The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 7, 1931, Page 3

ST. es jue oft ui it P. ON ig 7 WORKERS’ Jersey City, N. DAILY Wotthnk, Nnw + MILITANCY Uni, SALTURDAI, FebAUARYL » Add) J. Armour Workers Driven Hard at Bare Iixistence Wages Bosses Have Espionage System to Keep the! Workers From Organizing Selves Make Girls Do Men’s Not Healthy Work; Conditions Are for Workers The Daily Worker: I often read in the Daily Worker Jersey City, N. J. about the terrible conditions existing 4n various shops throughout the country but you seem to overlook the con- ditions in Armour’s plant in Jersey City. Well, if yu don’t know of them, I will tell you some things. First the pay is not enough to exist on. Second, the working conditions are deplorable and unhealthy. ‘We are driven from morning to night by the straw bosses who are well paid to drive us to make more profits for the bosses, while we get paid a starving wage. GIRLS GET TB. IN NAT'L ELEC. 00. BECAUSE OF DUST You’re Fired After You Take Sick Ambridge, Pa, Comrade Editor:— I work in the cotton mill of the " National Electrie Company. ‘The condtions here are just as bad as in other departments. It is es- pecially bad here bécause it is so dusty and the air is filled with cotton dust. Most of the girls here get T.B. Just recently a girl got high blood pressure and they didn’t expect her to live. Many Have T. B. ‘The doctor said she has quit be- she has too much cotton dust her lungs and if she didn’t quit will run into T. B. This is the way it works in the factory. First we get T. B. and then Phen he can’t work any more they dell us to quit in plain words ‘get out.’ ~ There are sprays to spray the air with water~but these sprays don’t work. . It<doesn’t worry the bosses that we birls get our lungs filled with cotton dust. We the workers from the cotton mills must wake up for once and get organized. ‘We have a local in our mill of the Metal Workers Industrial League but ‘we must get all the workers in the plant. With organization we can fight against these rotten conditions, TIGER : BE EVEN ROBS CIFY SCRUBWOMEN Women Must Organize to Fight This New York. Editor, Daily Worker: 1 am a widow scrubbing and clean- ing in one of the city’s court houses. ‘We get $3 per day, 10 per cent of which is held out on us whether we or not. The bosses tell us it the unemployed. ight dollars per month for insur- ance and a continuous stream of; came and told to buy flowers or his grave, said we should lollar each but we had one half dollar by all means. think it is a scheme the One up bosses and ‘The scrubwomen must or- this brazen : Demonstrate Against Sallies ployed : RE i ted ‘Texas in erie C Spy System The espionage system is such that if we only dare to open our mouths, we are immediately fired without stating cause. Girls are doing men’s work, some of them are mothers who have babies at home and they have got to slave for a few cents an hour to feed them. We are about 475 workers, men and women, in this shop; out of this about 125 are paid to be slave driv- ers and spies on us. Since the itme we were organized by the yellow union in 1919 the work- ers have been too discouraged to open their mouths on account of the spy syste mthe bosses organized. I would like to see the “Daily Worker” take an interest in exposing these conditions and perhaps the workers could be aroused to the ne- cessity of organizing with the real workers’ union. —I. 8. We would welcome more worker correspondence from the Armour workers. Orders for bundle of the Daily should accompany such cor- respondence so that all workers in the plant may read the letters sent in. ARK. MINERS FOR THE RELIEF BILL Many. Accidents in Arkansas Mines Paris, Ark. Gentlemen:— The situation in the coal mines here is very bad. To save expenses of making their mines reasonably safe, the local operators maim and murder the employees with unusual frequency. Lesser evils are numerous: Workers are obliged to report for work at every opportunity on pain of losing their jobs if not present, while for the most part there is no work. Ma- chine runners and helpers who work jat night, must report for work in mid-afternoon, and then frequently wait four or five hours (without pay, of course) before starting to work. Wash-house and sanitary facilities are entirely inadequate. The Workers’ Unemployment In- surance Bill is signed by everybody I can reach. With more blanks and time, 2,500 signatures could be gotten