Vol. 75/No. 31      September 5, 2011

The victory for constitutional rights came August 25 in a suit filed by the Socialist Workers Party and the Young Socialist Alliance against the U.S. government.

Spying and disruption by FBI snitches and provocateurs is “patently unconstitutional,” ruled U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa. Hundreds of proven burglaries by the FBI of party offices were “obvious violations of the Fourth Amendment.” The judge also held that the disruption program carried out by the FBI, known as Cointelpro, was illegal.  
 
September 4 & 11, 1961
The United Auto Workers and the Big Three auto corporations have extended their contracts until Sept 6. UAW president Walter Reuther said he would be willing to settle with GM on the same basis that he settled with American Motors Corp.

Last week, when the union’s 40-man AMC bargaining committee was meeting to consider AMC’s “profit-sharing” offer, a worker who left the meeting told a reporter: “That’s a speedup technique.”

“Profit-sharing” is one of the surest ways to undermine militant unionism. By tying the workers’ income to the employers’ profits, it promotes speedup. It turns worker against worker.  
 
December 12, 1936
Mass delegations representing the American Federation of Government Employees and the Workers’ Alliance stormed the San Francisco Headquarters Saturday to protest the wholesale lay-offs of W.P.A. employees.

A delegation from the AFGE of about 200 members walked in on James Hopper, head of the writers project, demanding the reinstatement of those laid off and withdrawal of the program for further curtailment of the personnel.

A delegation of 300 members of the Workers’ Alliance, locally composed of WPA laborers, carried on a demonstration.

Some 300 members stormed the office of State Supervisor Wakefield.  
 
 
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