July 9, 1970
Page 23391
MEAT WORKERS UNION FIGHTS NATIONAL DIVISION
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President the executive board of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen – AFL-CIO – has adopted an important statement of policy concerning our nation’s “increasing division and mutual hostility.” This union, with more than 500,000 members, has diagnosed some of the most distressing of our current national problems, and it has suggested some courses of action to counter the present division – including one which the union itself intends to take.
I am particularly impressed by the responsibility shown by the executive board in stating:
We are particularly concerned about the antagonisms in which workers are involved. We consider the hostility which some white and some black workers feel against each other to be most dangerous. We are dedicated as individuals and as a group to combat this trend We consider the fear that the gains of one group of workers might hurt the welfare of another group to be outrageous and ridiculous. This fear can only aid the enemies of the welfare of all workers
Turning to another current controversy, the board said:
We also deplore and intend to combat the increasing conflict between workers, on the one side and some liberals, intellectuals, and students on the other. This hostility stems from a lack of understanding on both sides. It is dangerous for both groups and for the nation as a whole. This trend must be ended and we intend to play a part in that effort.
Mr. President, President Thomas J. Lloyd and Secretary-Treasurer Patrick. E. Gorman, as well as the executive board of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen, are to be congratulated for this forthright statement.
I ask unanimous consent that “One, Nation Under God, Indivisible With Liberty and Justice for All” be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the statement was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
The most tragic and potentially the most dangerous of the many critical problems now facing the United States is the increasing division and mutual hostility among the American people. The nation appears to be losing not only its senses but also its confidence and faith in itself. The people are being fragmented into antagonistic groups which are increasingly willing to resort to or condone violence in competing with each other.
Competition between groups in American society is certainly not new and it is healthy. But the new attitude of individuals and groups in carrying out this competition poses extreme national dangers. Discussion, compromise, belief in common standards and trust in the goodwill of others seem to be increasingly disregarded .
Instead, some parts of the American people see other parts as absolute enemies with whom no accommodation can be reached. Groups fear for their very existence unless their point of view prevails completely. Each antagonistic action sees itself outnumbered and misunderstood by all the rest of the nation and it believes it can assert itself.
And so it happens that American battles American, human life is increasingly lost, international violence is mirrored in our cities and towns. As men and women die, most Americans are shocked. They bemoan the the tragedy. But the horror continues. In fact, hatred becomes a. little more firmly implanted. And fear grows a little deeper and more widespread.
NATIONAL LEADERSHIP
National leadership to fight this disastrous trend has been lacking. Even worse, the President and his Administration have actually accelerated and fed the process of national disintegration.
Although this Union did no support Mr. Nixon in the elections, we – along with the rest of the nation – took great hope in what he said immediately before and during the Presidential Inauguration. We did look forward to his bringing the nation together. We did hope that voices would be lowered. We did think he would quickly attempt to take the United States out of the miserable Vietnam morass.
These hopes were not realized. On the contrary, two of the Administration’s foremost political efforts – the southern strategy and the silent majority – are causing further national hatred, fear and division. The President does occasionally attempt to calm, but he is more than offset by the hostile cries of the Vice President. A shifting Administration policy of retrenchment and escalation in Indochina causes bitterness and disbelief in the nation. And the President’s strange moves in economic policy are causing still more national insecurity.
UNION RESPONSIBILITY
But the President and Administration are not the only one who bear a heavy responsibility. All Americans do – especially those who occupy any sort of leadership positions.
As the elected representatives of more than a half million workers, we, the Executive Board of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen (AFL-CIO), realize that we have a job to do to help achieve national unity. We are particularly concerned about the antagonisms in which workers are involved.
We consider the hostility which some white and some black workers feel against each other to be most dangerous. We are dedicated as individuals and as a group to combat this trend. We consider the fear that the gains of one group of workers might hurt the welfare of another group to be outrageous and ridiculous. This fear can only aid the enemies of the welfare of all workers.,
Our Union was founded more than 70 years ago, to bring together and to improve the conditions of all workers in our jurisdictions regardless of race, creed, color, religion or national origin. The motto was, “A hurt to one is a hurt to all.” The same goal still prevails today.
We also deplore and, intend to combat the increasing conflict between workers on the one side, and some liberals, intellectuals and students on the other. This hostility stems from a lack of understanding on both sides. It is dangerous for both groups and for the nation as a whole. This trend must be ended and we intend to play a part in that effort.
UNION ACTION
This Union will explain even more than before its point of view to other groups. In return, we shall listen to the outlook of others and bring their opinions before our membership. We shall consider their goals with understanding and ask our members to act similarly.
We shall above all stress in our actions, in our speeches and in our publications that the nation must be united. We do not urge or seek that everyone agree with everyone else. Disagreement, dissent and protest are healthy. But we do urge reason, compromise, and faith in the goodwill of others be a part of all efforts by either the establishment or the dissenters.
To warring groups in American society, we highly recommend the use of various relations techniques, particularly collective bargaining, arbitration and the grievance machinery. While these are not perfect tools nor have they been perfectly used, they have proved immensely valuable in the resolution of countless conflicts between unions and employers.
We especially want to point out that these processes both require and help to build a willingness to understand and deal with each other’s problems. Also, they should be used repeatedly and often when conflicts threaten. They work better, in fact, the more often they are used to end quarrels.
GOVERNMENT EFFORTS
Finally we call on the President, the Congress and other national, state and local government leaders to facilitate the attainment of national unity. We urge them to use their leadership positions to calm fears and to resolve differences.
Because of their paramount positions, the President and his Administration have particularly
important tasks. We urge that all members of the Nixon Administration actually practice what the President has preached. We ask that they – particularly the Vice President – become unifiers instead of dividers. We urge that they forego the shrill and terrifying partisanship which has marked their activities in the past nine months. No political gain can be worth the disintegration of the Nation.
Hate is contagious. It spreads quickly.
Mutual trust and understanding are the antidotes to hate. Hopefully, they can be equally contagious.