The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 13, 1926, Page 5

Es: circuit court in overruling the ( The First Prize Winner. ae | WEST VIRGINIA COURTS AGAINST UNION WORKERS) Help National Woolen Mills Go > Open-Shop By a Worker Correspondent PARKERSBURG, W. Va., Feb. 11.— The supreme court of West Virginia, sitting, at Charleston;/upheld the right of the National Weolen, Mills of Park- ersburg to an injunction aginst Local No, 350, Journeymen Tailor's Union, thus affirming the action of the Wood, nion’s demurrer to the injunction tated by the’ lower court. Once mof#}, ‘the’ workéfs of ‘West Virginia “are|’ shown the wselessnhess of appealing t capitalist. courts to uphold any con- ‘stitutignal jrights which they are fook ish enough to think they have, in a fight With their bosses, ust Open Shop Drive. The war made on the local union by the National Woolen Mill is a part of that great wave of open shopism that is sweeping the country under our open shop government. The DAILY WORKER has on many occasions given publicity to the brave fight made by the rank and file of this union in' this long drawn out contest, but a brief resume of the chse will not be out of place here, to show the odds under which they have labored to uphold the principles of unionism. Union Heads Write in Jokers. On September 16, 1924, the National Woolen Mills signed a contract with tthe local Journeymen Tailors’ Union to run their shops on a union basis, except in case the following contin- gencies would arise: insolvency, bank- ruptey, receivership or liguidation of the company. Four months after sign- ing this contract while the business of the company was apparently run- ning along normally, the union was | notified by the management of the mills that the mills would be run ony an opéep shop basis and any members wishing to keep employment should apply to the firm as, individuals. A few weeks after the lockout at a meeting of the stockholders the of- ficials assured the stockholders that all was serene and they had instituted a@ new working condition in the mills. It,would seem that in asking for an injunction a few weeks after the leck- out, to prevent the peaceful picketing of the mills by the union members, | the managers of the mills must have thought it necessary to mention this | elause in the contract and use it for) a lever to get the injunction (tho it was absolutely unnecessary in our courts here), and yet it did not come to light for a year after. Officials Bungle Strike, That there has been some bungling among the leaders of the union in this is apparent in their permitting the National Woolen Mills to.-thus shamelessly break their contract with | the union, without at least trying to make them show whether the con- tingency they claim had arisen and} this at least let the stockholders’ in| on the inner workings of the direc- torate. That no such a crisis has arisen is jhown by the fact that over a year) has elapsed and in spite of the fight put up by the rank and file of the union the mills are still working full time and training workers for carry- ing on the shop work. The union members, 158 are still, with the ex- ception of four who weakened, hold- ing out against great odds but with the right kind of leadership they would have won victory long ago, cEnLE DAIEY WORKER er CONCH R CORRESPONDENTS BY JANUARY 13 1927 The Third Prize Winner. By/a Worker Correspondent The propaganda sheet commonly known as Labor, a weekly paper used by the Brotherhood leaders,—rather, misleaders,—to keep the, railroad workers in ignorance, carries an edi- torial in its Febuary 6 issue which discolses that young Rockefeller is the largest and most influential stockhold- er in the Western Maryland Railroad and that the Rockefelfer Consolidated 681 company is the ‘Western Mary- nd's best customer, The Locomotive Engineers and Fire- ‘men are out on strike on the Western “Maryland and have beg off! ginte Oc tober 15, of last years MM@ Above re- ferred to editorial, “wi mtionally, furnishes another illustration of the imbecility or downright betrayal of the bureaucrats who pose. as “grand chiefs” of the 16 craft unions into which the railroad workers are di- vided. Few Strike, Rest Scab, Here we have the spectacle of see- ing two of the 16 railroad crafts—com- pelled to strike alone—whilst the other 14 crafts are kept at work as- sisting the most gigantic combination of organized capital in the world, the gets a valuable fountain pen. The second prize goea’to H. on Organization.” Win a Prize yours! unusual book. worth prison. NeiETMBYH Yemnaa rasema-KypHan Uykarckoro omaena ra3. HOBbI MVP” The living. newspaper of the Chi- cago worker correspondents of the Novy Mir is getting a firm foothold among the