The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 19, 1925, Page 3

THE DAILY WORKER Page Three” —_—— SECTION OF THE TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE SHOE WORKER TELLS SHOP CONDITIONS Hopes forAmalgamation and Union By S. ASSAD. It has been my misfortune (or for- tune) not to be able to slave without a struggle, so that most of the time I find myself looking for a job. would like very much to relate of my adventures in job hunt- r they are worth while relating ‘© benefit of others who will find iselves in the same circumstances myself, But I will leave this for some other time because I believe the conditions in some of the shops I have worked in are,of a greater significance now, on account of the unity movement among the shoe unions, Factory Experience. In 1917 while hunting for a job, I happened to fall in a shoe factory as a trimming cutter, at that time when labor was at a premium, when work- ers everywhere were getting compara- tively good wages, I used to make an average of $12 to $15 a week. Not being able to support myself with that meager earnings I had to quit. Drifting from one place to the other, and after hunting for a job for the last 16 months I was compelled to beg for a job in the same factory. What are the conditions in this factory now? Hours—Morning 7:45 a.m. to 12, Then 12:45 to 5:45 p, m. Saturday 7:45 a. m. to 1 p. m. Piecework System. The majority of the workers in this factory work piecework, the time workers, except the foreman, get an average of $15.00 a week. for 51% hours a week. Pieceworkers vary for 1st class from $15.00 to $35.00 working at top speed; trimmers of 2nd class, $15.00 to $20 a week under the same condi- tions. Besides all this the workers are re- sponsible for any loss of stock or for any damage. I happened to be one of those to be charged for cutting two pairs of shoes over measure in about 1,000 (the shoes were used just the same.) as No Organization. It is the firm of Jacob & Sons of Brooklyn, As far as I, learn. there was never any attempt to organize this factory, which employs from 300 to 400 workers, The sentiment among the workers is very rebellious, if anybody happens to work a little faster and make 2 few dollars more, down go the prices and all the rest suffer. When any- body is bold enough to protest out he goes. (myself) Brings in Communist Press. I wonder how long will all these slaves stand for this kind of condi- tions in this land of plenty! Tt am watching and expecting with eagerness the time when the shoe un- ions will accomplish unity, and when they will start a genuine campaign to organize this hell hole. The DAILY WORKER, the Freiheit and Il Lavoratore were introduced by me in this place. Unfortunately, I am looking for work again and I can’t continue the work I started. More power to our press, the T, U. E. L. and our party in their struggle to awaken the workers to their in- terests. Unemployment Rife in Illinois Mines; Miners Form Councils From a Rank and File Miner T. U. E. L. section DAILY WORK- ER Dear Comrade:— Tam a miner and not a writer, Still I feel that something is going to hap- pen soon. It must happen; We can- not go along much longer with this starvation situation forever. The rank and file are surely muttering and dis- content is rampant and the workers are more and more turning to the Workers Party and the T. U. E. L. as they are the only organizations that point the way out. In Johnson City 8,000 miners’ are thrown out of work and mines are closing down daily, Witt closed down with several hundred Feb. 1st, Lin- eoln with 300, went down Feb, 3rd, Coalton with 900 Feb, 4th, Nokomis, with 800, Feb. 5th, Watch this grow from now on, 2,000 thrown out of work in three days in central Illinois, Most of the mines are working slow. Miners do not move fast but when they do there is generally some- thing doing. The formation of un- employment councils is a strange thing to the miners, but when they grasp the idea watch them take to it. Let's hasten the process, Dr. A. Moskalik DENTIST 8,W. Corner 7th and Mifflin Sts, PHILADELPHIA, PA. EEE EE aA I DR ER A Re et Eo RE cl td a A tt ana CANADIAN DISTRICT | MINERS OF NOV SCOTIA BATTLE GUT IN WAGES Refuse to Swallow ~ ope ge “Conciliation” At the recent election for officers in District 26 of the U. M. W. of A. in Nova Scotia, Canada, the Lewis ma- chine steerers received the drubbing of their liyes, and a complete left wing slate was elected. The British Empire Steel corporation, not being able to use the present executive board as they did John L, Lewis and company, have applied to the Cana- dian