The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 28, 1925, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE MESSINGER LUNCH ROOM WORKERS | SLAVE 12 HRS. DAILY, 7 DAYS PER WEEK; ; DAY OFF ONLY BY SPECIAL REQUEST By RUFUS P. HEATH, Worker Correspondent. Messinger Lunch Rooms in the city of Chicago make up a corporation which forms a link in the food trust. BURNS” FINKS IN PLOT TO MURDER WILET STRIKER Three Arrested for a Conspiracy to Kill By A Worker Correspondent Three private detectives, alleged to be operatives ef the notorious strike- breaking Burns agency, were arrested yesterday on warrants charging them with conspiracy to murder Attilo de la Pilazza, a striking member of M. chinists’ Union Local 124, of Jolie’ ll, Their names are Daniel Bottee, A. R. Lopez and H. L. Kendricks, The case arose over a strike by garage workers in Joliet, and a swarm of finks immediately descended on the little city with a well planned scheme of the agent provocateur type so cus- tomary to the Burns agency, “Protection.” ‘Windows were broken in some gar- agés and the Winston Motor company was bombed. When apprehended by the Joliet police Bottee admitted that the National Automotive Protective association of St. Louis was paying the bill. The association now knows what sort of “protection” the Burns agency deals in. Machinists’ Union members, strik- ing against the five scab firms, the Buick, Hudson, Essex, Studebaker and Dodge companies, and supported by THE DAILY WORKE OPEN SH EN | HAS HIGH. RATE OF TUBERDULAR WORKERS By A Worker Correspondent NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 25.— Louisianna, the lair of the open shopper, convict labor system, tene- ment houses (and farms of the same variety where women, chil- dren and old men are forced to la- bor for less than an existence), ac- cording to a bulletin issued by the state board of health, has 19,260 tu- bercular patients in the various in- stitutions and homes, under treat- ment. This does not include many more who are daily employed in sweat- shops and factories scattering the germs of the white plague to their fellow workers, and sending it broadcast in ;goods manufactured here for shipment to the north and east. { The death rate from tuberculosis in Louisiana is 13 per 1,000. SCHOOL ADOPTS FINKS":SLOGAN, ‘DEPORT REDS’ By A Worker Correspondent HARTFORD,' Conn.—After seven detectives of ‘the Hartford police squad had attended the mass meeting arranged by the Young Workers’ League at the Labor Educational Alli- ance here this week, the teachers in The employment office is located at 17 Quincy street. Anyone looking for a job, must be there at 7 a. m, If you don’t get a job then, you must leave and return at 9 a.m. If you don’t get a job then, you must leave and return at 7 p.m. You have to wait out on the sidewalk in the cold, rain or snqw, while the inspector takes the phone and calls up the houses, to see whether they need any help, He takes+- the public schools came out in an open attack. League members are “reds,” and should be deported, teach- the important Carmen’s Local 882, had already won agreements with seven- Hee Weel GARAROS. ers warned their pupils, On a Mission. Wide attention had been attracted The Burns men came to town to|by the meeting, which was a protest break up the strike and crush the|against American “education week.” union, his time about calling, while you wait and shiver. Wages, Hours and Conditions. The day crew works a 10-hour shift and the night crew works a 12-hour shift, for the same weekly wage scale, which is as follows: Cooks, (they call them pantrymen), $22.00; wait- ers, $19.00; porters and dishwashers, $14.00. The day crew is divided in half, where possible, so that half be- gin at seven a. m. and quit at five p. m., while the other half begin at nine a, m. and quit at seven p. m. The. day crew works a half-day Sun- day, making six and a half days a week, . The night crew begins at seven p, m. and quit at seven a. m., twelve hours a day, seven days a week, Neither crew has a day off, except the wait- ers or countermen, and they can only take a day off by special arrange- ment with the manager, which is very hard to do. Manager’s Job to Drive. The manager is the slave driver. ‘They're short on nearly all the dish- es, silverware and glasses. When a rush is on, the porters are kept on the run getting the dirty dishes out to the dishwasher. The waiters must rush to get their tables and counter clear in time for the next customer. The cook and waiters are constantly hollering, “glasses,” “silverware,” “pie plates,” or “platters up,” while the manager is right there with the dish- washer yelling, “Come on, get these dishes out there, quick.” Of course, the manager would rath- er work the help to death, than tell the boss to get more dishes. In fact, he is afraid he will lose the job if he asks for more