The Association of Catholic Trade Unionists (ACTU) was a labor organization associated with '' Catholic Worker'' newspaper (founded in 1933 by

Dorothy Day Dorothy Day, Oblate#Secular oblates, OblSB (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and Anarchism, anarchist who, after a bohemianism, bohemian youth, became a Catholic Church, Catholic without aba ...

and Peter Maurin).

History

The Association of Catholic Trade Unionists, or ACTU, formed in founded in February 1937. The ACTU encouraged

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

's March 1937 anti-communist encyclical ''

Divini Redemptoris ''Divini Redemptoris'' (from the incipit "", Latin for "the promise of a Divine Redeemer") is an anti-communist encyclical issued by Pope Pius XI. It was published on 19 March 1937. In this encyclical, the pope sets out to "expose once more i ...

'' and promoted mainstream Catholic teachings in the United States labor movement. It served as a hub for Catholics who opposed the growing influence of

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

and other radical trade union organizers affiliated with the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

. While not a union itself, the ACTU sought to "educate, stimulate, and coordinate on a Christian basis the action of the Catholic workingmen and women in the American labor movement." The ACTU played an important role in opposing left-wings in a number of unions. Such unions including the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) and

Transport Workers Union of America Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) is a United States labor union that was founded in 1934 by subway workers in New York City, then expanded to represent transit employees in other cities, primarily in the eastern U.S. This article disc ...

(TWUA). It played a particularly important role in building the

International Union of Electrical Workers The International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE) was a North American Trade union, labor union representing workers in the electrical manufacturing industry. While consistently using the acronym IUE, it took on several full names during its h ...

, which split from UE. In late 1939, the ACTU described the

Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of Labor unions in the United States, unions that organized workers in industrial unionism, industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in ...

(CIO) as a "breeding nest of American Communism."Lubienecki, P. (2015). Catholic Labor Education and the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists. Instructing Workers to Christianize the Workplace. Journal of Catholic Education, 18 (2). http://dx.doi.org/10.15365/joce.1802062015 Following World War II, the ACTU declined and eventually dissolved in the late 1960s.

Notable members

* John C. Cort * John F. Henning * Charles Owen Rice * Paul Weber (unionist) * Frank Andolina

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Association of Catholic Trade Unionists 1937 establishments in New York (state) 1960s disestablishments in the United States Anti-communist organizations in the United States Catholic trade unions