The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 13, 1926, Page 2

aia THE DAILY WORKER ARNIOUR'S KANSAS CITY PLANT OLEOMARGARINE WORKERS STAND IN WATER ALL DAY; WAGES SMALL By A Worker Correspondent. KANSAS CITY, Kansas, Jan. 11.—Armour’s plant here is a very old and ramshackle affair. The buildings are connected at the second and third floor by wooden walks—which with much other wood-work make the fire-hazard great. I worked in the oleomargarine section. down in trucks and -is shoveled The oleo comes into a machine from which it comes out like a brick. The bricks pass along on an endless belt. Girls sit on each side and grab and wrap the bricks. The men get $20.40 for a six-day week;+ the girls $13.50. Anyone who eats Armour’s oleo gets his “peck of dirt” without doubt. If a piece of oleo falls on the floor it is thrown on the cart again. The pace is so fast, the girls have to grab the bricks in their hands to wrap them (tho the rules say they must not be touched by hand). Stand In Water, All the oleo workers have to stand in at least half an inch of water the whole working day and nearly all have constant colds, It would be a simple matter to slope the floor and put in runways to drain off the water—but the com- pany will not do lt as that would cut into its profits. Beef Men Have Bad Job. | Another bad job is lugging the beef | into the refrigerator cars. The tem- perature is ten degrees below freez- ing. This work is especially bad in summer. The man goes into this cold place in the early morning. Then at noon he comes out to eat his lunch and warm up. Thirty minutes later back again. These sudden chang- es make colds even more common than among the wet foot oleo men— and more taint on the meat, There is a neat dining hall for show to the numerous visitors, but out of the scant thirty-minute lunch hour very few out of the thousands of workers have time to get there and back. They carry a lunch or buy sandwiches made of pig's snouts or pig’s ears at the untidy stalls in each building. Dirty, Sloppy Toilets, The toilets are dirty. Each has} signs telling all to wash their hands | before returning to work. There is 10 soap, no towel, and only a big iron sink with a trickle of cold water. Two years ago Morris and Armour amalgamated and we began to pack some of the oleo in “Morris” boxes— manufactured and packed in Armour'’s plant! All Morris workers who had been forced to take part in the Mor- ris fund, which was to support them on retirement, Jost their rights. The “loyal few” who had scabbed thru every strike for nigh thirty years found how well rewarded they were. There are some skilled workers in the maintenance department—car- penters, boilermakers, plumbers, painters, etc. They are unorganized and are paid 45 to 58 cents an hour. Lousy With Finks. The plant is lousy with company finks, some of them wearing ‘police uniforms. No one is allowed to en- ter the plant save workers wearing Armour’s “slave tag.” Each tag has a number and section on it (meat, oleo, etc.), If a fink, who is able to read, meets a meat man in another part of the plant, he will take him to his foreman and demand an explan- ation. Luckily that few of them can read and if a man can slip his fore- man, he can tend to his business any- where in the plant. Workers Dissatisfied. There is a company union. Armour publishes and gives away a dope sheet—the Armour Oval, ' which gives g lot of space to the “trained seal” union. Neither the union nor the dope sheet interests the men much. They are so speeded up and underpaid that they are ripe to strike again as they did four years ago. (Continued from page 1) The six big meat packing-houses in the National, Stock Yards here are Armour and company, Morrig and company, which is owned by Armour, the East Side Packing company, and the Standard Packing company. Boards Ald Bosses. Armour, Swift and the Morris plant, which is part of Armour’s, have con- ference boards thru which the bosses discuss ways and means of putting over new schemes to better exploit the workers. The conference board spends most of its time discussing waste in one department or another or else repairs for leaky steam pipes and how to cut down costs, Thru this board they try to find ways and means of cutting down the working forces, speeding-up the men at work and how to keep the workers from joining any union organization, The Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen’s Union has a small local here and have been talking about organizing workers in the “yards” but that’s as far as it has gone. The packing-house teamsters