dishes and to get more dishes would mean less profit for the boss. The Spy System. The workers realize the need of a union and most of them talk in fa- vor of unions. But the boss has one or more spies (stool pigeons) in each house to report anyone who tries to talk a union or organize one in the Messinger houses. ~ Therefore, they are afraid to talk union, for fear that they will get fired and blacklist- ed. Just like in any other industry, you will find the scissor-bill there that don't care anything about the conditions that he has to work and live under, just so long as he has a place to sleep and coffee and rolls to eat. When you speak to him about a union, he says, “Oh, what do I care? I won't be here long. I'll be a sales- man or a bricklayer next week. I'm just here to make a stake, so for the length.of time I’m here I don’t need to waste my money on a union.” You gee the same sap a year later, still on the same old job. ea The Union Needed. The unior is the answer to the twelve-hour day. It is only thru a strong, well-organized industrial union that the twelve-hour day can be smashed. If the workers in the food industry, will only organize, they can get the eight-hour day and make the food trust sit up and take notice. If not, they will die working twelve hours a day. IN BOWERY MISSIONS IF YOU FALL ASLEEP YOU GET THROWN OUT By A Worker Correspondent NEW YORK, Nvi¥.—it is. very cold. The weather changed all of a sudden. | got my overcoat out of hock today. | am glad I have an overcoat. On the Bowery this cold night | can see thousands of men suffering from cold, Hanger and pov- erty. When you are homeless and broke, you naturally drift to the Bowery. Vv The missions are open: The Sal- vation Army hotel and the Seamen’s church institute, if you have the price. It is so cold that I decided to sleep in the mission, where there are also hundreds of others. But there are no beds to sleep on. One sits and sleeps in a chair all night long. “4 At midnight, they wake everyone up to listen to the religious services and to join in signing! lt, after they wake you up, you should fall asleep again—out you go into the cold street, A Miner Is Never Too Old to Have His Wage Docked By A Worker Correspondent WEST FRANKFORT, Ill.—‘Fritz,” an old coal digger who has worked for the Peabody Coa¥ company for the last 14 years and whi should be on a pension, is still not too old to learn jnew tricks that the bosses can put over. Not long ago, he “struck a role in his room,” as miners say. Any coal miner with horse sense knows that in such cases the roof becomes bad and is ver} dangerous to work under. So Fritz notified the face boss and de- manded a timberman to timber the place. i “Nothing doing,” says the face is. “If you want it timbered, do it yourself!” Old Fritz went home, the only thing he could do. The next day it was the same story and again he went home, When he came back the following day, he wa stold, “You are discharged!” When Fritz took the matter up with the pit committee, the committee, as usual, referred it to the superintend- ent, and there was a disagreement and the case went to a union board The board member told Fritz, “Don’t you worry! You go home until the roof is fixed and I'll make them pay compensation for every day you lose.” Three weeks went by before the board member told Fritz that he could go back to work. But when Fritz asked him about compensation, Some of them inveigled them- selves into an acquaintance with De la Piazza, a striker. Bottee was the chief “friend” in this case. Bottee fixed it up so that on a certain night, he and De Lapiazza would sit up till midnight playing cards, At midnight, Bottee persuaded De la Piazza to accompany him to a near- by restaurant for lunch. In the meantime the fink Kendricks and his equally finky companion, A. R. Lo- pez, went to Joliet police headquar- ters and told the cops that they had “information” that a bomb was to be placed in the passageway between the Studebaker and Buick garages. Ready to Kill. The police sent three men, Captain Altho the police did not interfere, they questioned several people and the seven dicks stayed thruout under the NINERS FORCED ON LOWER PAY BY UNION HEAD Farrington’s Man Fri- day on the Job By WILLIAM SCHROEDER. (Worker Correspondent) WEST FRANKFORT, IIl.—Reduc- tion of wages from 35 to 50 per cent is being forced on miners at the Orient No. 2 Mine, by men loading from 15 and more tons of coal a day for shift work pay behind the loading machine, The men complained and their case was taken up by a union board mem- ber aftér the pit committee had dis- agreed. The board member handed the case over to his assistant, an ap- pointee of Frank Farrington, presi- dent of District. 