The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 26, 1931, Page 2

DALLY WURKER, NeW LURK, aHUneVAT, MARCH zo, 19s SEC’Y LAMONT ADMITS 246,724 WORKERS IN PHILA. ARE JOBLESS “Give A Job” Publicity Plastered in All Street) and Subway Cars Workers Offered 15 Cents An Hour; Layoffs Continue in All Large Plants , By HENRY ROBINSON Philadelphia, Pa. f For the past few weeks on every street car, elevated and| subway train, on every bus, has appeared the advertisement | of the President’s Emergency Committee for Unemployment. | “Give a neighbor a job” reads the advertisement on which is| a picture of “Our old prosperity wagon” being conducted by a} long team of horses, bearing signs: Odd jobs, little jobs, over- haul the old house, plastering, plumbing, ete. Then there is a big sign near “Put Old Prosperity Wagon,” CHESTER FORD’S which says “Gissap.” Also the leg- STAGGERS WORK; WAGES HIT LOW Docks Workers for All | they will only pull together.” j Points of Progress | Here are some of the points of | “progress” made by the President’s Emergency Committee’s “Old Pros- perity Wagon,” as it wénds its way over the ruts and dirt of the streets | of Philadelphia, far famed or. ill- ° s | famed city of Brotherly Love, Mam- Little Things to Cut moth Flop Houses, mass picket ar- Down on Wages |Fests, huge cuts in wages, scientific | technique in speed-up, and gigantic (By a Worker Correspondent) mass unemployment, as well as fre- CHESTER, Pa—The workers in| quent AFL sell-outs of workers. .... the Ford Plant here are becoming 1, Even Secretary of Commerce more and more disillusioned as the, Lamont is admits Philadelphia speed-up becomes more intense, and| hard hit; 24,724 workers out of | work, being 23.8 per cent of all the workers in the city. These figures the wages for longer working time fare decreased steadily below the cost of jiving. are by no means accurate, the real There is no certainty of what our| total being well over the number pay checks will be as last week the! given. domestic side were told that they 2. Part time employment for would get four days, but we only got; those workers still at work is the 21, di Not only do they lie about rule, full time being the exception the number of days we would work,| that pfoves the rule. which throws the family budget into/ confusion, but they refuse to tell us when we will work. Workers get) 15 cents an hour by virtually all up early and pack a lunch, pay from} concerns along Dock Street and 8c. to a dollar carfare, only to be| the water front generally. A 60- confronted at the factory gate with} hour week of back-breaking toil for a sign “No Work Today.” | the sum of nine dollars per week. end “There are plenty of horses if| ‘Thru | some neglect of the publicity agent| | the donkeys and asses are omitted... .| 3. Able bodied male adults are | being offered the remuneration of | The workers are also being con- | fronted with convincing proof that Ford is not the great humanitarian E prétends to be. On March third Lere was ho heat in the plant and} ie workers failed to dress for the :casion, passing a very miserable, | ld day. The inconsideration is not discussed. It is a part of Ford's) every day policy. Even the time-/ keepers and clerks have their desks built high, so that they have to| Stand up all day to work. Cheat Workers In the domestic department, when | anything breaks, the whole thing shuts down until it is repaired, and | we aré docked for that time. But} when they tell us how much time) we lost we always find that we have | been cheated out of 5 or ten minutes. | We aré supposed to have 20 minutes | off for lunch, but, when we stop, the | conveyor turns a few minutes longer, | s0 we have to hurry back to work | to catch up before twenty minutes | are up. When we lose one minute we aré docked fifteen minutes. If we | are late 15 minutes we are docked thirty minutes, and so forth. When | we fail to stamp our cards we are! docked fifteen minutes, and if the | clock is out of order and we cannot Stamp the card we are docked just the same, Ford a Gyp. Once the clock in the department where I work was out of order for) * about two months, and about a hun- Gred of us lost a lot of time. Had it | been a machine that would cost Ford | anything it would have been fixed | immediately. ‘When we get paid for working over- | time we only get straight time, and | Sometimes we don’t get paid at all. For