The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 13, 1932, Page 4

Page F our + xexept Sunday, at 50 E. Cable “DAIWORK.” . New York, N. ¥. Published “by: the Compredaily Publishing Co., Inc., dail 1Sth St, New York City, N, ¥. Telephone ALgonquin 4 Address and mail checks to the Daily Worker, 50 E. 13th two months, $1; excepting Foreign: one year, $8) The Convention oj Steel and Metal Workers SUBSCRIPTION RATE By mait everywhere: One year, $6; six months, Borough ef Manhattan and Bronx. New York City. six months, $4.50. i n of the Amer relief to this large body them to starve on a beggarly e surrounded by a despicable Ny deputized gunmen. The ch governments are virtual appointees of the steel barons and show hollowness of American democracy. It is only necessary to mention McKeesport, Braddock, Homestead, Youngstown, Johnstown, 1 the horrors of steel town dom ion. Not satisfied with the low standard of living which they have already ereated, the steel barons are laying plans for a further offensive. New layoffs are in store, new wage cuts and new forms of hideous stagger system are being evolved. s and have lett the steel workers The convention of the Metal Workers Industrial League, which opens | today in Pittsburgh to set up a union of steel and metal workers, is a timely occurrence. Since the great strike of 1919, which was led by Comrade William Z, Foster and defeated only because of the betrayal of Gompers and his bureaucratic clique, the steel workers were relatively passive in’ the face of the attacks of the steel trust The tide of struggle is once again risiwg among the steel workers in the United States. Since the crisis demoagtrations of unemployed have occurred in many steel and metal centers. The steel workers are becom- ing radicalized under the blows of the capitalist attacks. Yet, faced by the terror of the steel trust and its cunning policy of dividing the workers, they have not had the strength necessary to take up the battles against the wage cuts and stagger system. This has been chiefly due to the lack of a mass union under militant leadership. | The greatest need at the present moment among the steel and metal | workers is to take up an organized fight against the capitalist offensive by building a fighting organization based directly on the mills. This need is to be satisfied by the convention which has now been called. | The Metal Workers Industrial League has been the only fighting force among the’steel and metal workers. In the short period of its existence, it has given repeated evidence of its ability to conduct a fight against the attacks upon the unemployed and on the workers in the mills. It has succeeded in a number of places in carrying through strong demonstrations, which have further aroused the fighting spirit of the eel workers. It has in some places been able to win a number of local grievances in the mills, It has succeeded likewise in breaking down the ‘errer of steel towns. ‘The Metal Workers Industrial League, affiliated with the Trade Union y League, has conducted a fight against the leadership of the Amal- mated Association of Steel, Iron and Tin Workers, dominated by the American Federation of Labor. This organization served as one of the main forces of the steel trust to keep the workers in suppression. The malgamated has recently, in Niles and Warren, carried through a wage over the heads of the rank and file members. This organization, vhich was the first to betray the great steel strike, has kept faithful to this policy of treachery and subservience to the stee] masters. The convention of. the meta] and steel workers, which is being held jm the heart of the steel regions, will lay down a policy of immediate fight against the capitalist attacks. It will answer for the steel workers the burning question of how to organize and fight against the wage Cuts, the stagger system and unemployment. In its preparations for this con~ vention, it has laid proper emphasis upoh the necessity of organizing ori the basis of the shop, as only by forming branches in the shop will it be gapable of rendering effective blows to the policy of terror, espionage and the other jhideous devices’ of these companies. The convention will be a call to action against imperialist war. The steel and metal workers under revolutionary leadership can serve as one of the most powerful weapons to stop the production of eae and to-destroy the preparations for imperialist war against the U. S. S. R. By adopting the policy of the united front, by stimulating ra organ- izing the initiative of the rank and file workers in the mills, by combining the fight of the employed and unemployed, drawing in the women and youth, and the Negro and white workers, by being in the foreffront of the struggle against discrimination of the Negro workers in the mills, the convention of the militant metal and steel workers will give a power- {ul impetus to the defense of the entire working