Paul Weber (unionist)

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Paul Weber was an American labor leader. He was the founder and president of the Detroit (Michigan) chapter of the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists (ACTU) from 1939 to 1947, [1] best known for his development of an ACTU "Industrial Council Plan" (which Weber called "economic democracy" [2] [3] ) versus a CIO Industry Council Plan to foster union-management cooperation in US Labor disputes. [4] [5]

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Weber also belonged to the American Newspaper Guild (now NewsGuild-CWA), [6] a CIO federation member, which made him "well-versed in union practices." [7]

He also served as editor of Wage Earner, newspaper of the Michigan ACTU. [8]

In 1946, Weber wrote to some Catholic leaders around the nation in defense of Walter Reuther, who he wrote "Walter Reuther is certainly not a Communist... he is their bete noir" even if "Walter and his brothers Victor and Roy started out to be radicals." [9]

In 1947 during a conference of the Catholic Trl-State Congress in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Weber, "Detroit newspaperman and Association of Catholic Trade Unionists leader," joined other Catholics in opposing Communist influence on labor unions. [10]

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References

  1. "The Association of Catholic Trade Unionists-Detroit" (PDF). Wayne State University. 1968. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  2. Steven Rosswurm. "The Catholic Church, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and Labor in the United States, 1930-1950 - Background". Catholic University of America. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  3. Steven Rosswurm. "The Catholic Church, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and Labor in the United States, 1930-1950 - "The Catholic Viewpoint on Industry Councils"; "Industrial Councils"". Catholic University of America. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  4. Steven Rosswurm (1992). The CIO's Left-led Unions. Rutgers University Press. pp. 135–136. ISBN   9780813517698 . Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  5. Dennis A. Deslippe (Winter 1991). ""A Revolution of ITS Own" the Social Doctrine of the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists in Detroit, 1939-50". American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. 102 (4): 25-32. JSTOR   44210275 . Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  6. Nelson Lichtenstein (1997). Walter Reuther: The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit. University of Illinois Press. p. 188. ISBN   9780252066269 . Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  7. Matthew Pehl (2016). The Making of Working-Class Religion. University of Illinois Press. pp. 124–125. ISBN   9780252066269 . Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  8. Steve Babson (1986). Working Detroit: The Making of a Union Town. Wayne State University Press. p. 101. ISBN   0814318193 . Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  9. "Paul Weber to Father William J. Smith S.J." Catholic University of America. 23 March 1946. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  10. Clarence M. Zens (22 September 1947). "PLEA TO PUT TRI-STATE CONGRESS 9/22/ 7 ADVICE INTO ACTION MADE BY BISHOP AS CONVENTION CLOSES". Catholic News Service. p. 1. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  11. David O'Brien (1966). "American Catholics and Organized Labor in the 1930's". The Catholic Historical Review. 52 (3): 345 (fn57). JSTOR   25017823 . Retrieved 4 March 2023.
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