Russian masses here, The fact that it is being attacked by the local and New York counter revolu- tionary Russian press adds to its po- pularity among the Russian workers. The Prolet-Tribune, as the living “Government of the People, The Second Prize Winner. By HJ, POWELL (Worker Correspondent) i yd those workers who are naive enuf to believe that governments are institutions above and outside class interests a review of recent po- Uitical events in Virginia may be il- luminating. Children Retain Freedom of Exploitation, FEW weeks ago, the Virginia leg- islature met. Practically the first act of this “august” body was to re- ject the proposed child labor amend- ment to the federal constitution by a practically unanimous vote, The rep- yosentatives of the city and country entolters joined hands enthustastic- ally to preserve the inaleinable right “ot children in this state to stunt their “thental and physical growth in the tobacco flelds and factories, The naxt attack was made on the will be devoted to’ the Novy'‘Mir‘an- niversary which comes on’ February 20. House, 1902 W. Division St. Feb, 20, at 8 p.m, Admigsion.25-cents, newspaper is called, has its “trade- mark,” or official name, which’ is re- produced above, It is used in’ ad- vertising the paper, on the circulars, announcements, etc, The name is. be- coming more and more popular draw- ing new members to the worker cor- respondents group. i The next, fifth issue of the paper It-will be out at.the: Workers’ y, Cy Nég¥oes. So mitch did the pire south- ern slavocracy wreak its lust on Ne- gro slaves, that now their descéndants _|require Jesuit ability té tell’ “which race is which. Fittingly\brot ‘forward by a local aggregation of mental mis- fits known as the Anglo-Saxon Club, a bill on “racial integrity” was present- ed to the legislature by a pseudo-eth- nologist and a crack-brained musician, prohibiting intermarriage. between whites and those with, the. slightest discoverable trace of Negro blood, “Racial registration” is also part. of this plan. The object is obvious—to further fan the already existing flames of race hatred between the white and black workers, to the ultimate disad- vantage of both. mort THE WINNERS! HIS week the first prize again goes to West Virginia. While Presi- gent William Green, of the American Federation of Labor, is urging higher salaries for the judges, our West Virginia worker cor- respondent tells how the judges treat the workers in that state. He Virginia: We haven’t been able to enlist many worker correspondents in the South. This story gives’an idea of conditions confronting labor in Dixie. This writer gets a copy of Karl Marx’s “Capital,” Vol No. I. The third prize goes to a worker. correspondent on the railroads, who writes about a very timely subject. The prizes for next week are as follows: : ; Send ina story ake. it short, ied the facts, and a prize may be No. 1—First prize will be a new’ book now on the press: “The Awakening of China,” by James H. Dolgen. A beautiful édition of an No, 2—“Bars and Shadows,” by Ralph Chaplin, ‘as a second prize of a book of beautiful working class poems written In Fort Leaven- No. 3—Makes an attractive third prize: “The Russell-Scott Nearing Debate” on the Soviet form of government. Write--Rush---Order a Bundle of the issue in which your story appears! Standard Oil, to defeat the two crafts on strike. What chance have two crafts to tie up a railroad nowadays when they are pitted against the present interlocked ownership of the nation’s industries, and especially when 14 of ‘the other crafts are permitted to remain at work to keep the wheels turning, which the! two struggling, eratts are trying to} stop? The Western Maryland situation is merely a sample of the bankrupt and self-seeking leadership of the railroad} unions. The Tidiculous high salaries of the officials has entirely separated | them from the tank and file, Their! political and, economic interests are} more closely related to the capitalists than to the workers, For instance, amalgamation would be very benefi- cial to. the railroad..workers for many reasons, but it, would be very destruc- tive to the craft officials who, like President Robertson gets $12,000 a year and who; is ,furnished with a $10,000 a year. assitant, Fakers. Peddie Votes. These overpaid takers oppose a la- bor party for. the same reasons. They enjoy to peddle the workers’ votes wherever they see, fit. It gives them favor with the politicians who want J. Powell, across the line in old He gets the book, “Lenin Next Week! to be senators and congressment or| get some other office, and it helps to keep the workers divided and ignor ant, because there is nothing a bu- reaucrat fears more than the grow-| ing intelligence and