The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 31, 1931, Page 4

wer Published by the Comprodatly Publishing Co. dail Page Four 8th Street, New York N 1 Sale i Why Paterson Workers Strik Labor Research Asscciation Reports ie w a 5 oF cases due to the Specd-up and Unsanitary Long Hour the question- y important phase of conditions of these repre- important facts obtained s group of Paterson work- Some of t mos from the survey of ti ers are the fo Wages From $500 to $600 a Year. When deduction is made for periods of un- employment, the aver: arly income of the 25 weavers int iewed was just under $600 in 1930. The dye workers’ income for thé year, after taking into consideration their unemploy- ment, was even less—$531. Wages for the weeks actually worked are, of course, higher than the weekly average when figured for the whole 52 weeks in the year. They ran about $21 a week for weavers who were on a ten-hour shift and a five and a half day week, while warpers, a higher skilled craft, averaged $32 for the weeks they worked. Dye workers, when employed full time for six days of 13 hours each, were able to make about $23. ‘Those who may recall #hat the 8-hour day was established in Paterson in the “44-hour strike” of 1919, will realize how much worse con- ditions have since become when they note that the hours now worked by this group of weavers range from 82 to 12 a day. But of the 26 ‘weavers examined, only one worked the 81-hour shift. Seven of them worked 9 hours, two worked 91; five worked 10 hours, two worked 10%, while five worked 11 hours and three worked 12 hours a day. The severe unemployment is responsible for the low yearly incomes of. these workers of all occupations, as most of them were unemployed from 4 to 6 months a year during the last year. This unemployment does not, of course, ruh all in one stretch. The great majority of workers will be working full time at certain periods, while at other times they will be out of work for several weeks on end. But when all actual working time is totalled it is found that few workers have more than from 6 to 8 months’ 2mployment during the course of the year. “Living” Standards. With such wages it could not be expected that Paterson workers would be able to have anything resembling eyen a minimum “health and decency” standard of living. While most of them may buy bread, some meat and the plainer varieties of food, such luxuries as movies, or other amusements to break the drab grind of the worker’s life, seemed to be out of range of the majority of those questioned. For the 40 workers examined, 27 reported spending nothing on movies or amusements. Twenty-three of the workers stated they needed medical treatment, but could not pay for it. Three of the workers had been quite sick during the past year, but were unable to remain home because of the necessity to earn something when there was any work at all to be had in the shops. Fourteen of the workers were ill in bed during the past year, eight of them from one to three weeks and six of them from five weeks to three months. Only ten of them could afford to have any medical treat- ment. Only three of the workers had what could be called a vacation during the year, and these were not vacations with pay, such as all the workers enjoy in the Soviet Union. As one worker puts it, “My only vacation is when I'm out of work or on strike.” Debts and Savings. Debt hangs like a millstone around the necks of these silk workers. Eleven of them now owe rent for one month or more, and 26 owe money to persons or organizations on amounts borrowed during the past year or before. One weaver re- ports borrowing $200 from a loan company that charges 36 per cent interest. Many owe consid- erable amounts to finance companies which threaten to take over furniture or other articles on which installment payments remain unpaid. In a country where there is no unemployment. insurance of any kind these workers would na- turally be expected to be laying something aside for days of unemployment as well as old age. But of the 40 workers interviewed, 27 reported inability to make any savings at all during the past few years. As one of them, aged 62, put it, “I have not seen a bank since 1918”—a boom year in the Paterson silk mills. Of 24 workers who found it necessary to borrow money during the last year, only four had been able to pay back the money borrowed, which ranged from $100 to $600 each. And 15 of the workers owed money to the grocery and butcher shops—sums ranging from $10 to $526, five of them owing amounts over $100 General Working Conditions. Workers not only complain of low wages, long hours when at work and unemployment. ‘There are many specific conditions on the job which give point to the demands now being made by the strikers in Paterson In not cne of the. shops where these workers were cmployed were there any washing ties with anything but cold water on tap. in every cese the wor and towe! pcili- And upplies his own soap where a towel was supplied by it had to do for 30 In some cas s in the old Phoenix mill, the water is not fit to