The CIO, John Lewis, and the Left

This past spring two young Dissent writers, Mark Levinson and Brian Morton, went to Baltimore to interview Philip Van Gelder, one of the founders of the CIO and a former secretary-treasurer of the Industrial Union of Maritime and Shipbuilding Workers of America. Here is a partial transcript of what they asked and he answered.

Q: How did you become involved in the labor movement?

A: It started when I read a book by Norman Thomas, called America’s Way Out, in...