government for a “conciliation” board in order to put over another wage cut. The following are extracts from a statement issued by the ex- ecutive board of District 26, U. M. W. of A.: “We find ourselves in the position yhere we are permitted by the com- any to deal with no item in regard © coal costs other than the wages of the members of our union. In looking over these, for instance, for the past year we find that an appalling number of our members have drawn, in ac- tual money, less than one-half of the wage necessary to maintain a decent standard of living as set out in the Labor Gazette. “We have refused to take a cut in our wages, and a conciliation board has been applied for by the corpora- tion to assist in bringing that cut upon us. “Eventually we will be confronted with the batons of the provincial po- lice and the bayonets of the Canadian Garment Workers of Montreal and Toronto Strike Four thousand cloak, suit and shirt workers of Montreal and Toronto, Canada, affiliated with the I. L. G. W. U,, have declared a general strike. The cause of the strike is the en- croachment of the employers on stand- ards of work which have been reduced to an unbearable limit, The demand of the strikers is the re-establishment of the 44-hour week, a union agreement, establishment of a joint board of sanitary control. It is reported that many of the larger shops have signed individual agree- ments. militia as the final reason for us to accept a cut. “The country at large knows that this British Empire Steel corporation was conceived in iniquity and brought forth in deceit. Its pap was watered stock and puffed inventories, and it suckled heartily. Its president speaks for himself as do some of its directors. Today it is in its sturdy adolescence of turpidits and injustice. Its assault on our wages comes with annual monotony, and will continue until we are starved below the point of sub- sistance. “This country knows these things and yet, to our amazement, we see the country give judgment against us, and the government of our country send bayonets and bombs to fix our wage schedules. Conciliation boards have never resulted in a fair and im- partial investigation of the matters which underlie our difficulties with this corporation. We are hopeless of the present board being an exception in that regard.” NOVA SCOTIA MINERS VOTE STRONG FOR LEFT WINGERS As a sample of what the Canadian miners think of John L. Lewis and his crooked administration, here isa sample of how they voted in District 26, Nova Scotia: For President Locals 4521 John L. Lewl 69 George Voyzey vevseue 277 For Vice president Philip Murray «scores 77 Arley Stap! “| 186 For Secretary- surer itt Wm. ml seein 53 De NOArINg cocccccsssssesee 287 4718 4522 5529 4536 12 65 18 21 87 89 459 145 19 84 45 38 80 » 112 429 119 16 66 31 23 83 “135 434 139 In this district Lewis did mot even find a single local union that would nominate him. WESTERN UNITED FRONT, WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO GET IT Shown in Practice by California T. U.E. L. OAKLAND, Calif—The T. U. E. L. is doing very successful work, espe- cially in the Building Trades, Every Sunday evening a large conference takes place at 545 9th St., working on the problem of unemployment, which is a very serious question in Alameda county. Plans are being carried out to initiate the calling of a conference ‘with the unemployed by locals of the Building Trades. A special committee, Buck of the Lathers, Dart of the Building Laborers, Rutz and McCrary of the Carpenters, Karpoff of Machinists, and Paralta of Tailors, are working with Comrade Bloor in making a survey of the ac- tual situation and getting resolutions through the unions to call the confer- ence on unemployed within the next two weeks. This Is Really Unity A united front on the Sacco-Vanzetti case has been formed in a very sub- stantial manner, One large meeting was held at which appeared three delegates elected by the Building Trade Council, three sent by Carpen- Here he could not steal the votes. DISTRICT ters Local 36, three by the Laborers, also delegates from Carpenters Union Local 1167, and from the T. U. E. L. of Oakland, and San Francisco, local 460 of the I. W. W., 330 of the I. W. W., Workers Party of Alameda county and San Francisco, and three Italian organizations. The secretary of the United Front Conference, Comrade Bloor, was in- structed to send resolutions for adop- tion to every local union in the Bay District, This has been done. The Building Trades Council of Alameda County adopted it, also other local unions. A collection of $66 was sent to the Sacco-Vanzetti