instance, quitting time comes, ‘and we don't know whether we work overtime or not, we are told to work | until the foreman will find out. Often | from five to fifteen minutes elapse | before we find out that we weren't! supposed to work, and we don't get | @mything. A worker in the export | department tells me it is thé usual thing for him to lose very often 30 minutes in this way. So you can see how many different ways the “great humanitarian” has \ Of gsypping the workers. —One of Ford’s Slaves. Hotel Bosses Force Waiters to Pay for Phila. Boss ‘Relief’ (By 4 Worker Correspondent) PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—In the hotel Where I am working the bosses use a mew scheme every day to fool the workers.’ A waiter was instructed to call @ meeting of the other waiters. At this meeting we were told we have to offer from one dollar and up to help the unemployed. T protested that this was just an- other wage-cut and that the com- pany should contribute for the relief. So I was answered “We are not here to discuss Bolshevism,” All the other Workers stood by me. Five days later another meeting Was called, and one of the waiters ‘Was appointed to go out and investi- Bate those in need, and the company Would do a “favor” and help. Food workers, the bosses are fool- ing you. Wake up and show the bosses your might and don't let the suck the blood out of you by hours, wage-cuts and being if the boss sees you in the of coffee. mm. 4. Young girls are being offered all of $3 per week, if they are be- ginners at the New Way Laundry, 49th and Aspen Sts. This is also very hard toil. 5. Yonkers Tool Co. (F. North Co. Fourth and Leheigh Ave.) works most departments one and “two days a week With unheard of wage cuts. 6, The Enterprise Tool Co., makers of specialty tools, are fir- ing the men and hiring women at much lower wages. This kind of work is very difficult. Is there anything in a name? Yankee tools produced by Yankee methods. En- terprise Company—very: enterpris- ing—against the workers. 7. On the fifth floor of Hale and Kilburns, car builders, at 18th and Lehigh Ave. out of 500 workers usually working on the floor only seven are now employed. 8. Henry Disston and Son’s Saw Works employ normally 3,500 men and often more, for a full week's | time. The number of workers in nearly all departments has de- creased, the time was decreased first to three days, then te two days, then in many departments to one day. Now in a large number of departments they work on the unprecedented 14 day a week schedule. 9. Despite R. G. Dun’s optimistic reports yesterday and today as pub- lished in the lickspittle daily press, that trade was getting better, 1 per cent have received confidential re- | } ports from salesmen from leading | Jobbing houses that they sold one- half the amount of merchandise in January, 1931, than they did in Jan- tary, 1930, and that since then, dur- ing February and March conditions have worsened. Many salesmen don’t go out at all or for but a few hours | a day, as the expenses are far great- er than anything they can earn. These facts, coupled with the known lay- offs at leading department stores and mail order houses give the Me direct to R. G. Dun’s and Bratdstreet’s prosperity ballyhoo. 10.—Thousands of workers aré still on strike in the textile districts of this city and vicinity, and a§ many as 200 pickets are arrestéd in one day. Oh, yes, “Our Old Prosperity Wagon.” It's about to tumble into pieces REFUSE. RELIEF 10 APPLE SELLER Officials Forced His Eviction penens (By a Worker Corresporident) PHILADELPHIA.—An apple seller of Philadelphia, one of thdsé pros- perous workers who the city govern- ment claim are wallowing in luxury as a result of his apple vending, is to be evicted from his home and his ment of rent. This worker, Harry Goldberg, of 628 Mercy St., Phila., came to the meeting of the Central Unemployed Council of Phila., and told us that he is to be evicted and his furniture sold because he cannot make enough to buy bread for his wife and three children, let alone pay rent! ‘This worker, when he wetit to the that he| INDIANA city administration for relief, was re fused relief on the grounds ‘ae furniture sold because of non pay-| § You Ger work q\ 4 PA ttt eee | IRING OTHER | WORKER. A NEGRO | 1)|NoJo® ToDay 1) COME Bacie, a |Next wee Met ramen | y) * FACTORY q Ne You ARE THe Las WE Yau A Jon, MAN 1 HIBE YT