guts, but they jumped me that night. We held caucuses, that was before election, before we really put on our campaign, that was the break. So we started having caucuses.

Mr. TAVENNER. Was that in 1948?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Yes, it was in 1948. I don't know the month. Early part of 1948, I would say fourth or fifth month, somewhere around there or so.

We held caucuses. One night at my house we were having a meeting and Tony's wife calls up, she was crying, and hysterical. I said what is the matter. She says "I just got a phone call Tony is in some hotel room with some blond and this person is going to pick me up to take me down there."

I says "That is good. I ought to be with him." Tony was alongside of me. "It so happens Tony is right here,” I said. "Do you want to talk to him?"

He picked up the phone and talked to his wife. That kind of settled things down. We told her to pay no attention to calls. Because if they called my wife she would say God bless him, he will come home when he is hungry. His wife is a little different.

Mr. TAVENNER. Tell the committee about the methods used by the Communist members in this group with which you and DeAquino were associated. Where were these meetings of the Communist Party held?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. I have attended meetings at Brantford Place, I don't know the number, I think it was 50, second floor, Communist Party headquarters anyway.

And they moved, I attended 4 or 5 meetings up there and they moved from there I think it was No. 8 Park Place. I never attended a meeting at Park Place but I know they moved.

Mr. TAVENNER. Did people who were not members of your local attend these Communist Party meetings at Communist Party headquarters?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Yes; that is right.

Mr. TAVENNER. Did functionaries of the Communist Party attend these meetings with your union members?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. That is right.

Mr. TAVENNER. What occurred at these Communist Party meetings that you attended?

Out

Mr. KOLOVETZ. The biggest part of the meetings was taken up to get members in, get more members. They would have a quota, one month it would be set for 10 and the next month for maybe 30. of that they would grab maybe 2 or 3 for the whole quota. Mr. TAVENNER. Do you recall whether your local's funds were used at any time for Communist purposes; that is, outside of your own local affairs?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. When I was on the executive board I know time and again at the Walt Whitman school.

Mr. TAVENNER. What is that?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Walt Whitman school. I don't know whether it is a Communist school or not, I don't know-but funds were donated for that. For the Daily Worker, funds for that. We have also given funds to a summer camp at Sky Lake. I have never been up there. I don't even know where it is.

Mr. TAVENNER. Do you know whether that camp was conducted by your local of the UE as distinguished from the Communist Party? Mr. KOLOVETZ. It was a camp that was run by the UE. As far as I know.

Mr. TAVENNER. You say funds were paid for the Daily Worker? Mr. KOLOVETZ. That is right.

Mr. TAVENNER. How did it happen that you used the local's funds to pay the Daily Worker?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Well, there was so much-I remember quite a few instances $50 and $75 sent there to the Daily Worker. I don't know whether it was for subscriptions or advertisements but we used to get quite a few of them, a nice bundle of them anyway.

Mr. TAVENNER. Did you in return get any large number of copies of the Daily Worker?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Yes, sure.

Mr. TAVENNER. What was done with them?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Well, a few of us would have the job of getting into the plant an hour early and throw them on everybody's workbench, distribute them throughout the plant. Some people read them, others threw them away. Then during our campaign when we were fighting these birds we used to get a bundle of papers and there would be certain people picked, some to distribute papers at Westinghouse, some to go to General Electric, early in the morning-and if you don't think it is humiliating to stand on the corner handing out Daily Workers and having people throw them back at you and cursing at you-we had to get their confidence. That was one of the ways and we had to do it. A few of us were very embarrassed but we did it. It took us a long time. I can say one thing that our local has done a wonderful job to get rid of them here in the East.

Mr. TAVENNER. As a result of the information that you and Mr. De Aquino secured, was a successful fight conducted within your union to get rid of the officers in your local who were members of the Communist Party?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. That is true, it helped, I will say that. We had an awful lot of gullible people in the shop. At meetings a certain party would get up and say "I have been a member of the Communist Party for 35 years, but I am doing a job for you people. I have done this for you or done that for you." People went for that. He did-he did do a job. But in the meantime he was also doing a job on us. Helped us on one hand and took it off us with the other.