class against the predatory attacks of capital The Communist Party greets this convention of the men and women | werkers of ‘the slave pens of capitalism and pledges full support to their the Communists will be in the forefront. The Communist pon the metal and steel workers to throw their weight behind upon its banner the steel and 1 and which fights for the | alist s nd ion. It calls upon the steel | the standard bearers of the Communist Party, Foster | nbolize the traditions of the fighting ited States. | urgent demands of the Gestruciion. of bést to | sii ty Psa By BURCK “The policies | have inaugurated have protected and aided the navigation of the ship of state in this terrible storm.” —HERBERT HOOVER, i. ; By CRAINE What do the coming months hold in store for the steel and metal work- en place in these industries since the crash of 1929 will disclose the an- swer. In 1929 there were at least three million two hundred and fifty thou- sand workers in the iron-steel-meta industries, including the machine, traféportation equipment, etc. By the end of 1931 approximately half of this number were not working and most of the other half were put on a part time basis bringing home but a few dollars & week. A good exam-~- plé 6f this can bé found in the 1931 figures for the United States Steel Corporation. This corporation was supposed to have employed 203,000 workers, but in reality only 53,000 were on full time. There is no doubt that since the beginning of 1932 with the constant drop in production and increase in labor saving devices, many more tens of thousands were laid off and others “staggered” by part time employment. Unemploy- ment, full or partial, affecting al most all the workers of the iron- steel and metal industries is but one side of the situation. The other is wage cutting. The two go hand in hand, According to ics of the New York State De ment of Labor |the steel and metal worker: state had their 20 per cent by state of I alone, The situation was sim! the cow excepting t! |cent is too low an es shout at 20 per Wages Slashed. Letters ue Big Readers In October, 1931, the billionaire |U. S. Steel Corp. the Bethlehem “NOTHING TOO GOOD’—NOT | FOR MORE PROLETARIAN DIS- | Steel Corp., the American Smelting EVEN BULLETS CIPLINE AT MEETINGS and Refining, the Utah Copper, the | Jones and Laughlin Steel and others Cicero, Til. New York. | slashed 10 per cent off the wages of Daily. Worker Daily Worker: On Aug. 1 we- workers read in the Dail, “No collection boxes or collections of any character are to be made at the square.” About May 5, 1918, when we were ogardirig a ship at Hoboken, N. J., for France, the American Red Cross and Y.M.C.A. were distributing candy and cigarettes, telling us what won- | derful and brave soldiers we were. Promises were made that nothing would be too good for us when we returned. Yes, nothing is too good for us today, not even bayonets and bullets. ‘Plenty of help for a few. But not for the starving millions, especially for those who won the war. We were called heroes in 1918, but vonsidered hoodlums in 1932, be- cause we are starving and asking forhelp. It is all right to help financiers, etc. But it is all wrong to. help the starving, helpless veter- ans and their families. A World War Veteran. I do not think it was necessary to make such a statement when we all know that we must make collections. Many comrades, however, should be advised not to discuss when speakers hold the platform, but to pay a little more attention, especially when the main speaker addresses the workers. At Pleasant Bay Park, when Som- rade I. Amter was speaking, some comrades were singing and making unnecessary noise instead of listening to the speaker. A Sympathizer, . . In this particular case the Dis- trict decided not to make any gen- eral collections which would have disturbed the meeting, but one central collection from the plat- form. With regard to discussions during the meeting, discipline can be established only through the politienl character of the meeting, the tone of struggle given to it and the organization of the meet- ing. While it is necessary to call attention to the need for discipline, it would be very much better to take organizational steps to estab- lish it by a large number of com- mittees, best of all by «a workers’ defense corps. Preaching or har- ranging alone will not achieve the discipline.—Editor, (By a Worker Correspondent) | PHILADELPHIA, Pa., —The principal of our school invited the French consul to the city of Phila- delphia to come and speak to us. What did he speak about? He spoke mostly about the Communists, He advised us to keep away from the Communists, because he said that the Communists are not good for us. He mid they are “against” us. ‘Well, I know lots of Communists, triends of my father and mother and Cswouldn’t change one of them for ull the French consuls in the United Btates. I may be only a school girl but I fan see the only people doing any- ihing where I live, in South Phila- lelphia, to get help for the people sut of work are the Communists. 