The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 18, 1928, Page 2

“ «tyAcletter was sent out to the em- Cage Two ey a THE DAILY Local: Two Waiters’ DENTAL WORKER ISSUE GALL FOR RENEWED FIGHT Expose Role of Yellow Daily Forward The al mechanics New | York City and vici ed to organ: about two 4 ago. Th rr Was proceed slowly as) in our met ith with hard t 1928 th engage a professio the membership manded executive members 1 name of P. P. cient organi fa board decided to al organizer, patiently of executive as de. the some action. Some ioned as an ef; r. We knew him on) by a few he delivered at our previous mass meetings. A committee of ours met Cosgrove at Cosgro’ speec the office of the Amalgamated Food Workers, and at this confer- ence he accepted our proposition, and arrangements were made that he. take office on March 15th. None of us knew about his affiliations, as it was of no interest neith- er did he show particular in- clinations or dislike to any political “i sparties. He was on the job as trade union organizer only, Under the leadership of Cosgrove our activities took a faster tempo, gand some preparations were made for a coming struggle (later we “found that these preparations were ““hot sufficient), At our executive meetings in the early days of May, 1928, call the strike before came we decided to the low season on. ipployers for recognition, but the time + Set was too short and the letter was signored. > May 15th, at a mass meeting a @trike vote was taken and it was unanimously decided to declare a evetrike. May 16th the strike was on and in a few days we succeeded in tying up about 85 per cent of the industry. In the first days of the strike we laid a policy not to set- tle with individual employers, as we considered a settlement with the association as a body of greater advantage to the union. The fight took a bitter turn. Our pickets were arrested and beaten up; hired stool-pigeons were plant- ed im our ranks by the bos carry all the information possible from the headquarters to the office of the association. But the spirit of the strikers was very god. They learned their lesson now, no sacri- fices were too big to accomplish the aim of organization. -But here we received a painful blow. Our or- ganizer disappeared, without giving us any notice or information of his whereabouts. For a few days we were in fear of a complete failure, but the spirit of the rank and file who went out on strike so enthus- ijastically encouraged us and we im- mediately formed a strike settle- ment committee, under the chair- gmanship of a devoted rank and filer. Settle 125 Shops. We also had at our command a group of progressive dentists who devoted lots of time and ener, y in helping us carry on the fight. We >pened individual settlements, and nm a few days we succeeded in set- ling about 125 shops with about 100 mechanics going back to work under union conditions. Meanwhile the slow season began and we could not break the stub- borness of the rest of the bosses. Different plans were introduced and we all agreed that the only way out ‘was to join the A. F. L., the parent labor organization. But we found that while on strike we cannot ob- tain the direct affiliation of the A. F. L., and we decided to apply for a local charter in the I. J. W. U. asi— 1) These two trades minor points in common. 2) Through this affiliation get he channels open to organized thor for moral and financial sup- ort. (Later we found out that here 26> we were too optimistic.) Brother Beardsley, general sec Sretary of I. J. W. U., came down to our meetings, helped us keep up the spirit of the men and served us in ‘advisory capacity, as how to bring ithis struggle to an end. The charter ‘was granted to us, and negotiations were started with the 3e We did not get any ults and decided to eall off the strike temporarily, and send our men back to the jobs in am organized manner. Most of yur men got their jobs back, and whily because of the exceptionally lull season this year, we have about yy men on our unemployment list. fe expect to place them back as as the busy season begins. |) The strike was over. Considering yu inexperience, and the disappear- ‘ance of Cosgrove in the middle of the strike, our membership was gratified by the accomplishments— an enlarged membership to about fifty per cent, forty per cent work- ing in settled shops, @ strongly crystallized sentiment towards or- ganization and readiness to sacrifice while building. ‘These were the re- sults of our first strike. Now was the time to start slow but construc-| ‘tive organizational work in order | ‘o bring in the rest of the men in trade into the union and unionize | industry 100 per cent. | laid our plans and prepared “ww activities, and here, unex-, we met with a severe at-) | have some Photo shows a corner of Sa WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1928 soiteanne “Officials Cooperate With the Bosses to Jail Five Unity