Workers Alliance of America

The Workers Alliance of America (WAA) was formed in 1935-1936 as a merger of predominantly socialist and communist-led unemployment councils, unemployment leagues and independent state organizations throughout the United States. At the head of the Workers Alliance was David Lasser, the organization's National President and Herbert Benjamin, its Secretary-Treasurer. Lasser, a registered Socialist, had graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as editor of Technocracy Review and president of the American Interplanetary Society before becoming involved in labor issues and forming the Workers Unemployed League in New York in 1933. Benjamin joined the Communist Party after serving in World War I and worked as a party organizer. In 1931 he organized several Unemployed Councils which coordinated demonstrations on behalf of unemployed workers. The Workers Alliance claimed to be the spokesman for all Works Progress Administration employees and the unemployed, but by 1936 the Alliance had come to the attention of the FBI who began to monitor its actions. Much of what is known about the Workers Alliance comes from their FBI file; however, because the FBI did not gather information on the group immediately, some early information was lost. The Workers Alliance held its Second National Convention in Washington, D.C. on April 7-10, 1936 where it incorporated the Communist-led Unemployment Councils into the organization and established its headquarters in New York. Other national conventions were held in Milwaukee (1937), Cleveland (1938), and Chicago (1940). The Workers Alliance quickly gained power and interest and, in 1938, claimed 800,000 members in 1400 local chapters. The Alliance started to fall apart in 1939 when membership began to decline with the introduction of a Works Progress Administration law prohibiting workers from membership in the Communist Party. Then, in 1940, Lasser resigned his presidency stating that the Workers Alliance was becoming too militant and dominated by the Communist Party, which claimed responsibility for the Alliance's creation and success. Benjamin also resigned at the 1940 National Convention, leaving the Alliance in the hands of inexperienced new officers. Although the Workers Alliance lost much of its prominence, the FBI investigation of the organization and its former members continued until 1961. The Workers Alliance had several connections to the Pittsburgh area. Local chapters included: Wilkinsburg #4, McKeesport #29, Hazelwood #75, East Liberty #76, Turtle Creek #80, Pittsburgh #83, Homestead #108, and Lawrenceville #142. At the Alliance's Second National Convention, Pittsburgh sent fifty delegates, more than any other city and one less than the most represented states of New York and Pennsylvania (its only other delegate being from Bethlehem). Pittsburgh delegates included Joseph Remko, Peter Dougherty, John Hickey, and John Fagen. During the investigation, the FBI used Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph reporter Leo Sheridan as an informant to gain information about Workers Alliance president David Lasser while Lasser was in Harrisburg.

From the description of Records of the Workers Alliance of America, 1935-1998. (University of Pittsburgh). WorldCat record id: 128305560