The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 20, 1926, Page 5

y Organized Labor—Trade Union Activities News and Comment Labor Education Labor and Government Trade Union Politics CLOTHING UNION WINS FIGHT ON WAUKEGAN FIRM Walkout Brings Bowing to Demands WAUKEGAN, IIL, Oct, 18. — The strike against the runaway Granert & Rothschild Co. clothing firm in -Wau- kegan ended with a victory for the workers. Just three weeks after the walkout in protest against the discharge of eight workers for union activity, the firm capitulated and signed an agree- ment for a preferential union shop with the Amalgamated. Clothing Workers ‘of America. No Prejudice. The agreement calls for the return to work without prejudice of all the strikers, recognition of the union in the shop, collective bargaining and arbitration of grievances for the union members and the 44-hour week. The victory of the strikers, in win- ning every demand made on the em- ployers during the strike, in a hear- ing two weeks ago: before Secretary Frank Fowler of the chamber of com- merce and local labor leaders, is of great significance to Waukegan work- ers in other trades. a Blow at Injunction. The victory of the strikers is sig- nificant in another regard. It came right on the heels of a sweeping in- junction granted by circuit Judge Ed- ward D. Shurtleff, sitting in the ab- sence of Judge Olaire E. Edwards. The injunction propibited all pick- eting, soliciting support to the strike, visiting at the homes of employes of the firm and even watching the scabs on their way to the shop, in addition to the usual injunctional prohibitions, The local organized labor movement aided “greatly in the’ victorious strike. Its leaders were on the picket line and publicly declared their position in supporting the strike. In addition to the support of orgenized labor the strikers are deeply indebted for mor- al_ support and active, work .on, the pichet Hne to the local Finnish co- operative organizations and the Slo venic Benefit Association. Danbury Hatter is Bankrupt; Union Still Goes Strong NEW YORK, October 18.—(FP)— “Loewe, Danbury hatter, declared bankrupt,” reports the Women’s Trade Union League, “Twenty-three years ago he was a rich and arrogant manufacturer of hats. He attempted to disrupt the Hatters’ Union. In retaliation, the union adver- tised him as an enemy of organized labor and placed a Boycott on his product. He went to court, secured a judg- ment of $240,000 levied attachments on the workers’ homes and their sav- ings. American labor raised toward that judgment. Now, Mr. Loewe has lost it all. The Hatters’ Union is still doing business successfully. Workers Don’t Strike Any More, Says Judge; Fines Laundry Picket On Oct. 24 the conference is giv- Laundry Workers’ International Un- jon, which is conducting several single strikes in “Columbia Heights,” be- tween 110th and 120th street, Broad- way, Judge Goodheimer stated that “workers do not strike any more— they are just a tool in the hands of the business agents,” and fined the Picket $10. In answer to this statement the workers doubled their pickets and determined to fight till the bos: stop sending out the shirts to the machines where they are manned by scabs and fool the public by giving them machine-lroned shirts instead of hand work, \Phe size of ogee Work. PR depends on you. Send a sub. $214,911.20 Chicago Federation of Labor radio broadcasting station WCFL ison the air with regular programs. It 1s broadcasting on a 491.6 wave length from the Municipal Pier, siege we “ee ee re ie Orchestra, ners, r | POSTOFFICE CLERKS AND GARMENT WORKERS SUFFER MOST FROM EYE STRAIN AND DEFECTIVE VISION “FO HE DAIE¥Y WORKER Page Five — MIGRATORY FRUIT PACKERS FEEL PERSECUTION OF GOVERNMENT AND ’ FARMERS; TREATED LIKE ANIMALS Policies and Programs The Trade Union Press Strikes—Injunctions Labor and Imperialism 1000 WORKER CORRESPONDENTS BY JANUARY 13 1927 ‘RED’ CRY CAUSES ARIZONA LABOR TO NEW YORK, Oct. 18. —Postoffice and garment workers show the highest 1 percentage of defective vision in a federal health study covering 10 indus- tries, the Eye Sight Conservation Council of America states. Ten thousand men and 2000 women workers were examined by U. 8. Public Health Service officialg in these industries: pottery, postoffice, glass, gas, foundry, steel, chemical, cement, cigar, and garment. PEABODY COAL pes UP TILT By Winnie A. ‘Little, W Worker € Correspondent. BARKER, N. Y., By Mail.