The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 20, 1929, Page 4

e ‘days. Published dy the Comprodaily Square. New York City, N. ‘Page Four Addrers and mail all checks to the Daily Worker. 2 Publishing Co., Inc Y¥. Telephone Stuyy 28 aily, except Sunday, at ant 1696-7-8. Cable: PARTY RECRUITING Detroit Membership Meeting | Pledges Intensification of Party Work Three hundred members attended the spe- cial membership meeting in Detroit called to discuss and act on the Recruiting Campaign on Tuesday, December 10. The membership meeting, the largest in years, and perhaps the largest meeting in the history of Detroit, listened to the report of Comrade Stachel, the district organizer, which was followed by a spirited and serious discus- sion of the recruiting campaign in which 10 comrades participated. The membership meeting, 3 weeks previous, having discussed the decisions of the Tenth Plenum of the ECCI and the October Plenum of the CC, limited itself mainly. to the discus- sion of the campaigns of the Party and the practical methods of carrying on the work. In the report on the unemployment cam- paign, the building of the Auto Workers’ Union and the Trade Union Unity League, the Struggle Against Imperialist War, and the De- fense of the Soviet Union, were stressed as the means through which we will mobilize the masses for struggle, and recruit the most militant workers into the Party. Most of the discussion centered on the methods to be used in conducting the Re- cruiting Campaign, and the steps that must be taken to improve the Party organization, the functioning of the units in order not only to increase the membership of the Party in the drive but to retain the new members that will be secured. Discussion also developed on the new dues » paying system that is being instituted by the Central Committee beginning the first of the | year. The opinion was almost unanimous | that this is a necessary step in order to stabi- | lize the financial situation in the Party and | assure the life and improvement of the “Daily | Worker,” the central organ of the Party. Taking up the challertge, of the Cleveland District, the membership meeting unanimous- ly decided to answer the challenge by raising the quota for Detroit set by the National Or- ganization Department as follows: 1, To secure 500 new members instead of 400, the quota set for Detroit and Cleveland. 2. To increase the number of readers of | the Daily Worker by 1,000 instead of 400, the quota set for Detroit and Cleveland. 3. To build 15 additional factory nuclei in- stead of 10, the quota set for Detroit and Cleveland. ° 4. To publish 10 factory shop papers in- stead of the quota set for Detroit, 3 additional shop papers. 2 5. To secure 75 Negro workers for the Party in the 500 to be recruited. Pledge of Every Member. . Every member present individually pledged | | to-carry out the following tasks: I | regularly—after the first of the year, “employed comrades must get exempt stamps 1. Secure at least one member for the Party. 2. Secure at least one sub for the “Daily ! Worker.” 8. Be responsible for the distribution every day tor 2 cépies of the “Daily Worker.” new 4, Sell a minimum of the following litera- | ture; (a), 10 pamphlets of “Why Every Militant Worker Should Join the Party.” (b) Sell at least 2 copies of the TUUL Program. (c) Sell at least 3 other pamphlets. (d) Every Party member is to contribute 50 cerits to a literature fund for which he will receive 50 cents worth of pamphlets, Every time he sells one, he brings the money to the nucleus literature agent, who replaces the pamphlet sold, or gives him another pamphlet, if the one sold has become old and is no longer in circulation. 5. Attend at least one of the classes of the Party School to start the first of the year. 6. Bring at least 5 workers to the Lenin Memorial Meeting. 7. Bring at least two workers to the Sun- day Forum. 8. Help publish and distribute theé’shop papers. TUUL and Union. 1. Join a.union, if not yet a member—and | become an active member. 2. Bring at least 10 workers into the uni 3. Sell two copies of “Labor Unity” every week, 4. Dis- tribute the “Auto Workers News.” Negro Work. 1. Sell at least one copy of every issue of the Negro Champion, 2. Help’ build the ANLC, and recruit Negro workers into the Party. Women’s Work. 1. Help distribute the “Working Women.” 2. Help in winning the working women to the Party and TUUL. Young Communist League and the Young Pioneers. 1. Help distribute the. “Young Worker” and the “Young Pioneer.” 2. Help build the YCL and the Young Pioneers. General Organizational Tasks. 1. Attend every meeting of the nucleus— beginning with the first of the year, all nu- clei. will meet once every week. 2. Pay dues | all members will pay their dues weekly at the rate of 2 per cent of their weekly wage. Un- to keep in good standing. 