and chauff- eurs are organized in a union. The great mass of workers are unorgan- ized and the company certainly takes advantage of this condition. Penitentiary Rules, A strict police system is maintained in the “yards” here, A worker cannot pass from one department to another. He must remain in his department from the moment he enters in the morning until he leaves at night. Only the messenger boys, whom the com- pany claims will be the “future execu- tives and heads,” are allowed to go from one department to another, The uniformed police are stationed at every entrance and will not let any- one pass. These police have keys to all of the lockers and can open the lockers at any time they may cast their “suspicion” on anyone that works in the “yards.” A number of stoolpigeons are employed in the plant to find out who belongs to the union and to get them fired. The pur- pose of these stools is to keep the workers from organizing into unions of their own. Bosses Get Pensions. A pension system is in operation in the plant, but no one knows how it works. Most of the workers that were in the “yards” went on strike in 1920 and lost their standing as far as the pension is concerned. The pension system is used as a club over those that have been employed in the shop for any length of time and scabbed for the company and is used as bait for those who are in the “yards” now to stay there. As far a8 the workers themselves are concerned, hardly any of them will ever get the pension, The company fires those who are not able to stand the fast pace that is set. All that will ever get the pension is a small clique of foremen, superintend- ents, office help and stoolpigeons. Eat Lunch in Locker Rooms, All the workers get for their lunch- time is half an hour, They must eat their lunches in the locker-rooms, Facts from “Yards” at East St. Louis which are far from being fit pla¢es to eat a lunch. The men are not sup- posed to eat on the killing floors. The company has a restauranty but’ ‘the accommodations are so poor’ there that it is impossible for any’ of the workers to eat their meal theré and get back to work in the half hour's time allowed. : Current Events : (Continued trom page 1) ers he commented on the woman-ques- tion in the only way that appeals to the mind of a babbit. He said that he was much interested in the “Amer- ican girl.” How the American girl differs from any other kind of girl except in the way she throws her jaw around a stick of gum is a mystery to most people. The prince did a wise thing however. In case General Panga- los, the Greek dictator, expresses a desire to see the royal scalp hanging in his wigwam, those kind words should enable the prince to land a sinecure here as president of the tal- cum powder trust. se 8 “TAT more corn or bust the farmer,” is the slogan of a farmer's con- vention that met a few days ago in Morris, Iinois. What kind of farm- ers they are we do not know. Dirt or plain dirty—that is “gentleman farmers” the kind that never works. Eat corn until you bust. The 3,000 delegates set a good example by eat- ing a big corn dinner. We are told they topped off the banquet with lolly pops made with corn sugar and corn syrup served on corn stalk sticks. We are not informed that they washed down the dinner with copious draughts of corn whiskey. Calvin Coolidge is watching the agricultural regions with an anxious éye. He is thinking of votes, not corn, o.O<® by Vacation with pay, sir. it means. the development of Soviet Russia in. to a land of prosperity for the work: minds of their slaves workers and farmers’ government. OVIET RUSSIA must be a terrible country for the workers, The latest evidence of Bolshevik bedevilment 1s| 018; Edelman, Maryland; Landsberg, a decree granting workers 92 days’| Texas; Levine, Minnesota; Kushner, vacation out of every year: This does| Michigan; Eleff, Ohio; not mean 92 days of unemployment. | sinia; Weinman, California; Abrams, That's what | Lifshitz and Holtman, New York; and When the real truth about | Kaplan of Branch 24, visited the board. The machine was embarrassed, Be- representatives of ers breaks thru the iron wall of capi-|close to 200 branches representing talist lying, the employers will not| 10,000 members of the organization, have such easy sailing poisoning the Demand All Miners on Maintenance Work Also Join the Strike (Continued from page 1) drawal of the maintenance men, that Cappellini got the police court of Scran- ton to sentence Alex Reid and Pat Toohey to six months in jail, officials of the miners’ union appearing in court to testify against