The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 24, 1926, Page 5

LAUNDRYWORKERS IN GARY AGITATE TO FORM A UNION Unity of Negroes and Whites Necessary By a Worker Correspondent. GARY, Ind., Dec, 22.—An article in Whe DAILY WORKER dealing with wonditions of work in the laundries ef Gary caused a gteat stir among the laundry workers. That some of the workers appreciat- ed that The DAILY WORKER show- ed up the pitiless exploitation of the ‘women working in the laundries, their long hours of work, their low wages ($9.00 to $10.00 per week) and the high profits of the bosses—is a source of inspiration for The DAILY. ‘WORKER to continue to expose these conditions. However, of more importance are the unfavorable actions and com- ments on the part of the workers. Women Worker Tells Boss. A report from one of the laundries #®ays that one of the women working there took The DAILY WORKER to the boss, showing him the article. ‘We pity the slave who hopes to im- rove her condition by licking the boots of her exploiters. The Negro Viewpoint. Of importance is the following un- favorable comment of some of the Negro women working in the laun- dries: “This is a move to organize the laundry workers using the help of the Negro workers. As soon as or- ganization is accomplished and better ‘conditions attained, the Negro work- re will be eliminated. The white workers will take their jobs.” Some Basis. It is realized that there is a basis for this suspicion. This suspicion is caused by the fact that, altho some ‘unions accept colored workers, they wre discriminated against as far as placing on a job is concerned. Some unions are not militant enough to |prevent the discrimination of the ‘bosses. Union is Preferred. However, experience shows that jnvith all these drawbacks a union is jpreferrable than no union at all. The Negro worker fs able to improve his conditions ‘better and fight against yacial discrimination more successful- ‘fy as a member of a union. Need Common Organization. ‘The racial prejudices are best eli- jaminated by common organization and )strugefe of the workers for better con- jditions. While in the union the Ne- lero workers must insist that no dis- yorimination be tolerated — against ‘them, They must fight against every form of discrimination together with ithe advanced white workers. There is no other way to better conditions than thru unity of workers jof all races, Must Fight. At-the present time the workers ere divided. We must educate them, - Preach unity, and not division. We must expose the pitiless exploitation of the workers and fight for better | conditions. Laundry workers are invited to pa in gee > to The DAILY REKER, West Washington Blvd. Chicago, Il. Names of the \ writers will not be published. Here’s Outside of Chicago: Per year, six months, $3.00, three mons, $200) a a il oo) ee THE DAILY WORKER , 1113 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, HI, BNClOsed Fesssssserseseesse LOM sessesseresees months sub to The Dally Worker, Name neeeeneon es Beret enisadbvepislecnsssssososmndlsAseiessonbaabssiassdss ONY erersinncntsntin de ssseesetalanlLisSSOcatanncsse sis PRIZES FOR More and more worker correspondents are wanted for WORKER* Every worker In every Industry should write the facts of hap- penings In his industry and send them In so that other workers can know what is golng on. the best stories, They are: TH E DAILY, WORKER THIS WEEK. The DAILY For the next week three splendid prizes are offered for —LENIN ON ORGANIZATION, collected speeches and writings on funda- mental problems by our great leader, Cloth-bound’ edition. }—-WORKERS MONTHLY, six months subscription—six Issues of pleas- ureable and worth-whlile reading. i ekg CARTOONS. We offer this prize again knowing how you will enjoy Ith * SEND IN THAT STORY TODAY! Low Wages and Constant Fleecing of Workers at Gary Mill Reveals Reason for Huge Steel Dividends By a Worker Correspondent. GARY, Ind., Dec, 22. — While the steel corporation declared an unheard of dividend distribution of over 200 milion dollars the workers in the mills of the steel corporation and its subsidiaries still get the low wages of years ago, Basic Wage Is $4.40. In the motor operating department married men are started on $4.10 a day, The pushers, bunde men, hook- ers and other