The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 27, 1932, Page 3

x! _DOILY WORKER, EW YORK. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1932 | SOVIET SHOCK BRIGADE TELLS STORY OF MAY 1 PLANT |TRAINED NURSE CALLS | WORKERS TO ORGANIZE MOSCOW, U.S.S.R. — Our ene consists of 11 workers. We work as mechanics in the Moscow metal fac- tory “First of May.” We will try to describe to you the work in our fac- tory as a whole, and the tife and work of the members of our brigade in particular, in order to show you how the workers of Soviet Union, under the leadership of the Communist Party, carry out Lenin’s teachings. | ‘The first one to tell you a few words ; about the history of our factory will | be Comrade Anisimov, honorary mem- ber of our brigade, who was formerly chairman of our factory committee, and was recently promoted to the post of assistant director of our fac- tory, Blacksmith, Now Assistan Director | of a Factory. First of all, comrades, a few words about myself, as my life is closely interwoven with the history of our Party and with the struggle of the| working class of USSR for the future. I had a hard time before I learned trade. I am 27 years old, the son of | a peasant of the Moscof district of | the former Toola provice. I lost my father when I was 2 years old. Our} household was very poor and life ex- | tremely hard. I lived mostly on rye bread but even that we did not have enough. At 11 years I was compelled to go to Moscof to look for work. I worked first as an errand boy in a hotel, and afterwards in Botoshov’s store on Nikolskaya Street. I was exploited incredibly. The October Re- volution I met with enthusiasm and I wanted to join the Red Army, but as I was too young I was not ac- cepted. I went back to my village, where I worked as a laborer for a year. Soon I got an opportunity to work ina workmn’s co-operative. I learned to be a blacksmith and me- chanic, and since then worked at my trade until 1927, when I poined the Red Army. I worked in smali workshops. In February, 1930, we began to organize these workshops into a tool factory. The building of the former Mistche- rin textile factory was put at our disposal, and in the course of one month we succeeded in setting up all lathes and machines. We named our factory “First of May.” We began to produce concrete elevators, solution mixers, and tanks for high electric pressure. Formerly all these applian- ces were imported from abroad. Na- t ly, it was vry difficult for us to idopt ourselves to the new form of} duction. The number of workers in our factory grew from a few dozen to several hunderd. We are now com~ pleting the building of two new de- partments and are to build a third one. fim We are now celebrating the opening ot new departments, which will in- crease the size of our factory 150 per cent. We will exprinc a grat shortage Tr (he Copito! cf the Bandit Mancho. Story of the Brigadier Olshansky. T am 21 years old and was born in \ village in the Ukraine, Gulyai Polye, (he capitol of the famous bandit, hno. My memory is full of vivid pictures of brutal vengeance of the ‘Whites and their allies the Menshe- viks, social revolutionaries, and others, against the toiling peasants. Many times our region went from hand to hand. Denikin, Petlura, the famous Machno, the Germans, I recollect two distinet periods. One of the Soviet power, the other of the above men- tioned invaders. The first always brought with it peace, order and better conditions for the toilers. All ‘the others, invaliably destruction, terror and violence against the toil- ing population, At 16 years of age, I went to wark at tractor repairing. After having worked for two years, I went to Mos- cow in 1929 to look for work. I regis- tered in the labor exchange, received unemployment insurance, and many privileges provided for the benefit of the unemployed. I was exempted form rent and other payments. Soon I was sent to the factory “First of May.” There I received a practical lesson in the correctness of ‘he general line of our Party. Our factory grew and so did the number of workers employed. The conditions of work have been improved, our wages were 120 rubles a month; now | I worked as a messenger, later as a | work as a laborer; now I am a me- | qualified worker, I make 150 rubles a | get a good meal for 30 kopeks. with my father at loading. In 1931 began to work in the factory “First of May” as a mechanic. I make from 120 to 180 rubles a month. Recently I moved from my old room into a newly built house, where I have 2 nice rooms,and pay 25 rubles rent. The successes of the Communist movement in the capita- list countries inspires us with still more enthusiasm to fulfill our obli- gations toward the workers of the capitalist