The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 22, 1926, Page 8

DEMAND THE REPEAL (Continued from page one) the official organ of the railroad unions, in the issue of May 15, 1926. There we read that the Watson-Parker bill “Was the outcome of conferences during the summer and fall of 1925 between representatives of practically all the railroads and 20 railroad labor organizations,” And that: “Finally, the provisions embodied in thisbill were sub- mitted to a vote of the respective parties. They were accept- ed by all the represntatives of labor.” And who are these representatives of labor? What kind of labor representatives are those who can accept a bill which dif- fers from Mussolini’s terroristic methods against Italian labor only in form but not in substance? For the truth is that the Watson-Parker bill, while somewhat “nicer” and less brutal in form, is almost an exact replica of the anti-labor legislation of Mussolini which is. breaking up the Italian trade unions, outlaws strikes, etc. : : All these “little” things, which mean everything to the rail- road workers, do not seem to matter much to the reactionary officials of the railroad unions. On the contrary, such reaction- aries as Bill Lee, Robertson and their like are doing all in their power, behind the backs of their membership, to put over the Watson-Parker-Mussolini bill. Robertson, for example, is alto- gether “delighted” by the passage of the Watson-Parker bill. He says so himself in a statement that he issued upon the adoption of the bill by the house of representatives. We quote his state- ment in full: We are naturally delighted with the passage of the Rail- way Labor Bill. We appreciate deeply the splendid support given this measure by its friends both in congress and out- side, whose vigorous, loyal work preserved and translated into law the agreement of railroad managements and rail- road labor to co-operate in promoting peace and efficiency in the transportation service. We believe that the rights of the employers, the employes and the public are all properly safeguarded and that their respective and joint interests are distinctly advaned by the passage of this bill. Thus speaks Robertson, the president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers, and with him all the reactionary union officials, all the “chief executives” of the stand- ard railroad labor organizations of the United States. They are all in favor of “peace and efficiency in the transportation.” Arc they also in favor of protecting the interests‘of thé ‘Tailroad workers? Bol at, ee Peace and Efficiency for the Capitalists—A Reduced Standard of Living for the Workers, Did Bill Lee and Robertson ever think of this? That as long as the railroads belong to the capitalists and are run for their profit and enrichment, just so long will “peace and efficiency in the transportation service” mean more oppression and worsened living conditions for the railroad workers. What does industrial peace mean? The people who speak most about it are the capitalists and all those who serve them. Why? Because the assumption is that the disturbers of industrial peace are the workers, the trade unions, the “labor-agitators,” etc. Even when an industrial con- flict is caused directly by the employers, thru a lockout, as was the case in the British miners’ strike the blame is placed upon the workers and their unions. This is quite natural. The employers, as a rule, are satis- fied with conditions as they are. The workers are not. The em- ploying class is the ruling class, which holds in its hands the wealth and political power of the country. The fewer the changes, the better for the employers. Not so with the workers. The workers are the exploited, the oppressed, the persecuted. The workers are, therefore, the _ dissatisfied class, the class that grumbles, and kicks, and pre- « sents demands and struggles. The workers are also the produc- ** iIng’elass, the very basis of social life. It is for these reasons that the workers, being the producing class and the dissatisfied class, appear as the natural “disturbers” of industrial peace. And it is precisely for the reason that the employers are the parasitic class and the satisfied class that they are the natural champions of . “industrial peace.” But why should Robertson and Bill Lee be in favor of this so-called industrial peace? The Watson-Parker Bill Establishes Peace For the Bosses, oi For the railroad companies the Watson-Parker bill does the ollowing: ; It provides them with elaborate governmental machinery to ee adjustment mediation and arbitration, in fact, if not in word, of all grievances and wage demands of the workers against the employer, It is the old Industrial Court of Governor Allen, de- feated by the Kansas miners under the leadership of Alex Howat, only the poisoned teeth of the animal have been skillfully and cleverly concealed. It provides the and the government with an effec- tive instrument to make strikes practically illegal. It opens, for the nr a ar door for the ee of c unionsm on the railroads. Tamed, emasculated, shop- scniceth Somenainea by the employers instead