The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 7, 1926, Page 3

~ CUDAHY MEAT PACKERS GIVE ~ WORKERS ICY DEAL: UNREST. SPREADS THRU ENTIRE PLANT By a Worker Correspondent. OMAHA, Nebr., Jan. 5.—Following an announcement in the focal papers that Cudahy would begin cutting ice and that 500 workers would be needed, over 1000 applied for the jobs. Chinese Customs Fall Off From 1924 Total, Especially in South PEKING, Jan. 5.—The receipts of the Chinese maritime customs for 1925, while showing a gross increase as computed in Chinese taels, the money unit in which tariffs are levied, had a net decline of about £500,000 from the 1924 recetpts, with the aver- age exchange value of income com- puted in British currency. This was shown by the report is- sued by Sir Francis Aglen, the inspec- They |tor general of the international or- hired about 80 of the 1000 and instead of paying the 40 cents per | ganization which administers the cus- hour that they had promised, they offered the workers 25 cents | toms. an hour. This year most of the work ting with circular saws the long way, and with band saws the Tientsin and other northern ports is being done by machines, cut-|Showed increases over their 1924 re- ceipts, but the Yangtze River and cross way; also using a conveyer to hoist and stack the large ice |®Uttern ports, with the exception of blocks. All the workers do now is to propel the blocks toward the.conveyor. Last year they had only the circular saw, all else ‘was done by hand, So whether the worker got a job on the “ice,” peer eae neh hares a EO or was left off the “ice,” he got an “icy” deal either way. Omaha has had a more or less eeri- @us problem of unemployment during the past year, During the past two Months conditions have grown Worse. Packing house laborers are paid 42% oénts per hour, and this is from 7% to 1214 above that paid dn the out- side, This further intensifies the struggle for jobs and forces the speed- up pace to an almost super-human degree. Unrest Spreads, The spring is always an uncertain quantity for the packers. The pent up discontent of the workers, and their hatred of the speed-up, spy sys- tem, brutalizing work and the op pressive rules that keep them going Mke machines or dumb cattle, is al- ‘ways liable to break loose with the approach of the warm months, The packers know this, so the work of their spies 1s redoubled in order to ferret out the least sign of open dis- skilled Recently the secretary of Local 602, Butcher Workmen and Meat Cutters’ Union, who works for the city during the summer months, and on finishing usual this year he if of members and is now dor- the blacklist is still in effect. ‘Try to Get Bullding. member of Local 602, Jack calls himeelé district or- the Butcher Workmen and Ontters’ Union, and who was to this office in spite of the that the whole delegation from to the last convention -were it him; this fellow Davis has a job with the city. He is now to be trying to get hold of Butcher Workmen Build- International. This build- ed by individual workers in plants, who are deter it shall not get out of : “It is the union head- be there when we some day,” they say. have tried to buy the stock held by the workers, but with very few exceptions the workers have eegereeannety ii : i 5 ¥ i i those do-nothing officials. Denny gets $500 a month whether the widow and orphans’ of deceased members get any fineral benefit or not. Jack Davis _ Will not succeed any better than the Wuhu, on the Yangtze, had a falling off. The income of the customs was suf- THE DAILY WORKER BRITISH STOP RELIEF GIVEN CHINESE LABOR Workers’ International Relief Protests The International Workers’ Aid has sent the following telegram to Wm. —, Borah, chairman of the foreign re- lations committee, Secretary of State rank Kellogg- and Esme Howard, British ambai lor, Washington, D. C. Fansy Reasons. “Tientsin ia port police under control of British consular authority ficient to cover China’s foreign and domestic loan obligations, but the re- port shows that redemption of the consolidated debt is a year in ar- rears. SOVIET REFUSAL ' 10.60 TO GENEVA DISTURBS SWISS Fear League May Move to Other Country LONDON, Jan. 5.