The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 25, 1926, Page 5

\ o HOWAT HOLDS HUGE RALLIES IN ANTHRACITE Throngs of Coaldiggers Cheer Kansan (Special to The Daily Worker) SCRANTON, Pa., Nov. 23.—Alex- ander Howat, idol of the American coal miners, has dropped his pick in the Kansas mines and {s touring the nation campaigning for the Brophy- Stophensen-Brennan Save the Union slate in the forthcoming elections in the United Mine Workers of America, Wherever he goes large and spirited meetings are waiting for him, Howat opened the anthracite tour with a meeting in the large High School Auditorium in Olyphant, spoke @ next Gvening in Luzerne and on Sunday was the principal speaker at three large mass meetings in Scran- ton, Old Forde and in the evening in Piitsto. He has gone on to other meetings in Shamokin, Shenandoah and Hazelton, and then returns to Dis- trict 1 to speak to the miners of Wilkes-Barre from whence he will be rushed by auto te Nanticoke for an- other big meeting. Much Enthusiasm. At all Howat meetings in the an- tracite not a single Lewis defender raised his voice altho ample oppor- tunity was given at all meetings, All the enthusiasm was for the Save the Union Program, Alex Campbell, former member of the International Executive Board of District 1 and at present president of the large local 1703 of Pittston, pre- sided at the Pittston meeting Sunday evening. Speeches were made in Po- Nish, Italian and Lithuanian, and by Pat Toohey and Howat. Cheer Howat. As Howat entered the Armory doors #he 2,500 assembled miners of Pitts- ton, hitherto considered a Cappellini wtronghold, gave cheer after cheer. ‘They cheered him again and again a8 the said: “John Brophy has a program that ‘will save’our union, the only program. He does not stand for these things Qmerely during the course of this cam- (paign for he has stool for these things jell these many years. He will lead movement to organize West Virginia md the other nation-wide nonunion elds. “He will work for nationalization of @he mines and for a Labor Party. I Shave known Brophy for years and Wouch for the fact that he is absolute- id an honest man, The charge is made ‘by administration forces that Brophy Mwants a job; that is why he is in the THE I. L ° agreement between the New "w. U. and the inside manufacturers jerganized in the Industrial Council ‘which ended the cloakmakers’ 20- ‘weeks strike—except for about 10,000 ‘workers still on strike against the arch enemy of the union, the jobbers makes it necessary to review the wourse of this important struggle, to point out clearly the strong points and its weaknesses, its victories and its defeats nd to draw the proper les- ons therefrom, thus helping to estab- fish the policies for the struggles whead. The union registers a partial victory in the settlement with the Industrial Council, which was won in the face o? great difficulties. Many. of the fea- tures of the agreement are definite ains for the workers. The 40-hour week is established by the settlement, ‘This achievement will take on greater significance in the near future. Fol- lowing close after the furriers’ 40-hour victory, it is an indication that the ‘wreat body of needle workers under the left wing leadership will soon have established a five-day 40-hour week thruout the entire needle industry, The agreement also carried with it eubstantial wage Mmecreases, the limi- tation of contractors, non-partisan con- trol of the labor bureau, recognition of the examiners—all of which are dis- ainct gains. The Weaknesses. - HE weakness of the agreement is that under its terms the employ- erg get the right of 10 per cent yearly reorganization. This was provided for in the award of the governor's com- gnission, which was accepted by Sig- jmah and other right wing leaders. ‘This acceptance made it impossible wor the union to defeat the employers jn this important point. But the force { the reorganization is weakened by @ various modifications and the ks upon it, including the right of w in case of discharge, the reor- ganization to be limited to those shops ranteeing the workers the equiva- tt of 32 weeks’ wages (this intro- juces into the cloakmaking industry the principal of time guarantee). The poche ‘to have reorganization must be larged from 85 to 40 workers by une, 1928, and the smaller shops to elve the right of reorganization jecas have their work done inside the ‘ehop only, The Conduct of the Strike. ‘TT was o failure also not to secure it was a decided error to permit Hill it to agree to allow Governor Smith 1 a i T York Joint Board of the I. L, G./ race for international president. Were this the facts Brophy would retain the Position he has and keep quiet, the position of president of his district, which he has held these past twelve or fourteen years. Pans Lewis. “Lewis says he cannot organize the nonunion fields, the fields which are daily strangling our organization, If ¢the administration is not big enough for the job then let them get to hell out and give Brophy a chance