—Yesterday afternoon at 4:30 o'clock, 49 freit pickers were arrested by two deputy sheriffs from Lockport, a railroad de- tective and two Barker constables. A complaint had been lodged against the men by some of the Barker residents because of alleged disorderly con- duct on the part of two or three of the men last Saturday night, DESERT WORKERS Council ‘Leaders Shake Potto Ricans @junion -regulation, Racial differences could not be dis- tinguished in eye variations, Rollo H. Britten, associate statistician, and L. R, Thompson, surgeon, in federal health service, determined by statis- tical analysis of the study. Hard on the Eyes. Letter separators have the most eye defects and poorest sight in the postoffices. Finishers showed poorest vision among the garment workers. The. analysis points out that both these groups do work which makes severe demands on the eyes. Age was found to have a consider- HAMMOND COOKS, WAITERS FORM STRONG UNION (ies 52 oC Veuks tn Struggle HAMMOND, Ind., Oct. 18—Organ- ization of cooks and waiters, Greeks as well as Americans, started here two weeks ago. The restaurants in this town are almost all operated by Greeks, A week ago a group of men were seen in front of a restaurant with signs in the front, “This restaurant is was informed that some of the Greek owners would not recognize the union so the picket line was put in front of their restaurants, The bosses saw the effectiveness of the picket line, called a meeting and collected 'a lot of money to fight the unionists, In this union joined quite a few Greek workers and especially one, Christos Anlios, who is always to the forefront of.a, fight. I asked him many questions. and explained to him my) views, that if they stick together the bosses’ manipulations would not harm them a bit. rather starve than go back to work without'a union: He said he, prefer- red jail rather than the bosses’ terms, And indeed, ‘the strikers stood 50 firm in this struggle that the bosses had to give in, except the owners of the Indiana restaurant, who tried to get an injunction against the union. But he did not succeed and the picket- ing is still: going on, and he will be forced to give in, as did the rest. s Stereotypers Win Wages Increase in Four Orleans Papers NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 18—(FP)— A contract for three years with an in- crease of 25 cents a day each year with back pay from June 1 has beea secured by the local stereotypers’ un- fon from the four nonunion news- papers of this city, making the daily rate for this year $6.75 for 8 hours, with price and a half for overtime. The composing rooms of the four newspapers are stilt nonunion with a nonunion pressroom in the Times- Picayune, one of the largest papers in the south. Despite the fact that an organizer from the International Typographical union has been on the ground for the past six months no progress has been made enrolling the various employes of the newspapers, owing, mainly to the anti-secrecy law which compels each labor organization to report names of ‘members to the secretary of state, which is open to the inspection of the public. 4 Henry Fuqua, elected to the govern- orship on this platform by the manu- facturers’ association, was in the main responsible for the placing of this law on the statute books, under pretense of killing the klan. |New York Painting Contractor Forced to Obey Union Rule PHILADELPHIA, Oct, 18,—(FP)— A painting contractor who accepts 4 Job in another city must pay the higher rate of wages prevailing be- tween the cities, the United States cireult court of appeals ruled uphold- ing the painters’ union, The Barker Painting company of New York took a contract for Phila- delphia work and decided to pay the Philadelphia rate, which is less than he New York rate. ‘The Philadelphia painters struck in support of their The federal dis- Jarry | trict me refused the company an ord tnjunc jon against the strike and the Appellate court upheld the ee ’ unfair to organized labor.” I asked | to know what it was‘all about, and | His answer was that they would | tax with defective vision, the number of normal-sighted steadily declining with ingreasing years of work in all trades, One Good as Two. Workers with normal vision in only | one eye were included in the test, “as it is felt that a worker with one good eye can, generally speaking, do as effective work as a worker with two good. eyes.” The simple visual acuity test was used, altho the Eye Sight Conserva- tion Council believes it an approxi- mation at best, admitting of detec- tions only of cases most seriously able effect on the number of workers |handicapped by defective vision. N. Y. WORKMEN'S CIRCLE VOTES STRIKE RELIEF Will Send $25,000 to Cloakmakers NEW YORK, Oct. 18.—At an en- thusiastic meeting here, the New }York Workmen’s Circle conference, attended by delegates from 170 branches, voted unanimously to give financial ‘support to the 40,000 mem bers of the International Ladies’ | Garment Workers who have been on strike for the past 12 weeks, Will Give $25,000, The conference voted to assess each member of the’ circle 50 cents immediately, and another 50 cents in April. This means that the confer- ence, which represents 50,000 workers in New York City, will immediately contribute $25,000 to the relief fund. A resolution was alfo passed pro- testing the issuing of injunctions by New York judges against the cloak- makers. Left More Liberal. Heated discussions occurred in the meeting when the assessment reso- lution was brought up as the “right wing” opposed the proposal of the “left wing” that each member be $1 for the strikers, D,. Chanin, secretary of the Socialist Ferband, a leader of the “rights,” protested the $1 assessment, declaring the country branches would not stand for it. Chanin Booed Down, He was booed down, however, from this stand with the announcement that many of the country branches had already moved for taxing of $1, and he then proposed that the assess- ment be made in two