drink, Twenty-one of the workers complained of darkness and lack of proper lighting in the @hops, while four mentioned as especially an- moying the too glaring light over their looms. Eye-strain is a common complaint, and deaf- hess often results from the thunderous noise of the looms, especially in the small shops with low ceilings. Practically all of the workers told of freezing old in the shops in winter, when it is necessary to wear coats on the jobs, and intense heat in summer, when neither adequate ventilation nor fans are provided. The night workers, in par- ticular, reported that in winter the heat 1s turned off after a certain hour and the workers sre compelled to work in a freezing temperature the rest of the night. ~ Over half the workers reported excessive | or omer ORS OEM MR x y conditions in the broad silk the old mills along the race on Van Houten St. such as the old Proenix mill, in the old Dunlap mill, in the Wishr Bidg., at Mill St 1 Madison St., such as the Dol and the cellar shops on M were ers who had been er ly condemned by work- d in them workers especially complained of excessive humidity. In some dye the windows are kept closed to prevent e dye pness dust accumulation, with no other ventilation provided. The conditions in dye houses are imilar to the by the Work Health Bureau of America in its intensive study of the aye pls Passaic and vicinity in 1926, and described by Grace Hutchins of the Labor Re- search Association in her book, “Labor and Silk.” Practically all workers reported filthy and dusty work rooms and complete lack of sanitary toilets. In all cases, the workers are compelled to sweep the floor near their machines, the time spent on this coming out of their own pockets— especially if they are employed on a piece-work basis. Losses Due to Machine Breakdown and Fines. Of the 25 weavers examined 16 estimated losses due to breakdown of machines ranging from $2 to $5 a week, Delays in repairing of machines were attributed to fie antiquated ma- chinery or to the excessive load of work piled on the loom-fixer. The fining system—a common grievanee in all textile mills—prevails for all crafts in the silk. In cases where it does not exist the workers are fired if the material is damaged. Some 30 of the workers report fines for damaged ma- terial. The usual charge by the workers is that the boss fines them at will and determines arbi- trarily the amount to be paid by the worker. Often the boss does not even show the worker the imperfect fabric, but, in spite of this fact, the worker is either forced to pay or quit the Job, ‘Weavers contend that the damages are due not to their carelessness but to the cheap and defective machinery used. Examples of the amount and types of fines common in the Paterson shops are: $1.50 for a finger mark, $2 to $2.40 for a missing “end” or thread in a piece of woven fabric, $5 for an un- specified damage which the boss refused to show to the worker, $1.50 fine on a warper for “waste.” Speed-Up.. Every single worker interviewed complained of the speed-up system. The weavers in par- ticular rebelled against having to operate more looms. Whereas before two looms were the rule, the four-loom system has been common since 1924. The bosses are now trying to introduce the six-loom system even on old and dilapidated machines. Warpers likewise complain of in- creases in the amount of work required and ad- ditions to the number of spindles and bobbins they have to run on a warp. Dye workers re- port a new electrically operated machine which enables one man to do the work of five, but with a much greater strain and fatigue load on the worker. Other dyers told of charts used to spur on the night shift to keep up with the standards set by the day shift. The output of dyers is now almost double that of a few years ago, due to the faster pace at which they are forced to work. Quill winders report working on 50 spindles instead of 40, as formerly. A loom- fixer has to tend 47 looms, instead of the former 36, and in many instances he has to tend 100 with only one helper to assist him. Winders before 1924 would run only three “sides” and earn from $18 to $22 a week for eight hours. Today these winders tend four “sides” and earn about 30 cents ah hour, or about $16.50 or less a week when they put in full time. The girls complain that they “can’t keep our ends up” and that the silk breaks more often than for- merly. Accidents. As a result of the furious speed-up, accidents are on the increase. Fourteen weavers report accidents from flying shuttles with absolutely no prevention measures undertaken by the man- agement. Nine others report that screens used to protect the workers are usually full of holes or not large enough to give real protection. Other accidents are caused by the breaking of belting or shafts, and the oil on the floor, which makes a speeded worker slip and fall. One re- ports that he was laid up for a week from such an accident, but received no compensation. An- other of these workers, whose foot was caught in an unguarded machine, was laid up for four weeks and received a total of only $28 in com- pensation. Warpers, forced to lift heavy warps unassisted, report many ruptures. Dyers like- wise tell of many burns and fingers caught in unguarded machines. No Unemployment Insuran Some of the questions asked the workers met with a universal negative. For example, none of the workers reported any kind of unemploy- ment relief either from private charity or from y or other authorities. Nor did they receive any relief while sick or suffering from an occu- pational disease. Compensation is given in New Jersey for only a limited number of such dis- eases, and the proof of their occupational na- ture is complicated and usually impossible. And none of the workers had any income from any source other than their wages. “The survey of conditions among these rep- resentative workers in Paterson shows how mod- erate ands of the s ing silk work- Research Association. ‘Cer- jusions are immediately apparent from the report of these workers. The industry, as operated under the chaos of capitalism, is ut- terly demoralized. It does not pay the workers who give their sweat and blood to it anything approaching a livings wage. At the same time the hours of work have become insufferab! long, while unemployment is an increasingly hor- rible nightmare for the worker, Speed-up is universal as the bosses struggle against each other, each taking the last ounce of energy he'can get out of his workers. The organiza- tion of the workers into a fighting union, which makes a continucus and determined struggle for higher wages. shorter hours, unemployment in- sveenan and the shomtion of the fining and the speed-up system, is absolutely imperative. “The answer only to the bosses’ sweatshop slavery,” the Research Association adds, “is a solid organization of the workers, both in the silk manufacturing and the dye plants of Pat- erson as well as in Pennsylvania and in every silk center in the country.” The investigation was undertaken at the re- Ti at 50 & a kk 4s SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Central Org Pepynist Party U.S.A. THE BRITISH “LABOR” OPPOSITION PR EPARES FOR BATTL® | | | | THE OVERALLS VERY Goono,’ENRY DON'T FORGET tHe By BURCK THE MANIFESTO Gannes Pamphlet on Graft and Gangsters Just Out 'HERE has just come off the press a new pam- phlet, “Graff and Gangsters” by Harry Gannes. This excellent pamphlet takes up in a@ graphic manner the origin and growth of graft, gangsterism and racketeering in the Unit- ed States and bristles throughout with facts about the use of gangsters and police, “capital- ism’s twins” (using particularly Chicago, New York, Detroit and Philadelphia as examples) in breaking strikes, murdering militant workers, at- tacks on foreign born and Negro workers, main- taining the rule of fascist A. F. of L. officials, controlling elections for the bosses, frame-up of innocent victims, and also with exposures of graft throughout the whole fabric of American capitalism. The pamphlet clearly shows the in- tricate way in which graft, gangsterism and racketeering are bound up with the capitalist system itself while in the Soviet Union where the capitalist system has been overthrown and workers’ rule established “the cess-pools of crime, graft, corruption and pogroms of the Czarist regime have been wiped out” and that there “grafting is a-crime punishable by death, a crime against the entire working class.” The pamphlet calls upon the workers to or- ganize Workers Defense Corps to protect them- selves against all forms of terror of the bosses and to march forward under the banner of the Communist Party and the revolutionary unions to the overthrow of the whole capitalist system in the United States. This pamphlet should be part of the arsenal of every revolutionary work- er in winning the majority of the working class for the revolutionary movement and should be sold’ and distributed in tens of thousands of copies in the next few months. It may be se- cured from the Workers Library Publishers, P. O. Box 148, Station D, New York City, at 10c per copy or 12 for $1 postpaid. District, section and unit literature agents should send their or- ders in immediately in the regular manner. Don’t delay! The Significance of Workers’ Correspondence By HARRY RAYMOND. Wwe the present upward surge of the revo- lutionary movement in America—the wide- spread strike struggles, the struggles for unem- ployment insurance ahd relief and against evic- tions, the mass movement for Negro rights and against lynching and the growing influence of our Party and the Trade Union Unity League among great sections of the American working class—it becomes necessary to build our revolu- tionary publications into greater mass papers catering to the widest sections of the working class. In order to accomplish this we must exert special effort to develop atid organize a more formidable workers’ correspondence moye- ment. “The Daily Worker, Labor Unity, Southern Worker, Uj Elore and Novy Mir have made great strides forward in this direction. Considerable space is being allotted by these papers for the publication of workers’ correspondence