1| ld enough to work in the block I never, heard tell of the French consul | live in can’t find a job. feng anything, nor the principal of __. ~Jennie Mak. our school either. Nearly everybody 500,000 workers. This gave the signal to hundreds of smaller companies to cut wages again and again. On the official announcement of the wage cut in September, William Roberts, acting for Green, head of the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, made the following statement: ‘Stories like that have been appearing every week and there was nothing to them.” In less than a week the steel and metal workers knew that he was lying thus helping the magnates to quiet the workers. On the other hand, one day before the U. S. Steel Corp. put over the 10 per cent cut, the press carried the news that the steel workers in Soviet Russia received a 30 per cent INCREASE in wages. Not a half a year passed and these magnate corporations who have made hundreds of millions of dol- jlars on the workers, announced and |put over another wage cut, In May, 1932, the United States Steel Corp., and the Bethlehem again cut the @ages of over 200,000, no less than %5 per cent; although President Eu- gene Grace of the Bethlehem, for instance, receives a “bonus” on an average of $815,000 a year. This again became the signal for the entire in- dustry to cut wages. Now what are the prospects for the future? There is but one definite and regu- lar thing about the steel and metal industry and that is its invariably constant downward trend since 1929. The percentage of capacity produc- tion decreased in a straight percentage for the future. For in- stance, the first week of July it hit a new low of 12 per cent. Individual ers? A brief review of what has tak- | line since 1929 until it reached only 15 per cent of capacity on June 25, 1932, with positive signs towards a lower of the Crisis The National Convention of Steel: and Metal Workers to Organize the Fight Vitaige went down below that figure. bubble. In June auto production in- In St. Louis most stove foundries|stead of increasing as expected de- closed. Buffalo is “low” agaip. The|clined by 18,000 units or about 9 per Lackawanna of Bethlehem resumed |cent. Not only thai, a further with four furnaces. Cincinnati iron | crease is predicted for July and then “sluggish”, several foundries closed.|another for August again. Our Cleveland declined once more and jtirguished citizen and super capi- the outlook is “far from encourag- | talist, Ford, is better at lilling un- ing.” eroployed men askicg for br from No Movement Back to Prosperity. | ome who robbed trem of The big hullabaloo raised by thefthan to bring the auto indust press about the auto industry initiat- | “back to prosperity”. In June world ig the movement back to prosperity | Ford production amounted to 95,000, s oaaes more bksad an empty jin July it is not expected to exceed On is International Textile War Pare NG less than 40 countries have restricted the importation of rayon products, through a tariff, a quota system, or through ex- change restrictions. XPORTS of cotton cloth from the United States in 1931 ink to 70 per cent of the ave- age to be more energetic in the exports markets, especially in com- petition with Britain and Japan, declares the Labor Research Assn. Rayon exports from Japan rose bot in volume and value in 1931, and in the first four months of 1932 were 150 per cent higher than in the corresponding period of 1931. But there is “overproduction” in Japan, too, and rayon producers have curtailed output 25 per cent to keep 4p prices and profits. China is rapidly becoming a “serious menace” to the cotton and s| cotton goods industries of the ited States because of her abil- to undersell in the world mar- ket, mill owners in this country are being told by experts on the Far East. Some of the Shanghai cot- ton mills, probbaly those owned by British and Japanese capital, are making as much as 57 per cent on MORE DESTRUCTION OF MACHINERY Housiag conditions and the depth their investment. Chinese goods ' ‘ are gaining in both India, and of unemployment in textile cities, ‘Atrios. such as Fall River and New Eng- land, are reflected in permits to raze tenement buildings formerly occupied by workers. About sixty such permits have recently been According to a radio from a United States trade commissioner in Java, Japanese textiles are re- The abate gow a small section of 1,500 strikers of the Royal (Pawtucket, R .I.) and General Fabrics (Central Falls, R. 1.) at a mass meeting during a strike last year against wage cuts and speed-up. ported underselling America and European fabrics 10 to 40 per cent. granted in these two citiés alcne. “Families have doubled up to com- bat the depression,” is the official basmati explanation given for the empty RISING houses that have been taken down In the ‘rayon field tariffs are | “escape tax valuation, “This is another clear example of the sabotage of human welfare by the capitalist class,” says the Labor Research Assn. “While work- ers together ‘doubling up’ in con- gested tenements, the houses they rising as high as in cottons. The British, recently increased duties 10 per cent on both rayon and silk, and stringent tariff measures have been applied on rayon in Scan- danavia, Italy, Japan, France and millions | The Steel Workers Under the Blows 85,000 and in August 60,000. Just think. The average percentage of capacity production in 1931 was still 38 and look what havoc the magnates played with the lives of the workers. There were unceasing wage cuts, more than half are un- employed with absolutely no means of existence unless one wants to cail so for instance the 132 cent a day per person assigned so charitably by the governing bodies to the popu- lation of the steel city of Niles, O.; most of the others only partially employed with earnings necessitat- ing outside aid, What then does a further new “low” of over 100 per cent below that. of 1931 mean to the workers of these industries? More Layoffs Coming. It means that within a very short | time more plants will be closed, more men will be laid off, more thousands will be put on a part time basis. AND more wage cuts. It will mean a most precarious existence for those ‘few employed and stark starvation for the unemployed. It will mean misery for all—misery with no sub- stantial improvement in sight. The bourgeoisie admit it. “Steel compa- nies,” writes one in the July 7 issue of the Iron Age, “are at a loss in trying to determine whe na real turn for the better will come.” Is there a way out of it? Yes. How? By an organized fight against speed up and wage cuts against the stagger plan and for unemployment insurance to be paid by the bosses and their government. How can that be accomplished? By persistent or- ganization in the shops of all work- ers regardless of sex, age or color, into a unified body for a relentless fight against wage cuts. Such an or- ganization already exists in the Met- al Workers Industrial League which is to hold a national convention on August 13, 14 and 15 in Pittsburgh to lay the basis for country wide or- ganization of the iron, steel and metal workers against the steady on- slaught on their standard of living. On the other hand, the unemploy- ed and partially employed must or- ganize into unemployed councils closely bound up with the shop or- ganizations and both fighting for un- employment insurance and against wage cuts, This accomplished the steel magnates will no more be able to use the unemployed in cutting the wages of the employed, on the other hand the unity of the em- ployed with the unemployed is neces. sary and will obtain unemployment insurance for the unemployed and partially employed, thus also assur- ing the eraployed with some securi- ty in case of layoffs, once lived in are destroyed because because they can no longer make a profit for the owning class.” Destruction of machinery goes apace with destruction of housing in New Bedford. A New Bedford correspondent tells of 100,000 spindles smashed by the owners of the Wamsutta Mills and an equal number in Nonquit Manufacturing Co., 70,000, These are only a few Jocal exynples of the destructive policies of the capitalist machine wreckers. Total spindles dismantled in the U. S. cotton industry during the two years prior to January 1, 1932, amounted to some 2,200,000; and 590,000 more have already been destroye . this year. Since . 1925 about 6,200,000 spindles have been dismantled, * RED PODOLSK The Former Singer Sewing Machine Plant Near Moscow By MYRA PAGE Our Correspondent in the Union. Part VIII Yesterday we read of the differ- ence of the old and new technique in the Red Podolsk plant. Old mechinery adding to the burden of the workers has been replaced by the latest machinery and to- day Podolsk has only four equals in the world. With this has come an improvement in the working conditions: wide, roomy, aisles, as- phalt floors, overhead skylights through which the sunlight streams in, etc. Today's installment continues with a description of the changes in the factory since the capitalist owner, Singer, has been di iven out. Br a tet Monstrous ventilators puff fresh air through the rooms, sucking up the old. Ever in the furnace and casting departments, the fumes and dirt have been reduced to a sur- prising minimum. Feodor tells us, “Mr, Strouck, the American engi- neer who supervised construction, was a bit put out about the venti- lation system. He said it was very expensive, and no other foundry in Europe or America had one like this, why should we? But we told him that the health of our workers was as important to us as turning out good machine “Soon we're going to make it pretty as a forest here, with flow ers and shrubs all about,” Feodor grins. “Some foundrymen make fun of the