the two pro- gressives. The speeches of Reid and Toohey at the meeting where they were arrested were practically con- fined to the demand for calling out the maintenance men. A Slap at Lewis-Cappellini Machine, In the resolution passed by the gen- eral grievance committee,’ there is, therefore, a direct slap at the treach- erous policy of Cappellini and the Lewis machine, and a further approval of the long neglected policies of the progresives is given in the pledge for |a finish fight for all the tri-district de- mands and a flat rejection of abritra- tion however disguised. That the danger of arbitration is |great, in spite of the growing pressure |being put upon Lewis not to’ betray the strike demands, is seen by the dis- patches from New York where behind closed doors the shady trading is go- ing on. Reports state that Lewis of- fered to the operators a five-year con- tract, the provisions of which might be changed by a “board of five,” two miners, two operators:and three to be named by Charles E. Hughes, ex-secre- tary of state and a reactionary leader of the reactionary capitalist republi- can party. Pressure of Rank and File. The operators are said to have re- fused to accept the proposal, evidently feeling they can get a better one or smash the union entirely. They voted, however, to accept Chairman Markle’s proposal that the miners’ proposition, the operators’ and Markle’s own pol- icy, be submitted to ex-Secretary Hughes and he to formulate a plan that would be the basis for a contract. The miners opposed this on the ground that it was arbitration. Apparently the Lewis machine is finding it difficult to betray the miners of the anthracite region in arbitration as the sentiment in the strikers’ ranks is growing stronger against any surrender and is also swinging swiftly toward adoption of the program of the Progressive Miners’ Committee, as in- stanced by the action of the District 1 general grievance committee. U. S. Lays Basis for War on Mexico; Don’t |Mention U. S. Lynchings WASHINGTON, Jan. 11.—The state department today cabled Dudley G. Dwyre, American consul at Guadal- ajara, Mexico, asking for full details of a report that Robert C. Russell, an American, was seized from a train by bandits yesterday and burned to death. The department had nothing to say concerning the many Mexicans mobbed, murdered and mistreated in the United States, (Continued from page 1.) bers of the organization, but the con- ference decided to consolidate its forces and organize a Verband of Pro- gressive Branches, which is going to fight the reactionary machine as a united progressive bloc. The conference was called to pro- test the outrageous action of the na- tional executive which expelled six members of Branch 24, dissolved the branch and made more than one hun- dred, members of the branch into “members at large.” The conference met at a time when the national board of directors were in session. The conference elected a committee of eighteen, representative of all states where branches are or- ganized, to request the board to take up grievances against the national executive. The entire delegation at the con- ference, numbering 324, marched to Rutgers Square with placards de- manding reinstatement of the expelled and a mass demonstratoin was held Saturday afternoon in front of the Forward building. While the demonstration was going on the committee of eighteen, consist- ing of Sokoll, Massachusetts; Markel, Connecticut; Lax, New Jersey; Bt- tinger, Pennsylvania; Federman, Illi Rosen, -| fore them were IN CHICAGO! WEDNESDA JAN, 13 re | Costumes and scenery. Meeting of Workmen’s Circle eft Wing and going so.far as expelling mem- Vir- The “diehards” wanted to ignore against the| the committee altogether, the chairman took up the communica- However, WITH A CAST C Dancing Before and After Performance. NOTED ARTIST ASSISTS DAILY WORKER PARTY “Six Live Pages” to Be Presented Wednesday Dancers in striking costumes of or- iginal design, strapping workers in well worn overalls, little boys and girls in gay colored dress and “Henry Dubb” paper hats, all,drilling in rapid succession on a stage that was a riot of color to the tune of music that set one’s feet moving--this was the pict- ure of yesterday's dress rehearsal of the labor pantomime “Six Liye Pages” ER Birthday Party on Wednesday night at Imperial Hall, 2409 N. Hal- sted St. Such a pretentious affair has never been attempted before in Chicago, The cast under the skillful direction of Emma Blechschmidt numbers fully forty to fifty people, with five leading dancers, sixteen