whocan and will do it. “Lewis says the injunctions are tie- jing his hands in the nonunion fields. To hell with the injunctions! We de- fied it in Kansas. Let them just try, to put all the miners in jail; they just won't do it for the miners have too many parasites on their shoulders. to. support and were they all in jail the loudest shouters..for their release would be the parasites whom the min- to have any hand whatsoever in se lecting the impartial chairman, During the course of the strike, the cloakmakers, under the left wing lead- ership, won a number of important victories over the enemy and over viclous practices hitherto existing in the organization. The union smashed the injunction issued by Judge Guy, violating it successfully en masse. Honor to the thousands who were ar- rested in the struggle! Likewise, it a victory to defeat Governor Smith’s attempt to force compulsory arbitra: tion upon the cloakmakers during the struggle, and the governor’s commis- sion, facile’ and effective tool of the employers, has been dealt a mortal blow. It and similar institutions will not be foisted as easily again upon the cloakmakers or other needle work- ers, The strike was conducted honestly by the left wing, the grafting of right wing leaders in former strikes being conspicuous by its absence among the left wing militants. The raising of over $2,000,000 to finance the strike, in spite of right wing sabotage, was an achievement, As never before the masses were drawn into.active strike participation, ag shown by the mass picketing, the elimination of gangster- ism, etc, The cloakmakers’ strike has been conducted on a higher and better plane than any in the ‘history of the international, , Great Difficulties. strike the union confronted ented difficulties, It had to contend with a host of enemies, without and within. The long period of class collaboration by the corrupt and reactionary leadership had sapped the strength of> union and se- riously weakened position. This discredited right wing leadership, which had systematically checked progress and abolished democracy in the union, and which had ruled by gangster methods, was still occupying many strategic positions in the organ- izations, including complete control of the international o! It could not, and would not, inspire the masses of cloakmakers, who hate its corruption and reaction, to struggle against tho bosses. This group of reactionary right wing officials under the leader- ship of Sigman had seriously weakened the union by its expulsion and disrup- tive activities, had lquidated the treasury and placed the union in debt and had placed all possible obstruc- tions to proper preparation of the strike, y The Serelopmnen ) it of the jobbing sys- tem and tle growth of the outof- town shops are very vital problems, Be the ers must keep. Injunctions? Injunc- tions hell.” Brennan Works. Wm. J. Brennan, former president of District 1 and now running mate of Brophy, spoke at the Scranton and Old Forge meetings but could not at- tend the Pittston meeting on account of working in the Scranton mines night shift. Cappellini made a half-hearted effort to stop the Scranton meeting. Board Member Boylan went to thé hall keeper and demanded the meeting be called off but the keeper refused him. Then he went to the mayor of Scran- ton but the mayor was not very sym- pathetic, remembering Mr, Boylan and Cappellini’s campaign against him at the last election, Use your brains and your pen to aid the workers in the class struggle, WRITE AS YOU FIGHT! . G. W. U. STRIKE and before the strike had greatly weakened the position of the union in the industry. The long unemployment before the strike was a handicap. The existence of the governor’s commission and its award, which had practically the ef- fect of an arbitration decision, laid great obstacles in the way of the strike, especially as the bosses knew and counted on the fact that the right wing leaders, Sigman, et al, favored the aceptance of the commission's award and were fighting for it in the union. In addition to the opposition of the employers and their thugs, the union was subjected to unusually vicious attacks from the New York police who arrested the cloakmakers wholesale, from the courts which imposed heavy fines and sentences, and put over the most sweeping injunction in recent la- bor history, as well as the attacks from the press and from the govern-, or of New York State, Al Smith, the so-called “friend of labor,” who showed himself a bitter enemy of the workers, The Right Wing and the Strike. F these obstacles undoubtedly the worst was the sabotaging of the strike by Sigman, Dubinsky, Ninfo and the other right wing leaders who are strategically situated as leading offi- cials in the I. L, G. W. U. All thru the struggle, there has existed a prac- tical united front between these re- actionary leaders and the bosses against the strike from the start. They accepted the governpr’s commission award, which conceded the employ- ers the vital right of reorganization, and their