The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 30, 1929, Page 4

i _&$ virtually everybody has been Page Four INSURANCE AND OTHER SCHEMES CHAIN WORKERS Slave Wages in Mack Truck Plant espondent) (By a Worker Co: PLAINFIELD, N. J., (By Mail). —The huge plant of the Interna- tional Motor Co. here (makers of Mack trucks) the industrial “backbone” of Plainfield. Practical- ly all of the inhabitants here de-| send on the “good graces” of the lack bosses their livelihood; ese bosses are free to rule the wn with a high hand. Slave Wages. killed and un- r short of the btains even in of the metro- for The wages of both silled workers f: ulserable scale that o! he most vicious shor volitan area. Mact for ex- mple, are hired for $ office lerks slave 44 hours a week for ibout $9, or abort 20 cents an hour. Stool-Pigeons. In the life of the Ma worker a raise is as rare as a t cclipse of the sun, ept for the stcol-pigeons, whose pay envelopes put on fat every time they succeed in smoking out a “red.” A small number of slaves who have proven their “loy-| alty” by keeping their noses to the grindstone for several years get a week’s vacation with pay; this stick of candy is expected to make them content with their wretched lot for the remaining 51 weeks. “Lifetime Jobs.” When, in spite of this great “ob- ligation” to the bosses, a worker has tne nerve to demand more money | his foreman will explain that while| the owners do not pay the highest wages, the working hands can al- ways be sure of “steady work,”! ,Which is supposed to make up for) any shortage in the ice-box. Ac- cording to him it is better to starve all year around than to have a full stomach nine months out of twelve. In other words a worker must pay for his “lifetime” job by waiving all rights to an increase. Naturally the bosses do every- thing they can to make the slaves’ jobs a “lifetime” affair, (because la- bor turnover cuts down on profits) | —and they do it whether the slaves | likes it or not. Rooms being scarce in Plainfield, and what few apart- ment houses there are catering to the potbellies, a worker lured from another city is urged to “buy” a home (on the dollar down plan) as soon as possible. Workers with fam- ilies to support are invariably given the preference to foot-loose men when the Mack plant is in the mar- ket for labor—the married men are easier to shackle. Once a worker has sunk some of his pitiful earn- ings in a “home” (the mortgage on which he can hope to pay off in 50 years with 1]=<':) there is little) danger of hi: ing over the traces. He has a “lifetime” job allright, and so has a lifer in the hoose-gow. Shackled. His being fired would amount to being chased out of town, for there is no other plant in Plainfield or its immediate vicinity where he can sell his labor power. Hence the “good, servile” slaves cf which the Interna- ticnal Motor boasts. | Deductions for Graft. | Low as the wages are the bosses | think 1°-~) high enough to stand} three separate “deductions.” Nearly! every pay envelope is tapped for | company “insurance,” for the “sav-| img fund” and for the “old age pen- sion.” None of this graft is re- funded to the worker who is fired| or quits of his own accord. It is compulsory for workers to cough up for the “insurance” graft, the other two are “arbitrary’—in name only, browbeaten into “subscribing.” | The company cafeteria is another | source of boodle for the exploiters. Regular restaurant prices are charged for the sewage which is called “soup,” hunks of tree-bark called “veal” and hot water colored | with tan shoe polish called “coffee.” | Two measly slabs of bread cost a) nickel. Needless to say, all talk of | unionism is barred in the town of} Plainfield, domain of the Mack! barons. | —N.B. | INDICT LEWIS SLUGGERS Even Capitalist Courts Admit Guilt (By a Worker Correspondent) FAIRMOUNT, W. Va., (By Mail) —Seven sluggers hired by the Lewis | machine to break up meetings of the National Miners Union and beat up| members and organizers of the Na-| tional Miners Union, were indicted) . by the May Grand Jury in Fair- | mount, So flagrant were the slug- ging activities of these Lewis hire- lings, that even in this reactionary state the authorities are compelled | to make a gesture of “enforcing” the | law in order to save their face. The indictments arose out of an| pt of the Lewis machine to ak up a mass meeting of the No | “1 Miners Union, at which Pal) secretary-treasurer of the ' scheduled to speak. Louis Leads Fight On Wage Cuts N. M. U. RALLYING TO NATIONAL UNION Bertha, Racoon, Other | Men Join | | By a Worker Correspondent) | PITTSBURGH, (By Mail).