unskilled laborers all get the basic wage of $4.40 per day. Only by speeding up can they expect to earn more, because the company allows a bonus—-10 cents for each extra ton above 20 tons for the push- ers and above 16 tons for the bunde men, How They Do It, It is interesting to do a little figur- ing. If the worker will produce only 20 tons he will receive $4.40 or 22 cents for each ton. But for each ad- ditional ton they get only 10 cents, less than half of this price. A worker who turned out 30 tons had thus pro- duced 10 tons (one third his of day's production) at less than half his reg- ular price. Is there any wonder now at the $200,000,000 dividend? The Old Rusty Tin Bucket. While the steel corporation cut its dividend melon, the workers in many departments are compelled to use the old rusty tin bucket when they are thirsty, Is it sanitary for all workers to drink out of the same bucket? Hell, no! What is the health depart- ment doing about it? Nothing, Evi- dently they are servants of the steel corporation, 5 Other Unsanitary Conditions, The steel corporation and its subsi- diaries do not allow the workers time | to wash. After the whistle blows the men rush home. Dirty, covered with sweat they crowd into street cars. The Heavy Cross. Recently there was a drive for the Red Cross. Pressure was used almost in every department to compel the workers to take out membership for $1.00 or more, In some cases men working nights were told to wait 40 minutes to see the foreman in the morning who spoke to them about subscribing. Whoever does not is a candidate for a layoff and other punishment, Sunday Work, In the American Sheet and Tin Co, work on Sundays cannot be refused by workers. If they do refusé they are laid off for a week. Similar punish- ment is given for being absent one day from work at the American Sheet and Tin Plate Co,, one day layoff. Three Men for the Price of Two. In the mills the following way of skinning the workers is practiced: Extra men are permitted into the mills. Wherever the workers work in pairs a third fellow ts added and then the wages of the two regular workers “is” divided between three. Three men work for the price of two. Another Robbery. Out of each 14 tons produced by the workers, 4 are considered scrap and the workers are not paid for them, Fleeced Again, If the work is damaged in a course | of some operation then all workers suffer: those who are responsible for the damage as well as those who made their operations correctly are equally left without pay. No pay is allowed for time lost because of the stoppage of machinery, OPTICIANS FIRM IN DEMANDS FOR UNION STANDING Strike Is Intact—Aid Asked of Workers By OSCAR S. POMEROY. (Worker Correspondent) NEW YORK, Dec. 22— With one bosses’ outfit, the Wholesale Opti- cians’ Association, shattered, the striking optical workers are out to defeat the Optical Board of Trade The board is leading the manufactur- ers’ opposition to union demands for recognition of the union, ti: 44-hour week, pay for legal holidays and the union shop. With the strike in its fifth week, the workers’ ranks are holding firm, declares J. A. DeSantis, organizer of the United Brotherhood of Optical Workers. “Our biggest need is finan- cial relief,” he said. “Most of our men are married and have families to support. What with winter here we're facing destitution. “The labor movement has been ral- lying splendidly to our support, parti- cularly in New York. With the sup- port of our brother workers, we shall win.” Soabs Report. Eight deluded workers have been imported so far as scabs- but when appealed to by the pickets, they have returned to their home cities. DeSantis warned against W. H. Harris, operator of about 18 optical chain stores. He is using non-union labor altho advertising widely in the trade union press. His gag is to offer 20 per cent off merchandise to union members. Boy Prevented From Going to School in . “Prosperous Times” Because of Clothing By a Worker Correspondent. DETROIT LAKES, Minn., Dec. 22,.