installments. This was seen by the “left” as being an effort to really only tax the mem- bership 50 cents, as the strike would probably be over, by April when the next installment would come due. Right Vote Wins, A vote was taken on the two mo- tions, On a standing “vote, the $1 tax was declared victorious, but when a roll-call vote was demanded, the of- ficial counters, “rights,” declared the vote was against the larger tax. Abrams led the fight for the $1 tax. We will send sample copies of The DAILY WORKER to your friends— send us name and address, | Practically every fruit picker in the town was picked up. And it was heaped lucky for me that I hurt my back.and went home, Highway Robbery by Officers. + One man was stood up behind a box- car and a gold watch, chain and gold Brophy’s District Wins, Important Victory penknife taken away from him. | | Nearly every man was forced to re- * CLEARFIELD, Pa., Oct. 18—(FP) {move his shoes (in the search for —The attempt of the Peabody Coal | money) and some were stripped. It company to break a strike at the big| | Was @ kangaroo court of the rawest Cramer shaft mine in Jefferson county | character with little semblance to lor’ has been given-up and the mine has} Order.” Four men had béen paid shut down andjlaid off its few strike-|f one job that morning and were breakers, mostly farmers from neigh-| Waiting for other jobs. Some of them {boring communities. had rooms, but they were fined just Los Angeles Stove Factory Exploits Workers to Limit By a Worker Correspondent. LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18.—It is al- ready more than a year since I am slaving in the O’Keefe and Merriett stove factory, and all the time I have yeen working for the same starvation ; The strike began three months ago und has been-effectively fought by the district union under the leadership of President John, Brophy. Turns Tide. Winning this-first round in the bat- tle turns the open shop tide for the time. Seven other mines which the Peabodys similarly operate for the Northwestern Mining and Exchange company, a subsidiary of the Erie R. R. have been idle while the manage- ment awaited the outcome of the test fight at Cramer. The eight mines closed down in April and May with the announcement by thé man- gement that they would not operate inder the Ja¢ksonville agreement and | the Chamer shaft opened in July on! the scab 1917 scale in violation of the signed contract. Farrington’s “Employer.” The Peabody Coal company came into the limelight recently when Frank Farrington, late president of the Iinets ‘union district, admitted that he was going on the company payroll at $25,000 a year. This con- cern is one of the biggest operating companies in the bituminous indus- try, having 4n annual capacity of 18,000,000 tons. Its Illinois mines are union but it has scab mines in Kentucky and Oklahoma. May Sign Contract. The general revival in the Penn- sylvania bituminous industry since the British strike enhanced the mar- coal may lead the Pea- [body-Brie™ mines to reopen under the union contract. For though the coal from these mines is largely con- sumed in Erie locomotives and while the tie-up.continues the Erie has to go into the open market and buy its fuel at prices which are stiffened by the British demand. Three idle mines of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western R. R. have reopened if District No, 2 under the union agreement and smaller opera- tions of the Pennsylvania Coal and | Coke and other companies are active again after-varying periods of idle- ness. The big Sonman Shaft Coal company mine on the main line of the Pennsylvania R. R. near Portage that opened two months after the manage- ment had announced that it would not and could not operate under the Jack- sonville scale is still humming with ac- tivity. Last June when it made its | threat not to resume again at the union scale it offered the workers a compromise scale of $6.30 and $6.00] a day, midway between the Jackson- ville $7.50 rate and the $5.00 of 1917. But the union refused to consider this and as the market revived under the British spur, the company yleléed and zesumed under the old contract. COAL COMPANIES PAY $85,900 A YEAR TO JUDGE; OPEN SHOP IN MORGANTOWN, W, Va., Oct. 18.— Unanimous demand for the impeach- ment of Circuit Court Judge Grant I. Lazelle was made by the conyen- tlon of the West Virginia Federation of Labor, The demand for the re- moval of the injunction judge will be lodged before the state legislature. The federation’s indictment, con- tained in the following clauses of the esolution, bares Lazelle’s financial connection with the Paisley mining in- terests whom he issues’ injunctions for, It reads: Gave Decision to Companies. “Whereas, in the recent litigation in Monongalia County, West Virginia, between the United Mine Workers of America and the Paisley and Purs- glove Coal Mining interests, a most dastardly decision was rendered by Judge Grant I, Lazelle against the in- terests of the men, women and child- ren of West Virginia and in favor of the foreign coal mining corporations racefully abrogated their wage agreements with the United Mine Workers of America, and Gets $85,000 a Year. the record of Monongalia County \show beyond question of doubt that Judge I. Grant Lazelie and his near relatives are receiving the oxtraordinary sum of $85,000 per year from the Paisley and Pursglove Coa) Mii vee This action of ? Ayia HE DECIDES FOR THEIR COAL MINES Judge Lazelie” sitting on this case, acting as judge and jury while receiv- this enormous amount of money from the contract abrogating coal operators, stamps him as a man and official devoid $f honor, and disgrace to our American institutions, a viola- tor of the lafs of the United States and the. constitytion and the of the state of West Virginia. 