—The ional work of the National ers Union in Western Pennsyl- vania is proceeding successfully. A large number of new members have been enrolled into the union in the last few weeks. Over 60 new mem- bers joined the union in one day as a result of an organizational tour by Brothers Nehorsky, Tashinsky and Kemenovich for the district or- ganization, In an old “lizzie” these brothers | visited a number of locals, activizing them and enrolling new members. In Coverdale, the f°-st place visited, | '16 new members joined the union, | making 28 new members during the| week. The meeting was very suc-| cessful. A rank and file organiza- tional committee was elected and| other details arranged to facilitate | | the functioning of the local The} |membership was enthusiastic, and | the local is well on the path to win- | ning over all the miners in the vicin- | ity. | At the Bertha Mine, Burgetstown, |a meeting was scheduled for one of. jthe miners houses, as there is no | hall available’ So many miners | came, however, that it was necessary | to convert it into an cpen-air meet- ing. About 100 miners were present, and 45 new members joined the Na- tional Miners Union, many more | pledging to join after the next pay | |day. This local started a short while |ago with only 9 members, practical- |ly all foreign- As a result of {its activities in the last two weeks, Bi : : iP: ABS a 2 i & *.« |it now has 80 members, and expects From every coal field the miner correspondent have the same |t0 have every worker in the Bertha mse Z 3 Mine enrolled in a short time. Many thing to relate—wage cuts, speedup, lack of safety devices, betrayal | Negro miners were presont at the by the Lewis machine. The m 2 Penowa and other mines are meeting and ‘ined th: union. atriking against these conditions, under the leadership of the only Raccoon and McDonald were also militant miners’ union—the National Miners Union. Fhe top photo visited the same day and the locals shows some of the young minevs who are rallying to the National pepped up. Miners Union. The lower photo shows miners in the pit. | The success of this organizational work is proof of the devotion of the {miners to the National Miners| Union, The union in the Western | Pennsylvania District is growing |and the miners are being prepared | |for a fight against wage-cuts and| for better conditions of work thru| having a strong local of the Na-| General Package Slaves Revolt Against Slavery L nternational Motors Controls Plainfield, N. DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK. THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1929 LOSE FAT JOBS IN OHIO FIELDS Miners Win Strike in Lisbon (By a Worker Correspondent) BELLAIRE, Ohio, (By Mail).— All of the United Mine Workers of America in the state of Ohio, with ’*:> exception of one, have lost their jobs. The Lewis machine, which wants all the,money that it can wring out of some miners with the help of the operators’ che ff for its own use, has discharged all officials in Ohio “as a result of the lapse of the organization.” There only one paid official left in the extire state, in East Ohio, whom the machine is still maintaining in the hope that some min-rs will be foolish enough to join up with the grafting gang. The National. Miners Union is growing rapidly in the state of Ohio, where new locals are being organ- ized frequently. In a number of re- cent strikes, the N. M. U. has led the miners in the fight against wage cuts and for improved conditions, The miners in Ohio are thru with the Lewis machine and will follow only the rank and file organization which really fights for the interests of the miners--the National Miners Union, » officials CH gn: The National Miners Union in Lisbon, Ohio, won a victory after a short strike against the efforts of the company to reduce wages and discharge three of the most active members of the National Miners Union, When this event occurred, the National Miners Union called a strike, which was 100 per cent suc- cessful. The company agreed to can- cel the wage-cut, paid the wage-cut |which had already been deducted, and reinstated the men who had been discharged. Upon notification |by the Mine