The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 30, 1925, Page 3

THIS PAGE Is Devoted to the Activity and Interests of the . Trade Union Educational League (T. U. B. Ls.) North American Section of the RED INTERNATIONAL OF LABOR UNIONS (R. 1. L. U.) ~ ws HE T.U.E.L. Represents the Left Wing of the Labor Movement. Its Purpose Is to Strengthen the Labor Unions by Amalgamation of Existing Unions, Organization of the Unorganized, and by Replacing Reactionary and Class Collaboration Policies with a Unified Program for the Transformation of the Unions Into Organs of Revolutionary Class Struggle for the Overthrowal of Capitalism and the Establishment of a Workers’ and Farm- ets’ Government. GARMENT BOSSES CALL IN LABOR HATING CROWE TO DO DIRTY WORK AGAINST AMALGAMATED STRIKERS The bosses of the International and J. L. Taylor Clothing companies, not satisfied with the brutalities practised by the city police force and their hired sluggers, have called o nState’s Attorney Robert BE. Crowe for assistance in the attempt to establish a non-union shop by terrorizing the Amalgamated strikers. Crowe, ever ready to help in any fight against organized labor sent a detective from his private force to the plant of the International Tailoring company. It is understood that an company. An assistant state attorney is “investigating” charges that union pickets are assaulting scabs. When one of the striker asked the beefy and brutal looking detective from Crowe's office who he was and why he was bustling about yelling and trying to frighten the pickets he was told that “I'm from Crowe's office. I'm here to see that the law is not broken. These fellows will have to move on and keep moving.” He refused to give, his name and said he was there to investigate char- ges that the unionists have been as- saulting scabs. When the striker offered ‘to ‘secure evidence for him that it was not the unionists who were being assaulted the gént who represents the might and majesty of Mr. Crowe swore roundly and detioun- ced the striker as a liar. When it was pointed out to him that he was supposed to be attempting to find out the truth about the assault charges he grew red and bellowed, “Move on. Get the hell out of here before I run you in. You can’t tell me my business. IL know what I'm doing. Get the hell out of here.” Efforts will be made to find from Palen atte Crowe. information as who ai him to send his private thugs to the scene of the strike and to find if he is honest: in his:efforts to get at the truth about the sluggings that have occured at the International and Taylor plants. If Crowe is as anxiovs to punish those who have beaten up unoin ists as he has been in the past to help frame and railroad to jail mem- bers of working class organizations he will find the strikers ready to help him. He can have his detective investi- gate the assault committed on a striker by officer No. 4011 if he is not @ tool of the bosses in this strike as he was in the strike of the Interna- tional Ladies’ Garment Workers Union. SCAB HAT FIRM BEGS JUDGE FOR ANTI-UNION AID Tries in Vain to Run Away from Union BRIDGEPORT, Conn., July 28.—F. Berg & Co. big open shop hatters, at Norwalk, Conn,, admit they are whip- ped by the United Hatters’ Union, un- less Judge John J. Walsh of the court of common pleas makes per- anent a temporary injunction he Banal against picketing. Hearings aro being held, with David Fitzgerald, mayor of New Haven, acting as coun- sel for the union. The Berg firm moved to Norwalk last May from-Orange, N. J., with the announcement they were out for low- er cosisand would never do busl- ness again with the union The firm had been in business in Orange for 60 yoars and the transfer of its plant. Dut a large percentage of the hatters ot. the unomployed list and struck a blow at the union, But tho union followed the shop and when the plant opened its doors in Norwalk union agents told Berg he would have to sign up. “You have not a chance.” replied Charles Berg, rebuffing them. But union pickets began to be so effective that Berg's non-union hands quit in batches and the company, in its petition to the judge bewails the “complete ruin” that is ahead, Th will be no ruin but uninterrupted duction if tho firm signs up, says the union. " Otherwise the fight will go on, Tho union had experience with injunctions in Orange, where the Borgs, in former efforts to go open shop, tried these writs in vain. \ & ‘Give this copy to your shop- tae assistant states attorney is “invest- Bookkeepers’ Union Officials Imitate- Pogroms by Sigman NEW YORK.