Wee, (MANY MEETS IN | PHILADELPHIA '2 Big Indoor Meets in the Evening; All Out 28th! International Solidarity Day, com- | ing Saturday, March 28, will be marked throughout Philadelphia with open-air meetings in all parts of the city, followed by two big indoor gatherings. The open-air meetings will begin at 7 p. m. at the following corners: Seventeenth and Fitzwater Sts., 7th and Snyder Ave., 11th and Rod-} man Sts., 13th and Reed Sts. Mervine and Columbia Ave., Mer- vine and Girard Ave. Hutchirison and Poplar Sts., 46th and Havarford Ave., 40th and Poplar Sts., 32nd and} Cumberland Sts., 24th Sts. 22nd and Indiana Ave., Pherson Square. Indoor mass meetings will be held, at 1208 Tasker St. and 2802 Ken- sington Ave. All preparations are being made) | jointly by the League of Struggle for Negro Rights, International Labor Defense and District Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born.| March 28 must bring évéry worker | Mc- of Philadelphia into the ranks to) demonstrate against deportations of | militant workers, against the white bosses’ terror, against mass arrésts and jailings, against Jim-Crowism , and lynching of Negro workers. The | demonstrations must especially be | utilized to build the League of Strug- gle for Negro Rights into a strong Mass organization of Negro and | White workers. Workers Calendar New Fingland District Trial in neers > > April , Bridgeport; Ap NEW YORK A violin | dances wl i recita he « ton Irving Hall, 920 Main ILD on April 5 at 3 p.m. A io 50c. Proceeds to Ainnesty Fund. . NEW JERSEY New Brunswick Forum Home. | _ Open Workers’ D Dancing, a Bo. oh, Sak Jersey City John Reed Youth Club mee | 8p. m. at 154 Jackson Ave. on Fr | March 27, ee MASSACHUSETTS Boston che ne 0 AN eacle inst Deportation) at 1095 the Butler Hall, Masonic Temple. 1095 Tremint Ave. Prominent speaks ers, 6 Chelxea Workers Defense Forum takes Place Friday, M>rch 27 at 8 p,m. st Community Hall, 88 Hawthorne St Admission free, Good speakers and subject. . CALIFORNIA Lom Angeles International Picnic Sunday. April i9th at Concordia Club Grounds. 1514 West Broadway. Anaheim, Calif. Aus- ices International Labor Defense District 14, 120 Winston St. Adm. 35c, Transportaton 1h¢ eiitra. Or show your unemployéd, council ecard. PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia “Fire fn Galicia’ a revolutionary play will be given by the Uktainian ub at. Ukrainian Hall $49 North Franklyn. Proceeds to Pénnayivania State Hunger March, April 10 to 14, Admission 60c., children ibe, 5 Re “Crap Ivan the Terrible’ will be shown a the Hungarian Singing So- ciety Home, 1144 N, Fourth St. on Saturday, March 28 at 8:15 p, m. Adm. 35c, Be ot aie Jamestown The Unemployed Council will hold it8 dance at the Norge, Temple at 8 p.m. on Friday, Maren 27. Prom- nent speakers, . MICHIGAN _ ¢ GRAND RAPIDS ‘The os ers Center bas moved from 756 Division Ave. to 336 Rond it, Spatairs, hetween Michigan and Cresce tiona to th Send all com: our address on your mailing Hat, oe jew address and Detroit The Jewish Workers Chorus will hold its annual concert Sunday, Mar. 29 at the Finnish Hall, 5969-14th Aye, Lae ea ILLINOIS— Chicaga ther” party of the Food 8 Industrial, Union will Hall, 1628 W. T March 28, p,m. Admssion 25 cents. FOR MARCH 28, and Turner) Many General Electric Mechanics in West Philadelphia Are Unemployed (By a Worker Correspondent) PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Seeing that }so many unemployed workers write to you about their fights I decided to do the same thing. The little street in West Phila- delphia where I live looks friendly and even prosperous at a superficial | glance. That is why so many unem- | ployed men and women call at my door, while I myself have been un- employed for a long time. They come as many as a score @ day. Sorne of them tell me how hungry they are, and ask me, in God’s name to give them a nickel. Women are trying to sell various | petty articles explaining that their husbands have been out of work for many months. They have nothing in their houses and dread the future. For the last 12 years I have never been fired and during that time I} ps Ine A GOTTA LUTE = ' a8 x Sor; WoL J THE ADVENTURES OF BILL WORKER —Demonstrate March 28 Against Race Discri A HEADACHE OF A & | Frasperibey| Hoover” ¢ | ANOTHER. Day You ARE The L. MAN HIREID. mination!