The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 2, 1926, Page 7

ALEX. BITTELMAN, Editor. \Suppliment ot THE DAILY WORKER Second Section: Thie Magazine Section Appears Every Saturday In The DAILY WORKER, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1926 American Labor Wants Deeds, Not Words PRES|DENT GREEN of the American Federation of Labor is in one respect, at’ least, different from the late Samuel Gompers. William Green is more talkative than the “old man” and resorts more often than his predecessor to the use of NICE WORDS to conceal his ugly purposes. It is for this reason that the forty-sixth annual conven- tion of the A. F. of L., which opens its sessions in Detroit on October 4th, may be expected to say words and pass resolu- tions which under Gompers would not have been possible. But the practical results will be the same. The bureaucracy in control of the convention is hopeless as far as progress is concerned in the American labor movement. This fact should move the left wing and the progressives to greater activity and more strenuous efforts. Above all these elements must strive toward better organization and | more unified action. The opportunities for a successful drive | against the reactionaries in the trade unions are becoming more favorable very day. Do not permit Green and company to get away with empty words and meaningless phrases. Demand action. De- mand concret, practical deeds. And let the American trade | unionists see where Green stands on that. There is one par- ticular matter which the bureaucracy always handles and | destroys “diplomatically.” It is the question of organizing | the unorganized. The reactionaries do not dare to oppose it openly but their opposition and sabotage is just as real as if they had proclaimed it from the housetops. Just now the organization of the masses of unorganized workers into unions on a largé scale is becoming a practical | possibility.” The conditions in industry are favorable’ for it. | WY The masses want it. What is needed is organized effort and’ ¥ leadership. The left and progressive elements must raise this issue in sucha manner that would’make it impossible for the| |} reactionaries to forget about it on the morrow after the con- vention. © —ALEX BITTELMAN. aN —S S emg Loe Awana Sos so coe een ee Mie Pome ur . oe aN tt Ss = we ee St tern nase reread Ss SS s, Ske Se ANA ASS ~NKS Sa SS ie SAN So. a ies <SS > “THESE MUST BE HEARD.” By Jerger On the Organization of the Unorganized By THURBER LEWIS. HE comparative figures of the num- ber of organized workere to the total number of workers employed in ten of the largest and most import- ant industries in the country tell a graphic story that is of all the more interest because of the convention of the American Federation of Labor, now in session in Detroit, The dele gates to this convention have it in their power to apply the remedy that can go a long way towards changing the sorrowful story told by the figures below. Iron and Steel. N 1920 there were 375,000 workers in the steel mills of the country, while 41,660 slaved in the blast fur- naces, A total estimation in 1923 gives the number of workers in the steel industry as 497,330. In this keystone industry of American capitalism (a safe estimate now is a half million workers) there are 11,400 workers or ganized into the Amalgamated Asso- ciation of Iron, Steel and Tin work- ers, a union composed almost exclus- ively of skilled men, Automobile. ECENT estimates.for 1925 give the number of workers in automobile factories alone as 329,563, while 300,- 000 more are engaged in the manufae- ture of parts and accessories. There is no union in the A. F. of L. with juris- diction over this industry. The theory is that each of the crafts engaged in the automobile plants are to organize on their own hook. The result is that an insignificant number of workers are 80 organized. The unaffiliated Auto and Aircraft Workers’ Union now has no more than 1,500 members in its ranks. The industry can be looked upon as completely unorganized. Textile, | peregay for 1923 credit industry with 1,021,864 workers. But of this vast number of workers in an industry in which positively the most degrading conditions of work prevail the United ‘Textile Work ers’ Union has 30,000, to which must be added the recently acquired 8,000 from the Passaic strike, while the unaffiliated Federation of Textile Operatives has no more than 10,000 members. In 1920, when there were three times as many members in the U. T, W. as there are now, the per- ‘centage of organized workers te unor- ganized was placed at 10 per cent. Metal Mining TS Mine, Mill and Smelter Work- ers’ Union, the unworthy anuocessor to the mihitamt Western Federation of Miners, has now a membership of some 8,500. Available figures for the metal mining industry, which includes ail mines except coal and corresponds to the jurisdiction of the above union, are 151,792, Rubber. 1" 1925 it was estimated that 115,000 workers were employed in the man- ufacture of rubber tires, mated 161,530 was gaged in 1923 in the production of all rubber and composition goods, are organized. , Maritime Trades. HEH marine workers were at one time well organized. The Inter- national Seamen’s Union in 1921 had a membership of 103,300, while the 1920 membership of the International Longshoremen’s Union was 74,000. Now, however, the longshoremen are down to 31,800, while the seamen have been almost annihilated, reporting 16,000 members to the 1925 conven- tion. There is also a small union of masters, mates and pilots, with a membership of 3,900. There are, therefore, only 50,000 workers organ- ized in this very important industry, once powerfully organized, in which there are almost 200,000 workers. Lumber, SIDE from the short-lived and weak Timber Workers’ Union that had at ite peak 10,000 members, was affil- lated to the A. F. of L. and died in 1923, the Industrial Workers of the World ig the only organization that has made a consistent campaign to or- ganize the loggers. But at the present time tt is doubtful if the timber work- ers carrying I. W. W. cards number much over 1,000, the sole erganization im the fleld. The industry is a huge one. In 1923 the number of Inmber- men and wood-choppers employed thruout the country was 205,315. powerful telegraph and tele- phone companies employ 343,397 men and women, Of this number it Food. HE membership of all unions in the food industry total some 56,000. There are four, the International Union of Bakery and Confectionery Workers, 21,800; the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of America, 12,200; the International Union of the United Brewery, Flour, Cereal and Soft Drink Workers. of America, 16,000, and the unaffiliated Amalgamated Food Workers, not over 6,000. The industry is one of the big- gest im the land, employing almost a half million workers. Leather, HM leather industry is given credit- for having in its employ, 388,209 workers, Of this number the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union hag 36,000 organized. There is a small unaffil- iated Shoes Workers’ Protective Union as well as a glove workers’ union, a pocketbook workers’ union and a feather workers’ union, all with a few thousand or less members, mation is a crying need in the boot and shoe section of the industry, the largest branch, in addition to exten- sign of erganization. Such are the figures. They show that mo serious attempts are being made by the American Federation of Labor to extend itself in these basic industries. A more complete survey would show that what uniong there are im these industries have declined rather than grown in recent years. The question of organizing the unor- ganized workers in these great slave markets ig a paramount one for the delegates of the Detroit convontion,