—The Soviet gov- In the second artlele, which ap- |ornment’s refusal to participate in the pears tomorrow, The DAILY WORK- |disarmament meeting of the league ER will show how the conference |of nations if held in Geneva is causing _board, which Is controlled by the red to the Geneva business men. ince it was necessary to transfer imal Sik ot tikes cea bees the international navigation meeting . from Geneva to Paris on account of to Femove the ten-hour maximum |the Soviet government's attitude in day provision and thus allow the |connection with the murder and ac- paokers to exploit the workers 12 to |quittal of the murderer of M. Vorovsky 14 hours per day. in Lausanne in 1923, the Geneva mer- The company maintains a vicious’ | chants are worried for fear other speed-up system which exhausts the | meetings will go elsewhere. This workers after six or seven hours and | would mean serious loss of business many oftentimes drop to the floor. |for them. overheated and exhausted. sow, The Swiss government has now ad- The company does not depend up: | dressed a letter to the secretariat of on the conference board alone to en-.jthe league of nations saying that Ge- force Its decisions but gives the |neva is considered as international workers bribes in the forms of extraterritorial ground and whatever bonuses to speed up and to elienin- reations exis thetween the Swiss gov- ate workers In their departments.’ > |ernment and other governments will Another scheme that the company ‘| tot affect the presence of other Bov- uses to the utmost Is that of selling ‘}ernments’ representatives in Geneva, shares In their holdings to the work-%|'° Altho there is no diplomatic recog- ers. They then say to the worke: nition of the Soviets by Switzerland, “Now If you want.to earn. dividends. |the Swiss-will-extend to the Soviets you must work faster.” Not only.;|the same facilities for entering the DAILY WORKER STARTS SERIES OF ARTICLES ON CONDITIONS IN “YARDS” The first article on the conditions in the “yards” of Chicago appears In this issue of The DAILY WORK- ER showing up the conference board that Ie maintained at Atmour & Co. and how It functions In behalf of the bosses enforcing their speed-up sys- tems and aiding the packers make more and more profits, does the worker who owns. the; ,country assured delegates of other; shares work harder but he also at- | countries. tempts to make the worker next) to, him speed up. ‘ ny “ “4 Sanitary conditions in the plant Frisco Workers Will Tho ecuenrene ofthe wertatr'] “geet Debate on Soviet wor! tare “OTS 99. amall, dingy affairs, with slime and. Russia’s Dictatorship all kinds of muck on the floor and ft ; . . of Raper as fendiall spate the San Francisco Labor College and efforts and keep the workers from | V#lter Thomas Mills, member of the talking too much amongst each socialist party, will take place in Cali- ind with - i Pa er ao genre cael’ the That the attitude of the Bolsheviki in workers to probe out and report suppressing free speech, free press union men or workers who desire and free political association is for better conditions. the best interests of the working class Race prejudice is fostered and |°f Soviet Russia. McDonald will take the affirmative, Mills the negative. nurtured in the “yards” to the great- : yrs iestinal @st possible degree. National hat- rede and personal hatreds are play- ed upon to get the workers to dis- trust each other. On the floor race prejudice and national personal hat- reds are not allowed to show them- selves, but the moment these work- ers get out of the plant they will not fraternize with one another. In this way the company keeps the workers from organizing Into powerful indus- trial unions. the yards in your city—of the is onl The DAILY WORKER that it possibly can get. Every packers in getting control of the But- cher Workmen Building for Denny. The workers have no confidence in those officials, abearie PACKING HOUSE WORKER! THE DAILY WORKER DRIVE IS ON! HAVE YOU SENT IN YOUR STORY? Packing-house worker, where is that story of the conditions of the rotten conditions under which the “yards” of America are forctd to work. Send in your story right forbid distriblitfon of food and cloth- ing by tes) | International Relief among star workers. Only ex: planation offered is that the dead need no relief, thé founded are healed and the mnennia will soon get work, therefore no'féllef is necessary, We call upon you to use your good office against such inhuman action.” Signed: International Workers’ Aid Per Bishop Wm. M. Brown. ¥. G. Biedenkapp. A more dastardly justification for the suppression ‘of the struggling Chinese workers could not have been invented by;Satan himself. But the port police at Tientsin, China, under the control of the British consular authority are giving this as their ex- cuse for stopping the Workers’ Inter- national Relief from bringing food to the hungry Chinese men and women and children. Distribute Food and Clothing. The Workers International Relief has been collecting funds from work- ers and sympathizers in all countries and distributing it in the form of packages of food and clothing. The police, seeihg the Chinese workers thus encouraged by this act of solid- arity, are now prohibiting the further distribution of these relief packets. The International Workers’ Aid, American section of the W. I. R., calls ipon all workers and friends to lend their financial and moral aid to the Chinese workers. Send your contri- bution to the I. W. A. national office, 1553 W. Madison St., Chicago, Ill. Flood Sweeps Thru Dikes. AMSTERDAM, Holland, Jan. 5.