Committee. Now We’ve Got It— We Have Too Many; But Thank You All T. U. E. L. Section DAILY WORK- ER, Dear Comrade:— In response to your appeal, I am sending you a copy of Blatchfod’s book “Not Guilty” for our Walla Walla class victim. Best wishes to our mar- tyred friend and to you all, Fratern- ally yours, A. E. HOUSE, Spokane, Wash. ee Editors Note:—Thanks, comrade, for the quick response. The book has been sent to our friend in Walla Walla. Three other comrades have sent in a copy of the desired book. They gave no return address, If they wish to have them returned, please notify this section. Left Wing Fighters Are Never Beaten, Even If a Bit Licked The reign of terror and the expul- sion policy carried on in the I, L. G. W. U. for over a year by the Sigman- Perlstein-Forward alliance has strengthened instead of weakened the T. U. B. L. in that organization. The left wing is again in control of dress makers’ Local 22 of New York City, and are preparing to wage a stiff fight for the left wing candidates in the coming election in Local 2. The difference between a left wing and a right wing control was shown at the meeting of Local 22, when Zim- the organizing of the industry. Be- fore this appears in print the cam- paign will be in full swing. Grand Rapids Goes To Bat Against f Czar Hutcheson Wm. L. Hutcheson is not going to have as easy a time as he thought he would in putting into effect his expulsion policy. Grand Rapids is the latest city to take up the fight for the re-instatement of the expelled members, On Feb. 12, Local 1330 unanimously adopted the resolution sent out by Detroit Local 2140 to all locals of the brotherhood demanding the re-instatement of, all those ex- pelled without trial. The resolution and letter sent out by Local 2140 ts printed in another part of this section, BUILDING TRADES UNION TRAITORS EVERYWHERE Polish Workers Have Their Hutchesons, Read the following appeal issued in behalf of be persecuted building trades worlters of Poland. Then look over the sitwation here in America and you will see the similarity of the tac- ties used by the labor bureaucrats in the building fades and other unions. Hutcheson fhru his tool, Muir of Los Angeles, entered an alliance with the police of that city to raid a meet- ing of the T. U. B. L., which was the basis for expulsion of sixteen carpenters #y, the Brotherhood. In Detroit, Hutcheson thru his leuten- ants got out an injunction to aid him in expelling, William Reynolds from the union, |. In America, as in Poland, the treach- erous labor ,ieaders form a united front with the workers’ enemies, with the police, the courts, the employers, ete. The only way to successfully combat this class collaboration united front is to byild up a powerful left wing movement nationally and to be- come an active integral part of the International Propaganda Committee of the Revolutionary, Building Trades Workers. The appeal follows: TO THE BUILDING WORK- ERS OF ALL COUNTRIES! Dear Comrades: The Polish police have carried out a raid on and closed the Polish Building Workers’ Union. This union is one of a number of revo- lutionary organizations in the class trade union;movement of Poland. It is affiliated:tto-the Polish trade union central, which.is under the leadership of the Polish. socialist party. We would:draw your attention to the behaviour -of the leaders of this central thradut the whole history of our common sister organization in Po- land. What’have they done to sup- port the class movement of the build- ing workers? They have done all in their power to endeavor to get rid of the revolutiohary Building Workers’ Union, They have repeatedly caused the Warsaw'§ranch to be closed, it be- ing the sti est section of this or sanization. Finally, b; eans of their daily cir culated ndoes and calumnies they have®; ‘axed to get the ‘unior closed as thole. They set up 2 dual class boration organization in Cracow, ey limited themselves to falsé pamgR decisions when the question was" aised of amalgamating the Cracow ufion with the All-Polish organization. Working from behind the scenes, they supported the dual organization, thereby violating the decisions maf@é by the congress of Polish class pions, and supporting it against the revolutionary union of the Building Workers of Poland. They did this with the secret aim of preparing 4 forgery, utilizing their connection with the intelligence de- partment andthe police for this pur- pose. They think they will be able to replace the dissolved revolutionary union by the reformist Cracow assoc- iation which is more to their liking. Here, comrades, we have an ex- ample