The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 10, 1927, Page 4

THE DAILY WORKER, W YORK, FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 1927 Whither the Trade Union Bureaucracy? By JOSEPH ZACK. We have had six years of pr Page Four THE DAILY WORKER Published by DAILY WORKER PUBLISHING CO. Daily, Except Sunday €3 First Street, New York, N. Y. SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mail (in New York only): By mail (outside of New York): $8.00 per year $4.50 six months $6.00 per year $8.50 six months $2.60 three months $2.00 three months | against the employers, which at pres-, order to take away from labor the} |ent means mobilization of all forces | advantage it gained during the war perity. Yet there has been no organ-| and resources in support of the min-| and drive conditions low enough to{ izatior drive of importance under-| ers, but a war inside the unions|enable American industries to com- taken in any industry whatever by | Phones, Orchard 1680 Summer Revival The Tribulations of a Male Dressmaker— Leo Carrilla in Old Role AL JOLSON against those that favor and fight! pete on the world market and create jthe A. F. of L. leadership, On the| for a policy of organizing the unor-| sufficient surplus profits to financi- contrary, instead of the trade unions| ganized, amalgamation, aggressive! ally establish its world dominion. registering big gains in membership,| use of the strike weapon in defense| The bureaucracy did not yield to jas is usual during periods of pros f the workers interests; 40 hour-5 | the amalgamation movement and be- | perity, there was a tremendous de-| day week, political action on the part | gan expelling its advocates. It is then Address all mail and make out enecks to THE DAILY WORKER, 33 First Street, New York, N. Y. J, LOUIS ENGDAHL As an example of the absurdities of WILLIAM F. DUNNE (cttttttcstscsstenees Editors crease totalling over one half million| of labor in .opposition to the old|that the first great collision between | the female parasites ot capitalist no pagan hae | bus! M a members. | parties, ete, | modern progressive policies and the| ety Lombardi, Ltd.” the play being, BERT MILURE, +s: s3s-tsayeresr hate sos dliea nl —_—| Right now we have a virtual lwk-|The Whys and Wherefores of the|old A. F. L. methods settled down to |TeVived at the George M. Cohan Thea- Entered as second-class mai! at the post-office at New York, N. Y., under | out of soft coal miners to enforce a| Present Situation in the American | a chronic civil war and crisis inside| the act of March 3, 1879. Advertising rates on application. SS: The Latest Act of Terrorism Against Russia. The foul murder of Comrade Voikoff, Soviet minister to Poland, instigated by the British tories.in their viotent campaign against the workers and peasants of Russia was followed by the cowardly bombing of a Communist Party meeting in Leningrad. The reptile press of the United States, always predicting dire calamities for the Soviet Union, points to this outrage as evidence of widespread discontent among the ma of people of Russia. wage reduction. The employers real- izing the weak position of the trade unions are taking the offensive. There are several indications of a new open shop drive even in the strongly organized building industry. We have the lock-out of the New York plumbers organized and led by the Building Trades Employers Association. In Chicago we have a lock-out of inside carpenters to en- force a wage reduction, + Judicial Aid. Thruout the country there is a tendency on the part of the govern- +mental authorities to outlaw strikes, Labor Movement. the trade unions. Amalgamation The history of American labor; meant that as against trustified in- | shows that labor federations and bu-| dustry labor is to units its forces | reaucracies came and went in the} on industrial lines by amalgamation | U.-S. in accordance with the change|of its craft organization as against |that took place in the development! the greater centralized strength of | of the country. We had the National|the employers. There was to be Labor Union, the Knights of Labor,| greater centralization of organiza- | big organizations in their time. Whoj|tion and methods of struggle on the | knows what may become of the A. F,/ part of the trade unions. of L. under its present leadership?! Finally, when in 1925 the A. F .L. The A. F. of L. has lost nearly half | leadership sought to prevent the de- of its membership since the close of} velopment of a third party movement the war. With the war against the|and finally helped to strangle it, it miners’ union, the war in the needle| was clear that the bureaucracy made) trades and a probable struggle in the; a