Homer Martin (labor leader)

Homer Martin (September 16, 1901 in Illinois – January 22, 1968) was an American trade unionist, a leader of the United Auto Workers (UAW). and socialist.

Homer Martin testifying to the House Un-American Activities Committee (December 1, 1938)

After high school he attended Hewing College and received his AB from William Jewell College. Martin then attended the Kansas City Baptist Theological Seminary for two years.

After serving in Baptist churches in Goreville, Illinois and Kansas City, Missouri, Martin went to work in the auto plants of Kansas City. He soon became active in the union movement and was appointed a Vice-President of the UAW-AFL in 1935. In 1936 he was elected President of what came to be the UAW-CIO.[1] After he accused four union vice-presidents of "conspiracy with communists to wreck union",[2] he was ousted and replaced by R. J. Thomas in 1938 who had been leader of the Chrysler sit-down srike in March the previous year.[3]

In what was seen as "a body blow to company-dominated unionism in the auto" industry, Martin was removed by two main groups in the union who subsequently split apart: the Communists and their allies headed by UAW co-founder George Addes, and the Socialists and their allies, headed by Walter Reuther.[4]

Before his ouster, in June 1941 he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) that Fascists, assisted by the Italian consul, were interfering in local politics in Detroit.[5][6] He testified again before the HUAC on the presence and activities of Communists in both national labor federations, the AFL and CIO.[7]

Martin died in 1968.

Footnotes
  1. "UAW President's Office: Homer Martin Records".http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/node/3509
  2. "Ouster Frame-Up is Laid to Martin". The New York Times. 24 July 1938. p. 1-2.
  3. "UAW President's Office: R.J. Thomas Papers".http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/node/1163
  4. Benedict, Daniel (1992). "Good-Bye to Homer Martin". Labour / Le Travail. 29: (117–155) 117. doi:10.2307/25143571. ISSN 0700-3862. JSTOR 25143571.
  5. Diggins, John Patrick (2015-03-08). Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America. Princeton University Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-4008-6806-3.
  6. Cannistraro, Philip V. (1975). "Fascism and Italian-Americans in Detroit, 1933–1935". International Migration Review. 9 (1): 29–40. doi:10.1177/019791837500900103. ISSN 0197-9183. S2CID 147604928.
  7. Limited, Alamy. "UAWU head quizzed by Rep. Dies. Washington, D.C., Dec. 1. Homer Martin, left, President of the Automobile Workers Union, as he was quizzed today by Rep. Martin Dies, Chairman of the House Committee Investigating Un-American Activities. Martin told the Committee that communists are active in both the CIO and A.F. of L Stock Photo - Alamy". www.alamy.com. Retrieved 2022-01-15.

Further reading
  • "Homer Martin, 66, of UAW is Dead," New York Times, Jan. 24, 1968, pg. 39.

Succession


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.