countries and their colonies. How the Stableman Salnikoy Became a Qualified Mechanic. Like the rest of my comrades I had a hard childhood. I have no desire to recall it. I am 28 years old. In 1922 I left the village and went to Moscow to look for work. For 2 years stableman for @ year and a half. I worked interchangeably as a turner, bricklayer and loader. In the factory “First of May” I began to chanic. Although I am not a highly month. This gives me a chance to live a different life. In our factory dining room I can We also have a buffet where we can eat any time we wish. We will soon start to build a new house. In the near future, when it will be completed, it will improve our living conditions. Our brigade will try to work so that the workers in the capitalist countries will follow our example and sharpen their own revolutionary struggles. Comrade Zudin Will Conclude I am only 20 yers old. About the Members of | Shock Brigade in May 1 Here are three members of the shock brigade “Rote Fahne” at work in the “May First” factory. They are, left to right: Comrade Supin, a mill wright; a young wo- man tool maker, and Comrade Ochkasov, a machinist. These workers wish to correspond with American workers. Write to them in care of the Shock Brigade, “May First” Factory, Moscow, U. S. S.R. They will answer you. Plant capitalist system I know frfom the stories of my older comrades and from information we get from the capitalist countries. This is enough to create in us a feeling of hatred toward capitalism and to inspire us with a burning desire to fight with all our power for the triumph of social- ism all over the world. When I finished school I worked in the dye industry and afterwards in a textile factory. Then I went to a trade school to learn to be a mechanic. While at school I received wages. I work in the factory “First of May” since 1931 and make 150 roubles a month. This is sufficient for all my needs. I continue my studies to broad- en my technical knowledge. The working Class is much in need of such knowledge in order to complete the building of Socialism in our country. From the examples of these few members of our brigade you can judge about the rest of the members of the brigade and the whole factory col- lective. We all came to Moscow from various parts of the U. S., all with a different level of development and} knowledge. Now we work and struggle | for one common | building of 2 We are all still young and we know that our future depends upon our- selves. We will try to make the most these opportunities. We will study | hard to improve the quality of our work and help the workers of the whole world to overthrow the cursed capitalist system, The enclosed photo- graphs will help you get a clearer idea of our life and work. 1 Hearty revolutionary greetings to all proletarians, to all toilers of the city and village, cause,—to hasten the | country. JOBLESS BUILD B1G COUNCIL IN BLOOMINGTON, ILL. Recruit Over 1,000 Members in Month; 14 Join Party Bloomingtn, Nl. | Daily Worker: | The Bloomington Unemployed} councils have just been start- ed about a month and already we see the council with a member- | ship of over 1,000 members, who are | signed up. The hall is packed every | meeting night and some have to *| turned away. ‘We workers of Bloomington think | that this is an exception and per- | haps some of the other towns in the | United States could take from this | experience the* methods that were | used to build this council. | In the first place we had the pro- gram of the Communist Party of carrying on struggles for better relief and no evictiows, to fight for un-| employment insurance. We had a method of activising the workers in the Unemployed Councils and to give them something to do and to prove at all times that the Unemployed | Councils were not merely to come to. meetings and to hear speeches but to get action and thereby proving that we mean what we say. The February 4th meeting was a great success with 465 in the parade and more than 1,500 at the court house. At night at a large hall 750 workers assembled and heard some more talks, The program of the Communist Party was explained here and a nucleus of 14 members was recruited. Now we are planning to build the International Labor De- fense and to hold a meeting on the twenty-ninth of this month for the release of Tom Mooney. ‘We already have some Daily Workers coming here but we are| going to start to get more and to get them out on the street and build a healthy circulation, Bloomington is @ manufacturing town and we are also going to work in the factories to build the T. U. U. L. and also the Party. —A Worker. Judge, Vice House I receive from 200 to 250 rubles a month. My rent is 12 rubles a month. The Story of a Former Shepherd Atchkasov. In my childhood I was a shepherd and later a farm worker. In 1914 when I was 18 years old, I went to Moscow where I worked as a floor polisher in a saloon. Then I was called to serye in theczarist army and I Owner, Jails Three in Frisco Flag Case (By a Worker Correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO, Cal.