The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 9, 1933, Page 3

bo 4 DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDA , JANUARY 9, 1933 _ Page Three International Notes By ROBERT HAMILTON SOCIALIST LEADERS OF UNIONS NAME SCHLEICHER MINISTER! According to the capitalist “Ber- liner Tageblatt” of December 14th, Kaiser, leader of the Catholic trade unions in Germany, stated in a meet- ing in Cologne: “Tt also want to say that the Chancellor (General von Schlei- cher) got together with the trade anions on the choice of the new Minister of Labor.” This new Minister of Labor, sug- gested by the Socialist and Catholic union officials, headed the National Tnsurance Institute for years and is ..thiefly responsible for the huge re- . Juctions in unemployment relief dur- ing the past year. ‘The Socialist leaders proclaim their . “undying opposition to Schleicher,” --but, behind the workers’ backs they > Mot only negotiate with him but even nominate his Cabinet ministers! HUNGER MARCH IN SPAIN GRANADA, Spain, Dec. 23 (by majl).—Hundreds of starving unem- ployed demonstrated in the streets here today in a hunger march to the city hall. A delegation conferred there with city officials and protested against the lack of public aid for those out of work. ‘Turned away with nothing but words, @ group of workers smashed the windows of a food store and carried off all the merchandise in- side. the Civil Guard fired into the crowd., ie ee JOBLESS DEMONSTRATE IN SWEDEN. STOCKHOLM, Dec, 17 (by mail) — More than 3,000 unemployed workers demonstrated in Goteborg yesterday under the leadership of the Commu- nist Party of Sweden. They de- manded that the Socialist City Coun- cil provide extra Christmas relief of 50 kronen per person, plus the dis- tribution of clothing to the unem- ployed and their dependents. «oe 8 BRITISH LABOR DEFENDS OIL TRUST In the House of Commons, Colonel Wedgewood, prominent Labor mem- ber of Parliament, called upon the British Government “to take all the necessary steps for the protection of our (1!) property in Persia.” After consistently voting for a big- ger and better navy and air force, the British Labor Party is now acting as watchdog for the multi-millionaire Deterding and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, threatening the Persian government for darivg to win back the oil fields stolen from it by cor- ruption and bribery. Another con- tribution to the sincerity of Socialist protestations of hostility to imperial- ism! COMMUNISTS WIN CITY ELECTION Two workers weer shot when | “Save My Billions” That's what John D. Rockefeller, shown playing golf in Florida, really meant when he told us to “fight for democracy” in 1917. Something to remember in 1933 as new wars are being prepared. HUNGER HEARINGS IN CAL. AND OHIO Gov't Officials Won’t Take Floor SAN DIEGO, Cal., Jan. 8. — San Diego’s hunger hearing was held in the Lincoln School Auditorium before an enthusiastic crowd of 350 workers. The hearing was held in the form of a public trial. Jack Hardy of the W. E. S. L. acted as judge and Stan- Jey Hancock of the I. L. D. acted as prosecutor. The mayor, the city council, the board of supervisors and the county welfare comm: n_ were the [defendants and the <1ucience acted as jury. Won't Take Floor. Prior to the “hearing all city and county officials were notified to be present and several appeared although all declined to take the floor in their own defense. Positive proof of hunger in San Diego was presented in the form of a number of local unemployed workers who took the stand and testified about their own miserable conditions. Testimony typical of the relief given here was made by a father of a family of 10. His relief amounts to $6.50 per week or an average of 3c a meal per person. Call for Cash Relief. Further resolutions were endorsed calling for cash relief instead of grocery scrip, for a sharp increase in the amount of relief given, for free milk, hot lunches and carfare for school children. The state hunger march to Sacra- mento (Tuesday, Jan. 10) was en- d..anddelegates elected. They si COLOGNE, Germany, -Dec. 19-(by Peet and. celenaes, whe mail).—In the municipal election in Alsdorf the Nazis suffered a severe defeat, They lost more than 45 per cent of their vote in the November 6 City Couneil now, with 10 aldermen to the Socialists’ 3, the Catholics’ 7, the bourgeois groups’ 3 and the Hit- lerites’ 1. The local election in the little town of Ostritz, Saxony, resulted in a 25 ‘per cent loss for the Nazis, compared with the November 6 vote, while the Communists’ vote rose from 251 to * . ENFORCING ANTI-BRITISH = BOYCOTT CORK, Ireland, Dec. 13 (by mail) — ‘The Cork warehouses of the British brewery firm of Bass, Ratcliffe and Cretton, Ltd., were raised by a num- ber of men, some of whom were armed. The employees were held up while over';twenty barrels of beer were smashed and emptied sree the . About $750 worth of beer Two Irish revolutionaries, Donal ©’Connor and T. Molloy, are at pres- ent serving sentences in Mountjoy Jail for an attack on the Dublin premises of this same firm. Tt is part of the “Boycott British” League’s program to prevent the sale of this imperialist firms beer in southern Ireland, as an answer to Britain's economic war of starvation against Ireland. 4 ees. MILITARY ALLIANCE AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION Certain details of the Belgrade conference of the chiefs of staff of the Little Entente armies have been disclosed in Prague. The conference FE ed the new mobilization plans French imperialism. The keynote of the conference was a military al- lance which France. offers the na- tions of the Little Entente as a bloc, aimed against the Soviet Union and sae, Italy. This military Dual « is intended as a substitute for the individual alliances and the natons of the Czechoslovakia op- this, fearing it would lose its dominant position in the Little En- tente, so that France allegedly with- i Hearing in Cleveland. CLEVELAND, Jan. 8.