— When I read the account in The DAILY WORKER of the 11-year-old boy who refused to sign the “pledge,” and that after the principal failed to impress him with his “lecture” on the greatness of this country and the op- portunity it offers the young in its “fine” schools he was expelled, I was reminded of another incident, While driving a young lad hailed us for a ride. After he got in we pried-him with a number of questfons, T asked him if he was going to school, and he said, “No, I have no clothes yet fit for school.” The family had moved into the com- munity not long before, and they had a hard time trying to find that elusive prosperity that “Cal” and the capital- ist press sees lying around everywhere in thick layers, . Soon he asked us to stop at the next tuin to let him off, saying that with over seventy cartoons and. drawings by seventeen proletarian artists. Size 9x12 ~attractively bound, $1.00 he “lived over there,” pointing to a building that did not look fit for cattle to live in, - Tt is a cinch that no farmer would think of housing his cows in a place like that and expect to get a paying amount of milk from them, but there was the home of a young lad and his sisters and brothers who could not go to school because they did not have any clothes, If these kids do get enough clothes to cover them so they can go to school, they will be told of this glorious coun- try with its unbounded wealth, with its Mberty and freedom (freedom to starve if you can not make a success at stealing); and’with its “equal op- portunity” for every boy and girl to get an education, provided they do not come to school naked. Devils and Saints Will Meet and Dance Saturday, December 25 In spite of the bible version that devils and saints do not get along very well together, the bolsheviks will prove just the opposite next Saturday night, when devils and saints will meet and dance at the Novy Mir mas- querade ball at Mirror Hall, 1140 N, Western Ave.:near Division St. There willobe the angels also, of course, but not: the McPherson kind. Come over and meet them alll! pase PUREE Tey The Amerioan Worker Correspondent 1118 W. Washington Blvd. at to oer An, Hh Mannmeyien ey 1 Anal a OD aan ety ce WORKERS’ WIVES TELL N. Y, FIRETRAPS Demand Action; Walker Tries to Stall By M. ROTH, (Worker Correspondent) NEW YORK, Dee, 22.—A delegation of thirty mothers representing all boroughs called recently on Mayor Walker, to demand safe homes for their families and protested against the loss of lives ih fire traps. Lives lost in fires in tenements dur- ing November were: In Harlem at East 106th street, a worker, Busch and his 11-year-old son were burned to death. He left a widow and three little children dangerously burned. At 301 Cherry stréet, Samuel Weiner with two childrén were burned to death. He left a widow and three lit- tle children, Carry Banners. | The delegation reached city hall at 3:30 p. m, with: signs reading: “The workers’ lives are in danger— we demand action of the city and state administration —Harlem.” “Down with datk halls and wooden |Stairs, in unsanitary tenements.— Down Town.” “The widows. of the tenement fire victims and their: little children cry out.” “Mothers, organize, families.—Brownsyille.” “Women, join.the United Council of Working Class Housewives—a wom- en's organization, fighting tor better conditions for the worker's family,” There were no-policemen outside of City Hall, so the delegates marched straight in, but were soon stopped in the lobby by some guards, Sarah Ballin, chairman of the delegation, told the guards. that the delegates came to see Mayor Walker. They were then shown to a waiting room opposite the Mayor's office, “Walker-Is Busy.” Soon, one of ‘the’ mayor’s lieutenants came in and after listening to the dele- gation for about two minutes told them, that the*mayor has an appoint- ment and would*mot see anyone until 6 p. m. The délegates then declared | that they would ‘wait the 2% hours or as long as it is Necessary until they see the mayor, ¢ Five minutes later, Ed. Straton, the mayor's secretary, called the chairm: of the delegation to his office. She re- turned soon, thif/told the rest of the delegates that the mayor's secretary at first told bef, all the delegates should go homey¢hen formulate con- crete demands and mail them to him. But when she agked him to come out and listen to what the rest of the dele- gates have to say, he said, he could not do that for the delegation is too large. She then suggested to him that she would call into his office a dele- gation of five; he agreed to