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Show Union Under Red Control Senator Maintains By Senator Arthur V. Watldns Washington Evidence lndl-cates lndl-cates that the United Public Workers of American, a union representing 30,000 to 35,000 dues paying government workers throughout the nation, is under the control of the Communist Party, Sen. Arthur V. Watkins (R-Utah) said today. Sen. Watkins, a member of the Senate Internal Security committee, com-mittee, also reported that the committee Is seriously considering consider-ing contempt proceedings against Abram Flaxer, national president presi-dent of the UNPWA, for his refusal re-fusal to produce certain documents docu-ments for the committee. "I think it should be pointed out to the public and to members mem-bers of this union that the committee com-mittee does not believe that a majority of the rank and file is aware of the control which the Communist party exerts over their union," Sen. Watkins said. It should be noted that the UPWA had as its predecessor the United Federal Workers of America, and the State, County and Municipal Workers of Amer- ira nrh with n loner histnrv in the Communist direction. Testimony was obtained at executive ex-ecutive sessions of the committee commit-tee presided over by Sen. McCar-ran McCar-ran (D-Nev.), chairman; Sen. Watkins and Sen. O'Connor (D-Md). (D-Md). In 1950, according to the testimony tes-timony of Harry Read, top C.I.O. official, the UNPWA was expelled from the C.I.O. for having "failed to function as a labor organization, organiza-tion, for acting as subsidiary of the Communist Party, an agent of the Soviet Union, for advancing advanc-ing the interests of the Soviet Union over and above the interests inter-ests of the members of the United Unit-ed Public Workers . . ." Flaxer was described to the subcommittee as "one of the tried fanatics" of the Communist Party. Read named him, together with Eleanor Nelson, president of the United Federal Workers from 1944 to 1946, and'Ewart Guinier, secretary-treasurer of the UPWA, as Communists at the time the organization was ousted by CIO. Flaxer, a Lithuanian-born immigrant im-migrant who came to this country coun-try as-a boy, was named as a Communist by several witnesses, one of them his ex-wife, Mrs. Vivian W. Soboleski, a former Communist herself. She testified that, to her knowledge, Flaxer was a card-carrying Communist up to 1940, at which time she divorced di-vorced him. Henry W. Wenning, who was secretary and treasurer treasur-er of the SCMWA when Flaxer was president, testified that he knew Flaxer was a Communist during their association, which j terminated in 1944. Harry Read, the CIO official, said he had good reason to believe Flaxer is presently a Communist. |