here. Enclosed find a list filled up. —An Agricultural Worker. Oakland Bosses Use Up All “Relief” Fund Unemployed Councils Grow and Fight Oakland, Calif. + Worcorr:— The census supervisor of San Fran- cisco admitts 30,000 unemployed (there are actually over 75,000), but the ‘Frisco papers do not print this admission. Meanwhile the “Citizen's for fat graft for contractors and three days of work for a couple of hun- dred workers, are in a lather. They are afraid of trouble if they try to rob again the workers with jobs for their fake relief, Ob le In Oakland, the city “Unemploy- ment Committee” is going out of bus- iness and the Chamber of Commerce ind the city officials, who were be- ind it, admit they have no funds use the bosses of Oakland are afraid to take more money from he pay of the employed workers for this fake relief. The Committee sums up its work as this: census of unemployed in Oakland (when they got to 10,000 over a month ago they stopped counting, and nothing has been announced since). Aiding a soup line, and charity basket at Christmas. But the Councils of the Unem- ployed and their activities are grow- ing fast, and we will follow the ex- ample of the workers in Van Dyke, » and Oklahoma, City, aE ‘Wages in the Philadelphia area dropped another six per cent in De- U. S. Bosses Introduce Coolie Wage re Te 0 "L MEI wee ee. KEMP, GEN'L MERCHANDISE RISES AS BOSS ATTACK DEDUCTIONS ‘AMOUNT NET EARNINGS Fo eo Read the worker correspondence letter from women cotton pickers at Buttonwillow, Cal, at the bottom of this page. they are yet forced to ask for food from the Salvation Army. How after working’ (By a Worker of the great unemployment and in: their unsatisfiable thirst for profit were not satisfied with the 10 per cent wage-cut. Mr. Lupio, the owner |of the Lodi factory, announced the | increase of working hours from 48 to 50 hours a week, at the same time raising the possibility of another 10 per cent wage-cut. The Workers Strike. When the announcement reached the workers, the dissatisfaction broke into action. They organized a shop- committee consisting of 4 workers— Greenwald, Angelo, Joe and another | worker—who presented the demands lof the workers. ‘The boss rejected them and the workers struck. The police were mobilized within half an hour. However, the strikers’ senti- |ment was not influenced by the mob- ilization of the Lodi “cossacks.” Their | determination was not broken, The Boss Gets Scared. When Lupio saw the determination of the workers he was only in too much of a hurry to change his atti- tude. He is a man of very dirty. character, likes to act the Mussolini stuff and thinks he is one of the gqds who should be worshipped. He is a sort of a combination of a greedy usurer'and a conceited “jackass,” so the workers claim. When the work- ers’ committee presented the demands previous to the strike, Lupio yelled if you don’t like it.” But he got off the high-horse just as soon as he | saw that the workers were organized |and ready to fight back. He re- treated and withdrew the increase in | working hours. Victory! Although their victory is not com- plete, nevertheless it is a victory. Due to their organized*effort they made the company retreat, withdraw the increase of labor-hours and gained a wage increase of 5 per cent for all the workers, or a 10 per cent in- crease for those who produce a cer- tain minimum. It was left for the workers to choose either of the two proposals. And they gained also the recognition of the workers’ commit- tee. “Organization Is Workers’ Power.” One of the most important aspects of this strike-action is the lessons which it held in store for these Lodi workers, They have learned that in organization Hes the power of the workers, and only through organiza- tion and fight can they better their condition, for if they are not or- ganized and ready to fight the boss will worsen their plight and drag them to his feet just as often as he pleases, Further organization steps are taken, and ff they join the Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial Union their strength will be so much more, for only as members of a real fight- ing union can they really succeed. Of course, the boss will blow the alarm and call these workers reds, “troublemakers,” Communists, and what not, But Mr. Lupio will be sur- prised, find a pay slip for 30 cents, which means a whole day's hard work pick- ing cotton. We can get rid of these Lodi, N. J. Coat Workers Strike Makes Boss Back Down on His Wage Cut Plan Should Join Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union to Strengthen Their Shop LODI, N. J.