Mr. TAVENNER. Did you withdraw from the Communist Party at the same time that you began this fight against the Communist leadership in your local?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Oh, yes.

Mr. TAVENNER. No doubt about that?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. We withdrew before that, about a month before that to get our groundwork set up. There was no doubt there. We took lots of abuse, slander, threats.

Mr. TAVENNER. Who were some of the officials of your local union who were members of this group of the Communist Party?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Well, one was Joe Sprechman. He is now dead. He is self-admitted. Another one, he was not an officer but he admitted he belonged to the party for 18 years, Gabe Bloksberg. Connie Dubac. He was president of the Federal Club, which was a cell. Helen

Dobish, she was I guess you would call her secretary or treasurer. She collected dues at the meetings.

Robert Galina was a secretary. He would write out the letters of when meetings were being held and where. Martha Stone, Elwood Dean.

Mr. TAVENNER. Was Martha Stone in your local union?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Oh, no.

Mr. TAVENNER. Was she a member of this club of the Communist Party?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Yes; she chaired the meetings lots of times. Elwood Dean's wife, Jeanette Dean.

Mr. TAVENNER. Were you acquainted with Archer Cole?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Well, the only way I was acquainted, I have seen him attend meetings. They were district meetings. I was a district delegate and we used to hold meetings during the day. I don't know offhand the number but it was on Haley Street. He attended meetings. Mr. TAVENNER. What kind of meetings were these?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. They were district meetings.

Mr. TAVENNER. Of what?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. UE, district 4.

I don't know whether you would call them Communist meetings or not, but an awful lot of them were there. It was what we can do to disrupt this and what we can do at the next place to disrupt that. One thing after another. It was always a company that the fight was waged against. I remember in 1947 it was-when a company locked us out because of their dirty tactics, instead of negotiating they made people wear signs all through the plant. For that reason

Mr. TAVENNER. Who made the workmen wear signs?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. The business manager at that time, Joe Sprechman, told us to put on signs and carry them, all kinds of digs against the company and the company didn't approve of wearing signs while you are working or pasting them on walls, union propaganda.

We were asked to remove the signs and those that did not were sent home. They finally sent enough of them home to cripple the plant. And the company closed us out, unless we would sit down and negotiate decently without wearing signs.

Finally it was a 7-week lockout and finally they sat down and negotiated and it was I think about 48 hours later everything was all settled.

Mr. DOYLE. What group decided to have the workmen wear the signs while they were on the job?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. I guess it come down, I don't know whether it come down from the executive board or just from the business management and president.

Mr. DOYLE. Do you remember if that matter was discussed in the
Federal Club by the Communist Party members of the union?
Mr. KOLOVETZ. I don't remember that.

Mr. TAVENNER. I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Scherer.

Mr. SCHERER. I have no questions except to repeat briefly what I said to the previous witness that I think you are to be congratulated on the fight you made within the union to eliminate Communist domination of that union. You are a credit to your country and a credit to the union.

You engaged in the fight at a time when I know that it was difficult to do so and the pressures against you were great at a time when you didn't have too much help. The committee appreciates your testimony and cooperation.

Mr. DOYLE. I want to supplement Mr. Scherer's remarks by adopting them as my own and as chairman to thank you.

I want to ask one question: Was the Communist Party cell at the plant in control of union affairs of local 447, UE at the time that you instigated this free election?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Yes, sir.

Mr. DOYLE. I notice you say that very positively. Now was there another date later when the Communist Party regained control of the union at that plant?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Well, after the elections there was no doubt about it; they left like drowning rats.

Mr. DOYLE. So far as you know did the Communist Party group ever regain control of that particular union?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Never.