and notes, and regularly workers’ letters appear in their columns reporting on working class con- ditions and struggles throughout the country. Workers’ corréspondence on the whole has been improving in both volume and content, but we show a serious lagging behind in the organ- izational aspect of this work, most of the cor- respondence appearing in our press being spon- taneous, coming from individual workers and very little coming from groups of organized worker correspondents in the shops and fac- tories. Must Build Groups. It is this phase of the work—the organiza- tional phase—to which we must give special at- “tention. Shop groups, factory grov~s, neighbor- hood groups of worker corresponde:i‘s must be built throughout the country to send in regular By TONY MINERICH. “| ABOR” DAY has been celebrated for many years in this country. Big bellied, A. F. of L. agents of the bosses, have been telling meet- ings of the workers about the “wonderful” op- portunities enjoyed in this country.” The bosses press has carried speeches of those gentlemen, telling how we are “free born Americans” and how the “young workers and children of. this country can some day become president.” This year—because of the great unemploy- ment, starvation, wage cuts, bosses’ terror and war prephrations—these agents of the bosses will use “Labor” Day to try to more than ever fool the workers. They want to stop the work- ers from carrying on a militant struggle against the bossgs. But the Workers International Re- lief and the Penn.-Ohio Striking Miners’ Relief Committee, will turn this so-called “Labor” Day into a Solidarity Day with the splendid fight of the coal miners and textile workers. It is very important that the working class youth take part in these counter demonstrations. Soli- darity Day—which is one day before Interna- tional Youth’ Day—must also become a fight- ing day of the youth. . In the mining fislds, thousands of young work- ers are among the unemployed, and part-time | workers. These young workers, not being able to get work anywhere, and not getting any re- lef, were soon faced with hunger. In many cases, miners’ daughters were unable to leave their shacks because they did not have suffi- cient clothing. Children did not go to school because of lack of food and clothing. The un- employed miners were also hungry, as wages were continually cut and conditions worsened. Because of this, the miners came out on strike. This strike of employed and unemployed miners was met with the sharpest terror. All agents of the bosses were mobilized to try and break the strike. Many miners were clubbed, jailed and killed. Among those shot and arrested by the bosses’ thugs, were many young miners. William thugs at Shadyside, Ohio, In ‘Vestaburg, Pa., three Vargo brothers were among the many clubbed, arrested and shot because of militant strike activity, to mention only a few of them. Simon, a 16-year-qld miner, was killed by mine | “Labor” Day and the Youth and girls in the mining camps because they have helped greatly to carry on the fight. In the fight against the A. F. L. strikebreak- ers, the young miners also carried on important activity. When it came to driving the United Mine Workers’ strikebreaking speakers out of the mining town and fighting against the at- tacks of the United Mine Workers gangsters, the youth were also in the forefront. It is true that in some cases insufficient effort was made to organize the young miners. For a time there were cases where the young miners were leading the back-to-work movement. However, with the working out of a program of youth de-' mands, and the organization of youth sections and youth committees, they again came into the struggle. In the textile strike field the young workers have also carried on a militant struggle. In Lawrence, Petorson, Pawtucket, Putnam, etc., the youth make up a big percentage of the tex- | tile strikers. In the leadership of the strike are many young workers. In Rhode Island, the bosses tried to break the strike by arresting and threatening to deport Ann Burlak, the young strike Ice". In Paterson, every day groups of young w , °ts are being clubbed and arrested for their activity in picketing the shops against the combined c’~ike-breaking activity of the A. F, of L., Musteites and Lovestoneite leadership. The same has been true. of strikes in the Needle Trades, where the youth helped win the dog-furriers strike and were actually the lead- ers in the Diana strike of 200 girls, won by the Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial Union.» ‘This year, the bosses and their agents will do their utmost to win these fighting youth for their position of class collaboration and peace, which actually means wage-cuts, speed-up and bosses’ war preparations. Against this we must win the youth for militant struggle against the bosses and their agents, To do this, the youth, must help turn bosses’ “Labor” Day into real “Solidarity Day,” with the fighting miners and textile workers, by turning out en masse to the Solidarity Day demonstration and festival at Starlight Park, Sept. 7th (Labor Day). \ Relief will help win these important strikes. Everyone must do their share to help. The young workers have much to do in this connec- auest of the National Textile Workers’ Union. The bosses are especially brutal against the hoys tien, Solidarity Day. must be a huge suceess group correspondence to our Party, language and trade union press, The method of building these groups is very simple. No complicated problems of: organiza- tion should be involved. ‘The groups ‘should be started by getting together two, three or more worisers in a specific neighborhood, shop, factory or ‘city’to send regular contributions: to ‘our press. A responsible comrade should be as- signed in each section to give guidance and leadership to this work, to develop and instruct the groups and to keep the grouzs in teuch with the national workers’ correspondence committee. The groups should meet regularly ta’ discuss théir thaterial and thé immediate problemsand struggles of the workers that need immediate attention in our press. In a city where there are several worker cor- respondents sending regular letters to our press, these workers should be called together to form a group. These groups must be non-dues pay- ing and should draw in the unorganized work- ers and vorkers in the A. F. of L. unions. Daily Worker C‘ubs and all workers’ clubs and organ- izations r:ust be drawn into the work of build- ing work>or correspondence groups within their structure to send in regular collective cor- respondence, International Correspondence. | Not only must our worker correspondents send letters to the American revolutionary press, but we must build up a stronger international cor- Tespondence movement. We must stimulate an increasing exchange of letters between the work- ers in the United States and the workers in the Soviet Union and the capitalist countries and their colonies. One of the functions of the work- ers’ correspondence groups is to send regular group letters to the press to be forwarded to the Soviet Union, Germany, England, France, China, etc. These letters will be published in the press abroad and replies to them will appear in the columns of the American press. What to Write About. What should worker correspondents write about? The burning issues that face the work- ers daily. Throughout all the stages of the big strike struggles the worker corréspondents must be ever at the front—pointing out the shortcom- ings, strengthening the morale of the strikers, hammering away at the building of rank and file strike committees and rallying the workers to support the strikes by sending relief. « Experiences in building Unemployed Councils, the shortcomings of the Councils, must be re- flected in the workers’ correspondence. Exposes of factory and shop conditions, reports of wage- cuts, exposes of reformist panaceas to “relieve the unemployed,” reports of betrayals of the A. F. of L. and the socialist party—all will serve to mobilize the workers for more decisive struggle. |. Every tyranny of the boss, every attack against Negro and foreign born workers, big or small, every scheme to entrap the workers to work faster should be the subject of a letter to the workers’ press. All the major campaigns of the Communist Party and Trade Union Unity League should be linked up with the day to day shop work and reflected in the workers’ corres- pondence. Especially now during our election campaigns must our worker correspondents be on the alert exposing the bosses’ parties and rallying the workers to collect signatures to put our candidates on the ballot and to vote Com- munist, More letters from workers to our press, more news from the shops, mills and mines, more group correspondence, <-ore organization of workers’ correspondence groups—all this is need- ed to build our revolutionary publications into mightier mass organs of working class struggle. Let us then intensify our efforts to build our press by throwing more force into the develop- ment of a broad mass workers’ correspondence movement. FIGHT STEADILY FOR RELIEF! Organize Unemployed Councils to Figh for Unemployment Relief. Organize the Employed Workers Into Fighting Unions. Mobilize the Employed and Unemployed for Common Strug- gles Under the Leadership of the Trade Union Unity League — - (i! Red Gfeats By JORGE eee Any One Will Do “The streets here.” cabled a N. Y. Times cor- respondent from Guayaquil, Equador, last Tues- day, “are filled with groups excitedly comment- ing on the situation, and a band of striking stud- ents parading and shouting: “Down with the government!”