Cinema Clean-Up

"The Federation is pledged to go the limit in purging itself of racketeering. Our policy is to protect members from racketeering in any form. Racketeering has manifested itself in many lines. There are, no doubt, some who have fastened themselves upon the American labor movement and are exploiting hardworking, honest members. Upon these leeches we will have no mercy!"

So declared William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, at an executive council meeting last summer in Atlantic City (TIME, Aug. 1). Last week at Cincinnati the A. F. of L.'s annual convention which re-elected Mr. Green for his ninth term, went strongly on record as "opposed to all forms of so-called racketeering within or without the labor movement." Declared the convention: "More and more do we find those of criminal tendencies and unconcerned in the well being of the wage-earners endeavoring to gain control of our trade unions and under its cloak promote selfish if not criminal purposes."

At Atlantic City President Green announced that he had received grave charges against one Sam Kaplan, autocratic president of Local 306 of Motion Picture Machine Operators Union of New York City. Most of the evidence against him and his henchmen had been dug up by the crusading New York World-Telegram. Kaplan was accused of drawing an exorbitant salary ($21,800 per year) not counting "gifts" the union voted to him. Union members complained that his bodyguards beat them up, forced them to contribute to his legal defense fund, deprived them of jobs, drove them out of the local. On the side he operated a projection machine manufacturing company with which exhibitors found it wise to deal.

Such activities were plainly a discredit to union labor. President Green referred the Kaplan case to William Elliott, head of the international union, declaring that such accusations involved the "honor and integrity of the Federation," warned that the A. F. of L. might "suspend an international union which failed to act on proof of wrongdoing."

Last week the international union acted by removing pudgy, hawk-nosed Sam Kaplan as boss of Local 306. The removal came while Kaplan was defending himself and his union rule in Manhattan Supreme Court on a receivership-and-damage suit filed by four members of Local 306. During the trial the judge discovered that Defendant Kaplan and two bodyguards were armed with pearl-handled revolvers, wrathfully ordered them to check their weapons with the court clerk. Witness after witness at the trial testified that Kaplan's men had "socked" them for speaking out at union meetings, had even threatened them with death. Evidence was brought out to show that a non-union cinema circuit was comparatively unmolested by Kaplan so long as it bought projection equipment from Kaplan's firm.

After Kaplan's removal from office the suit was temporarily suspended for the judge to arbitrate the amount of settlement. Next week Kaplan and 22 henchmen go on trial in Manhattan on indictments charging coercion and using physical violence against critics of Local 306.

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