of the “democratic struggle” with your ideological opponent car- ried out according to methods borrow- ed from the secret service depart- ment, the instrument of oppression suppressing all vital thot in the Polish labor movement. The P. S. P. leaders in the central commission of Polish trade unions have shown themselves worthy hirelings of their masters, the capitalists, and upholders of the gov- ernment's political system. While energetically _ protesting against this attempt to abolish our Polish sister organization, we call upon you, comfades, to show solidar- ity with the Red Building Workers of Poland, we call upon you to link yp your forces in“a single militant front against capital’ and its henchmen. Every country, with the exception of the Union ‘of Soviet Socialist Re- publics, where rule the sickle and hammer, has its own oppressors, its own betrayers of working class inter- ests. Poland’s example will once again be a warning to you. Join up in the united front against capital, against the socialists of all shades. Only the Communist banner, leading in the van of the fight, right to the overthrow of capitalism, will show you a way out of the ‘present position of slavery and oppression, International Propaganda Commit- tee of the Revolutionary Building Workers. “Ingratitude,”’ Like An Adder, Stingeth Old Faker Jimmie “ QUINCY, Ma Feb. 17.—James Duncan, » resignation as first vice president of the American Fed- eration of Labor is under considera- tion by the executive council of that organization, said today he resente’ the “ingratitude” of the executive board in not naming him president ir place of the late Samuel Gompers, Se a nr pe aN ESS SSE iB Si Et hn ch hn EES A ee PE At ne IE th eee Ra SE On EASTERN PAINTERS FIGHT OPEN SHOP MOVE IN PHILADELPHIA Bosses Bait Hook with Measly Nickle PHILADELPHIA, Pa.— Dist. Coun- cil No. 21 of the Brotherhcod of Painters, Decorators and Paperhang- ers of America, covering the entire Philadelphia district, is seriously con- sidering the question of a strike dur- ing the coming spring. In order to prevent any decisive ac- tion on the part of the union, the mas- ter painters offered an increase in ‘wages of 5 cents an hour, but insist upon the continuation of the open shop system. A questionnaire regarding the strike was sent out to all members of the district and final action will be taken by the council as soon as the questionnaires are returned by the membership. The following _ state- ment was sent out by the council to- gether with the questionnaire: PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT COUN- ciL NO. 21 Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America. Philadelphia, January 16, 1925. The report of the conference com- mittee was read at the meeting held on above date. After going over the matter thoughtfully and realizing the attitude assumed by the master paint- ars and our members towards our or- ganization, the committee feels that the first step taken should be the sending out of the following letter and questionnaire to the membership and recommends the same to the dis- trict council: Dear Sir and Brother: The conference committee of Dis- trict Council No. 21 have taken a sareful survey of our craft in the city of Philadelphia and have come to the conclusion that the painters of Phila- delphia are not receiving the wages and conditions that they are justified in receiving. We are today in the van of all the building trades of Philadel- phia and away behind the brother- 100d men of other cities who are re- ceiving the following rates; g eseuy < SSS Washington Boston Newark Trenton Scranton, 40-hour week. Atlantic City .. Wilkes-Barre, 40-hour wee! Cleveland .... Brooklyn... As our living conditions are higher than these cities, we being the third highest in the United States, you will realize that it is time for us to se- cure some of these conditions, but you must remember that these condi- tions were secured thru their organ- izations and the members fighting and supporting them. The master painters up to the pres- ent have not dealt fairly with your committee, and have assumed the position that we have no organization and want to dictate the conditions that we shall work under. Neverthe- less it was thru the action of the district council and the committee that they granted you a 6-cent in- crease on January 1. Taking everything into considera- tion, we feel that for us to secure some of these conditions it will be necessary for us to take the bull by the horns and force them to recog- nize us. As the time is growing short and the committee realizes that some