Committee, the miners returned to work, feeling that the | National Miners Union was really an organization that could defend their interests, Workers, What Do You Think of Green Blessing the Army? nd that is John Cinque | Film, a Photographic Poem N PHILIP BARY COMEDY “WHE Village of § showing at the Little Carnegie| Playhouse, is known in Russia as “Ryazanskiye Bahby” (“The Peasant Women of Ryazan’). To one} familiar with Russians and Russia, | the title inevitably suggests the famous peasant women, “bahby,” by Malyavin—those gorgeous creatures in flaming reds and blues who in an orgy of movement, spreading sche immense aprons, look as if they were the earth herself rising, mounting up, to take shape in their rugged yet in- toxicating beauty. The name of the film, therefore, prepares one to ex- pect something very colorful in ap- pearance, romantic in. spirit, fan-} tastic in implications. The actual film is none of these things, and the fact, it will be admitted, is rather! to its credit than otherwise. | That Malyavin’s canvasses were one of the sources of inspiration in the making of this film is evident in some of the shots in which the decorative treatment of the women’s dresses together with the grouping Wave the quality of its defect. In betray unmistakably the influence ot | the clarity of its outline, the even- Dorothy Tree, who plays one of the leading roles in Arthur Hop- kins’ production “Holiday” at the Plymouth Theatre. The Philip Barry comedy is one of the very few worth ; while plays of the current season. the famous painter. But this is ay| ness of its unfolding, the continuity | far as the resemblance goes. There and liveliness of its background, it is nothing of Malyavin’s “glorifica-| acquires a characteristic and unique tion of the Russian Bahba” in ‘the |quality—the atmosphere and unity of film made by Preobrezhenskaya. The|a poem. Not a rhymed poem of whole spirit of the picture is differ- | measured lines, nor the lyrical poem ent. Malyavin’s orgiastic self- | in prose (like that Griffith master- abandon has given place to sober,|piece—“Broken Blossoms”) but a tho’ kindly, observation. With a re- {poem in free verse, descriptive and markable detachment which borders | factual, devoid of lyrical senti- almost on self-efacement, Preobrez-| mentality and dramatic émphasis, henskaya lets the life she présents | flexible in its form and natural in speak for itself. In no part of the its movement, and because of all } film does she seem to be working for | that, because of its being a poem, an emotional effect. The drama ot| throbbing with a life of its own, the her characters—and no_ situation life of its continuous and characteris- could be more poignant than that! tic rhythr in which the father of the family forces openly his daughter-in-law to) PLAY FROM GERMANY TO become his mistress and has a child 1 by her while his son and the girl’s| OPEN ee, GUILD hubsand is away at war—this drama- tic conflict is never torn from its| background, is never psychologically isolated from the life of the other | village folk. | The Theatre Guild’s initial produc- tion of the coming season will be a German play, “Karl and Anna” by ‘ sa a * . Leonhard Franck. Alice Brady and And in this, “The Village of Sin, | m . reveals a characteristic difference | Otto Kruger will have the leading both from the typical Hollywood pic- | les: The play has been successfur ture and the typical Russian picture. oh Both, Berlit sare See ian Gi it Hollywood's method in building up| ‘8 NOW Tunning. It ig the first Ger- an emotional appeal is based pri-|™#8 play to be adapted and pro- I; Enslaves Auto Workers in Its Plant PENN. MINERS 'MINEFAKERS “The Village of Sin”, Soviet PENOWA COAL "GO, STRIKERS ARE. EVICTED Workers Stick Solid in Strike By a Worker Corres PENOWA, Pa., (By Mail).—Altho on strike only a few days, the miners of Penowa who are fighting as a wage-cut and for a checkwe man, are already facing | Sam Marcuso, the y jlocal union of the vondent Union, which is le strike, has be. c2rved with on evict'-> no- | tice which demands the vacation of his company-owned home four cays.” The miners were not terror this effort to broxk thei on the contrary, held an ent tic strike meeting, at which Pat Toohey, national secr’ urer of the “ion, spoke to continue the fight until they won. At this ..ccting, every miner was | present, and all but two of the 150 strikers joined the National Miners | Union, ~ is leading tt strike. A re committee was elected to begin work immediately. The Work- ers International Relief has already begun a crive to raise relief for the striking miners and to provide for those evicted. The stri-.