— Holland is suffering from a flood that has been caused by heavy storms and torrential rains. The Rhine, Meuse and other. rivers have been rising steadily. main dikes on the Dutch side of the rivers have collaps- ed with the)result that extensive re- gions.,in ithe southern part of the country have been flooded. Waters are runningy»at a furious rate thru many “villages in the provinces of Limburg and North Brabant. Cattle poultry and even houses are beims swept away.) Isadora Condoles Serge’s Parents. MOSCOW, U. S. S. R., Jan. 5.—Isa- dora Duncan, once the wife of the poet, Serge Yéssenin, who committed suicide, telegtaphed the Isvestia the following message from Nice: “I request ‘you to transmit to the relatives and friends of the late Yesse- nin my deep grief and condolence.” Why not? Ask your neighbor to subscribe! conditions in your department? Have you sent it in? The DAILY WORKER packing-house drive wants every item on conditions item will be published exposing workers in the ‘Armour’s Conference Board Puts rw (Continued from page 1) , tion the plans of the bosses, The rep- Yesentatiyes of the workers DARE not at any time voice the opinion of men on the killing-floor, the cutting room, the fertilizer room or any other de- partment in the yards, At the meetings of the conference board the bosses present and seek new plans, new ways of speeding-wp the workers. Their problem is how can we get rid of John and have Steve and Jake do the extra work, and then, how to gét rid of Jake or Steve and jo the work where formerly three were required. These are the problems of the conference board! Bosses Put Over Delegates. ., Which is composed of an equal number of bosses and so-called representatives of the workers has elections about | once a year and sometimes once in a year and a half. Hlections are held ' whenever it best suits the interest of ‘These workers are told that they must ‘After the nominations are all gath- intendents—are appointed by the company. The chairman of the board is also picked from among the bosses’ delegation and has full power at all times to cast a vote in the delibera- tions of the board, When elections have been declared, blanks are passed out to the workers in the various departments and they are told to make nominations for the “representatives” they want to repre- mt them in the conference board. MUST cast his vote for his “repre- sentative.” After every worker has been forced to vote for the chosen few, those) who receive the highest votes, become the representatives of the employes. As a rule these “rep- resentatives” of the workers are noth- ing but company stools and will always vote the way the bosses want and will do all in their power to carry into effect speed-up systems the bosses devi It is these conference boards that have devised the bonus systems and the speed-up systems to better exploit the workers, What chance has @ real representa- tive of the workers on the board? The answer to this question can eas- ily be answered, by telling of an in- stance where a real representative of the workers was nominated and elected, ‘ In one of the packing plants of South St, Paul, Minn., owned by one of the “Big Four” packers, a worker on the hog-killing floor, who had been an ardent and active union member of many years standing and who had vorganized the workers there into workers’ | union and carried on @ successful fight hncape roemn > hones edheotmor fominate someone, About this tim the stool-pigeons that the company maintains go around the departments urging the workers to nominate them or to nominate some candidate which the bosses have already decided upon. ered in, the conference board goes over the nominations and those who have received the highest number of ng are then placed on a bal- lot. These ballots are then handed out to the workers and they are told they must cast a vote for their “rep- resentatives” or lose their jobs, Vote or Lose Job.’ Regardless of what the viewpoint may be as to the officials who played the bosses’ game and placed oncthe blacklist of the meat packers ‘and only regained his job after a demand by the workers in that plant for his reinstatement under threat of a strike in a busy season, was nominated-as the workers’ repre- sentative for the conference board. He received the highest number of nominations. In some departments every nomination was made in his fa- vor, Attempts were made to keep him off the ballot. The men in the plant, when they heard of this attempt, de- clared in no uncertain terms that such @ move would not be allowed to pass without action on their part. His hame was placed on the ballot. In the elections that followed, he was elected by an overwhelming ma- jority, The company was forced to seat him in the conference board. The men claimed 4@ great victory. They began to visualife a great change in the working conditions in the yard: But their visions were short-lived— their hopes were blasted within a tew days, The workers presented their board heard them, Page Three TOM MANN TELLS OF EVENTS OF BRITISH LABOR MOVEMENT; SENDS GREETINGS TO U. S. LEFT WING) PONTROLS NEW By TOM MANN. LONDON, (By Mail,)—The coal commission sitting at Westminster Hall inquiring into the conditions of the mining Industry, has been a center of interest the last few days owing to the personality of the witness: The duke of Northumberland is probably the most completely reaction- ary of all among,the class to which he belongs, as unquestionably he is one of the most pugnacious. able minerals, in the country. The duke has said the bitterest things a human tongue can command, not only against Communists ‘and so- cialists but equally against labor men and trade unionists. Lives Without Working. The duke draws £75,000 ($375,000) @ year as royalty rents alone, but is for permitting mining operations to be carried on under the land he owns. Under cross examination the duke maintained his right to receive this while admitting he rendered no serv- ice in return. On the commission he was examin- ed by were the officials of the Min- ers’ Federation, Herbert Smith and A. J. Cook. Many sharp passages took place between the workers’ represen- tatives and the duke, frank and ftee and straight from the shoulder came question and reply, real good home thrusts, leaving nothing to be desired in the matter of straight’ hitting. Pungency is given to this owing to the determination of the miners to fight for the nationalization of the mines and minerals, Operators Lenghten Work Day. Meantime, the mine owners are pressing on their campaign section- ally, thus in County Durham some months ago the owners gave notice to the men that after a given date all underground men must work not less than seven-hour shifts, twenty min- utes of this to be used as hauling time to raise the men from the mine. To understand the meaning of this it is necessary to realize that. the coal hewers of Durham have not worked on the average more than six hours per shift for well over sixty years, many of them not working more than five hours at the coal. face. At present there is a strike on in parts of the Durham coalfield to resist the attempt of the owners to establish the seven-hour shift. Railway Award Attacks Unions. The award of the raflway board in the matter of wages and working con- ditions does not insist upom the im- mediate reduction of wages: of any section but it stipulates that.in Feb- ruary all new employes taken! ‘6n the railways must start and continue on a wage substantially less ‘thah the wage now paid. Those who are familiar with the methods of bosses well know how easy it becomes to find a grievance against a@ man or a number of men and for such men to be discharged, eyen if it be on purpose to restart them at the lower rate. Now the rank and file have to give their views upon it. The officials of the National Union of Railwaymen declare the award to be as good as it is possible to. get at present without resorting to a strike which they are not prepared to récom- mend, Sectionalism prevails in the railway shops more so than on the railways,! and the shopmen, mechanics and oth- ers on several of the main lines have determined to stop work unless a cer- tain award is made operative, but the craft unions are not {favorable to this award, therefore the members of these unions will not make common cause, Campaign for Prisoners. The campaign demanding the re- lease of the imprisoned Communists is being carried on with great vigor. All sections of workers’ organizations are taking part in demanding their re- lease and in finding funds for the maintenance of their wives and famil- ies. Many of the men who took part in the strike in the anthracite coalfield of South Wales are getting sentenced to several months’ imprisonment. He owns very large estates, containing very valu- He also owns the Morning Post, the chief tory daily paper > TOMORROW