The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 18, 1926, Page 5

THE DAILY WORKER i ew PERRET oO JOE: CRE hh ace. a | News and Comment Labor Education Labor and Government Trade Union Politics BAKERY UNION ~ BEGINS WAR ON WARD COMBINE Convention Decides To Fight Bread Trust * NEW YORK, Aug. 16,—Declaring their determination to. organize all bakery workers in their fight against the bread trust, the International Bak- ery and Confectionery Workers’ con- vention, meeting at the Great North- ern Hotel, has gone on’ record fora vigorous campaign against the Ward combine. The union at present ¢laims over 12,000 members, about one-fifth of all workers in the baking industry. Organize Drive. Complete’ organization of all work- ers in the independent shops, serious efforts to win back the seceding locals * which built up the independent Amal- gamated Food Workers’ Union, and @n expose of Ward bread trust trick- ery are promised by union resolutions. Request Organizers, Calls for special organizers are fre- quently brought before the convention, The success of the campaign:in the an- thracite région brings a plea for an- other organizer there. tions, such as the cracker bakers, ask help, and there are a number of re- quests for the union to expand its jurisdiction to completely cover the food industry, The convehtion is ex- ected to take over a week to com- plete its business. MOST OF 4000 N.Y, GAPMAKER. STRIKERS BACK Union Imposes Severe Terms On Bosses NEW YORK, Aug. 16—Nearly all strikers remaining from the 4,000 union capmakers called on strike ear- lier in the season will be returning to work with the acceptance of the new agreement by the jobbers’ association, says J. M. Budish of the International Cloth, Hat, Cap and Millinery Work- ers’ International Union. Cap jobbers do not have shops of their own, but hire contractors, or manufacturers. The agreement pro- vides that they must register all their contractors with the union, use°only union contractors and not employ:new contractors during the busy season without consulting the union.. Heavy security is required from the independ- ent jobbers and the association as a whole, Some Continue Strike. The association pays the union .se- vere financial penalties for offenses of its members and, in turn, takes dras- tic action against the offending job: ber. Workers from some of the smaller independent shops will _con- tinue their strike till their employers fall in line, Marine Union Strike . Reveals Virginia Has Government Open Shop By GORDON CASCADEN. (Special to The Daily Worker) NORFOLK, Va., Aug. 16, — Every service ‘between Norfolk and Ports- mouth, connected by ferry boat, was completely suspended as the result of a strike of pilots and engineers, who demand recognition of the Masters’ Mates’ and Pilots’ Association and the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Associa- tion, reinstatement of three dis- charged unionists and better working conditions. ee ‘Charles U. Freund, general manag- er of the ferries under their opera- tion by the City of Portsmouth and ’, Norfolk county, declares that a pub- “Me service corporation, operated "by cipal and county governments, cannot recognize labor organizations, and the mayors of Norfolk and Ports- mouth back this declaration, Freund says he will fill the jobs from the ranks of many pilots and engineers now out of work. Meanwhile motorists find it neces- sary to travel 20 miles to reach points one mile away while pedestrians are forced to remain at home, Send a sub now and get the spe- cial rate of five dollars for a year’s subscription and the pleasure of help Our Daily. RESIDENT GREEN of the Amert- can Federation of Labor is quoted on the Mexican situation as follows: We regard the domestic and Inter- national policies of another nation as part of their own problems. Whatever wrong may exist and whatever injustice may be practiced can only be remedied by the people who make up the nation, In claiming the right to deal with our own domestic and administra- tive problems without interference from outside sources we must con- cede the reise. of the same right to other nations. HE only inference that can be drawn from the above statement is that ‘thé executive council of the A. F. of L, does not intend to take sides in the contest in Mexico between church and state, The only attitude which could be worse than this would be that of ac- tive support of the reactionary forces arrayed against the Mexican govern- ment elected by workers and farmers, Objectively, this “hands off” policy mounts to support of reaction in Mexico. e4 Because it is obvious that the cath- olic church, aided by American impe- rialists who harass the Mexican gov- ernment by new demands