Pickets Sea _ - a MISLEADERS AIM n Juan, Porto Rico, where nearly a thousand workers have perished in a hurricane that has swept ts th as far north as Floride s high into the home mour tack upon the union by the Di Jewish Forward. On August 22 we |found on the front page, in a little box, an orticle tull of false and mis- leading statements about our union. Our executive board immediately sent out a letter to the Forward, king to cerrect this harm done te us by printing our letter with the real fac Our letter was ig- nored. We recollected that in the beginning of the strike a commit- tee of ours appealed to the editor of the Forward for some publicity and moral support, but they were flatly refused. The same thing hap- pened again. No attention was paid to our letter a y on September 6 we find an article concerning our union, this time signed by our in- 01 ternational secretary. The heroic struggle and accomplishments of our rank and file are minimized, again the labor organizations and public are misinformed about our activi- ties. We dbject to the attempt of the Daily Jewish Forward to inject issues foreign to our union into our ranks. In the name of the entire mem- bership, we hereby declare that we are interested solely in building a powerful union of dental mechanics and that cur union is open to every one working in our trade, regard Iess of his cr her political or re- ligious affiliations or of their atti- tude on social questions Mr. Cosgrove is condemned by every worker in the trade for his treacherous desertion in leaving his entrusted position at the most dan- gerovs moment. We are disgusted with the attitude of the Forward, which seeks to make politica! cap- ital out of the difficulties in our union, and this can only result in dividing and thus weakening our union in the same manner that an organ of employers would do. Trusting that you give this pub- lication worthy attention, we re- main, fraternally yours, H. Posner, chairman; H. Pinkson, secretary; per S. K. Executive Board of Dental Lab- oratory Workers Union, Local 84, I. J. W. U., affiliated with A. F. ef L. WwW are hereby enclosing the letter e sent to the Forward in an- swer to their attack on our union. ae alee Daily Jewish Forward, 175 East Broadway, New York City. Gentlemen: In your publication of August 22 note -an article concerning our union. This article makes allega- tions which are utterly untrue. The Dental Laboratory Workers Union has to a certain degree suc- cessfully concluded their struggle against the employers. To state that one thousand families depend- ing upon dental mechanics are in need now is indeed a misstatement of the trot We have succeeded in-organizing 75 per cent cf the workers in this industry. We have also succeeded in unionizing approximately 65 per cent of the industry. Only 50 den- tal mechanics belonging to our union are on our unemployment list in our office at 96 Fifth Ave., where all the information about our activities can be cbtained. One of the main reasons for this number of unem- ployed is the exceptionally dull sea- son this On or we year. bout the | niing of our struggle. we have made an appeal for 4 to you. You have failed to render us this assistance, moreover you have refused us any co-operation at all It is indeed surprising to us that at this late date, many weeks after our struggle has ceased and. when cur union is in the midst of another organization campaign, for you to publich such derogatory statements. As a labor organ you should have referred to our local office or to the office of the International Jewelry Workers Union, of which we are a fart, about the facts in our trade. In the spirit of fairness, we ask you to publish this communication in the same space allotted to your article aproperly conveying misleading false information, and expect you to print this letter of ours in the next edition. Fraternally yours, H. FOSNER, Chairman. Per Executive Board of Dental Lab- oratory Workers Union, Local 84, I. J. W. U,, affiliated with A. F. of L. . sistance and WNIT 4F, 2B MEETS TOMORROW An industrial meeting of Unit 4F. Sub 2B, will be held Wednesday at 6 p. m, at 101 W. 27th St. members are urged to attend. The meeting was originally sche- duled to take place on Tuesday. CLOAK CHAIRMEN 2. The number of workers made thousands. MEET TOMORROW Boston, Philadelphia Hold Rallies Continued from Page One new cloakmakers’ union makes greater and greater inroads in the very shops where the Sigman gang boasts they have “strength.” This ue to the particularly miserable is d conditions under which the workers in these right wing shops are com- pelled t® work. PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 17.