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Session:         Page of 592

to be very nice to her. He was almost ingratiating. Doris quickly understood. That was a major weakness with him.

Q:

Was he ingratiating with the rest of the staff?

Foner:

No. He was merciless with them. He would scream at them. And when Davis would scream, people accepted that, you know, that's how he always is. I remembered when I raised the question that it was a mistake to have the strike against the Nixon pay board and at the meeting said so, after we paid three-quarter-of-a-million-dollar fine, nobody would dream of saying that. I said it, and he didn't say anything.

Q:

So do you think that his personality, to some extent, discouraged dissent and open discussion within the union?

Foner:

Well, it made it difficult for it to take place. He didn't believe that it would be possible for workers in large institutions where there were all divisions to run the union. He couldn't reach them effectively, and therefore the delegate assembly, was a routine kind of thing where you would outline what you wanted to do, then when social workers and nurses got in and started debates, it drove him mad.

Q:

And what do you think that did to the morale of those social workers and nurses who might have felt that this was an inhospitable place for them to become active in?

Foner:

To some it had a negative effect, but some, you have to remember, if you're committed -- say I'm a social worker or a professional worker and I view the union as an opportunity for me to bring forth my ideas, my beliefs, to an audience of 400 people every month, I have a built-in constituency that I'm going to use. So, many of them saw it that way. They were advancing their own political ideas by getting up and challenging and raising their issues, and Davis was infuriated. He knew what was happening. That it was going to drive the hospital workers away because they couldn't compete verbally with these people.

Q:

That is a cost of democracy. In general, how would you rate Davis in terms of his commitment to internal democracy?

Foner:

Well, he was committed to internal democracy, except he didn't believe that it would work unless a strong person was in charge or strong people were in charge and running things, and people who would understand how to unite workers. Therefore, he was very careful about staff and people who worked with him.





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