—* oe eat eed TRENTON COUNCIL ‘Get Private Contractors to Cut On | OF UNEMPLOYED | came disgusting. One man after! | Worker and I’m going to spread the | Daily Worker, and get other work- | ers to join the Communist Party, | just as I have done. was able to get along as a mechanic. I was working in the General Elec- tric Co. when the piece-work trick was pulléd over on us. This was) merely the means of squeezing more | hard work out of us and speeding us| up to the utmost. Conditions be-| another dropped off and after 12 months I had to quit. I could stand it no longer. | Only last week one of the men} told me conditions were unbearable. Many of the mechanics in the Gen- eral Electric are very bitter and are fast becoming radicalized. In conclusion I want to say that I think the world of the Daily PETER HANSON, Member Philadelphia Worcorrs. | RESIST EVICTION IN READING, PA. Unemployed Council in Demonstration Wins (By A Worker Correspondent.) READING, Pa.—Here, in Reading. we have had many eviction cases. | From now on we are going to report | |} on these and other affairs in this “socialist” town of “ours.” The last eviction cgse we handled | was that of a foreign-born fami. Maniccucci, of 671 Clinton St., whom the sheriff had levied for non-pay- ment of rent. The head of this family has been confined to an hos- | | pital for the last five months. The total sum of the levy amounted to $120.95. U. C. On the Job. ‘The Unemployed Council immedi- ately got on the job. First we went | to Sheriff Victor Goodheart, de-| manding that the levy be withdrawn. | "The sheriff made it plain that he) | was under bond to act for the bosses, and therefore our demand was re- fused. We then went to the attor-| ney, Silas Rothmel, who got frothy | when the delegates entered his of- | fice. He said: “The hell with your | Unemployed Council, they ain't my The man down below is my The man “down below” was | Rocco Frasso, the agent of the cwner. We went to him and made | him give us the name of the original owner. Next thing to do was to hold a demonstration in front of the own- | er’s house, demanding that the evic- | tion be stopped ahd the levy taken off. We were threatened with vio- | lence, and sure enough the boss, with | very little effort, got the “socialist” | police to “protect” him, A motor- cycle cop appeared, with a big gat _hanging on his side, but when he found that we weren't the. least scared when this bully got funny, he had fo leave. Resist Eviction. Next morning we sent our men and occupied the home, awaiting the sheriff's arrival. About 10 o'clock, instead of the sheriff his deputy and a clerk came in to sell the furniture. When they saw that the whole neighborhood was mobilized to re- sist the scoundréls, they went into a pool room and picked up 4 few bums who didn’t mind “taking things,” and made them deputies. After getting four machine loads of thésé characs ters he returned to this woman's fiouse and told us to “get the hell out.” However, none of us moved, and the sheriff had to chafge his mind. He was fotced to go to the landlord and get just what the Un- employed Council had demand $25 for a new apartment for woman. This is an example of what we are doing in Reading, and certainly it is due to such work that the member- ship of our Unemployed Council has been growing steadily. —Worcorr, No. 5. | hold a dance for the benefit of the Young orker whieh ix to take place aturday, ril ii at 8 p.m. at 1800 Adams St, Plenty of musie and dane. ing. Admission 26e, oHIO Youngstown Inter racial dance given by the Labor Sports pris Saturday, March at the U. K, Hall, 525 W. Rayen JIM CROW BREAD | LINE IN PHILA. ‘alvation Army Says| “Praise God” (By a Worker Correspondent) PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—F'e 110 w- | workers, we can now plairily see the | necessity of organizing and coming | together, for conditions are becoming | worse and worse every day. There! were workers in the bread line today at 5ist and Chestnut Sts. from 6) a. m, to 7:30 p.m. One woman in| line just fell out from cold and hun- | ger. In this bread line, like in many cthers in Philadelphia, they use Jim-Crow tactics, picking and send- ing the white workers in first. “Praise God from whom all bless- ings flow.” The manager at the Sal. vation Army says to the workel “Why don’t you all start singing “Praise God?” After the workers stood for about ten hours in line they had replied to the manager: “To hell with that. Sing it your- self, we are hungry.” So they took the workers’ cards away and said: “Now you can be on your way home.” But the workers refused to go, and the cards were given back to them. ‘We must fight for real unemploy- ment relief and unemployment in- surance, in the Unemployed Coun- cils, affiliated with the Trade Union Unity League. Only in this way can we really help ourselves. —A Negro Laborer. Petsensnenmoreestenteny Smash the antl-labor laws of the ‘bosses! | more. MAKES DEMANDS 83 A Week for Short. Time Is “Relief” for 10,000 Jobless (By a Worker Correspondent) TRENTON, N. J.