—The first official ‘shop confereace of waist and dress makers to be held here since the local section of the National Organization Committee was established to supplant the right wing local, will be held Tues- day night, immediately after work, in the recently opened headquarters of the N. 0. C., 42 N. 9th St. Conferences Regularly. These conferences will be held regularly at specified periods, for the full participation of rank and file representatives in the work of replacing the corrupt Sigman union with one operated by and for the! interests of the waist and dressmak- ers. Representatives of the National | Organization Committee central of- fices in New York will attend the conference to assist in launching the organization drive contemplated. * + BOSTON, Sept. 17.—The right wing’s official signal of hysteria, namely, their application to Massa- | chusetts judges for an injunction to save their scab union from being destroyed by the membership, who are swiftly rallyng behind the re- cently launched local of the new cloakmakers’ union, will be the sub- ject of discussion at a mass meet- ing of Boston cloak and dressmak- ers called for Wednesday evening, immediately after work in Scenic | Auditorium, 12 Barclay St. Ask Pals To Help! In addition to calling the atten- tion of needle trades workers thru- out the country to the spectacle of “s ” applying for injunc- tions against workers, the meeting will serve the purpose of consolidat- ing the gains already made and will also secure the participation of the rank and file in the mo*ement to build a real union of the Boston ladies’ garment workers. BUTCHERS BUILD THEIR OWN UNIGN Leave Corrupt United Hebrew Trades Fakers Continued from Page One eiected by the membership to con- cuct an investigation of the union’s finances. With expulsion not suf- ficient, the “socialist” Korn sent gangster squads to remove the ex- pelled militants from their jobs. Mass Meet Soon, The secession sentiment was very rharply precipitated, however, when a gang of right wing committeemen came armed with’ knives to remove a worker from the job. In this case the armed squad had attacked a friend of *the victimized militant, nd the friend, William Schiffrin, had defended himself, causing the death of the knife-squad Teader. The leaders of the new union movement declared yesterday that a mass meeting will be called in the near future for the butcher work- ers, where an organization drive will be launcked and where elections of permanent officers will be held. The date will be announced later. In the statement issued by iast night’s meeting, it was announced that members of the right wing union can join the new union with- out payment of an initiation fee. Workers hitherto non-union will pay an initiatioN fee of five dollars. QUAKE IN ITALY. ROSSANO, Italy, Sept. 17 (UP). lowed by a milder one, was felt here ‘today Some houses were cracked, ,Inhal or ke into the open. a TO BLOCK DRIVE AT ORGANIZATION Workers Held Under Heavy: Bail Cooperating with two restaurant employe in a frame-up against members of the Unity Waiters’ As- sociation, officials of Local Wait- ers of Brooklyn, yesterday ected the arrest of five workers of the A ijation who have been held on il with picket- exc e bail charged ing The five workers involved are Sam: Langland, ™ Mironberg, Izzie Bantzman, Philip Saffern, and Dave Siegal, all of whom were ar-| ted on charges of picketing. Bail set at $500 each, with an ad- ional $300 added for Mironberg, who in addition was charged with attempted assault. Siegal, who is secretary of the Unity Waiters, was not picketing at| all but who after the arrest of the others went to the Coney Island court to see how much bail would be needed and was himself arrested. “Offense” of Picketing. The charge of picketing was made by the proprietor of the M. and Z. Delicatessen and Restaurant, 6714 r w charge of attempted assault came from the Waiters, who had put a Local 2 pic- ket line in front of Margulies Res- taurant, 6618 Bay Parkway, without consulting the Unity Waiters, who had an agreement with the house. When Mironberg protested, the business agent called the police and had him arrested at the job, where he has been employed the past two months. At the M and. Z, the Unity Waiters had called a strike in pro- test against the proprietor’s recently putting a Local 2 Waiters sign in the window, after having had an agreement for the past year with Unity. Local 2, it was learned, had agreed that the Unity Waiters could stay on the job so long as the Loéal 2 sign was permitted on dis- play, but officials of this local re- fused to consider negotiations with the Unity Waiters for a joint or- ganization drive and failed them- selves to make any such drive. To Fight For Organization. + The Unity Waiters Association was organized over a year ago with ditions of its members, all of whom} had appealed in vain for admission | into either of the A. F..of L. wait-| ers’ unions, Local 1 and Local 2. In| the two Brooklyn restaurants where | the arrests took place, the Unity| Waiters had succeeded in gaining a} six day week, 10 hour day, at $18 wages, instead of the 7 day, 12 to 14 hours work. under open-shop