consciousness of| the masses, The incompetency and treachery displayed by the Brotherhood leaders in the Western. Maryland strike, is|, but a sample of the policy they have! pursued since 1913, when they started a strike of engineers and firemen on the Bangor and» Aroostook rallroad and permitted jit to drag along for 12) years until Jan,-1, 1925, when it was| simply called off. Figuring, we pre- sume, that the men had forgotten all about it by that time. On the Missouri and North Arkan- sas a strike of engineers and firemen was sanctioned on Feb, 16, 1921 which was called off after a crushing defeat Dec. 21, 1923. Another strike of the same crafts was called on the Alabama and Atlan- tic March 5, 1921, and is still in ef- fect. Another on the Virginia Ry., affective Nov. 8, 1923, still in effect. Split Workers’ Forces, These misleaders don’t mind having a small portion of their membership slaughtered off occasionally in these Page Five How Brotherhood Leaders Betray the Workers futile strikes in order to make the members believe that they are fight- ers when necessary. But they are very cautions when their whole meal! ticket is at stake as it was on Oct. 29, 1921 when the ‘leaders -of the five transportation Brotherhoods took a 1214 per cent wage cut rather than to risk a battle, with the well organized employers. This explains why they did not risk a battle with five national | organizations behind them but are per- fectly willing to let two crafts go it alone on a ‘small road like the Vir ginian and the Western Maryland. Thus we have a long string of de-| feats, including the smashing of the | shop crafts, attributable to these trai- tors at the head of the railroad} unions. These defeats could have just as well been victories, had the rail- road workers been properly led in- stead of misled. These leaders and their “kept” press. are doing every- thing they can to discourage the proper organization on both the po- litical and industrial field, because it| is to their interest, like all privileged} classes, to maintain things as they/ are, Need Militant Rank and File. When the rank and file will become | | | izing. sufficiently informed of the tremen-| dous loss they are incurring thru } needle: lost strikes, wage cuts, po- litical defeats and persecution, caused by the high salaried misleaders in of- | fice, who prevent the workers from | properly organizing for their own | benefit and protection against the ex- ploiting class, they will pitch these | Judas betrayers of labor from their | fat positions to the political dung heap, arid elect in their placés work- | ers who stand for amalgamation, a} real class labor party, with salaries | equal to the wages paid to »skilled| workers in the ranks, men who are} capable of taking the lead in organ- the unorganized millions in American industries instead of going | around the country making red bait- ing speeches and lobbying with the railroad officials to put over the so-| called “Railway Labor Act,” a peace} pact between the railroad officials, headed by Atterbury of the notorious | Pennsylvania, and the $12,000 a year| labor leaders. In’ the meantime Wall Street and Standard Oil will continue to smash the railroad unions with the mutual consent of the railroads and labor officials, NEW GRIPPLES MADE EVERY DAY IN STEEL PLANT IN YOUNGSTOWN By a Worker Correspondent WARREN, Ohio. Feb, 11—The Youngstown Pressed Stee! company of Warren is one of the plants here which is making cripples every day and it is no uncommon sight to see | the workers of the plant walking the streets with their hands band- aged-up due to the loss of a finger or fingers, The other day one of workers had all the fingers of both hands taken off in one of the presses in the plant. The management says to the workers “safety first,” but that only applies to the machines, and not to the labor fodder which tends the machines. Machines cost money, Workers are plentiful. While Opera House Costume Makers Strike Union Musicians Scab By A Worker Correspondent NEW YORK, Feb. 11 — The Metro- politan ‘Opera House employs work- MISERABLE WAGES OF WOOLWORTH STORES LEAD GIRLS TO VICE By a Worker Correspondent WARREN, Ohio, Feb. 11—When the police raided the Savoy Hotel here last Saturday night they un- covered one of those sores which is known to every Communist, for they discovered that this house of assig- nation was frequented by girls from the five and ten cent stores of the millionaire Woolworth, and eking out a part of their miserable exist- ance, by selling their bodies, to make up for,.the soul destroying small wages paid them in these stores. The writer proached some of the girls and asked them about the wage they received but he could not get the information, One