—The Bookkeepers’, Stenographers’ and Accountants’ Union in New York is very small. The greatest part of its members are employed in union local offices, radi- cal papers and charity institutions. A very small percentage is employed in business offices and only five bank employes. The bankers and office managers’ of New York hate to see their offices organized and the officers do not possess the nerve and ability to fight hard enough. They held few meetings in the lower Broadway sec- tion, but a policeman told the presi- dent that he does not approve such meetings and the meetings were stopped. The members kept on de- manding of the officers some work and they had to do something to in- crease the membership. So they des cided to gain the sympathy of the bankers and businessmen by cleant! ing the union of ."“Gpmmunists,” real or supposed to be unists, As a rule there will always be Commun: ists found in a union, when the offi- cers want to show their loyalty to the capitalists. The officers of the B. S. and A. U. picked out George Primaw, a very active member of the union, who had the herve to criticize the president's inactivity and suggest some ways of organization. They brought charges against him that he is a member of the Workers Party and therefore w member of the T. U. E. L. Primow is in the union long enough, but they never brought charges against him, A trial committee was appointed to try Primow. The majority of the trial committee, under the influence of Organizer Freina denied Primow a fair hearing. The minority of the trial commit- | Unfortunately for the <tc DAME Politician Hits College That Took John D’s Millions LAKE GENEVA, Wis., July 28,— Two hundred delegates to the Wiscon- sin State Federation of Labor con- vention at Lake Geneva heard Assem- blyman Wm. Solenian, a member of the Painters, denounce the University of Wisconsin for accepting a donation from the Rockefeller foundation, The foundation subsidizes education that is to its liking. “Let wealth gain a foothold and wealth will expect something in re- turn”, Coleman said. TELLS HOW UNION PAINTERS FOUGHT FOR CONDITIONS But Union Failed to Pro- tect Members (By T. K.—Worker Correspondent) STAMFORD, Conn., July 28.—I am a Young Worker League member here in the so-called prosperous town in Stamford and am employed as a paint- er with 19 others in a silk mills, situ- ated on the Post Road on the boun- dary between Stamford and Sound Beach where approximately 600 work- ers are employed. Seventy-five per cent of the help are girls and boys, mostly girls, their age ranging from 12 to 18 years, I take this opportunity to write an article on the working conditions in an open shop where all sorts of young help are hired to keep the wages low. The production at the factory is turning the raw silk into selling qual- ity. The mills is divided into several sections, each divided into their re- spective departments, preparing the silk for the market. Union Painter On Job In regards to the reason for this writing, the following situation arose in the new section, of the building where we painters (all union) are la- boring. ( The job is in the control of the own- ers of the place and the hiring is done thru the superintendent due to the job being day work. The painting job for the old section of the building was given to a New Jersey contractor and the company experienced a heavy loss. Hence the day work job—all other trades on the premises under contract. It is a test STEELIMILLS INSTALL NEW SKILL KILLERS Wage Cuts Loom; Men Bought Like Cattle By THOMAS, (Worker-Correspondent.) PITTSBURGH, Pa., July 28.—While at the present time actual mill work is almost déad’in the Homestead Steel works there is great activity in the repair sections. Old buildings are being torn down and replaced with new buildings, more modern and twice the size of the old ones. They have torn down two big machine shops and replaced them with one big shop with all the latest modern ma- chinery which is claimed can be worked by unskilled laborers. New machinery is installed in the rolling mills which will do away with practically all the men who are now straightening rails and changing the course of thé steel from one roll to another. A new modern boiler house has been erected which will do away with fifty men. Skill Useless, Job Gone, Wage Cut Coming. At the same time all this work is being done, runners are being circu- lated that the mills are not paying their way, that wages are too high, also that there is too much compei- tion from foreign countries. The old, old story, but it is being circulated in all the “safety” meet- ings, and the workers should take it as a warning of something to come— which means there is going to be an attack on wages around this section soon. I have something to say about the employment office. Having occasion to seek a new position as a laborer I visited the Homestead plant of the Carnegie Steel Company. There were about two hundred seated around the benches when the chief labor foreman walks in, orders all men to stand up, he then walks THE DAILY