con- ditions, with wages ranging from $10 to $15. . ! Both local 2 of Brooklyn and lo- cal 1 of Manhattan have repeatedly fought the efforts of the Unity Waiters to organize the trade. | | | HOOVER TALKS ON U.S. PROSPERITY”, = Communists Hold Big) Counter Demonstration | Continued from Page One the streets of Newark, members of the Young Workers League, gathering from all parts of the state, and using the Hoover en- trancs as the pivot point for their activities, distributed over 10,000 leaflets, denouncing both Hoover and Smith as candidates of the money interests that are now en- gaged in the suppression of the workers led by Sandino in Nicara- gua, and in China, the Phillipines and in other imperialist militarist activities throughout the world. While Hoover was delivering his séries of fabrications on the unem- ployment situation in the United| States, the Communist automobiles | continually circled around the| armory, throwing leaflets among) the crowds of white and Negro workers outside the huge hall. At one point in the auto proces- sion, a crowd of drunken hoodlums, each wearing Hoover buttons and | bands, attempted to attack the work- ers in the cars. A group of them) succeeded in tearing one of the signs | off a car. Immediately the Red workers jumped out of the autos and meeting the attack with double force, drove the hoodlums away. Throughout the demonstration, over a thousand police, city patrol-| men, state troopers and National! Guardsmen surrounded the Armory | and the streets leading up to it. | The reception in Newark of “the| man who had sat in the oil-smeared Harding cabinet and kept his mouth shut” was quite cold and inimical. When he arrived at South Station at 7 p. m. less than 200 people were there to greet him. The persons who lined the streets sparsely were ‘there merely thru curiosity, and_ All, —A sharp earthquake shock, fol-|booed Hoover as he passed. A stand whieh had been erected in front of ithe city hall was left unused thru lack of a sufficient audience. \ lines. Spanish greeti eal ery i j { 8 Miguel Primo De Rivera, son of the fascist premier of Spain, presented the' greetings of his father to Mayor Walker, Tammany grafter and friend of all fasciste. from Mussolini, another arch enemy of the workers. Walker has received similar HUGE RED RALLY TOURING IN THE U.S.S.R. HERE EEPT, 28TH Many Visiting First Workers Republic At the first huge campaign rally |.) A fascinating account of a voyage | will give the traveler an opportun- of the Workers (Communist) Party | cities on the route is contained in|in the Soviet Union is now being this year, to be held at the Central |‘‘Seeing Russia,” an illustrated vol- Opera House, 67th St. and Third| ume by E. M. Newman. Aye., Friday evening, Sept. 28, the | thousands of workers are expected | throbbing city in spite of the fact to jam the doors to hear the state | and local candidates of the Work-| abolished by the Soviet Government. ers (Communist) Party. ‘Despite unemployment to the of- | maintained itself in a position of ficial extent of four million, waves |importance from a remote and vi- of strikes, unprecedented exploita- | tally interesting past. It is Russia’s jon and speed-up of workers, wage cats and union smashing, the repub- z lican spokesmen continue to blow Bay’ Parkway, Brooklyn, while the| ‘prosperity’ bubbles. “Merely because the low on an empty stomach. “Precisely because the republican party in its platform pledges itself to maintain the present standard of iving for workers and because its pledges itself to through democratic rivai the same program, strikebreaking candidate, whose activities in the neddle trades strike in New York are’ notorious, large masses of New York workers attend the Workers (Com- |the view of improving the job con-| munist) Party campaign rally on/ will the 28th.” Andy Mellon’s latest clay pipe product will not usiness agent of Local 2, | diminish appreciably the attendance at the Central Opera House on the 28th of the month,” said Rebecca Greght, district campaign manager, in a statement yesterday. republican | fluence of the Oka and Vezloma,) platform asserts that ‘today Ameri-|and the broad fields that can labor enjoys the highest wage |away towards the Urals. and the highest standard of» living | throughout the world’ does not melt | fine place in which to wander about | the form of ‘an open announcement |the clubs of the police on the picket | with no particular destination in|from the chair, following a union|and meeting rooms ‘of the Grocery: Neither does the republican | claim that the American worker ‘is paid a wage which allows comfort for himself and dependents’ atone for lay-offs and wage cuts and make the ‘prosperity’ pill easier to swal- Union. Inc., 69 Fifth Ave. The next party, which will arrive in the Soviet Union in time to witness the Ele- |that the fairs for which it was fa-|Venth Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, will