that. After a few minutes they came out of his office. Straton told them that the city has appointed a “plan and survey” commission to inspect the tenement houses but they have not brought in a report as yet. One delegate asked him what the city is going to do about the hous “The city can’t throw them down,” Straton answered, “but the housing commission will have public hearings sometime next month.” He suggested that these delegates go there and pre- sent their cases before the housing commission. The United Council has branches in the Bronx, Harlem, Downtown, Wil- |lamsburg, Brownsville, Bath Beach and Coney Island. The main office is at 80 East 11th Street, Room 237. All women are asked to join, Preacher Jailed for Violating Mann Act, Blames It on Satan By L. P. RINDAL, (Worker Correspondent) LOS ANGELES, bec, 22.—Rev. Walter G, Jones, until recently pastor .,of the Third Baptist church of Port- land, Ore., wag Arrested at the Bible Institute here on an Oregon indict- nient charging yiolation of the Mann “white slave” act. He was charged with deserting his wife and daughter to transport Mrs. Ella Pearl Lee, for- mer treasurer of his church, from Grant's Pass, Oreg., to Los Angeles. After a storitiy scene with the minister in Texas, the paradise of kluxerdom, the respect for the “purity of womanhood” became so strong that the “soul mate” went back to her hus- band and eg Glancing up trom his bible in the jail, Rev. Jones said: “Human flesh is weak, and tho devil {s cunning and powerful, Never underestimate the strength of the devil.” Policeman Who Kills Worker Is Exonerated By a Worker Correspondent. LONG BEACH, Cal, Dec, 22.—Pa- trolman H, B. McDonald was arrested régently for the killing of Jack Maye fleld, Long Beach oil worker, during @ raid of some kind. At the coroner's inquest, Dec, 10, MeDonald testified that hig revolver was discharged “ac- eldentally” whéit he tripped over a doorsill with oti¥ér police officers, Ho was exondited, of course, RORY 17 BNET RITE AS-YOU FIGHT! walt Com protect your DETROIT, Dec, 22.—General curtall- | ment of production for inventory end- ing in a suspension until after Jan, 1 is announced by the Ford Motor Co., only a few days after a total suspen- sion of work for a week. After the week’s suspension thou- sands of workers were not recalled, Many who were recalled were se- rously affected by an organization shakeup that in reality was a shake- down, Salaried employes, including many executives, were signed off the pay- roll or forced to resign. It is expected | that after the inventory period more | thousands will fail to receive notices | to return to work, ‘ASK INQUIRY IN DENYING VOTE T0 NEGRO IN SOUTH G. O. P. Throws Bomb Into Job Sale Probe (Special to The Dally Worker) WASHINGTON, Dec, 22.—Counter- demands of republicans that if an in- vestigation is conducted into sale and barter of federal offices in southern states, it also include an investigation in the disfranchisement of the Ne- gro so disturbed the democratic sena- tors asking the investigation that a decision on the launching of the probe has been postponed. If the investiga- tion is conducted it will more than Ukely .result in exposure of corrup tion in both parties—sale of govern- ment office appointments by the re- publican party and the denying of po- litical rights to the Negro. Jobs Sold Like’ Horses. Sen. Harris of Georgia first brot the matter before the senate by asking that an investigation be conducted in |his state. His request was followed | by similar ones from democratic sen- | ators in other southern states, who charged that the sale of offices by the republicans is general thruout the south. Wants National Probe. Sen. Norris of Nebraska has de- manded that a national investigation be conducted. The judiciary commit tee is now meeting to define the lim- its, if any, in the investigation. Sen. Harris told the senate that it is the exceptional case in his state when a recommendation for political office is made that is not accompanied by a “consideration.” The most flag- rant sales are in connection with post office appointments, he said, but bar- tering is general thruout the entire service. Senate Decides to * sts Reunite Families by Lifting Restrictions WASHINGTON, Dec, 22—The sen-| ate by a bare majority of two votes