—The cap- italists and their well-paid lackeys are getting bolder every day. Here is @ case where a police judge sentenced three workingmen to jail for refusing to salute the American flag under served for a year and a half. The conditions in the army were extremely severe, The soldier was looked upon as cannon fodder. The only thing we IT went back to the worked on a farm for a year; I joined the Red Army. For years I fought on various fronts gainst the enemies of the working class. After service in the Red Army I went to school for two years and Amalgamated Officials Help to Fire Tailors In Indiana (By a Worker Correspondent) INDIANAPOLIS, Ind—The Kahn Tailoring Co, of Indianapolis called up the Amalgamated officials recent- ly and asked them to assist them in increasing their profits. The com- learned to be a mechanic, From.school | pany demanded a 15 per cent cut in T was sent to the factory “First of | wages, or that a certain per cent of May” where I work now and make | the work be made cheaper. from 120 to 180 rubles a month. My} The well known Frank Rosenblum wife works in another factory and | did not accept this, however, because receives from 150 to 200 rubles. only recently, amid considerable cat How Zhitnikoy Began to Work in the| “2/8 from the workers he put over @ cut of 10 per cent. Mactoey,, Fires of May” Instead he came forward with a T am 25 years old, was born in a| different scheme to help the compa- poor family in Nikolayey, Odessa re-| ny. With the assistance of the local gion. My father was a loader. After | cliques, he put over tthe proposition ‘the Civil War I still worked together | that some of the union and an equal But They Cannot Arrest The Strike By BORIS ISRAEL Small whispers start And echo in empty cupboards Echo in barren kitchens Echo in pitch black tunnels Whisper up company shafts . . . (“The dogs are growling! “Throw the bitches a bone. “Give them the Salvation Army,”) Words dropped like topped Sentences shortclipped like Out from behind loaded cars coal shortweight (ous Saying to hell with starvation! (“The slaves are restless! “Buy them an organized union. “Give them United Min: ie Workers.”) Now on huddled street corners In groups next the common pump Worker to worker in elevators Wife to husband and all children lisien In sleepless rooms: Voices That must be heard . , . STRIKE! WORKERS OUT AGAINST STARVATION! WORKERS UNITE AGAIN: ST HUNGER! (“The underdogs are massing! “The dogs are barking. “Call the police! Enlist The thugs!”) Out! Down tools? The miners are marching! The profits are halted while workers Are fighting starvation. Producers Demand their productions. On For the right of the workers! (“Charge on the noisy rebels! “Break the unholy strike. “Arrest and jail the leaders. “Kill and club the workers!”) But they cannot arrest the strike! A hundred thousand pairs of feet Thunder the answer to terror (Ragged feet. Bleeding fee! t.) A hundred thousand throats Take up the slogan and SPREAD. THE STRIKE echos Loud and long across the housetops Down the mine shafts Rattling the far away windows Of boss homes . © « murderers’ homes . . . And WIN THE STRIKE comes crashing from the mines The factories, the farms, the shops: ++. and workers of the world in solidarity Must march and will march to power! threat. It is the same judge who, it was reported, is part owner in a house of prostitution on the corner, Pine and Kearney Streets. According to the newspaper reports, the judge (Steiger) admitted being half owner and that his sister manages the Property and collects the rent of the madame who operates the place. number of the non-union workers would be laid off. He did not forget to throw the whole burden on the backs of the workers, however. All the workers who have jobs are to be taxed to “support” those who have been thrown out, ‘The workers in the Amalgamated eo all these attempts of the Hf such treacherous pads on your living standards. Organize grievance committees in the shops and expose the fakers, Organ- ize into the Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union which fights against wage cuts, speed up, and lay offs. : NEGRO PREACHER JOINS STRUGGLE Baltimore, Md. Dear Comrades: ‘Times are very bad now. There seems to be no way to make a living anymore. T am a Negro pastor. I have done lots of praying in the past, but now I am doing lots of thinking. I have Joined the International