—Meeting some workers of Lodi, New Jersey, | I have learned about the following strike action, which although | oceurring about two weeks ago, yet it is worth while recording, | for it truly reflects the fighting mood of the workers and also the possibilities of organization. The Portfolio Coat Manufacturing Company is part of a big company. In the Lodi factory there are about one hundred workers employed under open-shop conditions. suffered one attack after another. There was a wage cut of ten per cent some time ago, but the bosses, taking advantage at them: “Get the hell out of here} Correspondent) The workers WORKERS MOVE FURNITURE BACK Unemployed Council Is) Formed in Naborhood | VICIOUS DRIVE ON | FOREIGN BORN ON EOBOKEN DOCKS) Yam Fish Is Behind} This Assault | | Hoboken, N, J. Dear Comrades:— | For the second time within a week the Immigration authorities acting| upon instructions from the federal | government and Congressman Ham-| born for illegal entry into this coun-| try, the land of democracy, equality | and opportunity. In the first sweep majority of which were nabbed in the| Seamen’s Mission and others were)! taken out of their homes, Yesterday Thursday, Jan. 29 again twelve “undesirables” were caught in a lunchroom with an additional six) others picked off the streets. All these} workers are seamen, out of work, caused by the world wide crisis brought about the laying up of many ships, throwing thousands of seamen out of work, This attack launched against the foreign born is an attempt to break the foreign born and natiye workers’ | militancy. Comrades, unite and fight against discrimination and terror against the foreign born. PIERCE ARROW HAS A WALKOU Plan Further Fight Against Pay Cuts | (By a Worker Correspondent.) | YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio.—A gang of | dicks came to a house at No. 262 Watt St. and evicted a woman! worker and her two small children who could not pay their rent. | The-lady across the street who had heard of the Unemployed Council ad- | vised this working woman: who is employed to notify the Unemployed | Council, She did this. After an ap-| peal to the neighbors who live on | that street to form an Unemployed | Council to fight against evictions, | starvation and poverty, Comrade A. Walton, secretary, called for a meet- | ing of all the neighbors and members | of the Unemployed Council to break the bars and nails of the doors and | | the response was great. In twenty minutes 30 employed and unemployed workers opened the door and moved the scattered furniture | back into the hoyse. Four neighbors remained on guard till late at night. The following day they again steod | | guard to see that the bosses’ dicks | j should not try the same dirty work. ‘The workers in this neighborhood | are organizing in the Unemployed | Council to prevent further evictions. The woman worker promises to use @ large monkey wrench on the heads | of the dicks the next time, A mem- ber of the Unemployed Council con- nected the gas heater and oven. WORKERS READY - 70 FIGHT FISH Boss Institutions Are Against Workers Philadelphia, Pa. Dear Worker:— “Emporer Ham Fish” in his report to congress about the Communist propaganda in this country proposes jail and death for the American born workers who don’t believe in the sac- redness and solidness of the capital- ist institutions and deportations of the foreign born workers. I am a foreign born worker who spent the best years of my life in this country producing wealth for the rich but myself on the verge of star- vation today, Ham Fish and his gang cannot seare us workers, native and foreign born with his investigations and reports to congress, We foreign born and native workers will fight side by side for our rights until we drive all fishes like Ham Fish into the depths of the ocean, Ss ~ Buffalo, N, ¥, On Jan, 26 the metal sody finish- ers, about 40 or 50 men, of the Pierce- Arrow Motor Co. spontaneously | walked out because the company speeded up the workers and cut their wages, Due to the fact that the men were disorganized and had no connections in the other departments they lost this strike, but they went back to work with the determination to make | contacts with the other departments and called a meeting Jan, 31. Buffalo is a strategie city and with all its basic industries, chemical fac- tories and foundries, it needs a highly skilled T, U. U. L, organizer. So when Comrade J. H. is replaced see that they send beginners where there are less strategie factories and , send an accomplished organizer some- thing like Comrade C, a. WwW. Portland Workers Joining Movement, Young Communists Hold Good Meeting PORTLAND, Oregon.