12, U. M. W. of A. The union assistant spoke in “his mas- ter’s voice” and declared that the com- pany had a right to pay shift-work wages because the loading machines were in an “experimental” stage yet, this, despite the fact that the ma- chines have been in use for three years! The miners’ agreement with the company states that, when any ma- chine is in use more than three months, it becomes practical and can not be considered any more as in the experimental stage. Miners know this even if board members don’t. But what most of the miners don’t know is that board members are there to take care of the interests of the coal operators. And coal diggers are there to pay their dues and keep their mouths shut—and to work at from 35 to 50 per cent reduction if the board leadership of Sergeant Moriarity. members order! UNION OFFICIALS AID BOSSES TO TO SANTA BARBARA BRING OPEN SHOP (By a Worker. Correspondent.) SANTA BARBARA, Calif. Nov. 22— Santa Barbara js being rebuilt with scab labor after.the earthquake of last spring. The California Development Association andj. the Los Angeles Times offered tp,,give Santa Barbara 4% per cent toward rebuilding the city if this was.done on an open shop McCraney and Detectives Lehner and Talkie. The two “informed” finks, Kendricks and Lopez, were joined by two more of the Burns skunks, J. A. Wise and J. J. Garvey. All seven waited in ambush across the street from the garage passageway. The chief fink, Bottee, took care when he and De la Piazza went out for lunch, to take the sidewalk along the front of the two garages and by the Passageway. Bottee had a “bomb” made of rags. When the two neared the passageway, Bottee lit a match and set the “bomb” afire, tossing it into the passageway. Shot Down Striker. At once the three police and four Burns finks rushed across the street to capture the “bomb” throwers. De la Piazza, thinking a holdup gang was attacking him and his companion, ran north on Scott street with both the Police and the ‘Burns finks shooting at him. He finally collapsed after being shot thru both legs and the police “captured” him. He is still re- covering in the St. Joseph’s hospital, But the police became a little indig- nant when the “bomb” was found to be a fake, and questioning the finks elicited the information of the con- spiracy which nearly caused the death of the innocent striker they had plotted to have shot as a means of discrediting the strike. The present arrest of three of the Burns operatives is the result. Joliet labor unions and particularly the machinists, are watching the case with interest and mean to see that the finks do\not get away with their usual dismissal, by secret influence on the prosecuting of- ficials. “Sixty Hours and Step on It!” Says Mail-Order House By SIDNEY KELLER, (Worker Correspondent) “Sixty hours and step on it!” This threatening warning to the girls employed at Sears-Roebuck mail order house is printed on blackboards in large letters as the bosses’ means of speeding-up the help. For “sixty he said, what Fritz had heard so often before, “Nothing doing.” Tf you want to thoroughly un- deistand Communism—-study | it. ie By J. G. SOLTIS, W Another “Charity” Hold-Up! ‘orker Correspondent. MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Nov. 25.—Eighteen hundred workers at the Ford plant here were forced to contribute one day's full wages to the community charity fund in thelr annual drive. Altho most of the workers are absolutely opposed to the principle of capitalistic their jobs. iv | The only choice they had was as alliat once or at the rate of 60 charity, they had to donate or to lose to whether they should pay the $5.00 4 hours and step on it,” the girls are paid the miserable sum of $18 per week, with big chances of getitng laid off after the Christmas rush if they haven't “stepped on it” enuf. Over 2,000 workers are laid off each year after the holidays. Fears of being laid off keep the workers in a frenzied rush to obey the bosses’ orders. Employment of- fices are packed daily with work seek- ers, standing around for hours anxious to a vacancy if some worker fails to keep up the pace, Despite the frequent changes of help, however, the bosses are bitterly hated, for it doesn’t take a worker long to catch on to their methods of exploitation, Some day, the workers \ basis. {j Workers Play With Fire. The business’ foreseeing trouble refused. Officials’ of organized labor advised the workers to collaborate with the chambér of commerce in the interest of peace and as a result or- ganized labor pledged itself not to raise wages. Tlie Citizens’ Committee made a pretensq@yat helping the union men to keep their jobs but the wolf soon showed its teeth. A notorious open shop manufactur- er of the SantatBarbara school poard brot in scab earpenters to rebuild the high school, saying he could not af- ford to employsunion men. Organ- ized labor was once more advised by its officials to work with the scabs and they even pledged donations to the rebuilding fund. One local union of about 