of real independent labor organizations fighting in the interests of the workers. It makes increases in wages dependent upon the increase of efficiency and increase in railroad rates, This is accomplished by the mere fact that the bureaucracy of the railroad unions is mak- F WATSON-PARKER LAW lout. He worked in the ing the labor organizations responsible for “peace and efficiency in the transportation service.” Bill Lee, Robertson and the rest of them are joining hands with Crowley, Willard, Markham, etc., to charge “what traffic will bear,” to speed up the workers on the job in the best “scientific” manner, and to reduce the unions to complete impotence by imposing upon them the elaborate gov- ernmental machinery for adjustment, mediation and arbitration provided by the Watson-Parker bill. Bill Lee has tried to put over something of this kind last year. He had formulated a proposal to abolish strikes and to es- tablish “peace” in the railroad industry. But the attempt was made in such a crude and “undiplomatic” fashion that everybody could see at a glance its reactionary and anti-labor purposes. Hence, Bill Lee proceeded in a more cautious way which resulted in the birth of the Watson-Parker bill. Bill Lee knew exactly what the Watson-Parker bill was about when he remarked to some of his fellow union heads that “the membership is now talk- ing of wage movements but we will stall them off until the pass- age of the Watson-Parker bill and then there will be no wage movements.” This is what the Watson-Parker and is aiming to do to the workers. Class Collaboration With a Vengeance, The collaboration between the railroad union reactionaries and the railroad magnates in putting over the Watson-Parker bill is a gross example of what class collaboration really means and where it is leading to. It is the logical outcome of such “peace” maneuvers as the B. & O. plan, or the Hillman-Nash agreement in the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, and similar schemes of co-operation between union officials and the employers, It proves that class collaboration is class betrayal, the surrender of the workers to the merciless exploitation by the bosses, The Watson-Parker Bill Must Be Repealed. The workers and the entire labor movement must energetic- uly oppose the Watson-Parker-Mussolini bill. If the bill is ap- proved by the president, as it is most likely to be, a campaign must be initiated thruout the country to repeal it. This step is dictated »y the most vital interests of the American labor movement, Al- ready there is talk of a similar bill for the mining industry, and f the workers of this country will permit, they will in time be laced under an industrial regime even worse than that of the ‘Mussolini regime in Italy. The Watson-Parker bill must be opposed with all its might vy the labor movement of the United States. Demand the repeal of the Watson-Parker law! a ack iam ab wodt Mase An American Worker Awakens. (Big, blonde, dressed in a college boy’s mackinaw with broad black and white checks, nervously twisting its middle button, with big fingers, he was telling of the strike to an audience of workers like himself.) I work in the dye works and believe me it’s tough. Steam and poison. If the dyes get in your shoes you get poisoned. You have to wrap your lunch in old sacking so the steam and dyes don’t get into it. Women work there too. Imagine it, women in a place like that. They have to wear wooden shoes. Imagine it. Women wearing wooden shoes, In America, We formed a mill committee but the boss wouldn’t talk to us. Then we went out on strike. We picketed the other mills and the other workers came out. Then the police began. They arrested the pickets. They beat up a lot of the boys. They beat up women, too. Imagine it! In a free country like America. We got out a flag and the chief of. police rode right over it, Imagine it—in America. The chief of police is a German. He served a year in jail in Germany. Then he comes here and claims to be a 100 can. Imagine it! e per cent Ameri- We got out a lot of children and had a parade and th lice knocked down and clubbed the children.” nin Imagine it—in America! This fellow that organized the strike—the bosses don’t like They’ve had him in jail a lot of times, but we always get him M ecpratg ay trong: us. e me he was in we had the big fight on the brid a, ita us be = ae us ves Soho the bridge to the . e right On the end of the brid , with my bunch. I took my bunch sp ase tribe ten in behind them. It was a big fight. Then the bosses got out an injunction go we couldn’t go around the mill only one at a time. Imagine it, in America! Then "they wanted us to meet them without our organizer, We told them no. Then they said the mill workers weren’t behind him. So we had a big meeting—15,000. 15,000 people voted not to make no settlement without our organizer. 15,000 people voted with their unjon cards. There won't be no settlement without our organizer. bill does for the employers We need some money and we hope you people will help us till we get a settlement, but there won't be no settlement within our organizer, —wW. F, D,