—although under present circum- stances it is hard to say what government they mean.” It seemed that the distance and lack of com- munication between Guayaquil, which is on the coast, and Quito, which is the capital city up in the interior mountains, got everybody mixed up for a while on the question of which gov- ernment, if any, was in control at Quito, But as long as the students were sure that it was not @ Workers and Peasants Government, they correctly shouted “Down with the government!” first, and inquired afterward: “Who's running the government, British or American imperial- ism?” so “Socialist” Logic Ramsay MacDonald is having a great time these days, After kissing the King’s hand, he started out to explain to the workers how & 10% cut in wages and unemployed relief would help them, Among other things he spoke of was the sub- ject of. prices. Prices have declined 11% per cent, said this big shot of the “socialist” Second International, so, he added:—“The Proposal to reduce unemployed benefits therefore leaves the recipients 114 per cent better off.” So, a wage cut is a great benefit. In fact it leaves you much better off than before. Aren’t the “socialists” the most thoughtful beings alive in figuring out things to help the workers! Just like Morris Hillquit over here, who in “explaining” the reason why he is acting for Russian capitalists by filing affidayits in court asserting that the Soviets “‘stole” their oil fields, gave as one reason that he is really doing the Soviet Union a favor, because he figured out that it might cause the United States to recog- nize the Soviets! Great logic these “socialists” have, but after Ramsay's crack, we guess the British workers will tell him to go back to the King and finish the jib. the job, Hank Ford Is For Gardens Of course we don’t expect. yery much intel- ligence from editors. of capitalist papers, (but it does seem that all of. than can write edito: about Henry Ford’s decree that “his” emplo; must raise a garden or get fired without ever getting the main point. Henry is plainly telling the Ford. workers that they need not expect to live on the wages. he is going to pay them next year. Aside from that, of course, there are many things to say. Evidently, Henry thinks that the American farmers’ purchasing power for tin liz- zies has reached the saturation point. Certain- ly if workérs cotld raise gardens enough to feed themselves without the produce supplied now by the farmers, Henry couldn’t expect said farmers to buy any more cars. But that idea probably never occurred to Hen- ry, ‘cause he is one of the world’s dumbest dumb-bells. But he sure knows how to cut wages and pretend to be a philanthropist ‘at the same time. The “Devoted Work” of Cops. One disadvantage Hoover has found in appoint- ing commissions to da his thinking for him ts that sometimes some commissioners, get out of bounds. For instance, the Wickersham commissioners went too far in pinning the “third degree” on the police, It was particularly annoying to Her- ‘bie when various prisoners in Washington, D. C., itself kicked about being beaten up to make them “confess”. One chap said that a cop yanked a handful of hair out of his (the prisoner's) head to make hinw agree that he was “guilty”. Hoover remembers the “loyal service” of the Washington cops in poison gassing and beating up unemployed workers at the White House several times, and so raises the following ob- jection: “There is too much tendency on the part of some people to forged the devoted work of the police, to forget the safety of society ... ont of sympathy with criminals. ... The police should not be prejudiced on the allegation of criminals themselves.’* Firstly, presidential “logic”. calmly ignores the fact that the “criminals” menioned have not been proven criminals, and that the third degree brutality was directed to make them “confess” they are criminals, without such proof. Secondly, we have no doubt that Washington cops are the same breed as those of New York, about which State Senator Hofstadter declareq at Albany last Thursday: “Policcmen and officers of the police de- partment are in partnership with criminal characters in the community. Vast sums of money are collected by inferior officers, which sums they have disbursed almost as soon ay they collect them.” Since we know of no better guide, we can only surmise that those who defend such “devoted work” of the cops because they protect the “saic ty of (capitalist) society” must logically be mixed up in the “partnership with criminal charac. -ters.”” Trafic Signs From a little leaflet entitled “Coming Soon” us out by some holy folks down in Virginia, we learn that—The automobile is positive proof that the time {s at hand” for the “return of Lorg Jesus Christ.” As authority, the following quo. tation is given: “Nahum 2:3-4—The chariots shall rage in the streets they shall jostle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the litenings.” Only Seabury might amend it to add: “Ang the chariots shall be filled to the guards with white mule, which hath a mighty kick, ang many shekels hall it bring to patrolmen who gathereth the kale for the Captains who deposit. eth them in banks as rich inheritances from their blind aunts and payeth them out agai) it] to persons known vi ly as ‘higher-ups’, who in turn taketh trips to Europe as sick into death but who recovereth miraculously at oye: tavern and maketh whopee nightly and daily protesteth their purity.” i From all which we reckon that. Something ig comin soon, all right, but it is more likely Yo bg an election than the coming of Lor ae ‘ i ae | Christ , fs AI 8: