rank Age America, New York: Pantheon Books. and file activists were dismissed by IH. FE was weakened and, in 1955, agreed American Labour’s Cold War to merge with the UAW, and accept the Abroad: From Deep Freeze UAW’s policy of not challenging manage- to Détente, 1945-1970 rial prerogatives. By Anthony Carew (2018) Edmonton: A major strength of The Long Deep AUPress/Athabaska Press, 510 pages. Grudge is how Gilpin relates the history of ISBN: 978-1-77199-211-4. FE with interventions by local police forces, The Cold War remains a focal point in the courts, legislative changes such as the intellectual discourse. This is rather remark- 1935 Wagner and 1947 Taft-Hartley Acts— able considering the Cold War ended about especially the latter’s requirement for union 30 years ago. Few remember the various officials to sign an affidavit that they were incidents in 1962 and 1983 that nearly not a member of the Communist Party, turned the war hot; the original participants red scares and red baiting—, the House have been dead for years; and we are at Un-American Activities Committee, the about the last members of a generation who role of the press and never ending strug- were alive when the Soviet Union and the gles with other unions seeking to poach United States were allies and the hope during its members. Gilpin takes readers onto the the Second World War that this friendship shop floor, union meetings, picket lines and would remain a permanent arrangement the dynamics of these tumultuous times. in promoting world peace. Many of the She combines this with more than interest- later participants of the Cold War are now ing asides to broader American culture and gone, including Reagan, Thatcher, Bush her presentation is enlivened with a wealth and Yeltsin. It appears that George Shultz of contemporary photos, pamphlets and FE and Mikhail Gorbachev remain the last men memorabilia. standing, but for who knows how much The United Farm Equipment Workers longer. There are now two generations that of America provides a supreme example of were too young or were not even alive. a democratic union which was led by and Yet, the Cold War continues to define our responded to the needs of its members. Its politics. The emergence of the Soviet Union heyday was from the latter part of the 1930s transformed world politics, a fact that friend to the early 1950s. Toni Gilpin has succeeded and foe of that regime recognize and agree in providing a gripping and accessible with. Despite the various amount of litera- account of a radical, progressive rank and ture, there are still more areas to research. file led union which successfully challenged One important area of work done has been the hegemony of one of America’s largest on unions and the Cold War. Anthony Carew and financially successful corporations. has written an exhaustive account of the recensions / book reviews 413

interplay between various American Union Jay Lovestone, Irving Brown, George Meany officials and international unions, noting and Walter Reuther forms a major portion of how both the Cold War and American the book. The decision guided by American power played key roles in shaping the destiny influence and money to form the Interna- of international trade unionism. His newest tional Confederation of Free Trade Unions research is a capstone of this work. The level (ICFTU) and to promote the concept of “free of research conducted for this book is stag- trade unionism”. The intersection between gering. He conducted archival research in 12 the CIA, anti-colonial movements and the different libraries; in four different countries, power of the United States takes what interviewed (sometimes more than once) 39 should be a basic concept of “free trade different participants and used six previously unionism,” and produces a very complex conducted interviews. This is clearly a prod- portrait of a legitimate concept. uct of a mature and talented scholar. There are certain issues I found with Perhaps the largest measure of Carew’s the book that limits its value, despite my ability as a mature scholar is that it is diffi- regard of it as a masterpiece of History. cult to determine his politics. When most The book simply is not a page turner. The scholars write about the Cold War, it is clear author either lacks story telling ability or the where their sympathies lie. This is not the story of union politics is a bit boring. Both case for Carew. He avoids mostly the poli- maybe true, even an Arthur Schlesinger Jr tics and the passions of the past, writing would have found it difficult to make the mostly in a detached manner. That is not to story truly interesting. The lack of read- say that from time to time that his passions ability is not the largest issue. The largest rise, for example using terns such as “hard- issue is that perspective is at times lost. liners” and “obsessive” to describe some of This is a common issue with writing about the anti-communists. However, one could the Cold War. Carew never considers why forgive him noting that Carew is a lifelong the CIA was so involved. As Harvey Klehr and British trade unionist who probably did not John E. Haynes have demonstrated, Ameri- admire the Americans getting involved in can communism was under the complete limiting the solidarity of the movement. control of Moscow as