—The Young Communist League held its first meeting on the streets since the raids and over 500 workers stood in the) crowd for two hours, listening while! Fred Walker, district organizer of the League, spoke on the real perpetu- ators of wiolence. This was a new location for street meetings, 4th and Alder, and many new workers list- ened. They showed their militant ap- proval and support of the Soviet Union and gave a good collection to the League from their meager funds, The Unemployed Council held a street meeting in the Plaza block this week during the afternoon and sev- eral hundred workers listened and over 20 joined. The International Labor Defense also held an afternoon meeting in the Plaza bioek and the unemployed workers listened and gave a few dol- lars for the defense of the prisoners, Everywhere that the militant or- ganizations come out and talk the workers respond to their call, This is smashing the fecling of illegality that the raids instituted and will mean that if it is kept up, Portland will have a real workers’ movement, Workers attend the meetings, join the ranks and make young workers into fighting militants. Every worker @ propagandist! P.M. Worcorrs: our names, ages, where from and how Jong in the states and dozens of other questions, Then we were finally giv- en little boxes of food—2 loaves of bread, 1 pound of coffee, 2 pounds of sugar, 1 can of milk, 5 pounds of flour, @ little bag of potatoes and beans, one head of cabbage and a bunch of half-rotten vegetables. When we asked how soon we can come back for some more, they said we are afraid you will not get any- more, for we have to help the local needy, and the people in town don’t get help more than once. We have managed to get some’ |is not heresy but the truth which I WORCORR | Chicago Worker Depositors Lose Chicago, ll. BRI Daily Worker:— The poor depositors of the Law-| rence Street National Bank after six| weeks of patient waiting have no| satisfaction in regard to their sav- | ings. It is extremely doubtful if they will ever get a cent of their hard earned money back: | The holders of so-called safe de-| boxes not broken into and looted and allowed to take what they had leff.| However there were only 400 boxes loss of the box holders is now esti- mated to be over $200,000 tho the check is not completed. —COR. Slash Wages in Overall Shop Chicago, Ill. To the Daily Worker: Will write to say that the men’s overall shop here has already cut wages from 10 to 20 per cent in the last five months, a little each week, The business agent of the United Garment Workers, Mr. Bream, who goes around from factory to factory. One man asked him about cutting the scale and he said you know there are thousands waiting to take your job} so you had better keep your mouth shut, The answer in a few words means the bosses and labor fakers stick together to supress the union mem-~- bers, —C. A. 20 Cents an Hour At Hard Lock Co. Detroit, Mich, Daily Worker;— Thought perhaps you would be in- terested in the following: The Hard Lock Mfg. Co., is hiring men to run machines to make their locks for a measly low rate of 20 cents per hour and making them work nights and Sundays for the same amount. This same company had a large order of locks for the U. S. Navy| last summer and only paid 30 cents an hour at that time on government work. A man is compelled to work on Sun- day for 20 cents or else be fired. This can back up with others than myself. RK. E. Bowen, Peer may) Bad Conditions in Maryland ‘ Mt. Lake, Md. Worcorts:— Conditions here is much worse than past fall, Everything is shut down. The farmers haye equally as bad| conditions from the fact that there | is no market for their products, They | are even using the billboards to ad- | vertise the farmers conditions urging the people to buy the farmers’ pro- duce to help him out. The people | cannot do this for they haye no} money. Speed the day when we shall | have control of this country. We will |see the workers and poor farmers are | W°?