Labor De- fense here in Baltimore, and there fare many other preachers in this or- ganization. We poor Negro preachers are beginning to realize just where we should stand—shoulder to shoul- der with the working-class, fighting against this system. A couple of weeks ago I applied to the Family Welfare and they said we can’t do anything for you, you're not & married man, So they showed me the door because I didn’t have any children to starve alongside of me. I applied to the Central Bureau for Homeless and ‘Transient Men (what a title for the working-class). They gave me a meal—it was ter- rible, I couldn't eat it because it was rotten and I knew I'd be sick if I did. Then they made me a sweet proposi- tion. I was to go and work in some SHIPCWNERS ROB SEAMEN’S WAGES ON SS. LAPLAND Church “Institute in| New York Ousts Them from Rooms (By a Worker Correspondent) NEW YORK.—A short time ago six donkeymen were hired to keep steam up in an auxiliary boiler on the S.S. Lapland. The International Mercantile Marine shipping master hired these men through the graft houses at 507 West Street. ‘They told the men that on account of the depression they would have to work for English wages, although no agreement was made at the time. Well, when you are told English wages you understand what English wages mean. We worked a week and when the pay came around we each got the remarkable sum of $7.65 a piece. According to English rules you get 12 hours overtime for week end work. We asked for it. They told us to try and get it. We are still trying to get it. We went to the Briish consul and he said that he could do nothing about the matter. He told us that we had signed no agreement, there- fore we could claim nothing. ‘We must expose this trick to rob the seamen not only in America, but in London, Liverpool, Barry and all over the world. It is the honest truth that I am writing, I got a raw deal everywhere I went. In the Seamen’s Church Institute I got my bed stopped. Now I have no place to sleep. I am trying to get a place to stay in the Municipal |ATTENTION! WORKER CORRESPONDENTS! It is of the utmost importance |that our worker correspondents |keep the Daily Worker supplied | | with material that will help us in | developing the campaign against | imperialist war in the Far East. | Reports on movements of troops and munitions, on mass meetings | and resolutions passed at them, as well as in the trade unions, should | be sent in as quickly as possible. Of the greatest value to the| Daily Worker are conversations | among workers in the factories on | ite events that are taking place. | Let us know what the workers are | saying about China, Japan, the| Soviet Union. What are their views | | om the situation? SEAMEN DIE OF _ STARVATION IN CHURCH HOME Clergyman ce Death | to Pneumonia; In- mates Know Better Philadelphia, Pa. Dear Comrade: I take the pleasure of sending | you the following information in re- | gard to the rotten conditions which exist in the so-called Seamen's Church Institute, home of the men that risk their lives on the high seas in time of war and transport all our commodities at all times, The con- ditions in the Institute at present are: 200 men sleeping in two dor- mitories which are about 6 inches apart from each other, some of these seamen have got all kinds of disease, | T. B. etc, spitting goes on in be- tween said beds, and I have found| no fewer than seven deaths have occurred, of seamen that have been taken out of the Institute; it is noth- ing very unusual for the ambulance to be called every other day for the past weeks. Two weeks ago, a seaman tried to commit suicide, slashing his throat. The so-called friend of the seamen, Rey. Mr. Stockman, puts all this starvation down as pheumonia. ‘The seamen receive the so-called two meals a day, which consists of two ounces of oatmeal, no milk, and one roll, and a cup of dish water at 10 A. M., and at 4 P, M. they re- ceive 4 ounces of so-called stew, one cup of dish water and some bread. ‘That means they are called out of bed at 6 a. m. and have to wait till 10 a. m. for something to eat and then they don’t eat again till 4 p.m. How long is this miserable condition going to exist in the so-called Church Institute friend and home of the brave. I am Comradely yours, Alexander Bell, Marine Workers Industrial Union. NEGRO DRIVEN OFF PLANTATION Landlord Said He Was Worn Out Charlotte; N. C. Lodging House. But one has to go through such a grilling at this place that it would be better to go to jail. —One of the six. Cee preg Editorial Note—We advise this fellow worker and all seamen to organize themselves against these bosses who so cynically tell them to “try and get it.” The organi- zation for the seamen is the Mar- ine Workers Industrial