275 members donated $1,000 toward rebuilding the schools. And Burn Their Fingers. The workers were given another }lesson in class collaboration when |they started on the Central Building. The foreman began driving the men working outside on scaffolds. Three men had to quit their jobs or en- |danger their lives. Then the foreman began picking on the union men. He brot a charge of stealing a brush against one man and laid-off that man tho he could not prove the accusa- tion. The union delegate was called in. He told the men “that the job is fair’—but the men refused to stand for that and quit, with the exception of a few. An advertisement which appeared in the Los Angeles Times recently is a signal to close the town of Santa Barbara to organized labor, a signal to scabs to flock to Santa Barbara. In line with this policy the Los An- geles Times carried a vicious story against organized labor in Santa Bar- bara. Attack Progressives Not Bosses (Worker Correspondent.) BENTLEYVILLE, Pa., (By Mail.)— —A mass open-air meeting called by the mine workers’ organization was held at Marianna, Pa, on November 15. The meeting was called for the purpose of protesting against Bethle- hem Steel corporation for trying to open their mineg under the 1917 scale or so-called open shop policy on the Ellsworth branch, There are a large number of pro- gressives in thig,section. So the pro- gressives got busy and distributed leaflets to the ,,miners who came to the mass meeting calling on them to fight for their jnion, to close their ranks against the 1917 scale and to force their offigials to take drastic steps in this fight and stop expelling the progressive members in the Unit- ed Mine Workerg of America. Some of the miners were distribut- ing leaflets, “Hands Off China,” and “Stand by Soviet Russia” and “Don’t Mobilize for Morgan. Officials in Frenzy Over Leaflets. When the district officials and their agents got holdiof the leaflets which criticized them5dor their inactivity and wrong policies or lack of policy, they went blind mad over Tt and tried to stop the distribution. In their fury they got hold of a miner who was distributing the leaflets “Stand by Soviet Russia” and accused him of nothing less than of being paid by the steel company to break the union. The district president, Mr. Fagan himself, with several of his gang at- tacked this miner and by force took away the leaflets that he had with him. The meeting was soon called to or- der and to the surprise of everyone, the meeting was opened by a priest with the prayer: “God Help and Bless Us in This Fight.” The priest was followed by, international organ- | i who spoke in Italian and Croa- tion, In their speeches they attack- ed Kaiser Bill of Germany for break- ing the contract rand marching thru Belgium, The Belgians took to arms and fought to the last ditoh against the kaiser. They further pointed out that Kaiser Schwab is doing exactly the same thing as Kaiser Wilhelm did. But we are advised to fight against Kaiser Schwab by quite dif- ferent methods—to sit home and keep quiet while the officials “with their brains and intelligence” (and by pray- ing to god!) will bring Charlie Schwab to stand by the agreement which he, himself, signed. One would wonder what would have happened with the Belgian people had they fol- lowed the advice of our union offi- cials. Kaiser Wilhelm would have marched thru Belgium without losing a single hair! The next speaker was Mr. Fagan, district’ president of this district of the United Mine Workers of America, He followed the same line about Kaiser Bill and Kaiser Schwab. He opened his speech with a plea for un- ity, but soon forgot his opening re- marks and started a vigorous attack upon the progressive miners, and the Workers Party. He pointed out that Tom Ray, Myerscough, Ruthenberg and Foster are just as dangerous to the union as Charlie Schwab is and stated that they must be destroyed by all means, This attack upon the left wing was the cause of a great disturbance among the large mass of miners who began to protest calliing Mr. Fagan a liar and pointing out that this group, Foster-Ruthenberg, are trying to make the union a fighting organization. Fagan then made a statement that the progressive miners at their last convention held in Pitts- burgh on March 15th were led by a man by the name of Mike Halapy, who is now organizing company unions, He was then again called a lar and challenged to prove his statements. He soon finished his h and was followed by Vice President Murray, God helped him, as it was prayed before, with a big rain storm so he had to cut it short without showing the miners the way to fight the Charlie Schwabs who are laughing at the agreements while our union of. ficlals are busy Aghting the “reds.” { Worker Correspondence Instructors: J. Louis Eng- dahl, Wm, F. Dunne and Oliver Carlson. Text: Dunne’s “Worker