action must be taken by April 1, we are compelled to ask for a $5.00 assessment to help finance the district council for this contemplated action, We would recommend that this be the only assessment collected and if we have to strike, that no ben- efits be paid. The committee is sending you a questionnaire, with the thought in mind of getting the true sentiment and information of all the members. We ask of you to read this over care- fully and to answer same and send in to District Council No. 21, Brother- hood of Painters, 1924 Spring Garden street. Don’t disregard this or throw it away but answer it, so we may get the true sentiment and information of our membership on this question. Carpenters of Philly Act: Let Us Know How Other Locals V ote Carpenters’ Local Union No. 1050 of Philadelphia by a unanimous vote en- dorsed the resolution sent to all lo- cal unions by Local 2140 of Detroit, condemning the expulsion policy of William L. Hutcheson and demanding the reinstatement of the expelled nembers. The resolution is published n another part of this page. Write n and tell us what action your local taken on this resolution, ‘ DISTRICT Is Sledding Hard for Raphael? We'll Say So! The Philadelphia league is on the job. Some time ago they led the fight in the A, C, W. joint board that de- feated the resolution to send a com- mittee to welcome Abramovich, the Georgian white guardist. Now they report that Local 140 approved the de- cision of the joint board. In order to show that they meant business, Local 140 also elected a com- plete left wing slate. The right wing showed their full strength, coming to the election meeting after a frantic at- tempt to line up the shops. The test vote came on the local chairman. B. Nenstein, the left wing candidate, re- ceived 81 votes, to Feldstein's 52. The reactionaries then tried to create a disturbance, failing to do so, they quit the hall in a body. Once more our friends, the yellow socialists, tried to push thru a wel- come for the counter-revolutionary Abramovich, at Local 75, A. C. W. meeting. But the left wingers again were on the job and the motion was defeated by a vote of 15 to 4. Abramo- vich is having some hard sleighing in Philly. LEGION LEADER GETS QUESTIONS HE CAN'T ANSWER Cites Fakers to Help Him: They Don’t By A. W. YOUNG. On Feb. 4, at a regular meeting of Local Union 705, U. M. W. of A. O'Fallon, Ill, the commander of the American legion of the state of Illi- nois, Mr. J. J. Bullington, appeared in search of new members for his strike- breaker organization. He started out by saying that the American legion was organized for the purpose of establishing hospitals for disabled soldiers and collecting aid for widows and orphans, He then read some endorsements from those whom he called “labor leaders of whom the capitalist class of this country® is very proud.” The first one was Sam Gompers—a real tool for the masters of wage slaves—the second was John H. Walker—whom the workers think less of than they do of Strikebreaker Coolidge; the next was Frank Farring- ton—who was on the sub-scale com mittee at Jacksonville, Florida, Feb. 19, 1924; and who was instrumental in tying the “open shop” around the necks of the U. M. W.,of A. After the reading of the endorse- ments from the worst enemies the workers have in their labor move- ment, these questions were asked of the commander: Q. Incase the American legion was called out by the government to put down a strike, what action would the American legion take? A. If the government called the American legion out to put down a strike, we would be called on as Am- erican citizens and not as American legionnaries. - Q. In case the government would call on the American legion to put down a strike of the workers as Am- erican citizens, what action would the American legionnaries take? A. Obey our government. Q. Is there any connectfon be- tween the American legion and the K, K. K.? A. There has been a few friendly leters exchanged between the two or- ganizations, Then the commander’s attention was called to the raids made on the I. W. W. hall in Centralia, Washing- ton, which resulted in the killing and jailing of I. W. W.’s, and other acts of a similar nature. His answer to this was that they were individuals and not American legionnaries. His trip to Local Union 705 was a flasco, and an eye-opener to the work- ing class. At the present time the American legion is seeking an endowment fund of $5,000,000, which will undoubtedly be raised by Wall Street. The legion is the vanguard of capitalism. This $5,000,000 fund would buy tons of am. munition and firearms to put down the