adopted the bill of Senator Wads- worth of New York, amending the im- | migration act. If the house concurs, it will admit to this country 85,000 wives and children of aliens admitted prior to July 1, 1924, who have ap plied for naturalization. ‘These ad- missions will be without regard to the usual quotas. This will not necessarily admit all | such wives and children, as the num- ber 1g limited to the 35,000 mention- ed in the bill, Those to de let in will be apportioned among various nation- alities, under rules to be laid down by the department of labor, but it will to @ large extent reunite many families which have been cruelly sep- arated under the present immigration restrictions. | Van Sweringens Pick owe President to Run Erie | | CLEVELAND, Dec, 22. — The Van | Sweringen brothers, whose financial jugglery in railroads hag been the subject of ineffectual investigations, have taken another step toward a merger, with the announcement that their right hand man, John U. Bernet, who is now president of the Nickel Plate road, a Van Sweringen interest, will take the presidency of the Erie | railroad, in succession to F, D, Und- | erwood., Who will follow Bernet in| his old post is not announced. | It is the Van Sweringens’ hope that | with the credit they can command the Erle may be put-on @ profitable basis. | Bernet began life as an honest, blacksmith, | T. Rie Sister Tackles Creel on Dead Issue NEW YORK, Dee, 22.—“If Mr, Wil- | von had so much vision, as you say he did, why did he not enter the war sooner and save thousands of lives?” asked Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, sister of T. R. of George Creel at a meeting at the town hall. | Creel, head of the wartime com-| mittee on public education was talk- Ing of Wilson's eer and referred to the lapse tn iagphon, which follow: | ed the armistice. 4 ‘When Creel dodged the question, Mra. Robinson accused him of eva- ston and soon after left the hall. MBBS) = Page Fie Ford Plant Fails to —“- Recall Workers Aft | The Manager’s Corner AYOR OF Suspension for Week i On Advertising. “The revenue from the sale of papers is only a fraction of the sum necessary to conduct @ newspaper..... On many papers the circulation’ receipts are only one-fifth to one-tenth of the receipts derived from the sale of white space or advertising. .... Advertising makes possible newspaper profits.” —Newspaper Management by Professor Frank Thayer. Many comrades do not realize the importance of this state ment and the degree in which they can help The DAILY WORK DR by soliciting advertisements. By a little systematic effort, ad vertisements can be obtained from restaurants, halls, doctors, dentists, which are frequented by comrades who read The DAILY WORKER. One comrade connected with a foreign language newspaper makes it a practice to go into a different restaurant each day, and solicit ads. If unsuccessful the first time, he SOMETIMES goes to one restaurant twice. Considerable advertising can be obtained from organizations (labor and fraternal) in which our comrades have influence. No affair should go by without an ad in The DAILY WORKER. No activity should be carried on by these organizations without a paid notice in The DAILY WORKER. We do not have to sup port The DAILY WORKER, Advertising space is 85 cents an inch and arrangements should be made when soliciting the ad to secure immediate payment either when the order is given or im mediately after the appearance of the ad. Ads should be secured from responsible persons or organizations only. Let us see what you can do? BERT MILLER. These Comrades Have Been Challenged to State What They Are Doing to Keep The Daily Worker. WATCH FOR THEIR ANSWERS! H. F. Mins, Rochester, N. Y. New York, N..Y. J. Peterson, E. B. Stratford, Conn. Emil Honegger, Ramey Pocatello, Idaho. Leo Hofbauer Theodore Sudertand, New York, N. Berkeley, Cal Louis Touby, P. Lukachic, Miami, Fla. Cleveland, 0. Emil Niva, Herbert Newton Frederick, S. Dak. + Rorbury, Mass William Deitrich, David 3 Denver, Colo. Philadciphia George Blowam, Geo. Rupert, Spokane, Wash. Elko, Neve EB. Resetar, Waino Mellin. Woddlawn, Pa. Waukegan, Ii A. D. Boroff, H. Hagenen Juneau, Alaska. Houston, Tea YOU May Be Next. ORDER YOUR RED CALENDARS NOW! 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