Franklin D. Roosevelt

Statement at the Beginning of Negotiations Between C.I.O. and A.F. of L.

March 07, 1939

I am extremely glad that this Committee, representing both sides of the controversy between the two branches of the labor movement, is at last assembled for the purpose of beginning negotiations for the settlement of these differences in good faith, and with honor, and for the best interests of labor and the country generally.

This is one of the most important domestic problems in American life today and I feel sure that all of you will enter into this service with a patriotic sense that you are serving the welfare of your country, as well as the welfare of your organizations by laying aside prejudices and bitterness, and by finding the solution which will bring a permanent and acceptable peace and unity in the labor movement. I have faith in your capacity as individuals and the organizations that you represent to make a practical adjustment both of the theory and the realities of a conflict which has already lasted too long and which is weakening the public standing of organized labor in this country.

It is important that you enter these negotiations with open minds and with a determination to explore every aspect of the problem together. The fact that there have been disagreements on particular points in the past should merely mean that all points must be studied and explored. It is desirable that this should be a negotiated peace made by this Committee, using your own ingenuity and resourcefulness to find various ways of settling knotty problems.

While there have been extreme bitterness and conflict in certain localities, there are many cities and towns now where the local CIO and AFL are working together in closest harmony. I am told that there are some places where the CIO and the AFL use the same union hall. The two factions, as they are called, are really not factions. They realize that their interests are the same.

I accept the premise that both sides want peace. That means, of course, that both sides go into conference with the idea of giving as well as getting.

You are all experienced negotiators. You have been doing that all your lives. From that standpoint, this job ought to be easy for you. You can think up proposals and counter proposals to meet this situation, and nobody can do it as well as you can because nobody knows the issues as you do.

Of course, there are many who want peace who do not fully realize the difficulties facing this Committee. I am advised, on the basis of reports coming from the rank and file of organized labor, that at least 90 per cent of the actual membership of both factions desire peace.

Telegrams and letters and resolutions speaking for at least a million workers reached me before we proposed that you appoint your committees. These messages came from labor groups in each faction and from every part of the country.

Since your appointment, like messages are pouring in from all sections and from many unions in each faction. Already hundreds of thousands of workers, through their representatives, have informed me, and I know many of them have informed you, that their greatest desire is that you may succeed in finding a solution.

This is your negotiation. Direct negotiation without outside interposition is always best if possible. I believe no other method of settlement will ever become necessary in this case because I believe that you are today beginning a proper step for a permanent, stable and acceptable solution. I am counting on you to succeed and shall look forward to the final report on your negotiations.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Statement at the Beginning of Negotiations Between C.I.O. and A.F. of L. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/209444

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