The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 30, 1926, Page 5

LY WORKFR Pave Five Carpenters’ Union Heads Get Setback in Local 80 Meeting (Special to The Dally Worker) At a meeting of Local 80 of the Carpenters in Chicago, a letter from the international office was read de- claring that all members of the Work- ers (Communist) Party and the Trade Union Educational League could not hold membership in the union and that all such members would either have to leave the union or the organizations mentioned, After the communication was read a member of the socialist labor party took the floor and pointed out that this persecution of the Communists was not justified as every member of the union had the right to believe whatever he pleased, He declared that tho he was not in sympathy With the Communists, the Communists were a militant force in the trade union mover ment and always fought in the strug- gles of the workers for better condi- tions, Following this member of the social- ist labor party, a member of the pro- letarian party took the floor and point- ed out that this persecution must stop as it was aimed against workers who were carrying on a militant fight in the unions. Another worker followed these two and pointed out that in the application that is signed by every applicant it mentions that the applicant can be- long to any political organization he may see fit. None of the reactionaries in the lo- cal who had heard the letter read with great glee dared to take the floor and defend the attitude taken in the letter. The president of the union than declared, “If there is no objec- tion the letter will be filed and as long as no One says he is a Commun- ist nothing will be done.” Two Types of Workers in the Millinery Trade By K. WOLODARSKY (Worker Correspondent) There are two types of workers in the millinery trade in Chicago that op- pose unity. Workers’ Type No. 1: They admire the small contractors and the small bosses who rose out of their class by slaving long hours, living like pigs and by exploiting other unfortunate workers. They reason, I'll work hard, night and day, and become a boss too. ‘The only hope they have for the work- ers’ cause is that others will benefit by their tragic disappointment. Workers’ Type No. 2: They are class conscious but they refuse to fight as a class. Instead they prefer to ferment discontentedly alone. To ex- cuse their lack of courage to enter an| organized drive for better conditions| they argue: “We'll lose time and money.” They lose sight of the fact that they are losing time by being un- derpaid and overworked. The base for that kind of reasoning is cowardice, the fear to act. As a consequence the ‘conditions in the mil- linery factories of Chicago are getting worse every season. Every season prices come down a little more and the millinery worker must drive. her- self harder to make up her wages. Is it not better to get together with the rest of the workers and start an or- ganized demand for an end to these injustices in our trade? Your pen must be stronger than the hired pen of the boss. Worker Correspondence By William Gd F, Dunne, 4 What? Where? ‘Why? = When? HOW? All these questions on the subject of proletarian jour- nalism are answered in this booklet. It is the first, most essen- tial instruction to workers on how to develop a new phase of proletarian activ- » Get a copy—read it— write! 10c No, 4 in the Little Red Library The Daily Worker Pub. Co. 1113 W. Washington Rivd., Chicago, Ill. 1000 WORKER CORRESPOND ax THE Al Co, The Living Newspaper in Soviet Russia and in the United States By M. A. “SKROMNY (Worker Correspondent) “Necessity is the mother of inven- tion,” says a wise proverb. During the civil war in Russia, when newspapers had to be printed on heavy wrapping paper, necessity pointed to the “oral newspaper,” i. e. there were arranged meetings at which the news of the day, everything that is usually print- ed in a newspaper, ‘was read off from the stage. This new form of labor journalism proved a powerful weapon in the hands of the working class. In such a country as Russia, at the beginning of the revolution, where they had mil- lions of illiterates, the “oral paper” found a warm reception. It became not only an oral, but also a “living newspaper,” bringing the author closer to the reader, in this case to the audience, It inspired the author to do his very best, because .he met the reader face to face, .The “reader,” (listener) satisfied with general state- ments, would demand explanations, would ask questions, would . criticize, etc, The living newspaper is issued only. for the interest of the reader, That is the reason why now, after the ne- cessity—the cause which brought about the creation of the paper, has passed, the living newspaper is. still alive and developing not only in So- viet Russia, but also in the United States and other countries. Begin Page Here. Besides the Russian living news- paper issued in Chicago by the worker correspondents of the Novy Mir, pre- parations are under way for the “pub- lication” of an English living news- paper. The DAILY WORKER already organized a group of worker corres pondents who will take‘ care of the living newspaper besides writing for the daily. Sweat Shop System of Lane Tech Brings About Many Accidents (By a Student Correspondent) A young student cut off the tip of his finger on the sheet metal cutters in one of the shops in the “factory” known as the Lane Technical High School. m3) A few weeks previous to that am other student was injured by..the same machine. A request for a guard for this machine was sent in to the board of education, but they refused to give us one, giving no reason for not doing ‘so. Many like accidents have happened but the board has been unwilling to do anything, unwilling to even cut down the size of the classes so that the teachers - can ~-watch the students ‘when they are working around dangerous machines’ or.'de- vices, The whole school resembles a large slave factory where the slaves are driven about their work by a gang of heartless task masters. I do not mean to infer that all of our 189 teachers, who teach about 5,500 pu- pils, are cruel wretches, but the sys- tem {is such—that they are forced into the role of driver instead of instruc tor to keep the pace set for them. So much graft is going on in the board of education that there is bare- ly enuf left to keep the schools run- ning in their present poor shape, which is rapidly becoming worse. “Say it with your pen in the worker correspondent page of The DAILY WORKER.” THE THIRD PRIZE. CLP |Chicago Libraries | Handle Bosses’ Trash | Not Workers’ Books (By a Worker Correspondent.) | The Chicago Public Library does| not circuldte books with a radical| point of view, Recently I requested a copy of} SaaS “Chains,” by the well-known French tore Communist writer Barbusse. Shortly after I received a card stating “The book you ordered (Chains by Barbusse) is not insthe library. We are-sorry we cannot get the book for you, “Sincerely, G.. Gd Some time ago I asked for a copy of “Asa Doctor Sees’ It,” a book written | by Dr. Liber which shows how work- ers suffer physically under the capi-| talist system, which I could not get. In the magazine room of the library, | Jone can find every publication from fascist Italian to “white” Russian de- nouncing the workers in any fanguage Humboldt Branch, per| \ Lake Ice Hous Scabs in Millinery Strike in Long Island By a Worker Correspondent. MASPETH, L. L., Jan. 28—Recently the blockers of peth Hat Works, L. I. asked for shorter hours for they worked 52 hours a week. The boss used to shorten the hours so the linery Union called a strike. We trimmers’ w sympathy with them, though bs remained in the shop ors committee appointed me to go to convince the scabs not to work When I asked one o' cab girls to stop working she refu I tried to shame her, but held she was not scabbing, only wor g. She even did not know the meaning 0 e word scab and added she was going to school and never h 1 of such a word in the English lang Omaha Ice House Workers Driven and Cursed by Bosses By a Worker Correspondent. OMAHA, Neb. Jan. 28. owned by the Omaha Carter Ice and Cold Storage compan upply ice to almost all of Omaha. Most of the workers get their ice from that “tl know what this Bolshevism means, Bill—it means us!” THE WINNERS: HE first, prize, “Flying Ossip,” Stories of New Russia, goes to Worker B., United States Steel corporation, employe of Gary, Ind. The second prize, “Whither England?” by Leon Trotsky, goes to a Swift's ice house lake worker of Calumet, Ill. The third prize, “Russia Today,” Report®ef the British Trade Union Delegation, goes to an unemployed worker in Los Angeles, Cal. bli Next Week’s Prizes! Next weeks prizes:are as, follows: a FIRST PRIZE: “Historical Materlalism—sA‘System of Sociology” by Nikolai Bukharin. In this valuable book social sclences are closely scrutinized and interpreted from the rialist viewpoint. “SECOND PRIZE: “Capital,” "by Karl M THIRD PRIZE: “Russia Today,” Report .of the British Trade Union Delegation. ? All three are valuable books for every worker's library. THE FIRST PRIZE. 'HE WORKED SO HARD TO DESERVE THAT BONUS AND JUST AS IT WAS COMING DUE HE WAS DISCHARGED By Worker B., Worker Correspondent. GARY, Ind., Jan. 27.—Klime lushkala, who hag been employed in the steel mills of the United States Steel carporation in Gary, for the last sixteen years, was discharged last month. His job-was in the store room and dur- ing the sixteen years he never missed a day in the mills, Add Insult to Injury. The reason given him for his discharge was that he left the door of the store room open and articles were missing from the store, thus adding insult to injury, for all that is nothing but a frame-up. (1) There is a lesson in this for every deluded worker who thinks he can advance his personal interests by fighting his class. Kline, tho simple, is an honest working man. He is the type of worker that is still naive enuf to believe that if he does not go on strike for his rights the boss will take 2 SSE 1S ee ae notice of him and give him special fa- vors and by dint of hard labor he will rise out of his class. In 1919 he worked in the mills during the great steel strike, He explained that he did not dare go on strike because he would forfeit his bonus. And that same bonus {8 the reason for his dis- charge, Bonus Was Coming Due. It was a matter of only a short time when Kline’s bonus from the United States Steel ,cor tion would fall 5 la f th - THE UNEMPLOYED IN LOS ANGELES | ration.” in'diagnareing sir the vo AUR Si 38S Oy dropped his obligation to pay him his By a Worker Correspondent. bonus. Andqby framing him up in Los ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 28.