® laid off, and of course we lost protected. —J.B.G. 75 Years Ol And a Fighter National Military Home. Kansas City, Mo. Am about to be thrown out of here. Mostly framed up I think. Radical | activities, If so I am ready to go out in, public and help organize at the age of 75 years. As soon as I can get travelling and board paid and can clothe myself I'll go out. Give them hell all around. —J. K, Company 10. Close Down On Even Charity Detroit, Mich. Dear Comrades:— Following the cheat of other cities f the States, Detroit is going to stop welfare relief to its unemployed, decreed the city county last night. too are going to forward loans the worthy only, which one must after one gets back te work. comrades is something, that awake the make him turn over. That's a slap to the unfortunate ones in the face. FS. HEE iy 30 CENTS FOR DAY’S WORK IN CAL. COTTON FIELD Cotton Pickers Forced to Go to Salvation Army tor Food i by helping ourselves at night, but the places we helped ourselves are being watched now, so that next thing to do is to get all the ranch organized company stores and belong to us, No with folded hands children starving organize and all for better von- women, young and i WOMEN COTTON PICKERS, fees the Illinois Mine Fields As Conditions Get Worse Sharper Struggles in “Mines Are Not Running One Fourth Time” Miner Writes “Daily” Join the Mine, Oil and Smelter Workers’ In- dustrial Union for Struggle! Daily Worker: Eldorado, Ill. Hard times are on us now so bad that it is hell. And we who ilton Fish Jr. have invaded Hoboken |P°Sit boxes in the customers vaults| are class conscious know that in another month’s time we will to round up the “undesirable” foreign|Were allowed to examine the few| see times more miserable than ever before. I am positive that before election time here we will hear of sharp struggles. afraid they will lose their pie in the sky when they die. I used to have such pipe dreams myself. But I found} out here is the place to eat pie, and when their great god fails to wake up and give them some pie I am sure that some will be sensible enough to| help but the ball rolling. Miners Will Fight. This ball must roll for the mines here are not running one fourth time. Which miners are forced to pay higher dues than eyer before on) the average. And also a big supply | bill at the mine. Some mines ran| as low as- three days the last half| of December, Miners here are grumbling and Some are going to come to a meeting next Sunday night to help lay down @ foundation for a real union. The miners are still like a rabbit in a brush pile and with a large group of | hounds after him now. The rabbit won't come out until the brush pile is torn away. But when the rabbit sees his hiding place is just about gone he will come out, The miners know that they are face to face with a strug: The mines are sure to close down soon. The com- pany store also quits giving out groc- eries and other high provisions, ‘The miners haven't three days pro- visions ahead, They are foreed to struggle. And soon—W, R. G. MULCT THEN LAY OFF Chil. WORKERS Adding Machine Young Worker Is Militant Chicago, Tl. Editor of the Daily Worker: I am writing this letter than I am an unemployed slave also and am on- ly ninsteen years of age. At one tim I could get a job anywhere but try and get one now. I have been working in the adding machine factory and while I working there the bosses wanted us to join the insurance for safety first. | which of course was a trick to get! our money, We joined the insurance | and paid about three dollars of our’ money into it and in a short time we | our money. Young Workers Must Fight. Us young workers instead of going to the baseball games and joining the navy and the National Guards we should all get together and join the Young Communist League and help to establish in ‘this “land of plenty” @ workers’ and farmers’ government | just like in Russia. The way things look I think we are going to have another world war and | if we do what we young work should do is retreat on the big fat stiffs and not fight our comrades) who never did us any harm. —J. A. Eisemann Magneto Corp. Slash Wages Average Two Days a Week for Year Brooklyn, N. Y, Daily Worker;— At Eisenmann’s Magneto Corp., the bosses are putting over something very rotten on the workers. For nearly a year now these work- ers have been working on an average of two days a week. The rotten deal is this: formerly the shop worker could earn while working 55 to 65 cents an hour. Now everybody is on straight work at for 40 