WORKER ANTHRACITE MINE EMPLOYMENT CUT 72 PER CENT IN ONE YEAR; SPEEDED MEN MAKE BARE LIVING WASHINGTON, July 28- -The total number of wage earners in the 56 colleries of the Pennsylvania anthracite mine fields in October and Novem- ber, 1914, was only 44,500 as compared with 157,743 in the same period of 1923, In other words there has been a reduction of 72 per cent of the num- ber of workers in the anthracite mines in one year. These and other startling figures are in a report on wages, hours, earn- ings and working conditions’ in the anthracite industry made by the bureaus of labor statistics and published in the + aE: Monthly Labor Review that has just! been issued. SMALL CROWD T0 Statistics Conceal Deductions. These statistics show that contract miners averaged only 10.8 days work BLOW ilS HORN ' in a half month period and earned By Helm Voll, Worker Cornespondent. $1.20 an hour for the actual time they spent in the mine or $143 for the time spent at the face, This is an increase of about $1.50 a day over 1922, with which year the comparisons are made in the report, LOS ANGELES, Cal. July 18. —(By There were slight increases also in} Mail)—The meeting of Carpenters the pay of company miners and other | “0cal 426, on July 17, not well classes of employes. But the miner’s| attended. Whether this was due to the hot weather, the mass meeting at Music-Arts Hall, or the fact John Horn, retiring secretary of the Central Labor Council, and now a member of the board of public works, was sche- duled to speak, I am unable to say Horn began his talk by saying he wage given above, is reduced by the charges for powder, fuses, caps, tools, hospital fee and rent deducted by the companies, “The increase in average earnings,” ys the report, “is due in part to the September, 1923 increase of 10 per cent in wage rates, and in part appar- ently, as is usually the case with ton- nage or piece workers, when the op- portunity for work is less, to speed- ing up in 1924, resulting in greater production per man per hour than in 1922, and also to the inclusion of data for employes of 31 colleries in 1924 that were not included in the 1922 study, “Company miners who are paid by the hour worked five-tenths of a day less, but 16 hours more, than contract |miners and theit half monthly pay checks averaged about $30 less than the contract miners. So with the con- sideration miners, they worked about 16 hours longer, but at the end of two weeks received nearly $20 less. The report shows 34,111 ground employes and 10,380 surface employes, and of the former, 11,778 were contract miners, 961 considera- tion miners and 1735 company miners. Report Slides Over Explosive Charges Concerning the contract miners ‘the report says: “Based on time at the face, 23 per cent earned less than $1 an hour, but based on time in the col- around looks at every man, the same as a farmer would when he buys a horse or a@ cow, and finally picked on one big husky fellow. He then tells by which the company means to ex- perience in order to save money think- ing the men will hustle if put under a strict and conservative foreman. Slave Driver Fi doing the painting the foreman secured his position by being the first man hired and was recommended to same by a store owner who handles paint sup- plies and an agent for the material used on the job. While on the job two men were laid of for reasons unknown to afty of us. We had our own reasons—reasons -hat would have shocked many in the yuilding trades had the truth come out and the victims given a fair trial at the union meeting. One of Those Climbers. Our own reasoning would have fired the present foreman who is rushing the job for fear he’ would lose his place and who is taking advantage of this fact—that only 20 months have passed since his admission as a jour- neyman from his class of apprentice. A feeling of dislike arose amongst the others that,one is all he needs today. cS sh steel industry come the fighting force we were a few years ago. _ There is a very favorable sentiment for a union around here, but the lead- ers of the present union do not try to organize, they do not even put out leaflets. If something was done to try and organize I think the mass of workers would follow. Strike Vote Wins Arbitration Issue Against Boston ‘“‘L” BOSTON, Mass., July 28.