3. Attend the frac- tion meetings of ypur trade union, and the other mass organizations of which you are a member. 4.*Take seriously every post to which you are elected, and perform the func- tions to the best of your ability. Social-Fascism in Struggle Against It By BILL QUNNE. ! qa steady development toward fascism in Austria has as its purpose the welding of a | new link betweerfthe fascist blocs of Hungary, | Jugo-Slavia, Italy and South Germany-Bavaria. * Many national and imperialist antagonisms place obstacles in the way of actual alliances but there is not the slightest doubt that fas- cism, backed by the imperialist powers and the native capitalist class, clearly understands its | role as the executioner of the working class | and enemy of the social revolution. | | | Other considerations are secondary. Austrian social-democracy has laid the basis for fascism. Its role is cbviously social-fascist and it remains now, according to latest dis- patches, only for the “Austro-Marxists” to make one more concession to Schober—the mwr- derer of the Vienna proletariat, to abandon their request for a “peoples referendum” on the proposed changes in the constitution which relegates parliament to the background and establishes a fascist dictatorship. _ The Inprecorr for November 29, under a Vienna date-line says: “The only question which has not yet been settled is the social-democratic demand for a peoples referendum. On this point the gov- ernment remains firm in its refusal. The adoption of Schober’s fascist. constitutional proposal will thus be voted by the social demo- ‘ary settlement of the constitutional changes is expected to take place within the next few Today the leaders of the district Heim- | wehr, Pfriemer and Pabst, were in parliament where they had consultations with the christian social members.” ‘ . Under the guise of “preserving the peace ‘of the state’ the social-democrats have sur- rendered to fascism in the streets, in the fac- tories and in the countryside. The social-demo- | cratic Schutzbund, composed of an overwhelm- ing majority of workers, has had its morale systematically sapped. Its leagers have sought Workers! Join the Party of Your Class! Communist Party U. S. A. 48 East 125th Street, Kew York City. I, the undersigned, want to join the Commu- nist Party. Send me more information. © . Age. 3 this to the National Office, Communist Party, 43 East 125th St., New York, N. Y. | fascism could and would have been smashed | tinually warned the workers. | danger, is organizing the masses for resistance. " | growing number of fights which took place be- _ erats without any concessions. The parliament- _ ia ie 8 PB | the leadership of the Communist Party of | Austria the workers will fight. sary to begin at once the widest preparations ' to support their struggle against the fascist ' dictatorship. Austria and the in every way to prevent the revolutionary spirit of the masses developing to the point where in the factories and its base in the cities de- stroyed. e A’s the social-democratic leaders retreated, fascism advanced. Today the social-democrats conspire to prevent.a mass revolt against the fascist proposal of the government which means utmost misery heaped upon the already low paid and oppressed Austrian worke: The Communist Party of Austria has con- It has lead them st S in struggles and fully gonscious of the fasci Recently there was held in Vienna, under the leadership of the Communist Party, a confer- ence of revolutionary shop stewards. This program calls for a revolutionary united front against factory fascism, against capitalist ra- tionalization, against the increased cost of liv- ing, against the “wholesale dismissals of rev- olutionary workers from the factories.” Special de-:ands are raised for young workers, for work- ing women and the working peasantry. (This is an exploited section of the population to which the Austro-Marxists have never paid the slightest attention with the result that fascism has been handed a fertile field for organiza- tion). ° The spirit of the masses is shown by the tween workers and fascists as at Bruck on Mur, in the Alpine Montane works and in the streets. We can expect civil war in Austria. Under. It is neces- Social-democracy has handed the Austrian masses over to fascism. This must be made known to every worker and the inter- national working class organized to smash this social treason, 5 Soviets as against fascist councils! A workers government as against the Scho- ber regime of Austrian capitalism and imper- ialist reaction. The events in Austria constitute another threat against the Soviet Union and must be considered as an important part of the im- perialist war preparations. The fascist regimes of