children, about workers, strikers and police—and ful- ly a dozen stage hands and directors, One thing was iw full evidence: here was truly “something different—some- thing new” to Which both thought and time and a great deal of labor had been given—and for which the adver- tising was really too modest, The stage settings and costumes are nothing short of beautiful and strikingly original The Communist artist Lydia Gibson has done a splend- id job of her end of the production, The dancing is a finished production thanks not only to the ability of the five main dancers,but also the capable direction of Emma Blechschmidt. A song breaking the pantomime with the whole cast participating will thrill you to the shoe-tops—+ and the sixteen youngsters marching on the stage is worth gohg many miles to see, te No mention of tlis pantomime can be complete withojt a word for the splendid musical, jarrangement by Evelyn Mack. Th{,lively tunes just naturally move oni’s feet—and who- ever goes to tls, affair tomorrow night goes to som be talked about group who have that are part of be told in ad- be said is that i follows the pro- yked food can be $ that sur. vance. All that | dancing precedes’ gram; that hom had all during prisies await all: come—and that if anyone misses®his affair at 2409 N. Halsted St. of)Wednesday night will miss the ‘movel affair that has ever been mted in Chicago, Aprauemaanetes already being made to present performance in nerby cities and @<you don’t want to be forced to go §: Milwaukee to see it you should go Wednesday to Impe- rial Hall. tion and ruled tha the committee can- not be recognizd because the con- ference was not clled by the national executive, The directors, "ho are supposed to act as @ grievane board in the or- ganization and ag commonly known as the “senate,” -efused even to lis- ten to grievance of representatives of thousands of .embers. The National Protest Conference acted upon the rport of the commit- tee of eighteen ad decided to issue a memorandum tthe entire member- ship which willregister its protes,t with thousands ¢ signatures, against the terrorism pmticed by the right wing machine an to demand the rein- statement of expded and political am- nest to the membrs at large. The conferencithen decided to or- ganze a “Vermd of Progressive Branches” with he following pro- gram: & The veband wl, oppose the terror of the right wit, machine and will fight for reinstatwent of expelled and the full rights ¢ymembers at large. The verband wi fight for tolerance of all political wwpoints in- the or- ganization, but jat the organization maintains its soalist character upon which it was hed, The verband vi-fight for the unity -|}of the organizatn, which is endan- gered by the sptting tactics of the right wing mache. The verband ¥1 conduct activities that are neglect by the national ex- ecutive, will suprt children’s schools and see that culral activities and training are cojucted in the spirit of socialism andvorking class strug- gle. r The verbandwill represent the progressive gro: in the Workmen's Cirele on everyolitical and social happening in th country and abroad, “SIX LIV: PAGES” A LABORPANTOMIME by Lydia Gibson Directed by Blechschmidt. |Let Underpaid Rank and to be presented at The DAILY WORK- } disposal by fine of the case against: Moritz J. Loeb, business manager of The DAILY WORKER, the similar case against Peter Omelian, who was File Police Refuse to Fight Workers on Strike By J. LOUIS ENGDAHL. TOpaY: both policemen and firemen in the city of Chicago are protesting vehemently against low wages. They want more pay, $300 more per year. The newspaper headline declares: “300 POLICE TO QUIT IF DENIED RAISE.” There will be no strike, of course. No repetition of the strike of the Boston policemen, that was ruthlessly broken by the city government, aided by President Cal Coolidge, then governor of Massachusetts, The Chicago firemen have a union, one of the few in the country, affiliated with the local federation of labor. But the policemen have no union. Yet they boast an organiza- tion known as the Patrolmen’s Club that voices their griev- — before the city council, where they are making their ight. ** 8 * * The employing interests, thru their municipal govern- ment, can be depended on to take fairly good care of the policemen and firemen, insofar as their general attitude to- ward wage workers is concerned. They must. The fire- men and policemen are the protectors of private property, the most sacred institution under capitalism. Especially the policemen, who constitute the vanguard in fighting every