plan. What are we, sissies, they ask! Why do moulders want pansies about! We ans’ why not? We spend seven hours a day here, don’t we? Why should not it be green and restful? Be- sides, we can’t let other factories get ahead of us. Take Moscow's Electrozavod, in some departments, Soviet it’s like a greenhouse. That’s how it'll be here.” SHOCK BRIGADERS ON THE JOB. Feodor continues. “This is how we Soviet workers are laying the technical basis for socialism. Now a lot of foreign capitalists are hav- ing to admit our workers’ power can build. as fine industrial giants as any. But, they claim we haven't got the skill to run them, That's ized ourselves into a brigade, in order to improve our production, . and do our part in speeding the building of socialism. We're aiming to apply all the new methods of work which Comrade Stalin. sum- med up for us in his famous six points.” He gestures toward the wall, where they shine forth in white letters on a red background, “There are twenty-seven of* us. ‘We work in groups of thrée. See, above each machine, the names of each three are written, also our day’s programme. We know .we alone are personally responsible for our machines. Nobody else can work on it. It’s up to us to keep it in good condition. At the end of the day, we write in our output, and the percentage of damage, re- ported to us from the inspection department.” “How does our output compare with formerly? In the old foundry, three men made 600 forms’ in a seven-hour day. Here, we make 1,150. Of course the big. part. of our increase is due to the new equipment, as well as new methods of work, also there are less ab- from illness. The whole foundry will double its output, with an increase of only 400 men. As for wages, we have gone over to the pro; ive piece work system. Each of us earns much more that way, and have incentives to do our best. We make on an average about 160 roubles a month. The basic rate is 5.75 rubles a day, with 2.35 rubles extra for each: 100 moulds that are without damage, Four per cent spoilage is allowed: if we have less, 15 kopecks is added for each 10 moulds turnded out. Our wages will go higher still, as we get more skill, All of us. are stu@ying in the technical school, three hours a week.” sences “At first our damage was terrific ven up to 44 per cent. That was before we caught on to the new machines. Now, it runs around 2- 3 per cent. No, we're not yet on a cost accounting basis, but expect to be soon.” “What about those fellows across the aisle?” he repeates our ques- tion. “On, they’re green yet. In a short time we're going to challenge A group of young workers of the Soviet Podolsk sewing machine factory which once belonged to the American capitalist Singer not true!” The molten steel of his eyes flashes, his grey hair bristles: “It’s not true, and we're proving it. Of course, it’s no cinch, training peasant lads who don’t know a lathe from a drop-hammer, into skilled mechanics and masters of industry. But we're doing it. How? Come”, he adds abruptly, “see for yourselves.” ‘We enter the moulding depart- ment. On our right, is a group of twenty youths, shirtless, their muscles rippling in quick, exact rhythm, as they swing levers, re- leasing sand, into forms of shining copper, press moulds, placing them on the moving conveyor which runs to the casting room. Here, no back-breaking, no wasted hand la- bor. Again they swing. Another set of forms placed on the con- veyor, another—another. What fine team work! What ease and skill to their labor! COMMUNIST YOUTH “This is our Comsomol brigade,” Feodor says. To our left, just across the aisle, another set of moulders are at work. Slow, clumsy, these men, Their output, in quality and quan- tity, is obviously far below their companions. Once a machine catches. The worker, snorting, fumbles with its levers. Darting across, a Comsomol adjusts the levers, returns to his own machine. Suddenly the work halts. A five minute rest period in every hour, lighting cigarettes, the mon take their morning papers, delivered to them .each day in the factory, from their notchs, or sit about in small groups, talking. Feodor calls ove: the Comsomol leader. “Tell us about your brig- ade.” The lad’s face lights up. “Simple enough,” he answers, We organ- them to form a brigade and com- pete with us. Then you'll see how they'll change, and now the sand’ll fy? The Podolsk machine factory has 836 such shock brigadés, ineluding 87 per cent of its 11,000 workers. (To Be Continued) Feodor Trefanov, who has been tolling the story of how he and the other Podolsk workers drove out the capitalists, took over the fac- tory and set up their own govern- ment, Today, although over 60 years of age and able to live on his government pension, he pre- fers to work in the new foundry, instructing young workers how to mould. He also wants to-hear from American workers, His address is: Feodor Trefanov, Dom 11, Bolshoi Serpokhavska St., Podolsk, 'U.S.S.e i