were communists in Carew also notes when the AFL-CIO had a other countries such as France. The idea that sterling record of promoting anti-colonial- there could be a dialogue and any meet- ism revealing him to be very even-handed. ing between these groups is naïve. One The basic thesis of the book is to note of the reasons why union leaders were so how trade unions shaped and were shaped anti-communist regarding Soviet Russia was by the ongoing Cold War starting around their dealings with communists in a national 1945. The level of animosity between “anti- setting. Another issue that Carew has and communist” and “anti-anti-communists” which constitutes a limitation to his work is was already apparent. What makes this even that he does not recognize how conserva- more remarkable was that this was before tive American labour was in comparison with the Stuttgart speech and the Iron Curtain that of other countries. Most American union speech. The reason was that the anti- members were highly patriotic, relatively pro- communists were already concerned with market and more in favour of centrist poli- this movement and they used money and tics. They were also strongly anti-communist. contacts provided by the Central Intelligence While the anti-communist politics were the Agency and America unions. The nature of actions of a few, I believe the American unions this work was undemocratic, but I believe it leaders acted with the tacit consent of their would have been supported by the rank and followers, rather than actual consent, given file. The interplay and dynamics between the secretive nature of the project. 414 relations industrielles / industrial relations – 75-2, 2020

Mostly, the Cold War’s importance remains him clashing with those that supported an issue because it details and provides quotas and affirmative action to enhance examples of the difficultly in dealing with a the position and status of African Ameri- movement that is totalitarian one in a free cans, beginning in the latter part of the society. While European unions were prag- 1960s. Abram encountered the incongru- matic in dealing with communists, it is also ity of having once been hailed as a cham- possible that they were naïve. The crimes of pion of civil rights being denunciated as a the Soviet Union are now apparent, but the villain because of his stance on quotas and crimes and bad behaviour that the United affirmative action. States had to take to stop communism have David Lowe provides an account of been, and continue to be, documented. the life of Morris Abram. He employs As Derek Leebaert argued: the struggle a traditional chronological account. He to stop communism created a fifty-year only has one “thematic” chapter where wound and the true costs of it are revealed he explores Abram’s family life, interac- in the current state of politics. The support tions with others, his intellectual curios- of awful regimes and the damage done to ity and gentlemanly Southern style (p. unionism are still apparent. Carew’s work is 135-145). Those who worked with Abram an important addition to this debate and is praised him for his collegiality and ability highly recommended. to develop consensus. Abram was born Jeffrey Muldoon of Jewish parents in Fitzgerald, a small Associate Professor town in Georgia, in 1918. His parents School of Business were not religious and did not mix with Emporia State University the small Jewish community in Fitzgerald. Emporia, Kansas, USA He did not have a bar mitzvah. He was an exceptional student with his family fund- Touched with Fire: Morris B. Abram ing his tuition at the University of Georgia. and the Battle against Racial He won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford and Religious Discrimination University, which was cancelled because of By David E. Lowe (2019) Lincoln: World War II. The University of Chicago’s Potomac Books, 287 pages. Law School offered to provide scholarships ISBN: 978-1-64012-096-9. to would-be Rhodes scholars. He accepted Justice John Marshall Harlan, in his the offer but was short of income for living famous dissent in Plessy v Ferguson, (that expenses, which was picked up by the decision of the Supreme Court of the father of a schoolboy friend. After grad- United States, which enunciated the “sepa- uating, he enlisted in the armed forces, rate but equal” doctrine that gave a legal serving his time in America. imprimatur to Jim Crow) said: “Our Consti- Lowe refers to a key moment that tution is color-blind, and neither knows nor Abram experienced when he was helping 1 tolerates classes amongst citizens.” This is out at his father’s store on a break from a precept that the lawyer Morris Berthold college. He was looking at a group Abram (1918-2000) steadfastly held to of white and black sharecroppers and field throughout his life. hands—“ragged, dirty and illiterate”— Abram is most famous for a long and asked himself how many of the campaign he waged in establishing the blacks would he invite home. “The principle of “one man, one vote” in over- answer was none, but he realized that it throwing Georgia’s county unit voting was the same for whites”. He then asked system. His commitment to the Consti- himself, “did he require that all blacks be tution being colour-blind also resulted in acceptable before any could be, a stan-