—In the city Trenton, N. J., where there is at least 10,000 out of jobs, the city of Trenton bosses’ relief committee were notified by a committee of six from the Unemployed Council with a let- ter stating their immediate ‘demands. of (By a Worker Correspondent) PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—-Many men have been laid off at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and more were given reductions of as much PHILA. POLICE SLUG STRIKERS Bank Robberies Grow) in Philadelphia The answer they received from the bosses’ relief committee was that they would investigate, which they | had done several times. | If they find a bottle of wine in} the cellar you receive no relief. If| you worked for the city at least 10} | days, you receive no more relief. The | | Wages are $3 a day and they also | include rainy days that you don’t} work with no pay. $3-$4 Is Called Relief. Tf you receive from $3 to $4 a week from the city, no matter how many children you have, you receive no} If you beg for relief from anyone you are charged with vagrancy and) Jailed. If you make a kick about the relief that they are giving you then you are railroaded to jail for from 30 to 180 days. | Railroad Those Who Protest. | For an example, we have a com-| tade from the Unemployed Council who made a kick about the relief | given him by @ city mission for | working all day sawing wood and his | pay was 1 pound of coffee, 1 pound | of spaghetti, 1 can of milk, 4 stale breads. He made a kick about it | Sts. PHILADELPHIA, Pa—A crime) wave that would make all the Chi- | cago gangsters blush with shame broke out during the week-end here. | One mob of gunmen held up a bank, locking in the vaults, bank officials and policemen on guard at the bank. | Another mob held up the payroll—so the factory managers say. Other hold-ups of smaller nature took place, | but the police could do nothing—ac- cording to the police. One of their | alibis is “Attempts at hold-ups | Negroes.” This is a threadworn| alibi and does not hold water. j But when it comes to workers, Ah. There the police are competent, | very compétent in protecting the} bosses and injuring the workers. — | ‘Thus, last Friday evening a whole | squadron of charging policemen used their guns and fired at hundreds of hosiery workers who were holding a strike demonstration outside the In- tegrity Mills at “G” and Lycoming Eye-witnesses declare that the po- lice, immediately upon arriving at the scene, drew their revolvers and opened fire. Not satisfied with this, they arrested 30 pickets. —B. W. and they told him that it was to last for Saturday night’s supper, Sunday all day, and, if he worked | Monday, he would receive more. So | he protested and said he wanted) more for his work and they ordered | him out, but he would not go. They} called the police and railroaded him | to jail for six months. Now this same man was showing | up the measly relief he was getting and was sént to jail, but was soon released by the I. L. D., because he was a member of the Unemployed Council, who are fighting against} this fake relief the city is handing out. ‘The only way you workers are go- ing to get anything is to join the} fight | Unemployed. Councils and against this kind of relief they are handing out. The Unemployed Council in the city of Trenton meets at 20 Second St. every Tuesday and Friday at 3p. m. —P. W. H. By CYRIL BRIGGS - NEW YORK.