sharp turn to the right and was in | building unions, the Watson-Parker|the way to gradually surrender be- with Leo Carriila in the star part which he created some ten years ago, ! is superb, There pass before one the! | gorgeously gowned legal and illegal kept women of the exploiters of the workers in a display of finery the jvalue of which would keep The DAILY | | WORKER going for some years. All of them air their troubles in the| fancy dressmaking shop of an excita- ‘ble Italian, Lombardi, who is a genius for designing costumes for the elegant ladies, but who is annoyed by his | bookkeeper who constantly pesters, him with “little slips of paper” from! is creditors, | | Mr. Carrillo in the role of Lombardi| {again proves his mastery as a come- | Being capitalists and apologi for political and industrial tyranny | by judicial decisions, by police inter- : sade t ee : < y pol |dian and in one scene in which a! they realize that similar attacks in capitalist countries usually |ference. Even organization cam- Law in the’ railroad unions, who can! fore the might of trustified indus- arise because of fierce suppression. | tell what will remain inside of a few/ try and finance, enormously strength- mercenary female breaks the hypnotic} But such capitalist analysis paigns are being outlawed by injunc- tions, as in the case of the traction | years of these unions, if the policy| ened by profits and expansions made spell she has woven over him by run-} does not apply to the Soviet Union. There the mass released |of the present leadership remains in| during the war. Indeed the employ-| ning away with an old roue he dis- | force? interests of New York against the from the hideous night of Czardom by the revolution, are solidly | subway workers’ local union affiliated behind the government and the revolutionary Party that led them| with the Amalgamated Association of to victory. Heavy industry has reached a higher stage of develop- ment than pre-war days and the construction of socialism goes Street-car and Railway Workers; the Jatson-Parker Law practically out- wing strikes on the railroads; the We have a situation where the|drive scored a great victory. With trade union bureaucracy is growing | one swoop they took away almost all more and more reactionary and con-| the gains labor made during the war) stantly moving ‘to the right, nearer | and with it went also-a!l increase i | ers had as a result of the open shop| plays his power as an emotional actor. He is supported by a competent, well balanced cast; all of them hand-| ling their parts well, particularly | those whose job it is to depict the lers as particularly loathsome in- The noted comedian has been en- gaged to play the title role in the steadily forward, with the condition of the masses constantly improving. Far from being discontented with their government and th Communist Party which directs their destinie: masses are so determined to maintain it that the as the Soviet Union by the imperialist bandits and their agents only | laws, as manifested i-stri isi view! i hip the A. F, L. made durin | lates' g he su-| to the views, practices and needs of | members| pei pioh ory topesco Tiel Sty oak | the employing class; while the work- | the war. | preme court in the stone cutters’ case, | E Seppe Revax Lice + ‘. i i tenn jers seeing their rights abridged, sup- “he Drive for Cheap Production. , | all this tends in the same direction. With. thesar gains of labor taken e I | sed and interfered with and their K The approval of the U. S. Supreme | Pressec 4 ms 7 4 Na the Russian Court of He Wak lepinletion pda a trade unions crumbling in cnamate,| away, and with a high cost of living, aults against | ied in the numerous anti-syndicalist | fighting strength and numbers, move American capitalism entered its im- in the Anita| further to the left following those/ perialistic career having the advan sereen version of “The Jazz Singer.” ividuals. The denizens of Park Row| and Riverside Drive may not care for “Lombardi, Ltd.,” because it pictures them as they are, \ | | | evoke the most intense hatred and cause monstrous demonstra- tions in which the masses of workers and peasants plead to be permitted to shoulder arms and exterminate the enémy. Tt is precisely the great advance made by Russia in the face of tremendous difficulties; the fact that of all nations in Europe} the Soviet Un the war, whi ion is the only one that has steadily progressed since le the victorious allies have steadily declined that lashes the imperialists to such blind fury that they go from excess no organization drive on a big scale| Present day type were spoken of only to excess ina ers’ state and the systemati would proceed for