Page:William Z. Foster -Organize the Unorganized.djvu/8

 We must realize the vital importance of the great campaign of organization and the leading role the left wing has to play in it.

The present period presents an exceptionally favorable time to bring the unorganized masses into the unions. Industry is going ahead at a relatively high rate. The workers are bitterly exploited, their standards of living are not advancing. In fact, in many industries such as textile, mining, shoe—in spite of the prosperity of the employers, the workers are facing wage cuts. There is much discontent in their ranks. The situation is ripe for a great drive for organizaitonorganization [sic]. The present period of "prosperity" cannot last indefinitely. Already there are signs of its weakening. We must take the fullest advantage of the situation now. The workers are in a mood to organize. We must take the lead and show them ho.

Failure of the union to strengthen their ranks now by the inclusion of vast masses of the unorganized, will expose them to the most deadly dangers in the slack industrial period that is not far ahead, when the employers will renew their "open shop" campaign of destruction against the unions with redoubled vigor.

The Trade Union Educational League is fundamentally correct when it places as "Point 1" in its Program of Action, the initiation of a general campaign to organize the millions of unorganized workers.