—As the result of the overwhelming strike vote of the employes of the Boston elevat- ed system the company officials have yielded the point the men demanded tee, Chernow and Cooper, appealed |the painters upon learning who the | and agreed to arbitrate the wages to the trial committee for a fair trial, so that no one coull accuse the Book- keepers’ Union in unfairness to the members. The trial committee, i. e., the majority refused to listen to ‘the appeal. ‘ As the constitution of the union foreman was and trouble came sooner than we predicted, Shop Steward Idea. During the idle minutes left from the half hour at noon we spoke of electing a “shop steward” to see that we were treated like human beings, provides the case was put to the mem- | namely, stopping five minutes ahead bership and the minority of the trial | of time to wash, to see that water is committee appealed to the member-| brought to us for drinking purposes ship for a fair trial. Kitzes also took | 4nd to take care that any conflicts the floor to demand a fair trial for | avising between the foreman and the Primow. The leading “LaFollette so-|™men would be settled with as much cialists” defended the position of the | tiscretion as allowed thru the union. majority, trying to quote W. Z. Foster We finally had one elected, and ac- and Lenin, and they certainly showed cordingly on the day of his election, their complete ignorance. Their ap-|h@ blew his whistle, which he had peal did not do much good to them as | PUrosely bought, and the men quit the vote was 16 to expell Primow | °° the dai against 13. By the way, there are Shop Steward Fired. about 900 members in the union, Such a close vote did not pleasc the | elected “steward” was notified that dispute according to the system pre- vailing for 14 years. Judge Nelson P. Brown has been chosen as third ar- bitrator by James H. Vahey, union representative and Roland W. Boyden of the Boston Elevated Co. The distinctive feature of the old arbitration method, retained by the company’s back-down, is that the representatives Of each side are chosen driectly by their respective bodies. The company had demanded a less representative system whereby the union’s spokesman would be selected by the company from a list of five men nominated by the union, and vica versa. Until the strike vote the company stood pat and the state government was indifferent, Aftar the strike vote the company spoke The following morning the newly-| vaguely against compromise at first, but Governor Fuller became tn- officers of the union and the socialist | "18 services would no longer be re-| terested, admitted that the men wers lights in the union at once decided | Med. | nlncescdipenapear dag moma band MSE hy ygemagre Alper Maren Communist: once, er sie pat be aaed pt he was overdoing his privilege as “Brother” Steinberger, a union man, and had no_ busi- ignoramus of the BP. ta Wea ness to broach a subject without inactive member in the union, brot consulting the officials concerning any the charges. The charges are vaguo problem of such nature. That closed but the desire to get rid of the Com- munists is visible. Let the bankers know that the Bookkeepers’ Union is also a respectible organization and there is no danger to let they boys i join it. The B. 8. and A. U. will be Placed on the list of tho “reliable” unions very soon, the affair of the discharged men so far as:the factory was concerned, ~ No Aid From, Union, At the union meeting the case was brought up and thru misunderstand- ing between the delegate representing the local union and the body as a whole, the case was settled very dis- honestly. i ate ey Fortunately, the other man in ques- Bakers Care for their Own, tion, together with the ex-“shop st SEATTLE—(FP)—All unemployed | ward” are capable of securing a job members and their families in Locals | elsewhere. 9 and 227, Bakery and ‘ectionery Workers, Seattle, were n care of |, Canadian Labor Advocate Appears the union at a cost of $17,016.51] VANCOUVER, B. ©. 'P)— The r the ix months, December to June, | Canadian Labor Advocate is the new according to Secy. Paul K, Mohr. The |name of The Canadian Farmer-Lapor relief was partly trom the union treas- | Advocate, the progressive labor week- ury and partly by voluntary surren-|ly published in Vancouver. It succed- der of certain days on the job by em: | ¢d the British Columbia Federationist, ployed members. Banking Sharks Operate in Winnipeg technically cot ‘on the arbitration point, tho at “to prejudice public opinion their declara- tion for more 8. The union demands wages be raised from 72 cents to 95 cents an hour; the ort calling for a 7 cent per hour te Trade Unions of Sweden Increase Membership 47,315 WASHINGTON, July 28.