-s decided to organi the children into an auxiliary of t union, and a meeting has been called | for this purpose. | The following demands were for- mulated at the strike meeting: 1.—The abolition of the wage-cut. | 2.—The maintenance of a check- weighman chosen by the miners, 3.—No victimization or discrim- |ination; the reinstatement of all workers at the mine without excep- | tion. | 4.—Recognition of the Miners Union. | National MILITARIST DOES RIGHT THING George 0. L. Frank, vice-com- }mander of the American Legion in | About 150 men were empioyed in the (By a Worker Correspondent) ABERDEEN, Wash., (By Mail). —Workers at the plant of the Gen- eral Package Manufa i Com- pany, Aberdeen, Wa » have gone out on strike against low wag a ten-hour day. Now they are forced, with no change in machinery, to pro- duce 52 dozen buckets per day, in i This speed-up has been and the speed-up system. The work- the General Package ers walked out as an unorganized |! acturing Company, with no body, but they are being organized e in men, no new machines, and no increase in pay, has increased its production by 40 per cent. This is rapidly building an enormous for- tune for the bosses on the wrecked lives of tho workers, into the International Woodworkers Union, Local 1. Over s men have joined the organization within the last few days, and the membership is increasing so rapidly that in a short while the whole plant will be organized into the union. | Ruin Workers Health. One of the bosses told represen- af the strikers that he had ling for his men than they This feeling is reflected in the huge scars on the body of the men, and the fingerless hands, due to the tremendous speed at which workers are forced to operate dangerous and unguarded machine: The interior of the factory is dirty, smelly, and the air is continually clogg#d by fine saw-dust. A prominent doctor admits that these conditions have been the cause of frequent cases of tuberculosis, especially among the women workers, and that the only cause of the recent death of a six- teen-year-old boy worker was the clogging of his body with the saw- dust that filled the air. There are no sanitary rest-rooms, lunch-rooms, plant. Starvation Wages. did. The conditions in this plant are typical of conditions in all the mills of this region. Wages are so far below a decent living standard as to appear almost ridiculous. Young} men and women begin to work «in| the plant at $2.25 per day, and if they stay long enough they may} get $2.50 per day. One girl began to work in the plant at $2.25 per| day and after four years of hard la- bor was given a raise of 25c per day. Very few of the 150 workers in the plant get over $3.00 per day. The highest skilled workers in the plant, the joiners, get only from $4.25 to $4.75 per day. There is no uniform rate of pay in this plant. The bosses vary the wages as widely as possible in order to get the men to work against each other in production. Those who work a great deal harder than the rest are given 25¢ or 35c more per day than the others. This method of speeding up the plant has had a bad effect on the health and morale of the men, encies for the use of the workers, Insult Women. Several workers have complained of the treatment that the women receive at the hands of scrupulous foremen, who know that the work- er’s livelihood depends upon her job. Slave women have never been forced to stand for more insulting treat- ment that have the girls in this plant. The men are no better off. Many of the men who have had huge gashes torn into their bodies and arms, and have even had parts of | their fingers cut off, have been fired Speedup. The joiners have felt the effect of the speed-up tremendously. Sev- eral years ago they were required | stead of continuing to work. The men have presented their de- mands to the bosses, They demand that all workers shall have a raise of 50 cents per day; that there shail be a minimum wage of $3.00 per day; that there shall be clean, sani- tary lunch-rooms for the workers; beaten that 45 to 48 dozen buckets chall the eye with a bottle, and for a| constitute a day’s work for the