Poland, Rumania, Jugo-Slavia and Hungary are imperialist weapons against the Sovict Union. To this arsenal Austria is to be ad- ded. Czecho-Slovakia likewise is being prepared for fascism as the attacks on the Communist Party and the mass organization of the work- ers show. With their fascist kindred in Bavaria aiding them, the Austrian fascists and social demo- crats know that a corridor will have been es- tablished opening the way from the English | Channel to the Black Sea—for invasion of the Soviet Union. The defeat of fascism in Austria will he a victory for the working class of the whole IW $ Union Square, New York. DRIVE Union ORK." N.Y, Baily S05 Worker Central Organ of the Communist Party of the U.S. A. abpeie on earns A Convention of Labor Traitors By JOSEPH BORUCHOWITZ: | The Twelfth Convention of the International Ladies Garment Workers, wihch has just been held in Cleveland, proved to be a continua- | tion of the treacherous policy of the right wing garment trades misleaders that started | many years ago. This convention is nothing | but an assembly of company union agents in whom the workers lost confidence a long time ago, and who then began, and have even moré so since, relied on the bosses in their fight with the workers. Even in 1916-18, the leaders of the I came to the bosses for support agai progressive opposition and got it. Gradually the line of demarcation between | workers and union misleaders grew wider, and the leaders, hating and fearing the members, relied more and more on the bosses to keep themselves in control. When in 1 workers accepted the ideological principles of | the Trade Unional Educational League this | alliance of the fakers with the bosses took | open and distinct forms. | In 1925 the clique lost a round with the | Joint Action Committee because of the sup- port given the committee by the membership.. Left Wing Victory. During the 1926 cloak strike, the left wing movement presented itself as a menace to both the employers and the right wing officials and the alliance between them was further cement- ed by their fear. It included now the state officials, and when the left wing waged war on the governor’s commission report, the triple alliance saw that this new movement menaced the whole class collaboration scheme of the A.F.L. A united front of all reactionary forces was created to try and break the cloak and fur strike. The workers won, by courage and great efforts, a partial victory. Then the “holy” trinity of bosses, misleaders | and state, fought to eliminate the left wing leaders and part of the more class conscious members by terrorism and force. In 1928, after th» Boston convention of the Internation- al, the class conscious workers became con- vineed the officers had completely gone over to the bosses and there organized the Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union, in 1929. This is a union based on the class struggle, and the needle workers were convinced that through such an organization only could they conduct a struggle against the employers for the improvement of their conditions. Thou- sands joined its ranks. The first struggle for the organization of the needle workers was undertaken by the world, struggle against it is part of the whole struggle against imperialist war and for de- fense of the working class fatherland—the Soviet Union. Build the revolutionary united front of the workers and colonial peoples against the social- democratic betrayals and for the defeat of Austrian fascism! Wall Street government, the backer of Hun- garian fascism in the person of Horthy, like- wise finances the fascist drive in Austria. To | fight Austrian fascism we must organize our | class in the United States for struggle against Wall Street government and Hoover's faseist | council. Build the united front against fascism in the shops and factories! Build militant unions! Industrial Union in the dress trade. In this strike, thousands of workers were organized, and came into control of several hundred shops, This warned the alliance of right wing union bureaucrats, bosses and state, which recognized in the N.T.W.I.U. a new and more threatening menace to their company union plans. One of their answers was a fake strike and a lockout, carried through in the cloak trade in July, of this year, under the slogan of “stabilization.” Some time later a similar maneuver was carried through in the pleating, hemstitehing and embroidery trade, and now they are planning a “stabilization” lock-out in the dress trade. The objective of the bosses, the capitalist state authori and their lackeys, the trade | union bureaucrats (the former leaders and pres- | ent traitors to the workers), is clear. It is to company-unionize the needle trades, to fight the Needle Trades Work Industrial Union, and thus secure