whole policy has been to force the uniog to accept the essen- tials of that award. The bosses were well away of this and all thru the strike they based their on co- operation with Sigman, et al, to put across the harmful governor's com- mission's award. To this end they not only constantly spread pessimism and defeatism among the strikers, but also actively sabotaged the strike in many definite instances, In Philadelphia, where the joint board is controlled by the right wing, open scabbing has gone on for months, When workers protested against it, they were heay- ily fined and otherwise disciplined, Everywhere the Sigman group sab- otaged the colledtion of funds. Their policy was to make a great outery in their press about how much they were then In reality to do refused to induce the Amalgamated Clothing Workers offcisis to support oS . f “THE DMILY WORKER NEW PART IS A "STEP FORWARD BY CHI, LABOR But Scab Clauses Must Be Eliminated By ARNE SWABECK. One more step toward closed shop working conditions has been record- ed by the proposed new agreement ac- cepted unanimously by the Chicago Building Trades Council. However, many of the obnoxious and notorious- ly scab clauses of the old Landis* Award still remain in force in this new agreement. The proposed agreement will, if finally accepted by both sides, remain | it will not cover wages or specific working, conditions of the various trades, which are to be negotiated separately. _ Paragraph 14 Killed. The famous paragraph 14 of the Landis Award, which prohibits strikes or stoppage of work individ- ually or collectively on any building fixing a penalty. for such stoppage, has béen eliminated. In substitution thereof a clause is being proposed | which upholds the right to sympathe- tie strike by’ laying down the prin- ciple that union men are not required to work with fon-union men of any trade, nor for bosses in Cook county employing non-union men of any oth- er trade. One Step Forward. While this is one step toward the closed shop, it will become real only when followed up¢ energetically to eliminate whatever remains of the old Landis Award; for instance, the provision which permits the use of non-union made material ‘and which seriously militates against organizing the inside shops or the building ma- | terial factories. The clause of s0- called “no limitation of the amount of work a»man shall perform during his -workitig day,” which in other words means to permit to give the! speed-up system full sway, should also ‘be eliminated. The next step in the same direc- tion is to establish complete job con-| trol with functioning stewards, with | hiring and firing not to remain at the will of the employer. The building | trades workers should compel the leaders to step in that direction. Bosses Not Unanimous. While the reports are that this agreement will be likewise accepted by the Chicago Building Trades Em- ployers’ Association, it is also said that about 100. Landis Award con- in force up untj]l January 1, 1929, but}, Why: the Boss Wants Piece Work By LILLIAN GREENSWEIG. HE piece-work system demands of the industrial worker maximum energy, speed and concentration, Is it any wonder, then, that the bosses prefer it to week-work and that they persist in their efforts to get rid of the week-work system? In a desire and need to get more pay, the individual worker puts forth his best efforts towards speeding up. Efficiency, therefore, is secured almost automatically, ‘So much so, in fact, that the bosses find that they can | easily do away with the high-salaried “efficiency experts” and supervisors, and replace them with mere foremen. (I myself worked in a factory of con- siderable: size where the only over- seers were the two partners of the business, There are some workers, tho, that prefer piece-work to week-work. Needless to say, these are for the most part very fast workers, who are often the bosses’ favorites and get the choicest kind of work alloted to them. There are others who realize the futflity of this system, since \piece- work wears them out, so that the extra money earned is consumed in frequent rests from the strain, either immediately or in the future. They also realize that it is an unfair’ system since it spoils the chances of the other workers for a livelihood and makeg organization difficult, The fast workers arouse jealousy. Petty rivalries result in many kinds of classification such as fast» workers, medium workers, slow workers and apprentices Certainly under these circumstances, organization seems al- most impossible, de from this, to aggravate the situation, there is gen- eral distrust created even within the groups, and while the workers will often confide their intimate lives, they will never tell one another what they jhave earned. In fact they consider this an e mely personal question, Piece causes the loss of health | At the age of fourty-five is old. He finds | himself r ounger men. On his appli new job, he is | told very plainl at he hasn't the | “pep” of I yung men work much fast than