years. what a ghastly fate would be in store for them if for one moment they sank into indifference and abandoned their vigilance for the revolution. mad but futile effort to destroy the victorious work. turn that country into a vast slaughter house where The creature who hurled the bomb at the Communist meet- ing in Leningrad, like the assassin of Voikoff, was unquestionably ‘a tool of the imperialists. Soviet Union. To be very specific, this latest atrocity “was only one more of the crimes of Great Britain (through its | ty fascist tool, Pilsudski) in its campaign of provocation against the | these Tory Britain, the mad-dog of Europe, that backs the fascist government of Poland, which has become a headquarters for | led the opposition against this treach- white-guard conspiracies against the Seviet Union, is fighting for | erous policy. its life. Its colonial policy is breaking down and to the extent that | Seems to be waning and the employ- | the empire disintegrates the economic cri sharper and the condition of the workers more miserable. The ruling class is no longer able to govern as it did in the|of the labor movement in support of past and the condition of the workers is becoming so bad that it has ilmost reached the limits of endurance. That condition fur- nishes the objective condition for revolution. i 1 Realizing that the colonials and semi-colonials look to the | Union is in danger of a disastrous de- Ss. Every attempt against the revolution makes more determined the’ at the head of the Civic Federation, | viet Union as their inspiration in their struggles against impe- | vialism, the tory government strives to destroy the revolution.) all the strength they can muster and| s at home becomes! | Whitney case stabilizes political re- | pressive anti-labor legislation on a big scale and is a part of the new drive of the employing class against labor. What has the trade union bureau- cracy done during this prosperity and ‘what is it doing now? As already pointed out there was undertaken by the A. F. of L. leader- | ship. Instead the trade union bureau- eracy sought to profit, in the main | the workers’ savings. Thru so-called labor banking and other financial schemes into those industrial and |commercial schemes that yielded the most profit and these for the most | part are industries where the work- {ers are most exploited. This was the main »reoceupation of e big trade union officialdom in all years of prosperity. It is | there that they sunk the union treas- spent hunting down the Reds, who Now the prosperity ers are once more taking the offen- sive, but the trade union bureaucracy, |is not mobilizing the entire strength the miners, who are in the front | trenches of the trade union struggle jand to organize the southern coal | miners without which the miners’ The bureaucracy instead mobilizes workers and peasants of the Soviet Union and makes more power-| !¢d_ by Matthew Woll, carries on a ful the iron battalions that will defend it against aggression from | with the support of the employers, any quarter. The Soviet Union possesses the only army in Europe | the opposition to them led by the left that can be depended upon to fight, because it alone has some-| wing, by attempting to crush the left thing to fight for. faces the danger of having its own guns turned against it. Cap- italist Europe plunges toward war, but fears it because it has not forgotten the revolutionary, wave that nearly engulfed it at the close of the last war. iverywhere the vanguard of the working class fights against imperialist war, but once it comes every effort will be made to} turn the war between nations into civil wars against capitalism. ‘The workers and peasants of the Soviet Union, under the in- vincible leadership of the Russian Communist Party, know that they have mighty reserve forces in the Communist parties of every land and that behind these reserve forces of the imperial- ist countries stand the seething masses of Asia and Africa and other colonial countries that will rise by the million against the imperialist war-mongers. 