in this period of crisis, is trying to force a revocation of that portion of the Mex- ican constitution which makes the land and natural resources the prop- erty of the state. The struggles of the Mexican masses always have cen- tered around this one issue and the Special sec- + fate of every Mexican government has depended upon: its. ability to adminis- ter this constitutional provision so that the peons would remain hopeful (even ‘tho landless) "and the church and landlords helpless tho hostile. THE American Federation of Labor officials can no more remain neu- tral in this situation than they can re- main neutral on the matter’ of the British coal strike, for instance. Either they are aiding the Mexican workers and peasants or they are aiding the church, the landlords and the impe- rialists, There is no middle ground. The statement of President Green relative to the A. F. of L. policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations contains two funda- mental inaccuracies—one a question of fact, the other a question of theory. The A, F. of L, leadership has not * followed a consistent policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations. It has joined with the most reactionary section of the American capitalist class in its offen- sive against Soviet Russia and at times the A. F. of L. officials have even assumed the leadership of the offensive. They have continuously slandered and denounced the workers’ and peasants’ government of Soviet Russia, have attacked the Russian trade union movement and waged war on trade unionists of other countries like Purcell, who have defended the Soviet Union and the Russian labor movement. i Reise A. F. of L. official policy in the Mexican situation is, therefore, not a consistent one, because, as in the question of the right of the Russian revolution to defense by the world’s working class, the A. F. of L. official- dom has followed a policy of inter- ference—together with capitalist gov- ernments. The conclusion forces itself that the hands-off policy of the American Fed- eration of Labor leadership in the Mexican situation is the result of a lack of sympathy with the Mexican government and the labér movement in this particular struggle at least. The “nation” theory ehunicated '* by President Green, i. e., that na- tions are made up of people without conflicting interests—from which it fol- lows logically that no class struggle is in progress in Mexico or any other country—is a basic fallacy. It leads inevitably to such outright evasions of plain duty as is expressed in the statement of President Green. It is the duty of the American labor movement to interfere in the Mexican situation ON THE SIDE OF THE MEXICAN LABOR MOVEMENT AND AGAINST THE CHURCH AND IM- PERIALIST REACTION—to speak out with the utmost emphasis against ALL ‘the agencies that are trying to throttle the development of the Mexi- can popular revolution which is essen- tially a two-fold struggle against 1,’ Feudalism as represented by the catholic church and the other big land- lords; 2.. American imperialism represent- ed by Wall Street and the state de- partment. —W. F. D. Shopmen to be Organized—Fines Remitted From the Machinists’ Monthly Journal—Official Organ of A. M. ‘the |. T is generally well known that sanc- tion for the great railroad strike of 1922 was given by the executive coun- cil of the railway employes depart- ment only after the railroad members of the several shop crafts involved had by an overwhelming majority through the referendum voted to strike rather than accept a further re- duction in wages imposed upon them by the railroad labor board at the re- quest of the railorads, si teary order to cease work July 1, 1922, was obeyed by practically every shopman on every railroad in the United States, and the tie-up was complete. The men having demanded the right 'to’strike waiving all claims for strike benefits, the executive coun- cil was justified in believing that all would stick by their guns until a sat- isfactory settlement was effected, and it appeared at the beginning that they would do so. HE situation was so serious that it threatened to tie up the railroads, Because of this the late President Harding called to the White House for a conference representatives of both sides, Using his, good offices, he en- deavored to effect a compromise thru a plan which was accepted by the late T. DeWitt Cuyler for the railroads, and B. M, Jewell fof the shopmen. Altho the execitive department rati- fied Mr. Jewell’s acceptance of Presi- dent Harding’s plan for a settlement, the railway executives turned Cuyler down flat. Without going into detail concerning what followed, it is suf- ficient to say that \President Harding, instead