for the bosses the possibility of permanently installing the speed- up system, piece work, reduction of wages, etc. In this they are in line with the policy of the capitalist class leaders everywhere, who try to stave off the inevitable breakdown of the system resulting from the relatively narrower market, international competition, growing army of unemployed, etc., and to put through rationalization schemes and place the burdens on the workers. This “stabilization” prop- aganda to mislead the workers goes on in all branches of the needle industry, and particu- larly in the cloak trade. ‘a Unemployment. Inside manufacturing jobs are closing down daily, or are being re-organized on a smaller scale. Here are a few illustrations: Wilkins and Adler, one of the most import- ant firms in the trade, has closed down its cloak department. Friedman Bros., shut down its factory altogether. The aristocratic firm of A, Beller demands reorganization and re- ductions. Grossman, president of the Indus- trial Council, sends orders to the members of | the association to observe the agreement, and has his own work made in contracting shons which have open shop standards, and where workers slave under most miserable conditions for starvation wages. According to latest in» formation, Grossman is having even his dupli- cates made up at piece-work rates. Trick Each Other. The contractors’ organization raises a kick every now and then, but ends by always fol- lowing in line with the leaders of the con- tractors who get bribes from the jobbers in the form of better paid garments, ete. Juvelier, the manager of the contractors’ association and his friends are bluffing the other contractors just as Schlesinger and Dubinsky bluff the workers, , When the contractors begin to revolt, a con- ference i8 trumped up for them, or they get a hearing before the Elger Commission, with a decision that their demands are justified, and everything will be straightened out, but they must depend on the good will of the jobbers. Brooklyn and Bensonhurst and other sub- urban districts are working on section work with a maximum wage of $35, as is the case of the C. and C. shop, which operates 26 machines and works exclusively for the jobber, By Mail (in New York City only): $8.00 a year; By Mail (outside of New York City) SURSCRIPTION RATES: $4.50 $6.00 a year; x months; $3.50 six months; three months $2. 32.00 three months 50 00 By MYRA PAGE. (Continued) The village school system offers practically no opportunity to adults for participation in its activities. No village has any responsible relationship to the school system. As a non- taxpaying and unincorporated community, it has no power to elect the school board which directs local school affairs. Such a board is selected by the company and composed largely of its officials, or, if it is a county-owned school, the county administration appoints the board. In the Parker District near Green- ville, S. C., a change from this older system was inaugurated a few years ago, so that the school board of this mill district is now elected by the village populations. At first the mill owners opposed this change, but they agreed as soon as they understood that mill officials would still compose the school board. Each local school has, or attempts to have, a Parent-Teacher Association. This organiza- tion is supposed to interest parents in the edu- cational policies and functioning of the school which their children attend, but in practice the P, T. A. limits itself to the task of raising funds for a schoo] piano or new curtains. Ex- cept for the teachers, who feel an obligation to attend, the only members are wives of the two pastors, and of one or two company fore- men or higher officials. Mill employees do not belong or attend. When a P. T. A. is having a sale or social, donations are solicited from house to house, and then mill workers are called on to contribute a pound of tea or sugar, but this is usually their sole connec- tion with the P. T. A. Its meetings are often held in the afternoon when those at work in the mill cannot attend, even if they wished to do so, and mill villagers generally feel the class’ distinctions drawn between themselves and mill officials and their wives, and do not wish to mingle with them. “They doan wan’ us to jine,” one woman stated; “That’s fer bosses’ wives, that ain’t fer us.” Another said, “I aint got the money to dress fit to go nowhere. They’d look at me funny.” “They (the officials) can build a bridge on my nose but not walk acrost it,” another mill worker said proudly, when discussing why she stayed away. Others related experiences which they considered proved that they were not wanted in the P. T, A. “Two of us went and when the teacher called the roll, she forgot to men- tion our names, so we