4 ———_——----- LETTERS FROM OUR RiADERS Underpaid Metal Workers. Editor, DAILY WORKER: If we analyze the situation in the metal drawing and stamping industry, we cannot help but notice that this line is one of the worst paid and the most backward. Workers employed on skilled or Gangerous jobs usually get about $35 ovr $40 a week. Although metal- drawing is not highly skilled, it is extremely dangerous. Those who have worked a power press realize that a worker in the industry riske the-loss of his hands 15 or 20 times a minute. In many shops in which I have worked, the guards were taken offethe machine as soon as the in- spector left. Mast workers in New York work from=40 to 44 hours a week. Needle tradés workers, have won for them- selves the 40 hour week. In the metal industries the shortest working week is forty-eight hours, and in most.of the shops, it is a fifty-hour week: Most of the metal shops are situa- ted in cellars, where there is little fresh air or sunlight, where the iron industries into the of the metal worker. at a moment's notice. For ail this drudgery, under these miserable conditions, metal workers get. from $16 to $24 a week; our wages range from 35 to 50 cents an hour. These conditions arg only possible because the workers In the industry are helpless and poorly organized. If we built up a strong union in the industry we would not be so help- less. It is true that workers in our trade were unionized twice, and both times their organization went broke. « But that was the fault of the leaders rather than the workers, We have the Amalgamated Sheet and Metal Workers Union now; but all the leaders of that union care for are the building trades workers and their fat-salaried jobs—A Reader, Brooklyn, N. Y., June 1, SACCO and VANZETTI SHALL NOT DIE! lungs Workers are laid off} Every other nation that arms its inhabitants | controlled local unions inside the needle trades. Thus the center of the struggle is not the defense of the workers Let’s Fight On! Join | The Workers Party! | ; In the loss of Comrade Ruthen- berg the Workers (Communist) Par- |ty has lost its fcremost leader and the American working class its staunchest fighter. This loss can only |be overcome by many militant work. ‘ers joining the Party that he built. Fill out the application below and | mail it. Become a member of the | Workers (Communist) Party. and carry forward the work of Comrade Ruthenberg. |__I want to become a member of the | Workers (Communist) Party. Name Address Oooupation: 06s ivccccesescondivves Union Affiliation.............000++ Mail this application to the Work- ers Party, 108 East 14th Street, New York City; or if in other city to Workers Party, 1118 W. Washington Blv., Chicago, Til. phlet, “The Workers’ (Communist) Party, What it Stands For and Why Workers Should Join.” This Ruthen- berg pamphlet will be the basic pam- phlet thruout the Ruthenberg Drive. Every Party Nucleus must collect 60 cents from every member and will receive 20 pamphlets for every mem- ber to sell or distribute. Nuclei in the New York District will get their pamphlets from the Dis- trict office—108 East 14th St. Nuclei outside of the New York | District write to The DAILY WORK- ER publishing Co., 33 East First Street, New York City, or to the W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, Ill, yf ' | that have a program and tage over European capitalist com: slogans | reflecting their interests. | petitors, seriously weakened by the | The Role of Our Trade Union | Bureaucracy Under American | ‘ T TageHilieh. |we have had with us for the last The American trade unions in pre-|five years or so. We know that civil war days, when industry was in| American industry and finance dur- a highly competitive stage and when| ig the war developed at a rate that \trusts and capitalist combines of| Would normally take 10-15 years to |eover. Efficiency, “speed up,” ete., in sudes Verne’s fantastic novels, | te» Were the-mottoes during the war. |were of course of a different type,| They meant hundreds of millions to | world war. | different in policy, practice, organi-| the sores sae pba pena ibe ¢ extermination of the flower of the working class | personally, through this prosperity |2ation, experience, ete. The Spanish-| turned by the profiteers into huge The workers of the Soviet Union know | by investing the union treasuries and | American war and Monroe Doctrine| Profit. But, boy oh boy, this was imperialism marked another stage, a| nothing in comparison to the “speed stage where trustification of industry | UP” 2nd efficiency drive we: lied an |and centralization of capital had | UT latest prosperity. It was just one |made already considerable headway, | terrific drive for cheap production, This was the stage set-/| | ting for the present prosperity which | isis GUILD ACTING CO, } | roadway Briefs RIGHT YOU ARE Weber and Fields will appear in IF YOU THINK YOU ARB their characteristic sketches as a pro-]| GARRICK 65 W. 35th. Evs. 8:40 logue to “A Midsummer Night’s| , Mts. Thur.&Sat. 2:40 Dream” which will be given an open- oh ena See Metacmmesef air performance at the Stadium, | The SECOND MAN Forest Hills, Sunday night June 19} : a for the benefit of The Actors’ Fund. | GUILD Math, Taurs, © Be » 2:30 The SILVER CORD John Th.58,E.0fBwy.