of insisting upon the railroads keeping faith with him, “turned tur- tle,” and after temporizing with the railway executives, finally submitted a new plan to the shopmen, which vir- tually meant unconditional surrender, ‘and. which, of. course, was rejected. ; Then came the great betrayal. My Dye notorious Harry Daugherty, the infamous attorney general of the Harding administration, with full knowledge of his chief, sneaked to Chicago like a thief in the night and secured from his friend, Judge Wilker- n, an injunction against the striking shopmen, said to be one of the most flagrant invasions of the constitutional nights of citizens of the United Stat ever witnessed since this republic was formed, Nyce injunction broke the morale of the mee, and hundreds of strikers began to return to the shops they had left July 1. As a consequence it be- came necessary to fine and expel these men from the organizations to which ey belonged. It'quickly became ap- parent that a settlement on a national som fitty-odd railroads, to which num- ber others have been added from time to time, 1TH the collapse of the strike the railroads of the United States, with the exception of those above re- ferred to, lost no time in letting it be known that they would either operate as non-union roads, or that the compa- nies would form their own unions. It is under these conditions the railroads have operated for the past three years, conditions which thousands of former members of the shop craft organiza- tions have found intolerable, and in many cases unbearable. Thousands of these former members yearned to get back into the unions to which they formerly belonged. Heretofore they were prevented from doing so because of heavy fines against them, and be- cause of the unwillingness of unions to take them back. ITH the passage of the new rail- way labor act, however, it was felt that the time had come when thi best interests of all concerned would be served by removing the obstacle standing in the way of those who had been fined and expelled for breaking their obligation, who desired to again Affiliate with the unions of their re- spective crafts, The executive council of the I. A. of M., therefore, decided at its May ses- sion to remit all fines imposed upon railroad machinists who returned to work during the life of the 1922 strike. OW that the ban has been removed, every effort should be made to re- organize all the railroads in the United States, It may be impossible to make much headway for a while on roads where the company unions firmly established, but we feel confident that even on roads which emulate the ex- ample of the hard-boiled Pennsylvania system some progress can be made. 4° is only a question of tithe when the shopmen on such roads will reali: futility of company unions to increase wages or improve working conditions, They are just what the name implies—“company unions”— created by the company, which not only dictate the policy of the s0- called unions, but in whose interest alone they function, kya action taken by the shop craft organizations in remitting all fi hag opened the door for thousands of former members to again become real “honest to Injin” union men. For thelr own good, and for the good of all concerned, they should quickly take advantage of.an opportunity which they have long sought, 300 Join Teamsters’ Union. Organized Labor—Trade' Union Activities American Labor Must Support Mexican Labor Policies and Programs The Trade Union Press Strikes—Injunctions Labor and Imperialism NEW INJUNCTION ISSUED AGAINST CHICAGO UNIONS Restaurant Owners Use Yellow Dog Contract By LEN DE CAUX, Federated Press, Alarmed by the initial successes of a drive to organize their workers, 160 Greek restaurant owners, organized in what is called the American Restau- rant Owners’ Association, have secur- ed an injunction thru Judge Hugo Friend that prohibits every form of peaceful picketing, and are secking to force on their employes a “yellow dog” contract. This contract ig iden- tical with that used by the Automo- bile Dealers’ association and denies the workers’ right to any dealings with the union or union men. Try to Stop Unionization. The organization drive was started by the Hotel and Restaurant Em- Ployee’s International Alliance, when Cooks Local No. 865 took on a spe- cial organizer to deal with the South Water Market district of Chicago. Three out of a possible 25 restaurants in this district were lined up almost immediately and in 12 days 11 more places were cleaned up. One of the restaurants which was picketed was owned by an official of the Greek own- ers’ association, and it was his ef- forts, coupled with apprehension at the fine response to the drive that led to the drastic action