knew we warnt wanted, ’n we never went back.” Some village schools offer one or two eve- ning classes in textile subjects, and opportuni- Julius Nelson, one of the biggest and what Schlesinger terms “the best union jobber.” Standard of Production. As for the conditions in the Italian shops situated in Brooklyn, Bensonhurst, ete., it is common knowledge that they work piece work at the rate of 35 cents, 40 cents and 50 cents per garment. In the garment district of New York, in the shops where week work still prevails, a new system has been introduced, which is nothing but a standard of production. When a worker receives a bundle of garments he is instructed that it must be completed within a certain definite time, and the work is paid in accord- ance with the number of hours to produce those garments, which is decided by the boss. If the worker takes longer than the hours prescribed by the boss, he is paid that much less. The present company union administration consists of the most corrupt, the most dis- credited elements. Among the leaders, the following have lately been added to the list: Metz, Langer, Breslau, Heller, Feinberg, Slutsky, Gold (not Ben Gold, the militant). The record of treachery and corruption of every one of the above reactionaries is com- mon knowledge to the workers. Many of them have quite recently been bosses themselves. A good illustration is the business agent, Gold of Local 35. In 1926, after he had been defeated as business agent by the left wing, he became a manufacturer operating an open shop. During that same year, when the union sent a committee to organize his shop they were beaten up and wounded, These are the circumstances under which the company union agents of the bosses gath- ered at their fake convention in Cleveland. The capitalist class and its servants loudly acclaim and sing the praises of these traitors of the working class. Would Fool Workers. This convention was held to create the im- pression that they are still a union, that they decide on strikes, and that they will grant re- forms—all this is done to mislead the back- ward sections of the working class. The class conscious workers, however, know that the reforms decided upon at this com- pany union convention are just as much a fake as the fake strikes they will decide upon in order to expedite the process of company- unionizing the needle industry; that in reality these fake strikes have already been decided upon long ago between the bosses and offi- cials of the state and of the national capi- talist government. The class conscious and revolutionary workers are on their guard, They have taken up the struggle for class unions and will not be deterred from ‘their task. The Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial Union will continue its work of organizing the unorganized workers, will lead them in the struggle against the capitalist class and all its agents, and will force the bosses to give union conditions to the workers. The jubilations of the labor traitors will not go on very long. The miserable conditions under which the workers are compelled to slave, the tremendous inroads made on their living standards, the speed-up, long hours, low wages, unemployment, which characterize the present conditions not only in the needle trades but in other industries as well, is fast rousing the workers to struggle against their class enemies. The Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial Union as the fighting vanguard of the needle workers, will intensify its struggle against the bosses and their agents, and will lead the needle trades workers through struggle to victory. i : AND LABOR ties to learn to read and write, and many-mill workers seize eagerly upon this chance to be- come literate. Reading matter available to mill villagers is both scant in quantity and pocr, in. quality, There are no libraries on the hills, and mill workers cannot afford to buy books, not hav- ing sufficient income to buy food an‘ clothing. Also most families find subscription to a daily newspaper beyond their reach, but often one paper is passed around among two or three families. These local sheets are typical small- town and rural affairs, featuring local “‘so- ciety” news, crime and divorce cases, boosts for democratic politicians, religious notes, praises of southern textile owners and what they have done for workers and the com- munity in general, and editorials setting forth the southern, middle-class, Anglo-Saxon ver- sion of the universe. Their opposition to unionism is universal, and in times of organ- ization efforts and strikes, they openly align themselves with management and heap abuse upon the disloyal workmen! A few village districts, as that surrounding Greenville, S. C., receive visits each week from a library-on-wheels