The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 20, 1925, Page 3

e_ - aS an AN enc cencavanaitinctnan tonsa teaning pan "EXPELLED FOR PROTESTING A SCAB AGREEMENT ‘Article 3 in Reply to Liar Duffy By J. W. JOHNSTONE. Seoretary-Treasurer Duffy, in his letter replying to the numerous de- mands for further light on the expul- sion policy of the Hutcheson admin- istration, disposes of the Chicago cases with the following short para staph: “Local 181, Chicago, Ill., is a local ease, Charges were preferred against 31 members under Seo. 54, and the eases were tried in Local 181. Byvi- dence was presented and the defense made by the defendants. The report of the trial committees was read to the local, as I understand it, and out of the eleven jmembers charged, five were expelled and an appeal as to the legality of their trial is now pending before the general president.” Duffy Lies by Omission. Mr. Duffy, as he gets towards the end of his letter, improves in his method of camouflage.. To the unin- flated the above quotation sounds perfectly fair and legal. But it is not what Mr. Duffy says, but rather what he does not say, that the membership is interested in. The facts in the case are even more startling than in any of the other expulsion cases. The “crime” com- mitted by the five Chicago expelled members, was the introducing of ¢ resolution condemning the signing of an agreement by Hutcheson without the consent of the membership, which, in essence, was exattly the same as the Landis award. This resolution ‘was adopted by the membership al- most unanimously and sent to the convention, under the seal of the lo- eal, for action there. This was a right guaranteed them by the constitution. Mr. Duffy fails to state this fact or that Hutcheson withheld the resolution from the con- vention and instructed the local, of- ficialdom to prefer charges against the members signing the resolution. Hutcheson Will Review Hutcheson! “Tt is a local case,” says Duffy, “and an appeal as to the legality of their trial is now pending before the gen- eral president.” In other words, Hutcheson demanded of the local of- ficials that these members be placed under charges, which makes him the prosecutor and now he is going to sit as the judge of the appeal! The five Chicage defendants were not tried according to Sec. 55 of the constitution. They wete arbitrarily expelled by the local president who admitted that he had been instructed to do so by Hutcheson. Three of the trial committee have igned affidavits swearing that the re- port of the chairman of the committee was false. Coupled with this, the membership of Local 181-had no op- portunity to vote on the question. And altho this fake trial took place nearly three months ago, only one or two meetings of Local 181 have been held because the local officials are afraid to face the issue before the membership. Members Against Scab Agreement. The mild resolution passed by Lo- eal 181 against the Chicago agree- ment does not tell the whole story. The“ Chicago agreement, signed by Hutcheson, is the Landis award— word for word, and paragraph by para- graph, it is exactly the same. It was signed by Hutcheson on the morning of the district election, and was heralded in the capitalist papers as a great victory. Due to this pub Heity, Harry Jensen, the reactionary president of the Carpenters’ District Council, was reelected to office And it was just on the eve of the convention that the membership found out that Hutcheson had signed ascat Landis award, which they had been fighting so successfully for years. So, Duffy’s claim that it. is a loca) case, is just so much bunk. The Chicago cases are the same as all the others, These expelled members were exposing the corruption of Hutcheson. And like all the other® who are doing likewise, they were ex- pelled without hearing, trial or com- ment of the membership. They stand in Hutcheson’s way, so they must go. Tomorrow I will take up that part of Duffy's letter dealing with the ex pulsion of Fred W. Burgess of Phila- Alphia. 15,000 NEW SUBS BY JUNE 15! Meat Market 4301 8th Ave. i files, BROOKLYN, N. Y., ATTENTION! CO-OPERATIVE BAKERY IN THE SERVICE OF THE CONSUMER, Bakery deliveries made td your home. FINNISH CO-OPERATIVE TRADING LESOPATION, Inc. (Workers organized as consumers) Left Wing of A! Building Trades Publishes Pamphlet The Progressive Building Trades Worker has just published a pamphlet, “What's Wrong in the Carpenters’ Un- jon?” This pamphlet tells the story of ad- ministration corruption and expulsion of militants in the Carpenters’ Union. It Produces documents to prove} every accusation made against the Huteheson machine. Although dealing exclusively with corruption within the Carpenters’ Un- ion, it is a pamphlet that should be read by all militants no matter in what industry they may work as the indictment of Hutcheson is in reality an indictment of the labor bureaucrats that now control the American labor movement. It is a 56 page pamphlet. Price, 10c per copy, $7.00 per hundred. It is published by The Progressive Building Trades Worker, 19 So. Lin- coln St., Chicago, Ill. NO CONVENTION | FOR MINERS IN DISTRICT NO. 1 Cappellini Afraid toFace Members PLAINS, Pa., March 18—The min- ers of District 1, United Mine Work- ers of America will not be given a special convention to take action on the grievances existing between them afid thé coal