he. Piece-} work has sapped all the energy out of him, it has dimmed hig eyesight, bent his back, dulled his mind, It would be well for young workers before they ruin their health to “stop, look and liste’ The old, discarded workers wande g around looking for a job, have « y to tell. The wiser and more practical method of obtain- Page Five JEWISH CANTORS ORGANIZE UNION; JOIN THE C.F. OF L, Will Send Delegates to Federation Bésides the announcement that the municipal doctors had formed a union organization and were affiliated with the Chicago Federation of Labor, the announcement that the Jewish can- tors had also “organized,” was made at Sunday’s meeting of the C. F, of L. Get A. F. of L. Charter, President Fitzpatrick told the dele gates that Cantors Union, No, 1, of which Theodore Greenburg is presi- dent, would be represented at the next meeting of the federation, having been granted a charter by the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, Sixty can- tors of sixty synagogues in Chicago are members, The reason given for the organiza- tion of the religious leaders is that too. many persons unqualified to be cantors have been taking those posi tions, The singers organized to pre- vent this. ing more wages is by organizing into unions, Nevertheless, this agreement is a blow to the notorious Landis Award and the so-called Citizens’ Committee. It now becomes a question of im- portance, however, whether the Build- ing Trades Council further directs the struggle to have this agreement not only embrace the bosses ready to sign at this moment, but thru their organ- ized power compel all the building trades contractors to accept closed shop conditions. To accomplish this, militant poli- cies re necessary, as well as the united effort of all the building trades unions. Carpenters Not In, It is noteworthy that the agreement does not include the carpenters, who are not affiliate? to the Building Trades Council on account of their disagreement with the jurisdictional ruling on the handling of metal trim. This year the Chicago Carpenters’ District Council offered to re-alfiliate with Building Trades Council, but laid down a string of conditions of a juris- | dictional character. The Building Trades Council would not accept these, yet it is necessary that some serious efforts be made to its approximate 40,000emembership, is the ‘largest single unit within the Building Trades. There can be no real unity without them. The one outstanding lesson for the Building des Workers to learn from the ithprovements gained in this agreement is the fact that ever since 1921, with the disunity existing, and the complete failure of the leader- ship to bring the whole power of the {advanced to the Binders Get Increase. An announcement that was greefed with much applause was made by the Bindery Women’s union that they had obtained an increase in wages of $2.a week, and signed a three-year agree- ment with the employers. ‘ Discuss Labor Temple Dream. Discussion of the possibility of ereet- ing @ labor temple in Chicago was held at the meeting. The plan was delegates that a. % story building, occupying an entire block,in the loop, be erected. Few united forces of the unions to bear to|f the delegates received this idea ser- establish the closed shop, this im-|{ously, but many expressed the opin- portant step in tlfat direction has’ be-|{0n that some kind of a labor temple come possible only thru the degree of Should be erected here. unity which has been accomplished. Chicagoans Hear Plea Recognize Soviet Union The Chicago Council on Foreign Re- lations sat in the Palmer House Sun- }day and heard with varying degrees jot asténishment a plea to renew rela- |tions with the Union of Soviet Repub- |lics. It came from Chester T. Rowell, ja former newspaper publisher of Fresno, Calif.. who has just returned \from, more than a year of travel and |study in the Soviet Republic. He Announces Protest Meeting. Anton Johannsen, vice-president of |the federation, urged the delegates to ;work for a large attendance at the | Sacco-Vanzetti protest meeting Friday \might at Ashland auditorium. | “Sacco and Vanzetti stand today in a critical position,” he said. “Unless |the trade union movement comes to their aid, these two men will be sac- rificed.” He recounted the evidence that demonstrated the frame-up against the two radicals* | Cuban Action Bulis Sugar. | LONDON, Nov. 21.