2,000 Familles Need Relief. Delegates were instructed to solicit funds for the 2,000 miners’ families idle in northefii West Virginia be- chuse- of strike: conditions—on the delegates’ return to the local unions, A petition to the governor was author- ized, asking the repeal of the pistol toting law, to the end that the use of armed guards by the coal operators might be ended, John B. Easton was reelected state federation president, and Clarence L, Jarrett, general business agent of the Charleston building trades council, secretary, Parkersburg will be the 1927 convention city, Ws inbay oar Won The size of THe DAILY WORKER depends on you, Send a sub, jthe same. One man, an ex-service man injured in the war, was picked up in front of his boarding-house. This man has brains and coyrage and knows the law. They asked him what business he had wearing a white collar. He slammed back: “What business have you guys got to wear white collars?” Ex-Soldier Talks Back. , They thoroly searched him and found about $5 on him. They were going to take half of it as they were doing with every man, no matter what his roll. He told them to leave his money on the table and he would take care of it himself. He told them if necessary he would get a lawyer to fight his case. They ac- cused him of gambling and taking away from the other men al] their earnings. “You did not catch me gambling, did you?” They dismissed him, The railroad detective whispered to the judge and the judge carried out his orders. Such procedure is en- tirely against the rules in court pro- ceedings. A Plan to Beat Down Wages. The alleged disorderly conduct of two or three of the men was the ex- cuse for the arrests. But the real underlying reason is a conspiracy on the part of the farmers and small business men of the town (the latter, it they do not own farms depend upon the farmers as buyers of their mer- chandise, so their economic interests life with the farmers) to force the fruit pickers to work for low wages. One farmer even told some of the men after they were arrested that if wages of 40 cents an hour, and this wage is not only for me or somebody Ise, but is a fixed wage for years for all the young and for a great many of the adult workers. The same rule holds strong even when we work overtime, We never get paid time and one-half for overtime, no matter how late we work at night, Saturdays all day or Sundays, Compulsory Overtime. For the last months we were com- pelled to work till 9 o’clock in the evening almost every night in the week and Saturday till 3 o'clock, Many young and adult workers have worked as much as 70 hours a week and get paid only for straight time. At the same time the bosses have made thousands of dollars. Is that to be continued? Will the workers in our shop toh erate such conditions? The first development of the cam- paign the Young Workers’ League is conducting around our shop shows that the workers have realized their rotten conditions and are beginning to revolt to better them. There is another device by means of which the bosses are trying to exploit the workers to the ttmost capacity, and that is the piecework system. Sup- pose a worker is given a certain price for a certain piece of work. The workers, thitking if they'll work hard they'll make more, work like hell, but soon they find out that they have been cut in wages,..Why? . Because they are told they’ make a little “too much.” Sometimes the wage cuts go as high as 25 and 50 per cent and even By a Worker Correspondent. PHOENIX, Ariz., Oct. 18—The Phoenex Central Labor Council voted to cease feeding the Porto Ricans at Fair Grounds. fi Secretary Flynn of the council and also chairman of the relief commit- tee, reported that a radical of some kind made a speech to them in their own language and that they gathered around him and cheered him, Flynn said he warned the Porto Ricans not to listen to those kind of agitators and if they continued the council wouldn't have anything to do with them, He didn’t say whether they complied with hig request or not, but recom- mended to the Central Trades Council that they let them look out for them- selves. Mr. Carpenter, editor of the state labor journal (whose report at last A, F, of L. convention showed the paper receiving about $450 for subs and about $11,000 for advertising), said he knew positively the radical was an I, W. W. as Mr. Jones of the U. 8. Dept. of Labor had informed him ‘so, therefore he was also in favor of quitting. Flynn hed taken an active part in the Porto Ricams’ trouble and fought the old heads pretty well till they won him over, He is also part of the Hunt political