Union, 140 Broad Street, New York City. Young Negroes Join Y.C.L. in Terre Haute (By a Worker Correspondent) TERRE HAUTE, Ind—Evictions are few if any in the Negro section of htis city. The bosses fear the idea of Negro workers organizing with the white, The work in the Negro section is steadily going forward. The Daily Worker is being read by an increasing number of workers. Quite a few of the young Negro workers have joined the Young Communist League. Many of them marched in the Feb, 4th demonstration. Decatur Unemployed Halt All Evictions (By a Worker Crrespondent) DECTAUR, Ill—Our Unemployed Councils here are organized so strong that there are no evictions and they do not dare to cut off the water here. Workers of Illinois join our ranks and put up a fight against the rotten conditions all over the state. We workers of Dectaur have proven that we can do something when we are organzed.—L, B. park 2 hours every day and they would give me some food, just like the sample above mentioned. The bosses have discovered a fine scheme, don't pay workers any more, just Jet them work for nothing and then poison them, I have lived on the same bosses Plantation for over 25 years. The owner is the biggest plantation owner in Mecklinburg County. My landlord told me: “Look here, nigger, you have a home as long as you live.” Then he told me to build up the place. He told me to dig a well. He said this was my place the same as his and that I could afford to dig the well at my own expense for I would be the one to get the good out of it. I have been paying this boss $200 @ year. The other day he said: “Look here, nigger, you are worn out. You will have to find « new home. You can take this as a notice to get out of my house.” ‘Well, I am an old Negro, but I am not too worn out to help the Com- munists fight this kind of living. I want all the fellow workers to join together and help us fight. You that are still working get into the strug- gle before the bosses tell you that you too are all worn out. —An Old Negro Farmer. TO SMASH After Three Years Trai Many Suffer Mass Mis (By MA 4 TTI I | KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Nin jone of our leading hospitals wi We were furnished our uniforr |per month. We were to have or |and one half day on Sunday, t Ito get up at 6 a.m., be at the i jat 7 7 a.m. Our first work was ¢ kitchens, nurses’ dre om This all must be done by 1 — h while others carried trays | MATTIE MERKA ct Comrade Merka has been a trained nurse for many years, here the miserable conditions prevail- ing in the nursing profession. .She urges workers to organize against this misery. The organization that is fighting for the nurses and all hos- pital workers is the Medical Workers League, 5 E. 19th St. New York City. | §8 A WEEK FOR METAL WORKERS: Heintz Machine Co. | | Cuts Piece Work Pay (By a Worker Correspondent) PHILADELPHIA, Pa—A day be- fore New Year's the management of the Heintz Machine Co. surprised us by posting a notice saying that the plant was to operate on New Year's straight time for working all that day. Many of us did not realize at that moment the real meaning of this notice, and came to work. Now we are confronted by the real intentions of the management. They force us to work overtime Sundays and holidays orf straight time basis, and if we are to just stand by and leave this question to the good grace of the management of the Heintz wage-cuts, Fellow workers defend our rights to earn a living for our fai les. The piece workers in the press shop, the assembling de- partments, the straighteners, the welders, etc., are in still worse con- ditions, Their rates are very low and by losing hours and sometimes days their weekly pay is sometimes from $8 to $13. We must demand a fair rate for piece workers in order that they can make # decent living. We must or- ganize committees in every depart- ment to defend our rights and to fight for improvements. The Metal Workers Industrial League will help us to organize and fight for better conditions, against’ wage cuts and lay-offs. Write to Metal Workers In- dustrial League, 2802 Kensington Ave. for more information, we must stop and Letter from Miner’s Wife Exposes Hunger in West (By a Worker Engle Vale, Kansas. Daily Worker:— Just a line about the conditions here. There are lots of coal mines working cooperative here. They are paying all the way from 10 to 50 per cent on the dollar. Coal is 80 cents @ ton solid shooting. Powder is $2.40 @ box. On can imagine how much powder is needed for solid shooting. A box lasts about two days on the average, ‘What a miner makes at these mines he has to take out in gro- ceries and he is lucky to get that. My husband works at one of these mines. He was supposed to get 80 cents