atd - Webb's little candle

[kelber at mindspring.com]

It wasn't organized labor per se, but the CPUSA, which was still influential in the labor movement of that time, that, via various labor front groups, pushed for American entry into the war after Germany invaded Russia.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at verizon.net>
>
>There was one very interesting connection between organized labor and 
>the Soviet Union. .  Before Pearl Harbor the American war build up was 
>still controversial.  Many thought the U.S.  ought to keep clear of the 
>whole European mess.  Not organized labor however.  After Germany 
>invaded Russia in 1941, Labor stood strongly behind FDR's effort to 
>prepare the U.S. to eventually enter the war.  Not saying this was all 
>due to "the worker's  paradise myth."  But there WAS much good will.  
>The American war effort changed everything for American workers.  Even 
>teen age kids like me. I actually became a union member in order to work 
>swing shift at Douglas El Segundo.
>
>P
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>P