join- time it was feared that he would|ers; and they demand tha’ their lose the use of the eye. These in- |union shall be recognized. The bosses cidents occurred at Riverville, have refused to grant these demands On the same day, Toohey and| With the usual line about not enough others were besieged by an army of business, not enough money. When Lewis gangsters :~med to the teeth,| they found that this line would not and kept in a miners’ house for six| Work, they made a flat denial that hours, being in this way prevented |anyobdy workeds in their plant for from speaking at the Rivesville| $2.25 or $2.50, and offered to show meeting. the payrolls. When this vhalelnge In spite of these terroristic at-| Was accepted by the strike commit- tempts, the National Miners Union| tee, the bosses refused to show the is growing in West Virginia, be-|Payroll. This was an outright ad- cause the miners realize that it is| mission that they did pay such low the only c>zanization that can de-| Wages. fend their interests. ss, chaimyan of the meeting, and Albert Kowalsky, presid of the local union of the M. U., were coten up. Sass was struck over ed by no change in wages. | wash-rooms, or any other conveni-| for insisting on seeing a doctor in-| | to produce only 36 dozen buekets in| tional Miners Union in every mining | camp. “To Hell With the | Injunction,” Writes | Jailed Food Striker a cafeteria striker who was ar- rested for picketing. The letter is | (The following is a letter from | ) William Green, Matthew Woll, and other misleaders of the American Federation of Labor on Tuesday again showed their soli- darity with the Bosses and im- perialist war mongers of this country, when, at a review of West Point cadets, those budding leaders who are being trained to drive the workers into slaughter, these officials pledged that they would hand over the American Federation of Labor for the use addressed to the cafeteria work- | ers’ organization.) | Welfare Island, | May 24, 1929, | Dear Comrades: | The boys here in this capitalist) prison-hole want to let you know that we are all right and wish we were out on the picket line, Please let my family and also my girl |friend know that I am well. Give| jour greetings to all the comrades and tell them to keep up the fight until we get out to help win union conditions. Bird Cafeteria. It was the boss of that place that sent me here for 80 days by his dirty lies in the court. We received the letter and the money you sent and thank you for the help. I also wish to thank the union for the assistance which you have given to my wife and children who otherwise would have nothing to eat, “Dirty, Stinking Hole.” I have 24 more days out of my | Sentence to do, but at least I will | have a chance to get rested a little before I get back to the picket line. The jail is a dirty stinking hole but we cafeteria workers are used to that. It is no worse to be here than to slave 12 hours a day for 61-2 days a week for some damg fat boss jof a slave driver. I was glad to hear that some more | cafeteria bosses have been forced to surrender to the union and give us a decent break. I hope tHat some day soon we will be striking for the 5-day, 40-hour weck like the needle trades workers. No workers need to be organized so much as the exploited slaves in the food indus- |try. I hope that the convention of the Trade Union Educational League will be successful and that a strong left wing revolutionary trade union center will be built up in this strong- hold of imperialism, to lead the class struggles of the workers, “To Hell With Injunction.” Tell the boys not to be afraid of | going to jail for the good cause we |are fighting for. It is better to be in here than to be a scab outside. When we win union conditions we will be well rewarded for all the hard fight we have had for the union against the bosses. Don’t let the injunction scare you, it is only a piece of paper. To hell with the exploiters and their damned injunc- tions; Fraternally yours, _ A striker sent to jnil f t+ Don’t forget to cover the Blue}. of Wall Street in the coming war. | Workers have frequently writ- || ten us, exposing the actions of the-labor fakers in aiding the bosses. The Daily Worker there- fore requests worker correspond- ents to write in, telling of their reaction to the action of the la- bor fakers in blessing the Wall Street army, and citing similar instances on