[Cirele Golden re tnareset| core Next W'k: Ned MecCobb’s Daughter The LADDER Now in its 7th MONTH CORT, 48th St., East of B'way. MATINEE WEDNESDAY | The tour of the Civic Repertory | Theatre which ended in Boston last! Saturday, after playing five weeks in Washington, Baltimore, and Phila- delphia, was very successful, having | played to large grosses all along the! line. The plays produced on the road were “Master Builders,” “La Locand-| iera,” and “Cradle Song.” | civil war inside the union to defeat,| Distribute the Ruthenberg pam-} Free land which hitherto was serving | as an outlet for dissatisfied skilled | workers and immigrants, was getting searcer, the unions began to stick, | consolidate locally and nationally and jon trade lines. They were several respect, The capitalist political par- ties were still in a state of flux. Into this period came the formation and development of the American Feder- ation of Labor. If we trace back to ) these days, study the statements and declarations which embodied the poli- cies of the A. F. of L. we find that | in those days we can call the A. F. L. progressive in the sense that- it | corresponded closely to the situation | then existing in the ‘country and hence could get something for the workers on the economie and even on the political field. | Since those days, however, every- |thing except perhaps the A. F, L. bureaucracy who remained relatively speaking at a standstill, has consid- erably changed. Not only have the employers organized, locally and na- tionally thru associations and Cham- dustries have trustified and inter- |a few capitalists control several re- lated industries. We have also seen the beginning of international trusts. The money power of the big capital- ists, centralized thru the banking system and the Federal Reserve Board unites all the capitalist inter- ests in a manner never. known in American history and reflects itself daily in the policy and reaction pre- velant in the local and national gov- ernments. ‘ The control by Wall Street of the two capitalist parties, courts, press, ete,, has become more positive and In other words. the American labor movement has not only not} moved ahead of the employers in organization methods, policies, etc., but is behind, so far behind indeed, that its method of organization strug- gle is completely out of date with the development of American indus- try. The situation is such that where- as the capitalist is organized on the basis of throwing in his whole power and resources, the bonafide policies of the A. F. L. bureaucracy are to mobilize the strength of a mere corporal’s guard and expel anyone who insists on doing more than that. The Sharp Swing to the Right. The development of industry and finance in the U. §S, outlived the policies preseribed by Gompers more; than 30 years ago. Steadily the A. F. | 1. leadership has been moving to the right and opposition movements de- manding a change anticede many times the life of the present left wing} opposition movement. The scope and intensity of the present left wing op- position movement however, is due to the fact that antiquated policy was steadfastly adhered to by the bureau- ecracy despite the fact that it got out of date more and more each year. direct. During the last open-shop drive and at the close of the world war, the employers, taking advantage of re- stabilization of industry from ‘a war National Office, Workers Party, 1113] to a peace basis, opened up the gigan- tie open shop drive in 1920-23 in | steps ahead of the employers in this |. uries. The spare time they had they! bers of Commerce, but enormous in-}| | locking trusts are developing where! | “double up,” “‘speed up,” new machin- jery, sectionalization, efficiency schemes, introduction of women, child and youth labor on an enormous scale, moving of industry to the South and West for cheap unorganized labor. Thus the output was increased nearly 50 per cent with the same pay- roli and what did the trade union bureaucracy do? They cooperated in this drive to increase production and eliminate waste. They assumed the role of “speed up” and efficiency foremen to the employers. What is the waste in industry that is being eliminated? Skilled mechanics are being replaced by semi-skilled and unskilled. Working men and women are being replaced by new machinery and this is being done with the as- sistance of the trade union bureau- eracy so that the employers may make greater profits at the expense of the workers. This is the policy that was officially adopted at the Atlantic City convention of the A. F. L, in the resolution on so-called new wage theory to the accompaniment of the usual anti-Red speeches. Now American capitalism faces a new problem. We are confronted with the European industry