a ton, but when pay its day sound he got 40 cents on the dollar, Correspondent) For the two weeks’ work he received $37.44. The following are the ex- penses: mining supplies, 11.65; store account, $13.47; owed to the. com- pany, $3.13. ‘The Red Cross has set up a fake relief station here. They give out one 24-pound sack of flour for two families and call it relief. They only distributed this flour once here this winter. ‘We have an Unemployed Branch at Arma, Kansas, which has made a good start. We have a number of members and are working hard to get more. The workers in the branch have all pledged to carry on a came strong fight for better conditions. Indignities in | our studies we: * [not and our She recites | Day, and that we were to be paid) Company we will soon have more | CAPITALISM ning Nurses Are Forced to Do House Werk for Board Charity Line rows As sery G E ee years ago I went in training at th fourteer rs in the ¢ ms. Our was six dollars 1e half day off during the week t it. We had at 6:30, on duty rubbing the diet yreakfe ] and s¢ 1d work roor then > atic nts. me of u went to ays to tl the dinner | we w afternoon hen study until 8 a e to be in bed and lights ou tron would come around r times during the night | with a flash light to see if all were iz j bed. And, of course, as tme went on harder, we were so feet hurt so we could not rest when we had a chance. jit we failed to answer questions ¢cr tly in class, id not get our day of: to study, After the month we w off the di work of scrubbi but were kept k on our feet all time. Three years of this prison lif then there comes in another clas |So they get the work done for you | might say nothing. And for two or jthree years I had all the work I wanted, Works for $8 a Week. or the last two years a to get a case of an te homes they expect @ nurse ne help with the house work and cooking and have been asked to do all this for the big salary of $8 per | week. I have now been out of work |for three mont an’t get work at Jany price. And there are hundred here in the same condition. The Nurses Registry charge one dollar to |register, then ten per cent of your | salary if they send you out ona case. | And of course, we stand a better chance of getting work through them peas advertising in the daily paper | So a nurse is nothing more than a |slave. At last even after they have | Sone through three years of harc | work, I know of some doing house work for their room and board, some lhave children to support, are back | with their rent and nothing to eat Never before have I had to ask for help of anyone, but was forced to apply to our city charity for help. They give me a few groceries, twice paid my rent, twice then told me they could not help that way any more, but would send me out to the Jeffer- |son Home. | I told them I was not an old woman and did not want to go. I was able to work and had my father 84 years old, I had to help and all I wanted them to do was to help me until I could get work to help myself. I failed there. Then I decided, as my husband was a 32nd degree mason and in good standing when he died, I would go to the masons. I am an eastern star, too. So I went to the Irse, we had . | Secretary of the blue lodge here. He asked me as many questions as did jthe city grafters and I showed him my receipts. Am paid up until May 31, 1932. Well, he said, I think I can get you a place out at the Jefferson Home. Now the city had already of- fered me that. I was so hurt I told him of their obligation and he gave |me $5 to pay my rent and said that was all he could do if I did not want to go to the home. I wrote my lodge too. They said all they could do was to send me to the masonic home, My husband and mother died in 1921 and all I have gone through and now destitute, If all this would not make a person red, what would. And not until we make up our minds to organize and fight for our rights will we get anywhere, but will starve in a land of plenty. My religion has always been the golden rule, but I say now we unem- ployed must make every effort and organize and put up a real fight to get the demands of the working class. These rotten grafters are never going to do any thing to relieve the working class until forced to do so and nothing short of a revolution will change this depression and rotten laws that have kept the working class under bondage, slavery and starvation, And the sooner we start the ball rolling, the Sooner we will get our demands. While I am not a member of the Communist Party, my mind and heart are for them and will do all I can to help in the struggle for the demands of the working class, Get your shopmates to contribute to save the workers’ paper. Get Daily Worker donation —E. 8. » books at 50 E. 13th St. oa