of the employ- ers, Bad Conditions. Long hours and low wages have roused much discontent among the Greek restaurant workers, and the un- jon has had many requests from them for organization, according to Vice- Pres. J. C. Staggenburg of the inter- national union, Twelve hours a day, 7 days a week, is the rule in these places, and cooks are often paid as low as $25 a week for these long hours, the restof the help, of course, getting far less than this amount. The union enforces minimum of $30 a week for 8 hours and 6 days. In or- der to. get by the law regulating wom- en’s hours, girl waitresses are usual- ly worked on a split watch 10 hours a day. Injunction Drastic. The injunction issued by Judge Friend is of a most drastic nature, prohibiting any sort of communication with the workers at any place or any sort of action that may bring “hatred, criticism, censure, scorn, disgrace or annoyance” on them because of their employment, Durham Central Labor Head _ Blacklisted by Carolina Bosses DURHAM, N. C.— (FP) — Angry business interests have forced Marcus F. Sauls, secretary of the Durham central labor union, to leave the city in order to make a living. Sauls is a printer who was recently laid off on the excuse that work was slack. Be- ing refused employment elsewhere in Durham, he has had to move to Char- lotte, but the Durham central body, out of loyalty to one whom they con- sider a victim of discrimination, has declined to elect a new secretary. Painters Strike in St. Louls, ST. LOUIS—(FP)—Union painters employed on city work in St. Louis have been called on strike, ‘due to the failure of the city to meet the new union scalecof $10.90 per 8-hour da; Private contractors signed the new scale two months ago. By the terms of the contract the painters get another increase, 10 cents a day, ef- fective Sept, 1. The present city ad- ministration is beer anti-labor, i but all real painters in St. Louis carry union cards, Dolsen. FINE FABRICS DYED WITH THE BLOOD OF LABOR Textile Dye Shops of Jersey an Inferno By ESTHER LOWELL, Federated Press, NEW YORK, Aug. 16.—(FP)—Bril- liantly colored silks and satins, vel- vets and other fine fabrics as well as the hardier wools and worsteds are dyed with workers’ blood—blood drained from the living bodies of the men and women who work in the un- healthy dye houses. The Workers Health Bureau exam- ination of 77 dye workers, striking against intolerable conditions in Lodi, Passaic, Paterson and other New Jersey shops tell the tale. The bureau has issued a report entitled, Health Hazards in the Dyeing and Finishing of Textile, which included the findings of the examination, No Forced Ventilation. Dyes are usually poisonous but the fumes in most Jersey dye-houseg are left to saturate the air of workrooms and to seep into workers’ lungs. The poisonous fumes and the terrific steam fog which too frequently en- velops dye workers can be drawn off by mechanical ventilation, the Work- ers Health Bureau states. In this health-undermining atmos- phere of the dye-houses, the workers are employed up to 72 hours per week. The workrooms drip with water as the steam condenses and the workers’ clothes become soaking wet. The dye workers have no opportunity to change to dry clothing before going home; so that winter air easily brings Pulmonary troubles to them, Every Worker Affected, Not one of the dye workers exam- ined by the Workers Health Bureau was free from physical defects, altho they were chosen at random from the strikers, Three had active tuberculo- sis and had to be taken to sanitariums, Seven others have serious respiratory disturbances which may yet prove to be tuberculosis, Eight of every 10 examined com- plained of severe irritations of the eyes, nose or throat; over one-third are unable to digest their food; and over a third have constant headaches while working or nearly as many have rheumatism or muscular; pains. Twenty-three had suffered from in- dustrial accidents,—burns from caus- tic soda, acids or steam; falls, sprains, Strains, blows, and ripping of arms and hands by machinery. Dye. work- ers showed higher blood pressure than painters, furriers or bakers, other groups affected in this way trom their work. Drop Exhausted On Floor, Dye workers drop from sheer ex- haustion on the wet floors of the work- rooms. Rest rooms, wash’ rooms, gar- ment lockers, lunch Places are all:unheard of in the dye houses. Toilets are primitive and inadequate, the workers report. Their wages are very low—as low as $15 to $20 for 65 hour weeks for a father with depend- ent children. He worked in the wash- ing and.drying room, Adopt Miners’ Kiddies NEW YORK—(FP)—London dock- ers who have only two days work a week are taking in miners’ children, one and two to the family,” Ben Til- lett, member of the British delegation seeking funds for the miners, told the Federated Press. “Tens of thousands of children have been adopted for the time of the strike by workers in oth- er industries. The workingclass of England is showing more class con- sciousness than ever in its history. “In nearly fifty years of strike ex- perience,” continued Tillett, “I have mever seen a more brutal attack on the workers than the employers and the British government are making, Before the reductions were asked the miners were already making less than your colored porters in the south,” College Instructor Scabbing. PONTIAC, Mich.