reestablished |to more than the pre-war strength | with the very aid of American cap- | ital and as a result we are face to | face with much sharper struggles and imperialist rivalries for the control of the world’s markets, with the U. S. driving for supremacy. American capitalism saved Euro- pean. capitalism from collapse and helped to force wages of European labor far below pre-war standards. Europe now again can produce cheap- er than America. There must be a new drive against American labor in order to again re- stabilize production on a still cheaper basis, wages must go down and pre- duction must go up in order to un- derbid European capitalist empires. American imperialism must strength- en its position in South America and the Far East. A new open shop drive is coming; in such a drive the left wing is in great danger. It may inflame the workers to resistance and struggle. The trade union. bureaucracy. takes another sharp turn to the right. This time it goes to the very front of the drive of the exploiters to fight the left wing and thus to assist in the contin! uation of capitalist prosperity at the expense of the workers. It does its bit to save the labor banks and in- vestments from a most probable erash in the event of a depression. Thus the trade union bureaveracy has definitely landed in the camp of big imperialist eapital and become the followers of the ruling group in gov- ernment and the old parties. It is the task of the left wing to defeat this treachery and to revive the la- bor movement. WASHINGTON, June 9.—Clarence D. Chamberlin may be made a briga- dier general in the Iowa National Guard Governor Hammill of Towa, after a conference at the White House to day said the question was being con- dered. | Donald Oenschlager, instructor of scenic design and stage lighting at | Professor Baker’s Workshop at Yale | University, will design the scenery jfor the musical comedy, “Hold ’Em Helen.” Max Reinhardt is planning to form a company of his important players in Berlin and Vienna and come here next season. So far no definite idea has been decided upon as to the plays, to be shown here. Franz Molnar, the noted Hungarian playwright, it is rumored, will come to America with Reinhardt. CORRECTION IN QUOTATION FROM ENGELS, IN WICKS ARTICLE. In column 3, page 4, of yesterday’s DAILY WORKER, a quotation from Engels’ “Origin of the Family, Ete.” is made to read directly the opposite of what Engels said. Through one of those aggravating blunders in typesetting Engels is made to say that the removal of economic consid- erations will place women on an equal ent experiences prove that this will tend much more strongly to make women polyandrous,” The complete correct paragraph as taken from page 99 of Engels’ work follows: “Since sex-love is exclusive by its very nature—although this exelustve- ness is realized for women alone— marriage founded on sex-love must be monogamous. . . Remove the eco- nomic considerations that now force footing with men and that “all pres- | {KI AW Thea. 45th, West of B'way Evenings 8:30. Mats. Thurs, & Sat. 2:30. MerryGoRound 'sam HARRIS THEA. West 42nd St. Twice Daily, 2:30 & 8.30 | William Fox (Mats. (exc. Sat.) 50c-$1. Eves. 50c-1.50 sv CHAPLIN “THE MISSING LINK juoss COLONY Roapway Contin. Noon to Midnight.—Pop. Prices, . Little Theatre GRAND | Soventng vat ‘a0. wey. STREET [XNp Satorbar, 2:20, FOLLIES |women to submit to the customary disloyalty of men, and you will place women on an equal footing with men. All present experiences prove that |this will tend much more strongly to MAKE MEN TRULY MONOGA- MOUS THAN to make women poly- androus.” (Capitalized words left |out of yesterday’s article.) | Cleveland DAILY WORKER Builders | Club Formed. Cleveland, June 9——The Cleveland Daily Worker Builders Club has been formed. At a meeting held at 5927 Euclid: Ave., Room 13, on Sunday, June 5, the club was permanently formed, all the comrades present joining. The next meeting of the Club will be held at the same address on Mon- day, June 13 at 8 P. M, en AT PPECIAL PRICE . DECISIONS of the Communist International The active Communist and interested work- ers will find a wealth of valuable material in these reports of the leading body of the world Communist movement. They should be in- cluded in every worker's library, FOURTH CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL (Nov. 7 to Dec. 8, 1922) —.50 FROM THE FOURTH TO THE FIFTH WORLD CONGRESS (Report of the Executive Committee of the C. 1.) : 25 FIFTH CONGRESS OF THE C, 1. (June 17 to July 18, 1924) —70 A total of $1.45 worth of books for NOTE 75 Cents, Books offered in this column on hand © in Mmited quantities, All orders cash e@ “nd filled in turn as received, :