—Announcement completely eliminate this jurisdiction- | urged it because both this country and | of Cuban restrictions upon the sugar al dispute and to have the carpenters |Russia would berefit by such a re-|crop caused a considerable flurry in become a regular part of the council. The leaders, whatever their interests tractors will refuse to sign and will form. an or; ation of their own and continu hire non-union labor. Bt ae = ed the strike. Sota word of criticism | did he make of the strikebreaking policy followed by the leaders of that organization. When Governor Smith tried to force.the union into arbitra- tion, he knew very well that he had Sigman’s support. When the left wing general strikes committee, correctly analyzing the necessity for mobilizing the full power of ali needle workers against the emiployers in the crucial fight against reorganization and the jobber evil, called upon Sigman to} move for a general conference of all | needle unions when definite steps | could be taken to amalgamate the or-| ganizations and unite them all In joint | fight against the commission, Sigman opposed the proposition. His policy | was to leave the gloakmakers isolated, for which no doubt the bosses were | duly grateful to him. Innumerable in- | stances of the sabotage of these right | wing leaders of the international can | be given in the conduct, open and se- cret, of these right wing leaders head- | ed by Sigman, Dubinsky and Ninfo, | in their work in New York and out of town, The Amalgamated and the Strike. 'O less active against the cloak- makers’ strike were the leaders of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, | Once this was’ the most progressive union.in the needfe trades; now it is the most reactionary; its leaders open- ly and shamelessly betrayed the cloak- makers’ strike at every stage of the struggle. Just before the strike be- gan, the New York Joint Board of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, under the leadership of the fascist, Berker- man, signed up the disastrous agree- ment with the bosses. which complete- ly compromised the demands of the cloakmakers. ‘The Amalgamated Clothing Workers never even demand- ed the 40-hour Week and established no general minintum scale of wages, much less made a@ fight for them, They furthermore prepared the way for the introduction of piece work. ‘There- after their position was to kill the cloakmakers’ striké from the double motive of hatred for its left wing leadership, and the determination to Justify their own treacherous settle- ment, In these endeavors Beckerman & Co, knew no limit. ITH the cloakmakers in dire need of financial assistance, the Amal- gamated Clothing Workers’ leaders gave thom only $27,500 or about 25 cents per mem) This small con- tribution relative, to the strength of the Amalgamat * clearly showed its attitude toward the battling cloak- makers, Dven this small contribution may be,-should not be permitted to stand in the way. The carpenters, by sumption of relations. He found too, he said, a bright side to*Communist life there in the growth of education among the peasants, was given under heavy pressure of the left wing. An assessment of $1.00 per member was voted by the shop chairman of the Amalgamated but no money has been turned over from this assessment. The left wing furriers’ New York joint board, one-tenth as large, contributed $60,000. In addition to this lack of support, Beckerman, head of the New York Amalgamated, without opposition from Sigman, fought the strike in a manner without precedent in the history of the American labor movement. He de- nounced it on all occasions, openly giv- ing comfort and ald to the bosses. He prohibited tha collection of strike funds and even went so far as to drive workers out of the industry merely for collecting money in the shops to assist the striking cloakmakers. His treacherous conduct even went further by restoring to producing scab cloaks | in the shops of the Amalgamated in Newark and other centers, A scabbing policy which, by the admission of their own ‘agents, was the official policy of Mr. Beckerman. Against these shame- ful tactics which have enraged every honest needle worker, Hillman and Schlossberg have said not one word, ‘These erstwhile socialists lent their active support to fascist Beckerman (who is their man by special appoint- ment) in his open war against the cloakmakers’ strike. Led By Daily Forward. LL these destructive activities of the right wing leadership of the I. L. G, W. U, and A. C. W. were led and gupported by the arch misleader of the needle workers, the Daily For- ward, On the eve of the strike, the For- ward attacked the joint board daily, It spread defeatism all thru the strike, And now, with the union fighting the jobbers, it has launched a vicious and | reckless attack on the whole strike. Confronted with these vile and shameful strikebreaking activities of Beckerman & Co,, Sigman, the right wing leader of the I. L. G. W. U., had not a word to say. This policy of Beckerman and Hillman, were part of the one general policy thruout the whole needle trades of defeating the cloakmakers’ strike. ‘The Left Wing and the Strike. jy the face of this right wing be- yal, which sapped the vitality and strength of the strike, the position of Hyman was one of weakness and vacil- lation, Nor is the left wing exempt from oriticism in the matter. There was necessary a much morg militant exposure of the right wing sabotage of the strike and greater pressure be- bind the demand fer the emalgama- the market here today. Foreign sugar sold from 15 to 18 cents higher per hundred-weight at the first call,.and, the first sale was