—Accord- ing to a consular report just received at the end of 1924 the 34 uniofs affili- ated with the Federation of Trade Un- ion of Sweden had a combined mem- bership of 360,337 compared with 312,- 022 at the end of the preceding year, an increase of 47,316 or 15.1 per cent. Of the 34 unions 81 showed an in- crease and thr 5 The unions aff! with the Feder- ation of Trade Unions of Finland ha: a combined membership of 47,512 at the end of 1924,%An inorease. of 699 during the year, ¢)) liery, 33 per cent earned less than $1 per hour.” Based on the same form- ula, the report shows that 99 per cent earned less than $3 an hour. By far the largest number of contract miner’s laborers averaged between 80 cents and $1 an hour. The cost of explos- ives and other labor are paid from the miner¥ gross earnings, the rep>rt Says, but it makes no attempt.to.co.a- pare those expenses in 1924 with prev- fous years. SURVEY SHOWS PART TIME WORK ~ INMANY PLANTS ‘Employment in the Coal | Mines Shows Decrease WASHINGTON—(FP)—An analy- sis of industrial employment during the month of June that has just been |made by the United States employ- | ment service discloses part-time oper- ations in many plants. The heat wave that swept the country is said to have been one of the contributing causes as well as the fact that at the end of June in many industries, a few days to two weeks are set aside for inventory and repairs to plant, caus- ing a curtailment of the operating force, The major indusries reporting part- time operations and slightly curtailed employment during the past month were the textile mills which showed reduced working forces as compared with May; shoe factories in the New England states; and steel plants. Em- ployment in the coal mines, except in West Virginia, showed a further de- crease in June, Road construction is increasing and large building operations and under- | Was now granted the opportunity he had sought while the political cam- paign was on. “Time healed many wounds.” He said he bought the} Times every Sunday and in one issue wére figures to show the union mem- bership had decreased. Those figures he had found were of 1923 and not 1925. The membership had constant- ly increased, he said, and there were now fully 50,000 trade unionists in Los Angeles. After he left a motion was passed to find out on what terms we could reaffiliate with the ©. L. C. The Main Objection The principal objection to reaffiliat- | ing with the C. L. C., was, that it did not live up to the constitution of the A. F. of L. which says in effect that number of delegates shall be based upon membership, instead of not more than 3 delegates from each local, as is the rule in the C. L. C. This is de- trimental to the best interests of the carpenters who have the largest mem- bership. Another thing called attention to, was that the local had $2,000 invested in the Labor Press, the rival of the Citizen, organ of the C. L. C. Some kind of agreement should be made, it was pointed out, to protect the union against a financial loss. GIBSON PICKETS BRING ACTION AGAINST FINK Union machinists striking against | Wage cuts and the 9-hour day at the Gibson Spring Co. plant are on the | trail of undercover men in the Chi- | cago local who are trying to sap strike | morale. | Business Agent J. J. Uhiman is} flagé Three {IMPORTANCE OF : WOMEN GROWING IN INDUSTRIES Wages Received by Them Are Pretty Low By LELAND OLDS. (Federated Press Industrial Editor) Growing importance of women iff the trade union movement is empha: sized in a New York department of labor report on wages and hours of organized women In the state. The report is based on an investigation covering 39,893 women members of trade unions in 11 cities. The highest union es paid td women were for machine operators and proofreaders in the newspaper printing industry in New York City. Day jobs paid $60 and night work $63 tor a 45-hour week, The lowest rate shown is for wait- resses in Schenectady amounting to $10 @ week, supplemented by meals and some tips. Other low rates are $13 a week paid joggers in the book and job printing trade of Elmira; $14 to hand sewers and pasters of leather pocketbooks in New York City and $15 a week to embroidery shuttlers in the women’s garment industry of New York City. The highest and lowest full-time union weekly wages paid women are shown by industries as follows: N. Y, Union Hours Women per Workers Highest Lowest Wk. Garment $15.00 44 Hats and caps 27.00 44 Fur and leathe 14,00 44 Metal trades 16.80 48 Book printing 44 Newspaper .. 48 Knit goods . 44 Silk . 44 Theaters _- Upholstery 32.00 44 Hotels, restaurants 20.00* 10.00*....54 *plus meals and tips Practicall; all industries paying to women pay for regular overtime at time and one-half rates. Makers of children’s dresses, bath- robes and housedresses in New York City get doubletime for all overtime as do women in union upholstery firms. In Rochester waitresses get approximately doubletime for all over- time. In Schenectady they get only straight time for extra hours, In the women's garment and hat and cap industries no Sunday or holi- day work is permitted. ‘the “overtime rate 1s geteral time. For the same industry the rates are much lower in the smaller cities than in New York Cit Thus bindery women get from $25.50 to $40 a week in the union shops of New York City. compared with $21 in Albany, $18.50 in Buffalo, $13 to $18.50 in Elmira and $20 in Niagara Falls