to 50 cents an hour. ‘The Eisemann gang is a fighting gang except for a few black-guards and white guards; one of them a Pil- sudski bootlicker who cares nothing about the suffering of our people and who incidentally is on the list of New York's finest strike-breakers with only 700 ahead on the list, The few others are being misled by the faker who resides at Rome, We haye @ shop. committee—M.M. 1,000 LAID OFF IN READING READING, Pa—One thousand more workers were laid off by the I look any day for some hungry person to fifty seven workers were arrested, the|imtact out of a total of 1,600. The| come out and do something desperate. In the last week sev- ; eral people came to me and told me that they are hungry. I | try to get them to organize and fight for relief. believe in god so much that they are? But they UNION AIDS BOSS CUT CARPENTERS’ WAGES IN BEACON Suppress Protest of Rank, and File Beacon, N. ¥ Daily Worker: Here is a story of a breach of ¢ union agreement and a wage-cui brought about by our boss with the full agreement and co-operation of the union officials of Carpenters’ Lo- cal Union 323, Beacon, N, Y.: Berman Company’s Architectural Woodworking Factory, at Beacon, N. Y,, had a five-year agreement with the Brotherhood of Carpenters’ Union (AFL) from 1927 and expiring in December, 1932, The agreement stated that this scale of wages are to be $8 for 8 hours, and if during this period the carpenters of New York were to get a raise in wages Berman Co. was to raise wages in the same proportion (same percentage), On this basis the workers in Berman Cot y's factory were paid at a union scale of $46 a week, Bosses Cut Wages. Last week, on Jan. 15, the com- | pany announeed a wage-cut of $6 a week. This meant breaking the union. sereement. Our anger was aroused. and we were ready to fight. More- we were sure to win, since the job that was to be done was a hish~ cless tyne of work, requiring come petent, first-class mechanics and it was beine done in a place where the union Ishol wes renutred. We were srirnosed to meet with the executive of the Ioeal imion (223), but they did not show up. We forered unon the officials ecinl mestine of the Ioral. a The | meotine was eelicd, and the matter broveht on the floor, The businoss event of the wien renorted that the commany hed a vicht to eut wares in sch a time of “donression.” and that he realized that it was nerfectly natu- ral that the workers in the fectory should feel anery; but that all he can recommend is that those who do not want to accept the wage-cut hed | the firll liberty not to go to work. In the same spirit the chairman spoke; but when a rank and filer got un to exnnse this open sellout he was told by this same chairman that he wovld not be permitted to speak un- less he proved that he had his citi- zenshin papers, The rank and filer was told to sit down by a knock with the gavel, and the chairman yelled: “Next Order?” ‘Well, we workers In the Berman factory had a lesson, a lesson that showed that all we could expect from this A. F. of L. union is betrayals. In order to fieht against wage-cuts and all the other evils confronting us in our trade we will have to join the Building Construction Workers’ Industrial Union, affiliated with the Trade Union Unity League. Steayena Priel “ays Off O14 Workers Minneapolis, Minn. Daily Worker:— Conditions are eradually becoming worse in Minneapolis. Take for in- stance the Stevens Buick Co. This company has a habit of laying off the old workers who by the way are tax payers and many of whem have worked for the company for years. And then hiring outsiders at a con- siderable decrease in wages. The speed-up in this plant {s very bad. The workers are watched continually and must be on the job every minute. Fellow Workers—what are you going to do about this—do you knew there is an Unemployed Council in this town that is fighting against these conditions, and it is your duty to get lined up at once, fight for your rights and demonstrate at the City Hall on the 10th of February, JOBLESS WORK OFF FINES AUSTIN, Tex, — The house com- mittee on criminal jurisprudence has voted for a bill which says that pris~ oners who are unable to pay fines should be hired to individuals or work on the county roads, Talk about “eonviet” labor in the Workers’ Fa-- therland. Here, they not only jail Reading Iron Co., when new speed- up machinery was installed, workers for not having jobs, but foree them to work for nothing, 3