of 20,000 tons. Statement by the Central Executive Committce of ; the Workers (Communist) Party tion of the needle trades unions. The effects of this right wing sabotage were to seriously weaken the cloak- makers’ strike and prevent them from winning greater concessions from the bosses. In strikes it is basically neces- scr to maintain the unity and solidari- ty of the workers, and a prime essen- tial to this is a prompt exposure and vigorous combatting such practices as those of Sigman, Dubinsky and Becker- man which tend to weaken or betray the strike. HE settlement still leaves some 10,000 workers on strike. Their at- tack is levelled against the main evil of the industry—the jobbers. It is a every other way. The strike against |the jobbers must be won. Until these sharks, who are the real employers in the industry, are checked up and made |to be responsible fgr conditions pre- | vailing in the needle industry, no real progress can be made in improving conditions. In the cloakmakers’ strike go far the Workers (Communist) Par- tended its heartiest support in every possible Way. This will be continued and intensified in the struggle against the jobbers, The Lessons of the Strike. HREE great lessons, among others, stand out with crystal clearness as a result af this strike, and the cloak- makers will do well to learn them. The first is that the class of leaders typi- fled by Sigman, his followers, and other right wing leaders are not quali- fied to lead the cloakmakers. These leaders have become saturated with corruption and a general spirit of reac- |tion. They have become practically indistinguishable from the ultra-reac- tionary Gompers type of trade union officials. Such officials can only lead the cloakmakers to defeat, It must and | will give way to a more honest, more | militant and more class conscious lead- ‘ership, The néedle workers are fast awakening to this fact, and the cloak- jmakers’ strike will hasten this process. | The second great lesson to be learn- led from the strike is the necessity for the workers to energetically support the movement for the formation of @ mass political party of their own—e labor party. During the strike the union has been, aftacked aggressively lon all sides My the state power, the attack being led chiefly by Governor Smith, who has the backing of the of- ficial labor bureaucrats, including the so-called “socialist” leaders of the needle trades unions. For the union tina A ait Sy dia ‘ fundamental necessity that this strike | be supported—morally, financially and | ty and the left wing in general has ex- | to continue to support politically these agents of the employers (and all on the two old party tickets as such) |demoralizes the workers and sacrifices their interests. The needle unions should free themselves from such a | Dolicy and from all leaders who ad |vocate it. The needle workers should |raise the slogan of the labor party and jlead the fight aggressively for it thru- jout the entire labor movement. | Amalgamation, | HE third great lesson made clear | by the cloakmakers’ strike’ is-the \imperative necessity to amalgamate |the several needle trades craft unions jinto one powerful industrial organiza- tion to cover the entire clothing indus- try. Further progress of the needle workers as a whole depends upon the carrying thru of this vital strengthen- ing of the organization off the clothing | workers. A host of problems are con- fronting the entire body of the needle ‘workers.. The employers, reflecting | the prosperity of the capitalist class generally under American imperialism, are constantly growing richer, more |powerful and better organized. The \jobber is spreading like a cancer thru out the industry. The scattering of the industry into outlying small towns makes impossible for the separate unions and more difficult the basic task of organizing the unorganized and it weakens the position of the organ- ized workers in the big markets. ‘The courts, the press, the police, all branches of the government are be- coming increasingly hostile. N this situation the interests of all needle workers thruout the country are as one. Every section of the in- dustry is menaced by the new and - growing problems. Fighting alone, the individual unions cannot cope with them. It is the common task of a united body of the needle workers. There must be one union of all needle workers, led by real fighters, This will enable the workers to forge ahead to victory. For years the left wing has fought for amalgamation, The great « rank and file favors it and wants ft. Only the right wing, fearful of losing its position of contro] in the unions, has blocked the amalgamation by the suppression of the will of the mem- © bership. But this resistance will soon ~ be broken. The cloakmakers’ strike — will make the movement for amal- gamation irresistable. The question of one powerful union in the needle in- dustry stands before the workers, General Executive Committee, Workers (Communist) Party, Cc. E, Ruthenberg, General Sooretary, : 4