— (FP) — Among the scabs at the Pontiac Pattern En- gineering Co., where the pattern mak- ers are striking, ts Rupert Hall, who during the school year is an instructor in pattern making at the University of Illinois. SEND IN A SUBI Worker Correspondence PRIZES for stories sent In this week to appear in the issue of Friday, August 20 —"OIL IMPERIALISM,” by Louis Fischer, A new book on the story of Oil and the part America plays In this struggle. bound edition, MY ghee OSSIP,” Stories of New Russia. U Cloth. stories by the most significant of the new Russian writers, "AWAKENING OF CHINA,” by Jas, A. A new book that makes a splendid addition to every workers’ library. To the American Worker Correspondent to what and rt how to write. 50 cents a ‘ Seat Geveten Fe (Copyright, 1926, by Upton Sinclair) ' WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE. } When. “Bunny” Ross, son of J. Arnold Ross, California oll operator, Is thir- teen years old, he goes with Dad to Beach City to sign an oll lease. There he meets Paul Watkins, near his own age who had run away from his fathe: Poor ranch in the San Elido Valley b@cause the family were ‘‘holy rollers.” H it brother Eli is a cripple who has fits and “heals” people. From time to time Bunny hears from Paul and sends money to his family. In the meantime Bunny is learning the oil business with his Dad who, along with other oil operators is | Profiting by the war that had broken out in Europe. Bunny persuades his Dad to go for a quail hunting trip to San Elido Valley. There they meet the Watkins family and Bunny becomes acquainted with Paul’s sister, Ruth, whom he likes. While hunting, they locate oi! on the ranch and Dad wheedles it out of old Watkins and also buys adjacent property secretly. in the meantime Bunny starts to high school at Beach City and falls in love with a fellow student, Rose Taintor. When they are ready to drill Bunny and Dad go back to the ranch te direct the work. They persuade Paul to come to live with them and work as @ carpenter. Paul had been living with a lawyer who took an interest in him and left him a legacy of books when died. Paul and Ruth five in a shack near the well sight. Eventually the well is begun and Eli, now turned prophet and the pet of wealthy adherents to the faith, makes a blessing as the drilling be- gins. Bunny goes back to school and finds himself tiring of Rose Taintor, But Soon the glad news comes that Bunny's well in the San Elido Valley has struck oil sands. A new field is started, e e They got to San Elido; and Dad said, “We’ll jist stop and shake hands with Jake Coffey.” They drove up to the store, and Bunny jumped out, and there was a clerk and he said, “Jeke’s gone up to Paradise to see the well. Have you heard the news?” Excelsior Pete has got a gusher, there’s oil all over the place!” Bunny ran out and shouted to Dad, and leaped into the car, and gosh-almighty, the way they did burn up that road across the desert! Dad laughed, and said the speed-cops would all be up at the well. They got to Paradise, and the town was deserted, not a soul on the streets, and not a car, except those that were hurrying ° through, like the Rosses. A burglar could have made off with the whole place—but any burglar would have been watching the gusher along with the speed-cops! You had to park your car a quarter of a mile away from the well, and you could hear the gusher roaring like Niagara Falls! And then, walking, you came round a turn in the road, and you could see the valley, and every- thing in sight was black; there was a high wind blowing, and it was a regular thunder cloud, a curtain of black mist as far as you could see. The derrick was hidden altogether—you had to make a detour, behind a little ridge, and come over the top to windward, and there the crowds were gathered, staring at the great black jet that came rushing up out of the ground, a couple of hundred feet into the air, with a sound like an endless express train going by. You could see men working, or trying to work, under the derrick; you could see a bunch of them with picks