ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the six-month period that followed the strike, during which both the management and the union waged an anti-communist campaign to dislodge the Progressive Labor (PL)-led insurgents and regain control of the Figure Flattery workforce. PL wanted to turn unions into schools for communism. According to DeJesus, Max Goldenberg, manager-secretary of Local 32, had tried to buy him off during the wildcat. The strike leaders, Goldenberg thought, had circumvented peaceful processes for settling grievances in the service of their leftist agenda. Figure Flattery was a large manufacturing operation by New York City garment industry standards, and one of Local 32’s biggest units. The strike in August was the consequence of serious grievances, union complacency, and effective leadership by communists, especially DeJesus, who were an integral part of the workforce. Both the company and the union were caught off guard; neither had as much influence among the Hispanic workers at Figure Flattery as PL’s Workers Action Committee.