operators as well as their charges against the district president according to a letter sent out by the president and secretary of the dis- trict, Rinaldo Caspellini and Enoch Williams. The letter states that the reason given in the request for a special convention were not of sufficient im.) portance to justify the calling of one. j Cappellini, in good jesuit fashion de- ; clared that the protests of the unions against the violations of the constitu- tion by the district president were not specific; that their protest against the treatment accorded the miners by the Pennsylvania Coal company were not BN DEFEAT EAT JOHNSON AND ‘B. AND 0. PLANIS SLOGAN OF T. U: E. L. GROUP IN MACHINIST’S UNION TO ALL SUPPORTERS OF THE LEFT WING ORGANIZED AROUND THE T. U. E. L. MACHINISTS: We recommend and urge that all IN THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF militants enter energetically into the election campaign to defeat the Johnson slate. This is to be done by: 1. Exposing William Johnson as the tool of the bosses in the union (B. & O. company union plan, banking schemes, expulsion of militants, ete.) 2. Support of the Anderson slate. The situation confronting the left wing is as follows: We have made certain minimum demands upon the Anderson siate— fight against the B. & O. plan, reinstatement of expelled militants, no fur ther persecutions, fight for amalgamation of the metal trades. Three members of the Anderson slate, McNamara, Knudson, Williams, have endorsed these demands in letters to us—not clearly and unequivocally, but in a manner that puts them on record. We regard the Anderson slate as a center grouping jn the |. A. of M,, and-consider that, as none of the candidates are running as individuals but as a group opposed to the reactionary Johnson administration, that the statements of these three candidates are binding on the whole group, The Anderson cénter group has no program. It is'not militant, is con- fused, and without the activity of the left wing to drive it forward, is un- able and unwilling to conduct a real struggle for the rank and file. against the bo We entertain no illusions concerning the Anderson. slate, but it now appears in lieu of any left wing slate as the only opposition to Johnson. We consider that the defeat of Johnson at this time, in view of the coupling of his name with the class collaboration schemes like the B. & O. plan, would be a sign of a revival of fepudiation of the corrupt and treacherous Johnson administration. the fighting spirit in the union and a It would be a real,achievement that would have a far-reaching effect in the labor movement. The left wing cannot remain passive in this situation. must be thrown into the campaign and all left wing sympathizer: Its full strength is well as the mass of uninterested members rallied against the Johnson slate. We must not let Johnson win because of our lack of interest. would be a defeatist attitude and one This that the left wing ¢annot adopt. We repeat that the T. U. E. L. militants are the ofly element in the union with a practical program of struggle, the only group that fights un- falteringly for the interests of the rank and file. Only the left wing program and left wing leadership will build the I. A. of M. and make it a powerful weapon for the workers. It is to combat reaction in the labor movement like that of the Johnson administration that the T. U. E. L. Fight for Amalgamation! Fight against expulsions! Fight the B. & O. plan! Against Johnson and his schemes is organized. of betrayal! + For the Anderson slate against “B. & O. Bill”! Defeat Johnson and crush the attempt to turn the union over to the capitalists! Rally to the T. U. E. L! Fraternally yours, International Committee for Amalgamation in the Metal Trade Industry, TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE. | 50,000 JOBLESS well grounded and that the holding of a convention would entail a heavy ex. pense. Cappellini was afraid to calla convention. knowing it would . mark the end of his political career in, the union. Threats of Death. The miners of Local 1487, Pittston, held @ stofmy meeting during which George Molesky, president of the lo cal for the past five years was threat- ened with death unless he quit office and refused to contest a new eléc- tion. This death threat it is under stood was made by henchmen of Rin- aldo Cappellini, after the district presi- dent stated that unless there was more co-operation between the union and the coal operators, some of the mines would close down. Moelsky was threatened with death as he entered the hall unless he with- drew from the office, but he declared he had made up his mind to with- draw before he left his home that evening. A new set of officers were elected afer considerable wrangling and fist fights. State troopers were called to dis- perse a meeting of Woodward Local 699, held last night at Pauxtis Hall, Edwardsville. The meeting had been called by Adam Dunn, president of the local, but when trouble started be- tween his followers and those headed by Stanley Edmunds, the meeting was broken up. ° A meeting of the Edmunds group was held shortly after in Burba’s Hall and Michael Evelock was named president of the local and Edmunds was named docking boss to take the Place of George Lynn. Evelock war president of the local for a short time, but at an election held recently Adam Dunn was named to take his place. A DAILY WORKER sub means another Communist. | NOTICE | The T. U. EB. L. is short on copies of the following Labor Heralds: March, April, May, and October, 1923. ‘We ask the readers of this page to send in these copies so as to complete Mail to the Trade Union Educational League, 1113 Washington Bivd., Chicago. Thanks. Restaurant mt de N.Y. INJUNCTION ON SLAVES WALK |IRON WORKERS IN BUFFALO STREETS} OPEN “Coolidge and Chaos’’. By FRANKLIN P. BRILL. “BUFFALO, N. Y.