Trade Union Educational League

Progressive Era Repression and persecution Anti-war and civil rights movements Contemporary The Trade Union Educational League (TUEL) was established by William Z.

[2] Shortly after the tiny group was called into being, Foster departed for Soviet Russia, ostensibly as a correspondent for the Federated Press news service, but actually to attend the Founding Congress of the Red International of Labor Unions (RILU), best known by its contracted Russian name, "Profintern.

According to Foster's account, TUEL preexisted as an independent organization and "upon my return to the United States I had a meeting with the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party, who agreed to support the work of the Trade Union Educational League."

He embraced Communism and the Red International of Labor Unions, or Profintern (RILU), advocated independent working-class political action, and believed that the AFL would have to function as a strong, centralized organization if it hoped to survive and grow.

'"[4]In defending the existing system from what he perceived as a Moscow-directed attack, Gompers availed himself of every opportunity to question Foster's motives and emphasize his close personal connection with the American Communist movement.