NIGHT NEGRO LABOR CONGRESS HOLDS IMPORTANT MEETING A protest meeting against Pres. Calvin Coolidge’s message to con- gress on the Negro problem in the United States will be held by the American Negro Labor Congress on Thursday night at 3140 Indiana Ave. at the Unity Community Center at 8 p. m, Many prominent Negro speakers will address the meeting. and will give an excellent account of themselves by and by. Seamen Released in Australia. The transport workers here are highly pleased at the turn of events in Australia, where the high court has ordered the release of Wolsh *™” * hansen the seamen’s union officers who were under arrest by order vu. (ae arbitration court and held in readi- ness for deportation, now the high court says such deportation is uncon- stitutional. Greetings to U. S. Left Wingers. In the name of the left wing men for whom-I am authorized to speak I desire to send greetings from all such workers on this side to our fel- low workers in America. Many things have happened during the year 1925, that have vitally affected labor, We look forward to the coming year in the ardent hope that we shall not be found wanting and that our com- rades in the United States will march with us andthe rest of the organized workers towards that complete eco- nomic freedom which the workers thruout the world are needing. Long live the workers of the world! Now that the Handle Is Amalgamated with the Umbrella, Use It! NEW YORK, —(FP)— On these rainy winter days, consider, whether the umbrella you carry is union made. The Umbrella Workers’ Union, now amalgamated with the Umbrella Handle & Stick Makers, is planning a national organization campaign among all umbrella workers, The first mass meeting is scheduled for Jan. 21 at 12 St. Marks Pl., New York. Business agent Abramson estimates the total number of umbrella workers between 5,000 and 7,000, over half of them in New York. The umbrella workers expect the Amefican Federa- tion of Labor to give the union an in- ternational] charter instead of its pres- ent federal one as soon as the big drive gets under way. Goldsmiths, silversmiths, wood work- ers, polishers—all men—afe in the umbrella handle trade. In the um- brella covering trade about 75% of the workers are women. Workers of all nationalities are in the industry. Metal umbrella frame workers, having little contact with those in the finish- ing trade, are not now being organ- ized by the union, 30,000,000 Franc Damage in Flood BRUSSELS, Jan. 5. — Thirty mil- lion francs is the estimated damage done by the floods which have already swept Belgium and which have not yet subsided. All of Liege and the lower sections of Namur and Dinant have been sub They are in a district well imbued with the spirit of class consciousness In a few days this worker began to be persecuted. He had worked inthis department for many years, he was an expert with the knife. The hogs he shaved were sent back to him. The cuts he made were not right. He had to do his work over again day after day. Then the company fired him. Instead of having a new election the conference rd appointed a com- pany stool-pigeon to the board. What about the grievances of the workers? The grievances of the workers in the “yards” are many. Their grievances are increasing. Con- ditions, instead of improving are get- ting worse and worse. Petty tricks are pulled off on the workers making them lose many hours’ pay Per week, The answey as to what chance a worker with a grievance has before the conference board can be easily told by the following incident: Worker Laid Off. One worker on the hog-kiling floor of one of the slaughter, houses con- trolled by the food trust, started his work at ten minutes of seven at the first end of the chain, finished his work at his end of the chain and was about to go home a lit- ,| tle earlier than After he had arse aN) ELA merged. Namur is without bread Dikes have broken at Givet. GENERAL FENG PEKING GOV'T Premier Favorable ‘to the Kuomintang WASHINGTON, Jan. 5.—(FP)—An official dispatch from Minister Mac- Murray in Pekin tells of three decrees issued by the provisional chief exée- utive, Tuan Chi Jul, who was set up last year by the pro-Japanese war Jord of Manchuria, Chang Tso Lin, Favors Soviet. These decrees amount to abdication by Tuan, at the order of Gen. Feng, who has been known as the Chinese military r t closely in sym- pathy with the Soviet Union. Feng now holds all of northern China south of the great wall, including the seaport of Tientsin The decrees provide for a cabinet which shall have actual power over the government. The new premier is Hsu Shih Ying, a supporter of Gen. Feng, and was. chief secretary of the Chinese political conciliation e¢on- ference of last spring. He is said to be in favor with the Kuomintang .