—Fully 50,000 will- ing workers in Buffalo, N. Y., are walking the streets, haunting the fac- tory gates and employment agencies, looking vainly for the Coolidge ‘pros- perity which politicians thru the kept press promised. Before election, foremen. and super- intendents of some of the largest automobile plants, iron and steel mills, tool and machine shops passed down the word that if Coolidge should not be re-elected the factories would either run on part time or be closed indefinitely, Buffalo has a “public welfare” de- partment with not as large a payroll, for example, as the department of’ public works. Yet in a recent report the commissioner of public welfare, “with tears streaming down his cheeks” (as described by a news re- porter) admitted in the council cham- ber that during tie past months 31,000 applications for jobs were made at his office, and he was able to place only an insignificant number ‘of this large army of jobless men. The Blessings of the Steel Trust. The Lackawanna Steel plant; re- cently absorbed by Charlie Schwab’s Bethlehem Steel kingdom, has been operating at from 40 to 60 per cent capacity during the past year. Their employes are miserably housed in company owned dwellings for which the employers extort outrageously high rents so that two and three fam- ilies occupy quarters planned only to accomodate one average sized family. The company also “provides camps,” consisting * of of unsanitary bunks, where the slaves sleep and eat. One is for Negroes only and another permits white and colored employes alike to share the bounty of their masters, In cool disregard of their previous threats and promises, many of the factory owners, immediately after the triumphant election of Morgan and Rockefeller servants, laid off many employes on one pretext or another. During the past week the Roger Brown Iron and Steel works dis: missed 100 men in a single batch, The Arcola branch of the American Radiator works, doing an internation- al business, closed down indefinitely. Many other industrial plants, large and small, are running with reduced force or on part time only, The program of the Trade Union Educational League, if supported by organized labor generally, will put their class in the) ‘possession of the power necessary for their emancipa- tion from the yoke of capitalism, DRIVE Find They H Have Both|Scab Iron League Is Be- hind Courts NEW YORK. — A stiff injunction against striking ironworkers is the latest development in the workers’ fight against the<open’ shop Iron League of New York: The injunction, issued by Federal Judge Knox, is tem- porary, but argument to show cause why it should not be made permanent will be heard by the judge in a week. Locals 40 and 36% of the Bridge and Structural Ironworkers, Local 52 of the Ornamental Ironworkers, Local 197 of Steam Derrick Workers and Local 170 of Riggefs and Machinery workers are enjoined by Levering & Garigues Co., McClintic-Marshall Co., Heddon Iron Construction company and Hay Foundry and Iron Works. The companies are all members of the Iron League and are “snakes” accord- ing to union members. Forbidden to Do Anything—But Scab. The injunction is designed to re- strain the defendants from combining or conspiring to compel the plaintiffs to employ only union labor, from “in- timidating, coercing, inducing or ad- vising any person or persons to re- frain from engaging plaintiffs to per- form work,” from conducting or ad- vising a boycott of. plaintiffs, from calling or inducing sympathetic strikes or from doing any other act which tends to interfere with the plaintiffs’ work. The companies assert in thetr plea that they have over $5,000,000 worth ot work under way. The union threat- ened to call strikes of affected unions employed on Iron League jobs outside of New York in order to compel com- panies here to employ only union workers. Work on over 30 large building en- terprises in the city have been held up by the strike of the ironworkers. No ornamental work, no stair build- ing, boiler installing nor machinery placement nor setting of stone are permitted on jobs where general con- tractors are working for the Iron League. The league's policy is not to recog- nize the ironworkers’,union nor have any dealings with tt and its member | based upon production. | Mike Tighe Sleeps —Except on Pay Day, While Wages Collapse BUFFALO, N. ¥.—The Donner steel plant is putting into effect the 10 per cent wage cut. The excuse advanced is that the introduction of new mach- inery demands it.’ A small number of the more skilled wage slaves in the steel industry have an agreement So when the productivity of the slave is increased wages are automatically reduced. With the wage cut in the Donner plant the American Radiator company closed down indefinitely. The rumot is, that this company will start up again within the next month with a wage reduction of 10 per cent. While these cuts are taking place in the steel industry Mike Tighe soundly sleeps except when it comes time to draw his salary and expenses. The only force within the ranks of steel workers that holds out hope for these slaves, is the progressive com- mittee that is being formed under the leadership of the T. U. B. L. SITUATION IN SHOE INDUSTRY IS MOST CHAOTIC Amalgamated Officers Try Crooked Game By M. SHARAF. LYNN, Mass.—The opponents of the Boot and Shoe Union succeeded in blocking the referendum catiing for the Amalgamated to join the Boot and | Shoe. The local that initiated that referen- jdum withdrew it from the council and seceded from the Amalgamated, and will apply for a charter in the Boot jond Shoe at the expiration of the {present agreement which ends on April 30. The mixed local that endorsed the referendum notified the Amalgamatea jthat they will not be a party to an signed by the Amalga- | agreement mated. The Heel workers and Bottomers’ locals called special meetings to take up the present situation and it is most likely that they will secede. The Lasters’ local, which seceded from the Amalgamated about a year ago and functioned as an independent body, were granted a charter by the Boot and Shoe and will be the first local in Lynn under the Boot and Shoe since 1903 at the time the Boot and | shee was driven out of Lynn. Charles Hartshorne, general agent of the Amalgamated, was doing all in his power to have the referendum polled, altho there was no more five locals to endorse the referendum, which is required by the constitution of the Amalgamated union. The last convention of the Amalga- mated elected a committee of five to call a conference of all independent unions for the purpose of amalgama- tion. That conference was never called, and Hartshorne, who is to see that the constitution and decisions of conventions be lived up to, has never called that committee to account. Which goes to show that something is wrong. The progressive committee of the Shoe and Leather industry, which is working in conjunction with the Trade Union Educational League, is to meet in a few days to map out tactics ap- plicable to the present chaotic situa tion in Lynn. Miners Get a 25 Per Cent Cut; Boss Says They Asked for It! Miners employed by the Consolidat- ed Coal company, in the Somerset region of Pennsylvania have been handed a 25 per cent wage cut and asked to sign on the dotted line. Ac- cording to the company statement the cut, effective March 12, followed a vote taken among the miners. The old ton- nage rate was $1. The company ic one of the largest in the country. NOTE. We have been for- tunate in securing a large shipment of this working class drama, employers keep open shop on jobs. Textile Barons Get More for Product While Cutting Wages MANCHESTER, N. i h March 18— Advance in price of One cent in new season's ginghams by“the Amoskeag Manufacturing company calls atten- tion again to the inedtiity involved in cutting its workers’ wages ten per cent last fall, by a master propagan- dist at a specially low rate that enables us to sell it at a mark below the usual selling price. Take advantage of it. again,” Page Three DISTRICT ONE, U, M. W., PUTS UP REAL MINERS Progressives Take Stand Against Machine By R. BAKER. SCRANTON, Pa—We were ‘sitting around the kitchen stove of @ miner's home discussing the coming election in the Miner’s Union in District One, when Bernard Zaleskas, the progres- sive candidate for president, eame in from his day’s work in the mines. A tall, stalwart figure whow the 30 odd years of coal digging have failed to bend, or mar, his face black from grime and coaldust symbolized the determination and the fighting spirit that made possible the miners’ vic- tories in the past years. He was introduced to the DAILY WORKER correspondent as the real representative of the rank and file who was selected to head the progres- sive ticket against the corrupt Lewis. Cappellini machine, which has so of- ten brazenly betrayed the miners in the anthracite fields. No Greenhorn in the Mines. Zaleskas has been actively and consciously participating in the class struggle from the first day he swung a pick. He was among the pioneers who organized the Miners’ Union 26 years ago, and pointed out to us the woods where the first secret union | meetings were held. Those were the days when the min- ers had but one enemy to fight, the mine owner. Many were his stories of the long, bitter strikes, lockouts, blacklists and pitched battles that finally established the United Mine Workers as a force to be reckoned with and respected. The miners knew then and still know how to fight a clean-cut open fight against the operators, All the forces of the mine owners including the well known iron fist of this steel trust state could not hold them down in the battles to establish ‘the union. New and Fierocer Struggle. And yet, today, after all these years of struggle, the union is the whip that stands between the miners and the operators, today Zaleskas with a large gtoup of the rank and file must di+ vide their energies between fighting the bosses and the corrupt officialdom of the union that is betraying and sell- ing all the hard won achievements of a 25 year struggle. Zaleskas and his supporters recog- nize the tremendous significance of the movement they have initiated, and are calling on the rank and file of the union to join them in