Mr. DOYLE. I want to ask you this question, and I have never talked with you in my life, we have never even shaken hands?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. That is right.

Mr. DOYLE. You are well qualified to answer this question and to express an opinion because of your experience both as a union member and as a Communist Party functionary, even though you were a phony Communist for a patriotic purpose. As you learned them, are the objectives of communism and the Communist Party and the objectives of organized labor one and the same thing?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. No; I would say no.

Mr. DOYLE. You would say not?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. No, they are not.

Mr. DOYLE. Could an American workman be a loyal union member and at the same time follow the dictates of the Communist Party in America?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. You mean could he be?

Mr. DOYLE. Yes.

Mr. KOLOVETZ. No.

Mr. DOYLE. Do you mean he could not be a loyal union member and at the same time be a Communist Party member?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. No, sir.

Mr. DOYLE. Why not?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Well, for one thing a good union member looks out for all the workers and not just for a few. And a good union will also have a treasurer, which we never had. Where the money went nobody knows. I know that there are lots of good unions around and if you look at their treasury they have quite a bit of money. You take an average of 5,000 people at a dollar and a half per member over a period of 7 years, this is over $6,000 per month and over a period of 7 years.

Mr. DOYLE. Do you mean you could not get an accounting of that money?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. No.

Plus your dollar assessment for nonattendance every meeting which amounted to the largest crowd I remember was during the negotiations, we had 1,200 or 1,300 people at a union meeting and that was

exceptional. It was a very large crowd. Like I said before, we had quite a problem of getting a quorum because the bigger the crowd the less chance they have of running the meeting.

Mr. DOYLE. I remember you said that 250 members out of 5,000 members was about the most you could get.

Mr. KOLOVETZ. That is right.

Mr. SCHERER. With the evidence that we have had before us, of the complete domination of this local by the Communist Party, reasonable minds could come to only one conclusion, that these funds which disappeared were used as in other cases we know about for support of the Communist Party unknown of course to the rank and file of the members.

That is one of the objectives of this committee. To point out to rank and file members of these very few unions that have been Communist dominated; rank and file members who are loyal Americans, what has happened to the contributions they have made and how their own union is being used by a few members of the Communist conspiracy who had been able to gain control of these unions. For instance, the other day we tried to point this out to the people who were contributing to the Civil Rights Congress because they were misinformed or misled as to the purposes of the Civil Rights Congress.

Many people were giving funds, where they otherwise wouldn't give funds to the support of the Civil Rights Congress. They didn't know that the Civil Rights Congress and the Communist Party were almost synonymous and that those funds, some of which came from union members also, were being used to support the Communist Party and support bail funds for individuals who were not only Communists but who had been charged with violating the laws of this country.

Mr. DOYLE. Did you hear your friend, Mr. DeAquino, testify? Mr. KOLOVETZ. I heard the latter part of it.

Mr. DOYLE. I wrote down here his exact words of a brief statement. He said they owned the union, referring to the Communist Party, "They owned the union lock, stock, and barrel and did anything they wanted."

Is that a true statement of the condition of the UE local 447 at the time you and Mr. DeAquino went into the Communist Party as phony Communists in order to uncover their conspiracy and totalitarian control of the union for their own despicable Communist Party purposes? Mr. KOLOVETZ. It is very true.

Mr. DOYLE. That is very true?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. Yes, sir.

Mr. DOYLE. I assume, sir, that you will be called a stoolpigeon by some of the men that are in the room today. Yesterday I noticed some of them described a friendly witness who testified to help their country as a stoolpigeon. You also will be called a stoolpigeon. Of course you are used to that.

Mr. KOLOVETZ. I have been called worse than that.

Mr. DOYLE. Well, so have I, by this same gang. That is O. K. with

me.

Have you been paid or offered any money or any inducement to come here on your own time to testify?

Mr. KOLOVETZ. No, sir.

Mr. DOYLE. Why didn't you bring a lawyer with you?