which is sent out from the neighboring city. But the books offered con- sist ‘aly of popular fiction and children’s stories. gical books at all, or books dealing with labor and political topics. Sometimes there are a few books on mechanical and popular science topics, because of calls for these from the vil- lagers. Among the men, western and detec- tive stories are popular, while stories of “love and adventure” are much read by both men and women. Another agency of company propaganda, in addition to those of church, school and press, is that of company welfare work. Quite a number of mill corporations do not feel it neces#ary to add this extra feature, but often the mills employ one or more social workers to organize ciubs for young people and “look out for the welfare” of employees, In some cases there is an elaborate pro- gram developed, with community center, gym- nasium and swimming pool. The purpose of these clubs is to make employees more satis- fied and loyal workmen, and thus cut down on the high rates of labor turnover and lessen their interest in forming unions. Often a company-subsidized Y. M. C. A. takes charge of such activities. In no case do the clubs function in any truly democratic fashion, but everything is planned and “put over” by the paid social workers who are in eharge. Participation of villagers in these company recreational efforts varies considerably from village to village, but in the places where we were, less than a fifth of them took any part. About two-thirds expressed unfavorable opin- ions of welfare work, while others commented favorably on specific activities, such as medi- cal care, home economic courses, and recrea> tional activities for the youth. Mill villagers are proud and independent, and resent any form of obvious paternalism, especially of the type which clearly aims to “improve” them. Also they feel that the company has some ul- terior purposes to serve, that “they doan spend money for nothin’,” and that the money spent on welfare work could be much better used in paying higher wages. Autocratic paternalism, in all of its varied phases, is designed to further one end. Own- ership of village and control of church, school and reading matter are means which the own- ers use for holding workers in material and mental subjection to the mill system of low wages and long hours. Back of the system of paternalism lies economic exploitation. ° . (To Be Continued) Five-Year Plan Gains tn Soviet Union MOSCOW, (By Mail).—According to the figures of the Supreme Economic Council of the Soviet Union industrial production in Oc- tober, the first month of the second year of the Five Year Plan, totalled 24 per cent more than in October last year. Heavy industry increased its production by 28.4 per cent. The production of light industry increased by 21 per cent, including textiles 45 per cent, leather 49 per cent, rubber productione 40 per cent, chemical industry 33 per cent, ete, Miners Strike in Austria VIENNA (By Mail).—The strike of the miners in the Salgotaryan mining district hae now lasted for six weeks. Not a single mine is at work in the district. The emergency work is being carried on, Strike-breakers imported from outside have been driven off by the strikers. The authorities are proceeding rigor- ously against the strikers and daily arrests take place, strike committees are dissolved, their members flung into prison, strike meet- ings broken up, etc. The authorities have for- hidden the miners of the various pits to get in touch with each other. The social democrats are doing their best to throttle the strike in the usual fashion of “placing themselves at the head of the move- ment.” Up to the present the miners, wise through long experience, have rejected the ef- forts of the social fascists. The government supports the social fascists by offering to ne- gotiate with the miners, but as it will only agree to negotiate with the social democrats, there have been no negotiation: Strikes Grow in France PARIS, (By Mail).—The strike wave which has been spreading over France since last year and which, according to the information given by Comlde Monmousseau to the tenth plenary session of the Executive ittee the Communist International, peak enh i thousand strikes with 500,000 participants, is extending. Apart from the strikes of the miners in Champagnac, the foundry works in St, Naz- aire, the transport workers in Lyons, the tailors in Paris, the bakers in Montpellier, there have been numerous smaller struggles. In the iron-ore basin of ‘Briey a conference took place at which 57 delegates of the miners of the district were present. The conference adopted a number of demands, including a Wage increase of 5 frances per day, the abolition of the piece work system. There are no economic and sociolo-_ ir —_ |