—Ii an attempt once more to divert the Négro masses from militant struggle against lynching, if i i i fi es: Hl i ge ad 3 z i zE co — z 3 : i Fish and Negro Reformists in Move to Betray Struggle Against Lynching of the national struggle of the Ne- gro masses fully realize that the mas- sés are turning away from their treacherous léadérship is shown by the latge number of fakers who have joined in the presént desperate move to maintain their influence. For this large representation of traitors, the Fish is no doubt mainly rey cr ine Tisai dnarkaet, the rest of the imperialist oppressors, ot any move to unite the Negro and UKRAINIAN HALL White Theiees Besiems iets commie: $49 NORTH FRANKLIN STREET. ‘The meeting 1s to be under the|} Vanguard Dramatic Group—w. 1. ®. Childrés’s Orchestra ~Viotinkst auspices of the Rthtopian Hebrew Busan Singer fare Association, the Tiger Division of the U.N.LA. (Garvey Movement), and the Costnopolitan Baptist Church. The Ust of speakers is headed by Fish, and includes Joseph A. Gavagan, Anthony Griffin, Thomas H. Cullen, J. Dalmus Steele, J, Finley Wilson, Ferdinand Q. Morton, Bishop Edward Johnson, Mrs. I. M. Blackstone, Rabbi W. A. Matthew, Rev. 5.P.W. Drew, and General St. William W. Grant, the Garvey migleader who engineered the murder of Comrade Levy at a Harlem meeting of the Communist g Sane Negro and white te ge | are you. Party against lynching. ORGANIZE TO END STARVATION; DEMAND “Something Doing If No Relief” Warns A | Wilmiagton Boss Rag) (By a Worker Correspondent) WILMINGTON, Del.—The _ Eve- ning Journal of this city makes the statement that unless more money is contributed to help the thousands of jobless here there'll be something do- ing. In their own language this bour- geois newspaper says “There is ur- gent need of more contributions if the present peaceful conditions are to continue. “Peaceful” should of course be in quotation marks, as there is never peace for the workers of Wilmington, in the realm of the DuPonts, or the rest of the Delaware capitalists. No, contributions will not solve the problem. This is only one of the fake schemes of thie bosses to fur- ther the hardships of the jobless. The workers of Wilmington must unite their ranks and plunge into the fight for unemployment insur- ance and immediate relief. —R.E. Wages of Phila. Navy Yard Workers as 40 per cent in pay BECAUSE OF LACK OF WORK. Soon after © that the battleship Wyoming ap- peared. The hypocrisy of that LACK OF WORK excuse was éx- posed when 10 machinists and helpers, sent to clean the fuel oil tanks, were replaced by a private contractor with outside labor hired at 30 cents per hour. So it isn’t @ matter of work, but one of wages. Last week I mentioned the bad ventilation at the foundry, Pain- ters sent in to paint the foundry, after eating some of the vapors there, refused to continue without gas masks. The moulders claim that this condition exists nowhere else outside the yard. A heating system was installed and can be put into operation at any time. It isn’t used, but instead wood fires are made in pots, which aggra- vates the smoky conditions existing there, The moulders’ were rushed to death puting out catapult castings, but machinists were laid off while the castings lay around. Now the moulders are doubling up—a lay- off and possibly wage reductions will follow. The moulders aré all in the A. F, of L. union and are not allowed to work for lower pay— and, as the unions say, we are fot allowed to strike against the gov- ernment. Then the only thing left to do is to fight in the event of wage reductions. In other words, the A. F. of L. says—“Starve, don't fight.” But the majority of the Navy Yard workers are thoroughly dis- gusted with the A. F, of L. unions, and it won't be tong before they will be in the Metal Workers’ In- dustrial League, with a new policy and slogan, Fight, Don’t Starve. —A YARD WORKER. PITTSBURGH BOSTON Daily Worker Readers Meet at The New Garden Restaurant 32 Causeway Street “Delicious meals. Comradely atmospher. ; e Special arrangements can he made for groups and partes Remember DR, RASNICK 715 North Highland Avenue PHONE MONTROSE 8480 GLENSIDE UPHOLSTERY ALL REPAIRS DONE. _AT REASONABLE PRICES Roberts Block, No. 1 GLENSIDE, PA. ‘Telephone: Ogonts 3 PHILADELPHIA, PA. —Celebrate the 60th Anniversary— of the PARIS COMMUNE Friday Evening, March 27, 8 p. m. RICHARD B. MOORE, Speaker Auspices:—International Labor Defense (Washington Squate Bldg.) ADMISSION 25 CENTS YOUNG PIONEERS OF AMERICA MONSTER EXPOSITION Sunday, March 29th PEOPLES AUDITORIUM 2457 WEST CHICAGO AVENUE Continuous program from 3:30 p. m. including: Children’s Masquerade—Exhibition of Squad Activities—Concert Dancing until midnight—Other interesting features ADMISSION 35 cents for adults—10 cents for children Don’t miss this exposition!