machine which guides the destinies of the Central Trades Coun- cil, The papers printed articles show- ing how ‘radicals in the council were preventing the farmers from market- ing thetr cotton and “The Republican” blames it on the Hunt administration evidently knowing that about 60 per cent of the delegates are employed in different state works. The fact was, the Hunt machine started the play at feeding the Porto Ricans thinking that public sentiment would come this way, but they didn’t know the power of the press. Now that no one pays any attention, except those interested m seeing the Porto Ricans eat (which are very few) they want to slip out as easy as possible. This bad “wobbly” who got the blame for the Porto Ricans going without breakfast in the morning was more. Every worker in the shop is |reported driven from Fair Grounds by they had accepted the six hours ot disgusted with such maneuvers}a U. S. Dept. of Labor agent. work: at: 60: cents per hour. without | o¢ the bosses. But one by himself} The Porto Ricans aid that as soon board, which he had offered, he would not have helped in causing the arrest. There were many other details of the trial which I will not mention here, but which would prove the’ utter rot- tenness of those conducting the trial. If they could find no other charge they were arrested for trespassing on railroad property. It’s a Free Country? Now today, September 30, another chapter has unfolded itself. This morning ten state troopers stood guard in Barker and every fruit picker or hobo who hit town was promptly driven out, So the town is rid of hoboes, I asked the reason for their being driven out. “They went on strike,” was the answer. “And what were their demands?” “Four dollars and fifty cents per day and board.” So you see the farmers themselves have driven out the fruit pickers, be- cause they are men enough to demand a living wage. The reactionary farm- ers do not see that they are cutting off their noses. They think the fruit picker who moves and climbs ladders all day with a heavy bag of fruit on his back and who does the hardest kind of physical labor is robbing them. They do not stop to consider that the real robber is the buyer of his fruit. Why Not Fight the Buyers? The buyers pay the farmer a low price. for his fruit, but when the worker in the city buys this fruit he pays a fancy price for it. Just now the farmer is offered 59 cents per bushel for peaches. In the cities the workers must pay from $1.25 to $1.75 per bushel. If the reactionary and individual- istic farmer would use the energy that he Is now using to beat down the wages of the fruit picker and organ- ize more effectively, he would be in a position to get what his fruit was worth, Same Thruout Fruit Belt. The trouble at Barker is only a parallel of what is transpiring in prac- cally every town in the fruit belt. The deluded farmer, when he comes to the realization that his salvation lies in casting his lot with the very outcasts who gives his best to the farmers each year for a mere pit- tance, then and only then will condi- tions become better for both farmer and worker, Fine the Penniless. T later learned that these same men were first driven out of Lockport. They went to Barker and when they were driven from there they went to Burt. A farmer offered a couple of them $3.25 and board, and when they rofused (they were “hulding out for $4.50), the sheriff was sent-after them and they were arrested @nd fined. can accomplish nothing. It is only thru organization that we will accom- plish something. Young Workers’ Campaign. The Young Workers’ League has started a campaign to organize the shop, which is composed mostly of young workers. We have already published three bulletins which were enthusiastically received by the young and adult workers of the factory. The following slogans were put in: “Fight for the 44-hour week! Time and one-half for overtime! Double time for Saturday afternoons and Sun- days! A fixed wage for piecework! A 25 per cent increase in wages for a stove factory dub!” I hope when we will accomplish in organizing some kind of an organi- zation in our factory the rest will be lots easier. On to the organization of O'Keeffe and Metritt stove factory! as they get to work they were all go ing to join the federation. Practically all the delegates who spoke weré afraid to do anything which might hinder the cotton growers from pick- ing their cotton, fearing they may be holding back the wheels of industry. The result is: One of the finest stands ever taken by a group of work- ers in this state to better their condt- tions, broken by the leadership of the\ Arizona labor body, to whom the workers looked to for help. There are 4 or 5 reds among the strikers at the Fair Grounds today, there will probably be 25 tomorrow. THEATRE PERFORMANCE for the benefit of The Daily Worker Labor’s Newspaper Banquet at 7 P. M. EXTRA CHARGE “The Adding Machine” Adventures of a White-Collar Slave on Earth—in Heaven—in Hell Performance by THE STUDIO PLAYPRS at 4 P, - = Dancing at 9 P. M. for a Jolly and Interesting Time for Labor's ENGLISH DAILY ‘DOUGLAS PARK AUDITORIUM 3202 So. Ogden Avenue OGDEN AND KEDZIE Sunday, October 24th, 1926. — Admission 50 Cents — ~