in- fringement of capitalist law. Yet even they complain of the low wages that they receive. Michael J. Hooks, president of the Patrolmen’s Club, is quoted as saying that: “I have received reports from over 300 young policemen—the back- bone of the department—that they will quit by April unless the increase is granted, “WE HAVE ANY NUMBER OF POLICEMEN LIVING IN BASE- MENTS AND ATTICS BECAUSE THEY ARE UNABLE TO PAY HIGH RENTS.” Yet the wages received by Chic: ‘oligemen how stand at $2,200 per year. The pts Be ie tee $2,500. The policemen complain hog this annual wage of $2,200 has a purchasing power of on ¥ $1,242.20 based on the value of the dollar in 1913 in terms of the retail cost of li ing, while the wage in 1913 was $1,371, showing that real wages (purchasing power) have fallen $128.80 during this 12-year period of boasted American prosperity. * * * . Every worker is entitled to his wage demands. This in- cludes policemen and firemen. The wage demands cannot be too high. But it is well for the policemen to remember the condi- tion of the large number of workers, many of whom they are often called to make war upon during strikes, who re- ceive much less than they, and who are in a less strategic Position to enforce their demands, The average weekly wage for all workers in New York State for November, 1925, was only $30.15, with the average wage for women falling as low as $16.97. This makes an annual average wage for all of only $1,567.80, nearly $1,000 below that to which the policemen aspire, and only an aver- age of $884.44 for women workers, _ The situation in Massachusetts is much worse. There the average weekly wage for all workers is only 24.31, while that for women workers is down to $16.22. The annual average for all workers is therefore:a mere $1,264.12, nearly $1, below what Chicago policemen’ now receive, while women average only $843.44 annually. Getting home to Illinois, the average falls between that of New York State and Massachusetts. The average weekly wage for all workers during October, 1925, in this state was $28.49, which makes an annual wage of $1,481.48; with an ‘average wage of $17.49 per week for women, or an annual wage of $909.48, * ° * Let the policemen of Chicago remember this when they are called upon to club workers in the next strike. Within recent times you have been called on to beat up strikers of both International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers’ Union, a large percentage of the members of both these organizations being made up of women. Policemen must remember that every strike is called to better the conditions of the workers, When they fight for an increase of their own wages, policemen might also insist on a demand that they be not called upon to engage in anti- strike activities. They might learn the lesson that a militant trade union of their own would be a source of great strength in pressing their demands. Three hundred Chicago policemen threatening to quit because of the low wages received is a healthy sign of dis- content. ’ Three hundred Chicago policemen threateni ig to quit rather than do anti-strike duty would be an indication of real class solidarity. SUR UDINE arcarenrey me Omelian Case Thrown |Union Firemen Get Out By Ind. Courts | the Doubl ‘Aliet Loch Cons Bate! © tae Cae ee GARY, Ind., Jan, 11.—Following the (Continued from page 1.) siderably below the proper living standard for a city fireman. If the council turns us down flat at. this time we will reopen the “matter in ENR LS NE IIe TOON RAIL UNIONS PROPOSE NO STRIKE LAW Visit Coolidge with Col- laboration Plan (Special to The Daily Worker) WASHINGTON, D, C., Jan, 10—One of the most amazing proposals of class collaboration ever put forth so far in America is that made public in its more general outlines here by a joint statement issued by the attorney for the association of railway executives, Alfred P. Thom, ‘and Donald R. Richberg, general counsel for the railway unions, It was Issued, moreover, in conjunction with a publicity drive for the plan and a joint visit to President Coolidge by representatives of the unions and the companies, The text of the law—since the estounding part of this proposal is that the class collaboration agreement and the surrender of the right to strike is to be made into the law of the United States—is not made pub- lic as yet. When it is made public, progressives assert ‘more insidious clauses will be found in it than are revealed in the nicely worded expla- nation of its issued by Attorney Thom. His statement as issued says, in part: The “Public” Again. “The