—Being unemployed for over a month | had the opportunity to witness conditions of the unemployed of Los Angeles, The total of unemployed in this city is estimated at from 75,000 to 100,000. This huge “reserve army” wanders daily from one employment bureau to another. near each other one can see these starving workers standing on the streets in front of the offices because the offices are’filled with people aif the time. An example of the advantage being taken by employers of the unemployed workers can be had by the following ‘daily scene at one This employment bureau has the appearance of along barn, It is packed with workers eager to s¢cure a job. Patient+ ly they look towards the part of the room from which the employer emerges to examine the prospects. A girl comes out and announces “two laborers for one week's work, have to wet their fe: aday.” Immediately 50 to 60 hands are seen waving in the air. Then ‘eps forth, lines them up in front of him, scrutinizes every one separately and finally selects the two who he decides will employment burea the employer make better sla than the rest. themselves daily and convinces one of the fact that workers are slaves under the capitalist state. of society. Ny orov, organization secretary of the Russiati. Communist Party, |of worker and peasant (farmer) correspondents plays a particula strengthening of socialist forces to combat and overcome the forces of ‘that manner, the boss places him in a position where he dares not demand it, tt Now if Kline, still dreams about the bonus, he must apply for work to the company’s employment agent. But he will nevem;get the same job back again, If hesgets a job at all he will be made to start from the beginning, And as he is; getting older there is no chance ofshis pulling thru another sixteen yearsi‘of continuous hard la- ‘bor, That is cwhat the promise of a bonus by the United States Steel corporation means to workers, Where the bureaus are located four dollars There is alway news around you if you will look for it. Don’t know how? Come over to the worker correspond- ents’ classes every Thursday night at The DAILY WORKER office, Such and similar instanc repeat New York Office * * | Workers’ Union Aids | Miners on Strike By a Worker Correspondent. | NEW YORK, Jan. 28—At the last meeting of the Bookkeépers’, Steio- graphers’ & Accountants’ Union Bro* ther Leonard Bright, president of the union, read the official appeal to the membership, sent out by the American Federation of Labor, to help the strik- ing miners and their families in their desperate need. When he had finished reading the appeal, Brother Bright made the state- ment that the funds in the treasury of the union were low and therefore he suggested those present send any-old clothes, they might have to the union to be forwarded to the miners and their families. i Fortunatély, a brother in the meet- ing understood the real situation, and he took the floor. He said, “Since the need of the striking miners is urgent, I move that a collection be taken up at once.” Before the motion could be seconded, everyone waved a dollar bill in his hand, and those who were broke fished out quarters. The collection amounted to over $22.00, tho the at- tendance was very small, This is evidence of the truth that if an issue. is clearly presented, there is a proper response. If there were suf- ficient vitality in the union, starting with the officials, there would be im- portant and urgent work awaiting the membership, Office workers, you are needed in the union to give it life by doing the work that will reach all the workers who are-not yet aware of the necessity for active organization, The meetings of the B, S. & A. M. are held on the third Monday of every month, 6:00 D. m., at No. 3 West 16th Street, 520 Firemen Respond to Ad Calling for 4 By J. P. (Worker Correspondent) MILWAUKEE, ‘Wis., Jan. &"—Five hundred and twenty men jammed the corridors of the City Hall at eight o'clock one morning hoping to get a job as fireman. There were openings for four, Somé of the earliest job- seekers showed up at 3 a. m. By 7 a, m, there were more than 300 in line. The same desperate situation exists thruout the city.’ At the Seaman Body company the unemployment offices overflow with men, some having to stand outside 'the office. A recent lay- off at the International Harvester Co, has added still more to the army of unemployed, soltto capitalism, thi r role in building up socialism.” am goo: me oo jhe may desire to read, but. when you ask for a copy of a workers’ publica-| jany magazine published in Soviet Rus-| sia in the library. In order to allow worekrs who can-| ”° i not buy books to read, the workers Ree rage oe Sea " penny should start a circulating library of] °" "8 Job after he had been dis- rental | company altho the conditions of work there are known as the very worst in Only men who | the, city. been jtion like the Workers Monthly or| &, ss t 7 r s ta ob The DAILY WORKER, it “cannot be vlog eek FOR months eee ae |procured.” It is impossible to find 2 : I never saw men driven and c {as on that ice jcb. One poc | was forced off the ice by boss the and | charged. While on the job one morning I fell jin the lake. I saved my life by catch- }ing hold of a worker’s legs. All that | day I stayed on the job altho it was below zero and my trousers froze on me, The next morning I was too sick | to report for work. When I came to work on the following morning they | flred’ me, altho they knew why I had | stayed out. their own with a small down payment, | Be a worker correspondent. It pays for the workers. It hurts the bosses. THE SECOND PRIZE. SWIFT ICE HOUSE LAKE WORKER TELLS AN INTERESTING STORY By a Worker Correspondent. I got a job at the Swift Ice House Lake at Calumet, Ill., thru the Chad- wick and Wightman labor agency at 564 W. Madison street. I was given work in the ice house placing ice, a very awkward, difficult and dangerous job for one can never tell the moment he will slip and fall between cakes of ice. The men work from starting time until the end of their ten long hours, which is a day's work, at a fierce pace and not a minute is lost. The job is worth at least 65 cents an hour, the way they must strain all day, The least the company could do is pay a man forty cents an hour. But for this hard work the men are paid the outrageous sum of $2.75 a day, 274 Out of the wages one dollar a day is deducted for board which is sup-, plied by the company. The most de- grading living conditions and the poor- est food comprises this board. At meal time the dining room is jammed tight, Everyone fights to get to the tables first because not all the men can get in at once sitting and those who do not get in must wait un- til some one finishes his meal, The food is the poorest sloppy fare con- ceivable and the coffee is the cheap- est obtainable. But worst of all are the sleeping accomodations. About four hundred men are crowded toge- ther in dormitories three decks high, two men in a bed. To get to the top deck one has to climb ten feet from the ground. In spite of the discom- fort of having to sleep in the same bed with a stranger, one considers himself lucky if he has a bed at all, ‘f Woman’ in the"Communist movement. It is not too RUSSIAN COMMUNIST PARTY SECRETARY PAYS TRIBUTE TO WORKER AND FARMER CORRESPONDENTS told the recent Fourteenth Congress of the party held at Moscow, that, “The movement One of the big problems before the congress was the 2 cents an hour. for there are thirty to forty sleeping on the benches every night. The scarcity of space makes undressing and dressing very disagreeable. One must back out that another might get in. There is no ventilation whatever. If a person complains about being cooped up or about being compelled to sleep on the benches, the bosses tell him it only costs seven cents to get back to Chicago. Of course men do not stay long on this job. They cannot, no matter how much they need the job, because of the inhuman living conditions and the fierce strain of the work. It is terrible to find that such con- ditions exist in a country that boasts of being the richest in the world. -A ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WOMAN'S DAY EDITION HE Communist International has set Day. Special propaganda is carried on and an intensive fort is made to enlist new masses of the women of the working class The DAILY WORKER is planning to get out a special issue in connection with Woman's Day. A whole page will be given over to worker correspondence stressing the special problems and narrating the experiences confronting women in industry. rly to begin sending in this material. Women today constitute a large percentage of the workers in almost every industry. Eight million women are employed in Industry in the United States, They are a big factor in many trade unions. have organized auxiliaries to many trade unions. Then there are or- ) ganizations of housewives that help draw the women in the home | into the broad stream of the workers’ struggles. Here is a wide field that should enlist the best efforts of an in- | creasing number of worker correspondents. The shorter the items, the more will find room on the page. Send in’ ail contributions marked Woman's Day Edition, The DAILY WORKER,” 1113 West Washington Bivd., Chicago, i, rich country with its workers starving and driven in wage slavery. ide March 8 each year, as The wives of workers Make the items short, | ——