the part of labor misleaders which the correspond- ents may know of, SEEK MOST PRIMITIVE MAN expedition into Central America looking for the most primitive man, under the auspices of the Museum of the American Indian, it was an- nounced yesterday. Mitchell-Hedges said: “It is rumored there are prim- itive tribes in this region that have not been discovered by modern civil- ized men, There are reports of a race of Indians living there who liked most of their food in a putrid state of decay. There is some prom- ise of finding a more primitive man than exists anywhere else in the world today.” By MARX HEADING By T. proletariat. Contains some of Lenin's written before and after i democracy, etc., ete. 43 EAST 125TH STREET | F, A. Mitchell-Hedges will lead an | MANIFESTO OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY 10 Cents New Edition translated by BE. & C, PAUL 10 Cents A brilliant study of the present international situation and factors which are making for a new world slaughter. The role of reformism and the tasks of the REVOLUTIONARY LESSONS . By V. I, LENIN 25 Cents question of tactics. A theoretical study of bourgeois Workers Library Publishers We carry a full line of Revolutionary German ‘ Literature , marily on dramatising the situation | duced in Paris since the World War. by isolating and stressing the re-) actions of individual characters. The Russians, such as Eisenstein and Pudovkin, on the contrary, stress not so much the situation and the actual | experience of their characters, as the | form in which they present these on the screen. Hence the preoccupation | jof the Russians with cutting, or) “montage,” as it is known in Russia, which, in their eyes, assumes the position of principal factor of drama- tie appeal. With commendable independence, Preobrezhenskaya in this film strikes out on her own. She drama- tizes neither the situation nor her method of presenting it to the audi- ence. She merely records her facts. Inevitably her picture loses some- | thing in dramatic suspense, in the intensity of its emotional appeal. But if this is a drawback, “The Vil-| lage of Sin” may also be said to Visit Russia LOWEST PRICE 325 cow and return, aia ao incl. all expenses First time since the re- volution that you do not need previous visa ap- plications. complete tour New York-Mos- June 20—L: in duly 24George Washington July 27—Leviathan Stopover ‘tten in 3 || American - Russian | TRAVEL AGENCY, INC. i] t00-5th Av. CI 'T-Bi24, N.Y.C. & ENGELS FOR WAR BELL most famous monographs October. Deals with the NEW YORK CITY |Long Island, committed suicide yes- Philip Moeller will direct the play |terday from drinking poison. He and its theme is best described as|was also a member of the chamber being Enoch Ardenish. Foreign re-|of commerce, Evidently he had be- ports are that it is distinguished by | come disgusted with life after at- a direct simplicity of treatment | tending recent meetings of his two which accounts for its forcefulness. | organizations. “AMUSEMENTS: THEODORE DREISER Hails— 2nd BIG WEEK! VILLAGE ? SIN First Sovkino Film Directed by A Woman “An excellent film; with the best cinema photography I have ever seen; among the best so far achieved by the motion picture ad- ventures anywhere."—(Dreiser Looks at Russia.) Little CARNEGIE PLAYHOUSE, 146 W. 57th St., Circle 7551 (Continuous 2 to Midnite.) ARTHUR HOPKINS MOROSCO THEA. W. 45th St. Bvs, 8. 50. Matinees: Wed., Thurs, presents and Saturday, at 8:30. D fay, JOHN DRINK ER'S Comedy Hit Comedy Hit by PHILIP BARRY BIRD IN HAND |PLYMOUTH ‘“he@. W. 45 St. Ey. 8.50 eaten Mats. Thurs, & Sat. 2.36 Chanin’s MAJESTIC Theatre 44th St. West of Broadway Eves. 8:30; Mats.: Thurs. & Sat., 2:30 JACK PEARL, PHIL BAKER AILEEN STANLEY, SHAW & LE In the Revue Sensation PLEASURE BOUND Thea, 44th) W..of Bway Shubert Evenings 8:30 Mat.: Wedsesday and Saturday 2:30 The New Musical Comedy Revue Hit A NIGHT IN VENICE atronize Our § Advertisers @ Don’t forget to mention the ‘Daily Worker” to the proprietor whenever you purchase clothes, furniture, etc., or eat in a restaurant —Just Off the Press! | RED CARTOONS 1929 A BOOK OF 64 PAGES SHOWING THE BEST CARTOONS OF THE YEAR OF THE STAFF CARTOONIST: DAILY WORKER fen ili [ Fred Ellis Jacob Burck With An Introda Britten Revotut 101 PRICE Joseph Freeman Raitea by SENDER GARLIN $ 1.00 | Sold at all Party Bookshops or Daily Worker, 26 Union Sq. oe ot ce —gae