Correspondents” Thursday, 8 P. M. (No c this week) Daily Worker office, 1113 W. Washington Blvd Geis had WORKER-WRITERS MOBILIZING ‘ IN CORRESPONDENCE CLASSES This week, a new page is turned in the history of The DAILY WORKER for it marks the beginning of classes in WORKER CORRES- PONDENCE, both in New York and in Chicago. With these classes as centralization points, groups of worker correspondents are to be recrulted in all possible industrial units in the United States. Wherever a worker's ear catches a word of workers’ news, his pencil is to be ready to write it down and send it to The DAILY WORKER: this is the task for which the classes are to stimulate workers. In order to send in news to The DAILY WORKER, however, it is by no means necessary to attend these classes. They are only one means of encouraging and directing the work. Articles dealing with their courses will be published regularly in the paper so that those not attend: ing will be kept in touch and be able to profit, tho not participating, The text to be used is Wm. F. Dunne’s pamphlet on WORKER COR- RESPONDENTS, which is No, 4 of the Little Red Library series, and can “ be ordered from The Daily Worker Publishing Co. In Chicago, the classes are directed by J. Louis Engdah! and William F. Dunne, editors of The DAILY WORKER, and Oliver Carlson, secretary of the Workers’ School, while in New York, the work will be in charge of Joseph Freeman, proletarian journalist and poet. Chicago classes are on every Thursday night,-—New York classes, every Monday night. All fr terested workers can attend. NOMINATE RANK AND FILERS AND MAINTAIN GOOD RECORD, SAY UNION WINDOW CLEANEK By A Worker Correspondent Maintain the present policy of elect- ing officials from the rank and file! This is the slogan which members of Window Workers’ Local 134, B. S. E. I. U., will rally around tonight at their regular meeting at 180 West Washing- ton, when officials for 1926 will be nominated: Under the capable guidance of Steve Zaharachuk, business agent, this union has developed from a bank- rupt organization run by Tim Murphy and his henchmen to a militant union with a good financial standing and a three-fold increase of membership. Chicago “World,” Chief Scab. Formerly, daughed at by window cleaning companies, this union today is almost 100 per cent recognized, with wage scales of $1.00 an hour and the piece-work system abolished. The scabby “Chicago” World is the only firm of any importance that has no agreement with the Window Worke Union. The membership consists of o timers, who first formed the uni and fought to bring it to fts prese status, and of new-comers, not } drawn into the militant spirit of t union. The latter group must drawn into the union’s activith These new members must be ma’ to feel that the union is theirs os. that its future is in their hands. No More Outsiders! The present policy of electing offi- cials from the rank and file must be maintained. No more outside Tim Murphys can be tolerated! In the campaign for organizing the non- union buildings firms, the entire mem- bership must take part. The union has good rank and file material, i has a fighting business agent on the job all the time, it has the co-opera- tion of the building trades, SPEED-UP SYSTEM UNBEARABLE AS STEEL PRODUCTION INCREASES By HENRY VICTOR, Worker Correspondent. No relief in the conditions of the steel workers is foreseen as steel pro- duction heavily increases in the Calumet district. This encircles the Inland Steel Company of Indiana Harbor, the Youngstown steel works and the steel mills of East Chicago and Hammond. and also the steel mills of Gary, Ind. With the advance in steel produc-¢——---—— tion, there will be no increase in em- ployment. The increases in steel production in steel mills in this dis- tire press of this district to the de- mands of the officials of the Inland Steel company of Indiana Harbor trict will be gained mostly thru a) which also maintains a plant in Chi stricter enforcement of the speed-up] cago Heights, that no news of acel- system, which is unbearable even in| gents and injuries to workers in the regular weeks of average production.} mills be published; only such news Dominate Press. pertaining to the conditions of the An illustration of the united front} workers as given out to the press by of the manufacturers and the press| the steel officials themselves may be published. is shown by the consent of the en- NUMBER FOUR 10 Cents 12 Copies for One Dollar, The Little Red Library Worker Correspondents What? Where? When? Why? By WILLIAM F. DUNNE, ITH the growth of the world Communist move- ment, new factors contrib- uting to its growth were developed. The question of worker correspondents re- ceives its first attention in America in this booklet. Here is the analysis of its importance and a text book to guide every worker to success in this field. How? ray 3