president of the United States has in more than one message to congress invited the rail carriers and their employes to confer in an effort to agree upon a method of ad- justing labor disputes which will not only be mutually satisfactory and pro- tective of their just rights but which will also properly safeguard the in- terests of the public. To Make Plan a Law. “An agreement has now been reached and a bill to carry it into ef- fect will be presented, to congress in the immediate future. The provisions of the bill may be summarized as fol- lows: “First—that it shall be the duty of the City of Chicago THIRTY PEOPLE. Musical arrangement by Evelyn Mack. arrested at the same time, was dis- missed by the court, Omelian and Loeb were arrested following speeches to an audience on May 1, 1923, and charged with viola- tion of the “criminal anarchy” law of Indiana by “advocating the overthrow- al of the government of the state of Indiana and of the United States by force and violence.” The dismissal of the case against Omelian and the small fine levied against Loeb, indicate that after al most three years had passed the dang- er did not seem so threatening, & be be TOMORROW NIGHT IMPERIAL HALL, 2409 N. Halsted Street (Cor. Fullerton Ave. July when the supplementary budget is considered.” Other union members are less restrained in their reactions to the council's trickery. Report Coronado Safe, BOSTON, Jan, 11.—The steamship Coronado, carrying 160 passengers from Liverpool to Jamaica, reported’ missing last week, was located today, A message picked up here by the tropical radio: station reported the Coronado passing Turk’s Island, West Indies. This was off her course, ) the parties to exert every reasonable effort to make and maintain agree- ments, “Secondly—any and all ¢isputes shall be first considered in conterence between the parties directly interest- ed. Board to Handle Application. “Third—adjustment boards shall be established by agreement, which shall be either between an individual car- rier and its employes or regional or national. These adjustment boards will have jurisdiction over any dis- putes relating to grievances or to the interpretation or application of ex- isting agreements, but will have no jurisdiction over changes in rates of pay, rules or working conditions. “Fourth—a board of mediation is created, to consist of five members appointed by the president, with the duty to intervene at the request of either party, or on its own motion, in any unsettled labor dispute. . . . If it is unable to bring about an amicable adjustment between the parties it is required to make an effort to induce them to concent to arbitration. Arbiters’ Award is Law. “Fifth—boards of arbitration are provided for when both parties con- sent to arbitrate. Any award made by the arbitrators shall be filed in the appropriate district court of the Unit- ed States and shall become a binding judgement of the court. “Sixth—in the possible event tht a dispute between a carrier and its employes is not settled under any of the foregoing methods, provision is made that the board of mediation shall notify the president, who is thereupon authorized in his discretion to create a board to investigate and report to the president within thirty days. What Becomes of Strikes? Most evidently there is to be a complete outlawing of the increasing- ly “ancient” right to strike, agreed to by the present officials of the railway unions without the consent of their union membership. What this mem- bership may say of the scheme has yet to be known, altho it is certain to result in widespread discontent among the rank and file of the rail unions, The fact that W. W. Atterbury, president of the most vicious open- shop company in the country—the Pennsylvania railroad, visited Presi- dent Coolidge and “advised” him that the plan was a good one which was appreciated by the railway companies, is not expected to enthuse the rank and file railroaders with any idea of hod plan being good for their inter- ests, “Union” Representatives, Those who called on Coolidge to propose the plan officially to him num- bered among the labor bureaucrats W. N, Doak of the Brotherhood of Railway Brakemen’s Union, D. B, Ro bertson of the Firemen and Engine- men’s Union, Bert M, Jewell, head of the shop craft unions and the attorney of the rail unions, Donald Richberg, eee FOR RENT Furnished Room—For 1 or 2 comrades, Modern, all conveniences, 2453 North Spaulding. Telephone Belmont 9783, “ Pe siete Eee ney sunday. and Thursday at 7:30 p, m., at aenington, fs 4 i and, SE OLE Ra e SR ORS