of them Said to the other, “I do not believe _we are allowed to fell are we. that they are not only forced to sell their bodies but thay.are forced by the management to, refuse to give information about their wages. fall belong to the ers of different trades—musicians, carpenters, tailors and others. They same union—the American Federation of Labor, hut to different locals, and when one local goes on strike, the other workers working in the same place are allow- ed to stay on their jobs only because they belong to different locals. Now the tailors of the Metropolitan Opera House went on strike in the beginning of the season. They ap- pealed to Pregjdent Green when he attended the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ convention, to call a general strike in the Metropolitan and he ordered the district organizer Fraina to do so. But Fraina failed to fulfill this order, He evidently hates to antagonize the Metropolitan corporation and the Fifth Avenue | ladies. So the strikers are picketing outside the house while the union mu- sicians are scabbing inside. The workers of all trades should learn two lessons; first, that the form of organization as it exists now is of little use to them, And second—that the fake leaders use this form of or- ganization against the interests of the workers and in the interests of the bosses, They must change the form of organization and get rid of the labor fakers. They must be or- ganized according, to industries; all the workers of the Metropolitan Op- era House and .of other theaters should belong Ao one union no matter what trade or profession, If the mu- eM Fight—write—speak of Tell how and why you are bound and gagged. THE SHACKLES—SPEAK ! ous | conditions and wages! sicians, carpenters, operators and others would strike, together, there were no occasion Of a lost or pro- longed strike, Be a worker correspondent. for the workers. It pays It hurts the boi Your pen must be stronger than the hired pen of the boss. laws,” etc., have been proposed, So ridiculous are most of them that even this assemblyof): mental zeros will hardly dare serfousl¢’ consider them. In Richmond, Va, alone one-sixth of the working class is unemployed, Thousands of child slaves are crowd- ed into dusty tobacco factories all day long. The streets in the Negro quar- ters, inhabited 90 per cent by worke in many cases can not be distingui ed from alleys, Their “homes” would not be used by any sclentific stock raiser to house swine. Nor are the conditions of the unskilled and semi- skilled white workers much better, Of all this, the Virginia legislature is seemingly as oblivious as if all these conditions pas on a distant planet. Bills for God's NY - i ve So much for, lature, Yes- HAN. ig tat tne workers’ | terday, with an ‘ie pk ee military dis- children to Mi ‘unm sate “non-| play, Harry a was inaugu- Nordign” to ber, the legis-| rated governor. '’ ‘tie Tst act of this lators next wealthy ‘ B to raise the Jehovah. ar hours @t ‘df’ the state’ em- compulstory mer ea ) pertity"and to request all executives as to how they could reduce'their forces. This act is hailed with joy by all the or- ans of the bossés, not so much be- cause of the step itself, but because of its general implications as regards the whole working class, In his mes- sage to the legislature this ereature gloats over the defeat of the child la- bor amendment, and utters a most contemptible lie to the effect that “Virginia has enlightened child labor laws.” Words for the Farmers. Ae a lot pf twaddie about the farmers, he recommends a tew vague measures that could not con- ceivably benefit anybody but the par- ticular type of “farmer” he himself represents—the large rural exploiters, This representative of “all the peo-|“ ple” then goes on to recommend a commission of “outstanding, promi- nent Virginians’; to Yrecommend changes in the constitution as oppos- ed to a constitutional convention, Even the most Wackward worke' know what Byrd means by “oustand- ing Virginians.” that Byrd knows that a constitutional convention, especially the campaign preceding it might prove embarrasing to the bosses and their state flunkeys, 1O show his consuming love for de- mocracy Byrd recommends that the very important state corporation commission be appointed by the gov- ernor. “I would prefer that this com- mission be elected by the general as- sembly, The constitution, however, provides that they shall be either elected by popular vote or appointed by the governor, The law was chang: ed in 1918 trom appointment by the governor to popular election.” Com- ment unnecessary, Negro and Foreign Workers, UR” governor wishes “voting tobe encouraged and facilitated, with proper safeguards made necessary by our racial