and shovels, throwing up a sort of dam to hold'the oil; they wouldn’t save much, Dad said, it evaporated too fast. Dad could watch this scene philosophically; it wasn’t his “funeral.” If it had been one of the independents, like himself, he’d have offered to help; but this was a dirty crowd, Excelsior Pete, they didn’t think the little fellows had any business on earth, there was nothing too mean.for them to do. Of course, it was a shame to see all that treasure going to waste; but you couldn’t be sentimental when you were playing the oil game. What you had to watch out for was that the wind didn’t shift suddenly and ruin your good suit of clothes! VII They watched for a while, and then they remembered they had a well of their own, and drove back to Paradise and across the valley to the Watkins ranch. They had a long talk with the foreman; Dad examined the core, and the report of the chemist who had tested the oil; he saw that the “washing” was going all * right, they would be ready for the cementing off in the morning. Everybody was on tiptoe; they were going to do their job better than the “Excelsior Pete” crowd, and not smear all the landscape with crude petroleum. The tankage was at the railroad depot, and they inspected the foundations, just completed for the tanks. Everything “hunky-dory,” said Ruth. They drove over to the Rascum place and saw Ruth, and Bunny got on his hunting clothes, and got a few quail before sun-down; and then they had supper, and Paul told them all the gossip about the well, also how much money Eli had collected for his temple. After supper they went back to the well—they just couldn’t keep away! It was a crisp cold evening, a new moon in the sky, a big white Star over it—everything so beautiful and Bunny so happy, he owned a “wild-cat,” and it was “coming in,” it was going to yield him a treasure that would make all the old-time fairy tales and Arabian Nights adventures seem childish things. They were lift- ing the “water-string” now—a process necessary to cementing off; the casing at the bottom had to be raised, so that the cement could be forced under. It was difficult, for the casing was wedgeh, and they had to put down a tool known as a “jar,” which struck | heavy blows and shook the casing loose. Standing on the der- — ri@k platform, Bunny listened to these blows, far down in the earth; and then suddenly came a sound, the like of which had never assailed his ears in all his life, a sound that was literally a blow on the side of his head; it seemed as if the whole inside of the earth sudenly blew out. That tremendous casing-head, with its mass of cement, which Dad had said would hold down Mt. Vesuvious, went suddenly up into the air; straight up, with the big fourteen inch casing following it, right through the top of the derrick, smashing the crown block and tackle as if these had been made of sugar candy! : Of course Bunny turned and ran for his life, everybody ~ scattered in every direction. Bunny looked once or twice as he ran, and saw the casing head and a long string of casing up in the air, for all the world like a Dutchman’s pipe, only it was straight. When this pipe-stem got too long, it broke off, and crashed over sideways, taking part of the derrick with it; and out of the hole there shot a geyser of water, and then oil, black floods of it, with that familiar roaring sound—an express train shooting out of the ground! Bunny gave a yell or two, and he saw Dad waving his arms, and presumably calling; he started toward his father—when suddenly, most dreadful thing of all, the whole mass of oil up in the air burst into flame! They were never to know what did it; perhaps an electric spark, or the fire in the boiler, or a spark made by falling wreck- age, or rocks blown out of the hole, striking on steel; anyhow, there was a tower of flame, and the most amazing spectacle— the burning oil would hit the ground, and bounce up, and ex- plode, and leap again and fall again, and great red masses of flame would unfold, and burst, and yield black masses of smoke, and these in turn red. Mountains of smoke rose to the sky, and mountains of flame came seething down to the earth; every jet that struck the ground turned into a voicano, and rose again, higher than before; the whole mass, boiling and bursting, be- came a river of fire, a lava flood that went streaming down the valley, turning everything it touched into flame, then swallo it up and hiding the flames in a cloud of smoke. The force of gravity took it down the valley, and the force of the wind swe! it in one gulp; it took the tool-house, everything that was wo and when there came a puff of wind, driving the stream of and gas to one side, you saw the skeleton of the derrick, drap