and Rochester, Gold layers get $27.50 in New York City and $21 in Albany. Platen press feeders in book and job printing get $29 in New York, $16 in Buffalo, $22 bringing charges against Michael 4 Ward before the union trial board and | | will ask for expulsion and a $1,000 | fine. Ward's alleged stunt was in pre- | tending to be strong for the union but | saying that it was no use holding out | against the company which is a new | adherent of the open shop Natl. Metal Trades Assn. Catenin in Rochester and in Syracuse. Fin- ishers in knit goods mills get $22.50 in New York and $16.50 outside. The rates shown are for work paid on an hourly basis. Combining all cities it was found that 14 per cent of the women worked piecework and the remainder timework, Piecework pre- dominates in the upstate cities. LOST! $2,000,000 IN RETURN CUSTODY OF FRANK FARRINGTON! FINDER TO ILLINOIS MINERS By ALEX REID Cima municipal improvements are under way. The feature of the month, ac- cording to the analysis was the in- creased demand for farm help. Textile Mills Slow Up, At the same time the department of agriculture issues @ survey of farm population which shows that on Jan- uary 1, 1925, there were approxtmate- 109,000 fewer hired farm laborers than on January 1, 1924. On January 1, 1924 there were 8,194,000 farm la- borers and on the same date in 1925 there were 3,085,000. _More to and From Farms, These figures apply to farm labor- ers who reside on farms at least 30 da: They do not take into account the casual farm laborers. The move- ment of laborers from farms to cities in 1924 is estimated to have been 461,000, while the movement in the opposite direction is estimated at 352, 000. Of the gross movement from farm) to city 22.2 per cent were laborers and of the gross movement in the other direction 25.2 per cent were hired la- borers, Getting a DAILY WORKER sub or two will make a better Communist of you. (Secretary of the Progressive Miners’ Committee) (Article V.) Everyone in the miners’ union remembers the $2,000,000 assessment for our brothers in the Herrin strip-mine case, where our brothers were on trial for their lives, against organized capital. Every miner gave cheerfully all he could and many gave who could not afford to give, but they were willing to suffer deprivation for the defense of the Herrin heroes, that the position of the Illinois miners once and for all would be made clear to the world, that the Illinois miners would not-permit their union to be wrecked organization of capital, or any ether $———.___ kind, irrespective of the consequences to themselves, Hiding in Springfield. When the men of Herrin and sur- rounding country were lined’ up in that bitter struggle to protect their jobs, to feed their wives and families, was Frank Farrington down there as their leader, and adviser? No, Nothing of the kind! That kind of work is far too dangerous for the Illinois faker, he was sitting in by any ers of the state force him to open up the books. While it may be true that publication of some expenses may not be wise policy, yet out of the $2,000,000 the miners were assessed, we were supposed to buy the Herrin strip-mine, but there is a standing reward to any- one whe can discover any trace of the title deeds to that property. Many are ask.ng, “If the mine belonged to us, why is there no ac.cunt shown froin it in the fnancial revorts of the miners’ his expensive quarters in Springfield far away from the turmoil and strife, like the “good leader” he is—not! The coal diggers, in spite of the coward, finally won their battle, both at the bloody strip-mine, and in the capitalist court. When the smoke of the battle had cleared away and “peace” reigned in that community, the miners began to wonder where the two million dollars went that Frank had collected for the strip-mine case, It had disappeared entirely, gobbled up, without any trace or discovery since by the rank and file of the Tits} nois minefs. Spurns Demand for Accounting, The outraged coal diggers demand- ed to have an accounting, but Frank has consistently rcfiused to do 46, end) no doubt will continue to deny that union, as it is one of the few mines working in the state at the present tive? And why is no mention made of the mine in the last financial re- port?) Even the name is gone now from the records. Another $100,000 Gone. Since that time Farrington’s office has loaned another $100,000 of the miners’ money to the Lester strip mihe, and the miners ure now asking who the hell owns this strip-mine any- way? The correspondence between John L. Lewis and Frank Farrington in con- nection with the strip-mine, commenc+ ing tomorrow, will be an eye opener |to those who have still any faith left in the union fakers. open for tomorrow's Keep your eye issue of the accounting until the progressive min- DAILY WORKER, Waa