conditions.” /He also wants “a non-pald commission of able busi- ness men in Virwitla’ to study “selec: | ive immigration/*™ (or, in plain Kng- | committee” LEFT WING IN LABOR LYCEUM WINS VICTORY Elect Majority of the Board of Directors By a Worker Correspondent MINNEAPOLIS, Minn,, Feb. 11, — The left wing in the Labor Lyceum here, scored\a decisive victory in the annual shareholders meeting by elect- ing a majority of three on the board of directors. The other officials re- main the same. This was the third meeting called for the purpose of |electing officers for the ensuing year, the others having been broken off by the right. wing when it. appeared they were going to lose out, The Forwards group packed the Labor Lyceum auditorium’ with inactive and out-of-town members but their ma- neuver was futile. Forward Agent Is Busy. At the first meeting, which was held Jan. 24, D. Shier, the agent of the Forward in this city, convinced he could not win the presidency, illegally adjourned the gathering before the question of the election of officiers had been reached. This was done against the wishes of the sharehold- ers. At a subsequent meeting he succeeded in having a “nominations chosen which would vir- tually dictate the selection of officers. The left wing fought for the regular method of elections provided in the }constitution and bylaws of the associa- tion. Left Wing Opportunity. The fact that the Forward group was able to achieve a, partial success in their obstructionist tactics makes it necessary for the left wing to or- ganize their forces more thoroly, The Labor Lyceum must be made a real social and cultural center for the Jewish working class of the north side, For this reason it is necessary to draw the unorganized workers into the groups which are meeting at the Lyceum hall. Efforts will be made to bring the children into contact with the radical movement. This js the task of the left wing, a task which could not be car- ried out so long as the Forward domi- nated the organization. The board of directors is a step towards the elimi- nation of the anti-labor influence of the Forward on the Lyceum, Russian Branch to Give Affetr By a Worker Correspondent The Russian branch of the Interns- tional Labor Defense is giving a een- cert and dance Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Workers’ House; 1902 W. Division St. An interesting program is being arranged. Beginning at 8 p. m. sharp. Worker Correspondence By William K Dunne. 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- ity. Get a copy—read it— write! 10c No. 4 in the Little Red Library The Daily’ Worker Pub. Co, 1113 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, Ill. by the People, and for the People,” ers), and present their “views” to the national ‘congress. However the workers need not de- spair. “Their” governor recommends the “improvement of poor houses.” After going thru Ife a speeded up, horribly exploited machine adjunct, the worker may be able to fling his wrecked carcass into an “improved poor house” provided improvements “do not increase the present cost.” Role of the Labor Fakers. J* the above legislative and guber- natorial tragic-comedy the supposed representatives of the worker play the most loathsome role. In the face of widespread unemployment, low wages, injunctions in the 1922 railroad strike, very bad*working and living condi- tions, the legislative committee of the Virginia Federation of Labor impot- ently begs the legislature for a bar- bers’ license act and a boiler inspec: tion bill! bosses" representatives because they ish, the best way of importing docile and their like are “labor” (!) cogs in They also realize|scabs and excluding militant work: | the democratic machine, political | conceded him: They cringe thus before the | in Virginia flunkeys of the bosses they are sup posed to fight, The only fight they ever- wage is for a place at the pie counter. As Coolidge’s message was a chal- lenge to all the workers of America so is Boyd's, a challenge to all the workers of Virginia, Let us answer this challenge, fellow-workers. Force the labor fakers to drop ther hypo critical masks and openly serve their masters, Put our unions in the hands of the members themselves. Organize the unorganized to resist the coming wage cuts, Join up our split up craft unions. Form councils to combat un- employment. Begin to break down the barriers between the black and white workers by forming inter-racial | workers’ ‘committees immediately. | And, above all, work for the formation |of a labor party to challenge the dic- ;tatorship of the bosses in thin state j@nd in the nation, These are practical necessities, even for the worker who only desires to pittance re r maintain the miserable