rising tide of the workers who pro- duced it. The vanguard of this country for the workers are the Communists, Their slogan is, “Workers arise! Down with the capitalist dictator- ship!” _——$—$—$—$—— a Red Revel Masquerade Ball, 37 South Ashland Avenue Corner of Monroe and Ashland Bivd., ruary 28, Help Insure ‘WORK WITHIN REACTIONARY UNIONS'-LENIN Must Be Done System- atically, He Says By N. LENIN Gompers, Henderson, Jouhaux, Le gien, are without doubt, grateful to left revolutionaries, who, like the German “opposition on _ principle” (save us from such principles!) or the American Industrial Workers of the World, preach withdrawing from the reactionary trade unions, refusing to work within them, Of Course There Are Difficulties There is no doubt but that the op- portunist leaders of the unions will resort to all the dirty tricks of bour- geois diplomacy, invoking the help of the capitalist governments, priests, police, judges, etc. in order to prevent the Communists from penetrating into the trade unions, to force them out of the unions, to make their work with- ing the unions as dangerous as pos- sible, aiding the police to persecute and hunt them down. But we must be able to withstand ull that, to be ready for any and every sacrifice, and even if necessary, to practice trickery, to employ cunning, and to resort to illegal methods, to sometimes even overlook or conceal the truth,—all for the sake of pen- etrating into the trade unions, to stay there and by every and all means carry on the work of Communism. Worked In Government Unions Under the Czarist regime, prior to 1915, we had no legal status, but when Zubatov, of the Russian secret police, undertook to organize the “Black Hundred Labor Assemblies” and labor societies for the purpose of trapping the revolutionists and combatting them, we dispatched to these meetings and organization, some of our best men, who got in touch with the mass- es and contrived to carry on a camp- aign of agitation within these organ- izations, with the result that we suc- ceeded in turning the masses away from the influence of the Zubatovists. Gompers, Henderson, Jouhaux, Le- gien and Co, are nothing but “Zuba- tovs” who are distinguished from the Russian Zubatov by their modish dress, their cultural polish, and by their more refined and democratically developed technique, in carrying out their infamous policy. Must Be Done Systematically It is certainly much more difficult to accomplish the kind of work carried on in Russia, by the Communists, in the countries of western Europe and America, because the workers are so thoroughly permeated with legalistic, constitutional, bourgeois-democratic prejudices, Nevertheless, this kind of work not only can be done, but must be done, and done systematically. Members of the A.C. W. Expelled from Union in Rochester, N. Y. In Rochester seven active left wing members of the A. C. W. were. ex- pelled recently for opposing the pol- icy of the officialdom. The agreement, which has been renewed, coupled with the expulsions, have served to height- en the spirit of discontent of the workers with the policies of the offi- cials. This, officially, throws Hill- man’s hat into the expulsion ring. A soft and easy living, close associa- tion with the powers that be, makes class collaborators of many labor officials. The fighting spirf® that made the Amalgamated is dead, officially. It lives, however, in the rank and file, and the needle trades section of the T. U. EB. L, is the expression of that spirit and has developed it to a clear- cut class conscious expression that has forced the Hillman administration to get off the middle of the road and take sides, The issues are clear now in the Amalgamated. The fight has just begun. Fine Work of T. U. E. L. and Y. W. L. in Philly The upholsterers and the cement workers unions of Philadelphia passed resolutions endorsing the Labor De- fense Council pledging support to the Michigan Communist defendants. The DAILY WORKER agent spoke for 20 minutes at the Cement Workers Lo- cal No. 6, showing the need of the unions supporting the only working class daily in the English language. He was given a very good reception. This is one of the best methods of bringing the DAILY WORKER to the workers. The knit goods workers of Phila delphia, although affiliated to the L L, G. W. U., do not believe in the ex- pulsion policy of their International officialdom., At their last meeting a motion was adopted to invite the Young Workers League to help them in their organization drive. The mem- bers of the Y. W. L. are amongst the most active workers in the T, U, H, L, } ! A