this fight to make their organization a fighting weapon that will yield results to the miners. For the first time they have intro- duced real issues in the district elec- tion campaign. They are calling on the rank and file to judge the candi- dates by, their program, and not by the fine, ready-made election speeches. Programs, Not Persons, Must Rule. It was difficult to get much informa- tion from Zeleskas about himself. He pointed out that this election cam- paign will not be fought on the vir- tues of the individual candidates, a mistake the miners made in the past and are still paying for dearly, but on &@ practical program that must solve the many burning problems the min- ers are now facing in District One, as well as in the entire coal mining industry. ° Zaleskas has been an active mem- ber of the Mine Workers’ Union from its very inception, having held a num- ber of local offices, and has partici- pated in all the ai 6s that tied up the anthracite industry during the last 26 years. Besides being a miner and a mili- tant union man, he is a student of so- cial and economic problems, and pos- sesses knowledge that would shame many legislators and “pillars” of so- ciety. It is a hopeful and significant sign when the rank and file can pro. duce a man from the pits who has both the courage to oppose the union | | “Good Right Arm” Needed, Sometimes to Swing a Pencil To the DAILY WORKER: I notice a couple of interesting letters in to- day’s paper. Why can’t more of the comrades and readers write their ex- periences on the job and looking for jobs? Do they think this ts unimportant? Won't the “Streetcar man” whose letter is published today (Mar. 11) write himself about his job and un ion? He says “my good right arm is ready to defend the Communist movément now.” This is fine, and the sorely needs all such arms; times to handle a pencil. We all know the old adage “the pen is mightier than the sword.” Well, we won’t give up the idea that the sword is also a mighty good propaganda weapon in its place, but just today, let’s all do a little more writing about our jobs. We can park the sword on the table nearby and so keep it handy. Glad to see Comrade Ford of Balti- more in print, too. He is right, ig: norance must be conquered. Wish he would write again about the actual conditions of himself and other work- ing folk in Baltimore. Let those who labor tell the world about that labor. Fraternally, H. C, Fillmore, movement some officialdom and the operaters, and who possesses the knowledge of the social and economic structure of so- ciety. Witcunas—Another Fighter. Soon another tall miner entered the room with the news of an accident in the nearby colliery that had sent a neighboring miner to the hospital. The news was taken in a calm, sert- ous manner that denoted that these men were accustomed to accidents as every day occurrences, The newcomer was John Witcunas, progressive candidate for vice-presi- dent. Witcunas spent 16 years in the mines, and bears many scars from en. counters with the “cossacks,” the coal and iron police, who are sent to ter- rorize the miners during strike per- iods. He, too, is determined that the un- ion for which he fought and sacrificed must become the fighting organ of the rank and file. With a bitter smile he told us of Cappellini’s promise to give the rank and file expression thru the general grievance committees, and cited the recent order from the dis- trict executive board to dissolve these bodies which were the last vestige of power held by the rank and file. The basis for this latest betrayal was laid immediately after Cappel- lini’s election, when a clause was in- serted in the constitution giving the officials power to dissolve any dele- gated body of which they disapproved. This further explains why John L. Lewis. adopted Cappellini as his right hand man in District 1. Retaining and developing of the general griev- ance committees is one of the strong points of the progressive program on which these candidates are running. A Striker of Old Forge. After a short street car ride we ar- rived in Old Forge, the storm center of the last outlaw strike. We soon found the home of John Sabatelli, the progressive candidate for district vice-president. Sabatelli is youngest of the candi- dates, being 27 years of age, but he possesses all the courage and enthus- fasm of youth and his five years’ ex- perience in the mines is rich with many strike exepriences, the latest being the great outlaw strike involvy- ing 12,000 men in which he took an active part. All three of the candidates are but little known outside of their local un- ions and the collieries they work in. They represent the first conscious or- ganized effort on the part of the rank and file to assert their position and power. PITTSBURGH, PA. To those who work hard for their money, | will save 50 per cent on all their dental work. DR. RASNICK DENTIST 645 Smithfield Street. Sin By Upton Sinclair About which Mike Gold says: “Tt is terrible, bitter truth, and some of the scenes brought the tears to my newspaper sterile eyes .. “The play has great sweep, and a real power in moving the heart. Some of the scenes are like a real experience—the loss of one’s friend by death, the pangs of loneliness or prison experienced 16 CENTS A COPY from The Daily Worker ‘ Literature Department . 1113 W. Washington Bivd. Singing Jail Birds Chicago, Ill, !