leave on the “Mauretania” October 17. | Niahni-Novgorod is described as |mous under the ezars has been) |“Nizhni,” says the writer, “has| Resignation of Rifkin, Now Seems, Has Been Temporarily Postponed L. Rubinfeld, secretary-organizer of Waiters and Waitresses Local 1, jas well as its protecting fortress. after telephoning the Daily Worker Upon the hill where it is situated, yeSterday that the news item | en obtains a view of a beautiful|printed in yesterday’s issue concer- jcountry, the Volga river, the con-/ning Louis Rifkin’s resignation as | president was untrue, refused to stretch | clarify the situation. great gateway to the East, and was established as early as 1912, becom- ing the capital of a large manufac- | sueing district.” | As in Moscow the Kremlin is the great center and heart of the city, says the author, “is. a|,, Rifkin’s resignation was made in “Here,” | session lasting until 5 a. m. Friday | morning, at which time the meeting jadjourned in disorder. Rifkin’s an- |nouncement of his resignation came view, merely absorbing the atmos- phere and observing the people. “The Kremlin should be visited. It is enclosed within a wall sixty- five to one hundred feet in height | strike committee of which he was and having eleven towers. chairman and which recently con- | “From the Kremlin we go to cluded settlements of five strikes, | Alexander Garden, an artificial ter- three at Trufood restaurants, one at | race overlooking the river, and half-| the Elkwood, and one at the Ex- way down’ the slope to the Petcher- change Buffet, Seventh Ave. and ski Convent.” In the convent li- 2ist St. It was the settlement at | brary may be found some interest-| the latter place, on strike for over jing records of the brutal reign of|a year, that caused the chief attack |Ivan the Terrible, Newman reports. when right wingers charged that i |the proprietor’s attorney had re- Kunde ta ceived several thousand dollars to veffect a settlement. Whether Rubinfeld’s announce- ment that Rifkin did not resign means that these so-called “prog- ressives” have patched things up | Nizhni-Novgorod is but one of the many cities of interest that may be | seen by the visitor in the Soviet A tour which will take in many Who wins when you read your | cities of the U. S, S. R., including | with @the right wing remains to be bosses’ paper? | Leningrad and Moscow, and which | soon. ong the Volga and some of the|ity to see many scenes of interest | arranged by thé World Tourists, | , after a vote of non-confidence in the| Fascist Dictator Sends Gr eetings to Walker, Fascists’ Friend Y JOINT RO ARD SA AALS EPS ET os: ME issue pues caut !! TO FUR WORKERS Thousands Pay Strike | Tax to Build Union Continued from Page One | Joint Board members now behind in dues payments, can become members Jin good standing and retain their |former ledger numbers if payments | will be made oh the $25 tax. This \offer, the bulletin states, is limited until Oct. 15. After this date full arrears will have to be paid by ap- plicants, who will also then be con- sidered new members. Urged to Aid Fight. The manifesto appeals to the fur workers to rally to build up the left | wing Joint Board for a drive to re- |gain all union conditions. - The working standards in the fur in- dustry were destroyed by the right |wing and A. F. of L. when they carried on a two-year campaign to establish a dual scab union called the Joint Council. The uncomprom- ising struggle of the Joint Board | against this agentcy of the employers |has, however, resulted in its com- | plete annihilation. The union is now |trying to re-establish union condi- |tions by recruiting membership j among those who were forced out of [the union by a terror of police, bosses and right wing thugs. \Grocery Clerks’ Union Gets Larger Offices as Organization Grows Announcement that the offices |and Dairy Clerks Union have been ‘removed to larger quarters was | made yesterday by its officers. The | new location will be at 220 14th St. The union’s executive board is | scheduled to hold the first meeting lin the new offices tonight at 8 o'clock. The need for more spacious quar- |ters for the union made itself more |and more pressing as the union \grew tremendously as a result of \their organization activities in the \three branches of the trade. ‘he Nast general strike of the umon was in the retail fruit stores, when (many new members of a formerly |unorganized trade were taken into \the organization. The remarkable \growth of this organization was re- |eorded despite the most vicious | strikebreaking opposition from the | leaders of the United Hebrew Trades- from whom they seceded. 4 BIG NIGHTS BAZAAR Madison Square Garden CTOBER | BIG DAYS 1,000,000 Articles EVERYTHING FROM A THREAD TO A SET OF FURNITURE at ¥% Price BIG NIGHTS Daily 22; Worker FREIHEIT THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY O DO NOT BUY NOW, WAIT TILL THE BAZAAR 4TH 5TH 6TH 7TH BIG DAYS | /