|Darty which has its centre in Canton. Imperialists Losing. This assertion of the victory of anti-imperialist forces in Pekin 4s looked upon as a serious setback for American, British and French plans. Gen, Feng was outspoken last year in his insistence upon immediate can- cellation of foreign special privileges in China, Japan's situation is uncertain, ex- ctpa that, by the restoration of Chang to full control over Manchuria, the Japanese domination of Manchuria is made more complete than ever be fore, Kansas City Packing House Workers Get Starvation Wages (Continued from page 1) hour, This is the only house in Ken- sas City using the moving or belt work tables. Machines are being in- stalled right along to cut out hand work in this plant, Company Union Aids Armour, We go ribbing, boning of hams and the like to hogs that have been killed and shipped from two points in Seutli”™ Dakota, altho this is contrary to an agreement made some time ago. There is no union here except the company uhion which takes orders from the company, Nothing is done about the violation of the agreement. THe con- tract reads that we are to be paid overtime for this brought-in cutting. Tho we are speeded up from 140 hogs to 400, we receive no extra pay, In the killing department which now kills all the beef and sheep formerly killed in Fowlers, with no more work- ers added, the average kill is 400 and the bulletin in this department states they can kill 1,200 hourly, Must Wear Badge. There have been no strikes recent- ly in the plants. It is impossible to get inside of the gates without a badge. The worker must pay $1 for the badge when he gets the job, There has been a new thing come up in the last few days, that shows how much the workers are dictated to in the Armour plant. There was an fn- surance proposition offered to the workers some time ago, but Many did not take it up, so these workers were informed that those who refused to carry the insurance would lose their jobs. When one boss was asked what would happen if the worker was let out of his job, with the amount paid in, he was told not to ask so many questions, Another who had been out of work 5 months and had only beén at work 4 months said he had not | worked long enough. The boss answer | Was “O yes you have.” The propost tion was 15c. a week on a $1,000 life insurance policy, him on the hind end of the chain, where he worked until ten minutes of six that night. He worked a total of 10 hours and 30 minutes that day. He was paid for 10 hours which was his regular workday. He took up his grievance with the “representative” of the workers. , The conference board “discussed” the case. It found that the worker was entitled to this extra half-hour’s pay. The company paid him,—but laid him off in the busiest part of the season for a few days without a single reason offered by the boss. Tho the conference board had decided in his favor, fearing that this incident might expose its true and real charcater as @ tool of the packers, he was perse- cuted because he dared to appéal. The workers’ representative on the board when confronted with the evi- dent persecution of this worker by the packers, bellowed—“he was a god damned fool. He should have kept his damn trap shut. How does he expect to hold down a good job and raise hell? He ought to be thankful that he is still working here.” Fears Exposure, The conference board, once in a he boss placed | while, just aa in this case decides in Across Speed-up System favor of the worker, when it fears that an adverse decision might ex bose the nature of the board. Qn minor matters, where it means little to the packers the board decides in | favor of the workers. When it comes to major issues, when real grievances that vitally affect the interests of the company are accidentally raised, the matter is left on the table for the next meeting and at the next meeting the “accident” has been “righted,” When the company wants anything but thru it goes thru quite. speedily and is put into operation and enforced. Woe unto the worker who dares to raise a real grievance or attempts to resist the board’s dictum! For he finds himself out on the streets seek- tg a new master, In the next article an attempt on the part of the, conference board at Armour's plant in Chicago to lengthen the 54-hour straight time pay week to @ 60-hour straight time pay week and thus give the company six hours more Qt straight time before time and @ half for overtime shall be paid, and to allow the packers to exploit their slaves more than 10 hours will be exposed,