— Over one hundred workers attended an open hearing held on 55th and St. Clair. Councilman Grossman and a member of senate from this district were in- vited to attend this meeting but did not show up, When Grossman ran for the office he promised the work- ers that there would be no hunger and evictions in his district if elected. At this hearing, one of the women told of being evicted from her home with her furniture and seven chil- dren, thrown into the streets two days before Christmas. She also stated that if it had not been for the neighbors that were mobilized by the Unemployed Council she and her seven children would have hati to spend Christmas in the streets. All furniture was put back into the house and she is still living at the same address. A delegation was elected to go to the councilman’s home to demand an explanation for not coming to this meeting, also demanding of him to send a telegram-to Columbus so that the delegates who are present- ing the Workers Unemployment In- surance Bill will be given the floor in the state senate, This delegation will also demand that the council- man take action against evictions, forced labor and for an increase in relief in his district. DETROIT PLANS ANTI-WAR MEETS DETROIT, Jan. 8—As emergency Mobilization for a whole series of mass meetings to protest against the new onslaught by Japanese imperial- ism on the Chinese people and against the open war maneuvers and war preparations of the United States government, the District Com- mittee of the Communist Party, Dis- trict No. 7, is calling upon the work~- ers, especially automobile workers, to organize and demonstrate against the developing imperialist wars and the menace of a new imperialist world Action Meetings. The Anti-War Meetings are being held in the following sections on Thursday, Friday and Saturday: Ferry Hall, Hamtramck, North De- troit, Downtown, Ford Section at it, by the bour-| Bayside, East Side Automobile Sec~ regarding the Little En-| tion, Martin Hall, Finnish Hall, geois tadte euntehey contarenos in Belgrade pre that influential circles ice and among the Little Entente Fra eee ee eee a itary positions in spite of the con- rigger a ore bby paci- D u Protest from CHICAGO, Ill, Jan. 8. — Forty members of the Scottsboro Branch, tL.D., in Evanston, Ill, adopted a Brewster Center (Negro section), and in tne outlying sections, such as Pon- tiac, Flint, Grand Rapids, Jackson and Kalamazoo. The District Committee further calls upon the Party members and sympathizers to build up the Lieb- knecht meetings, organized by the Young Communist League in the re- spective sections. At these meetings, organizational proposals and resolu- tions will be adopted against war and the new wage-cut in the Ford other automobile plants, and to upon the automobile workers conference against wage- WORKER MINERS LOOKING FOR FIGHTING LEADERSHIP Pa. Miners Send Collective Letter to Miners of U.S.S.R. Detailed Description of Conditions in the Fields and Union Betraying Officials | Assure Comrades of Soviet Union That They Understand the Necessity of Defending USSR NOTE:—A group of miners in LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa— Mners here work on an average of 9 to 10 hours a day, and in some places more. They are forced to load 10 to 15 tons of coal, besides three to four cases of rock for nothing. For this slavery they only receive about $4. In most places they do not get paid for such work as loading and unloading timber, repairing tracks, and lots of extra work. Mechanical loaders and shaker chutes are being introduced in most of the mines, which means throwing out thousands of miners on the streets to starve. Six men on mechanical | loaders are forced to load from 30 to 50 cars a day, which means 60 to 100 tons of coal daily. The wages on the mechanical loaders are about $4 a day. Loading rock is being done for ! nothing, forcing the miners to speed up to the limit. The above wages are regarded as very high and only very few com- panies pay such wages. In most of the collieries, the wages are about $17 per week for the same slavery. Many miners are being killed, not only those that work for the com- pany, but many who are digging holes on company dumps in order to get some coal for homie fuel. Even for this the company thugs beat the un- employed miners and jail them just because it is private property. The | workers suffer from hunger and cold while the warehouses and the giant coal producers stay and rot away idly. In Lackawanna County alone, there are at least 40,000 miners out of work at present. These unemployed receive the equivalent of about $5 worth of food from relief a month for a whole family. Every attempt of the miners to organize is met with terror. Thou~ sands of miners are without shoes and sufficient clothing, while the warehouses are filled with all kinds of goods. At present the coal operators with the corrupt reformist union officials of the UMWA are getting ready to put over another 20 per cent to 30 per cent wage cut. Only the revolu- tionary organizations under the lead- ership of the Communist Party are carrying on a struggle for better con- ditions and against the bosses. The miners are looking up to the Soviet Union as their Fatherland, as the only hope of the workers out of the present crisis. We are following closely the achievements of the So- viet workers in building Socialism. The capitalist papers are peddling all kinds of lies about “forced labor” and terrible conditions of the Soviet workers, The miners are realizing more and more, in spite of this prop- aganda, that the Soviet Union has and is continually raising the stand- ard of living of its workers, while here more and more workers are thrown out of work. Give our best comradely and revo- lutionary greetings to the miners of the Soviet Union. We pledge our- selves to carry on the struggle against the bosses of the U. S. A. and for the defense of the Soviet Union, against imperialist attacks on it. (Signed by Four Miners), U.M.W.A. PAY-CUT. BONANZA, Ark,—I live in a min- ing field where the miners are back in the John L. Lewis Union. The miners went to sign up at the Com- pany terms of a 25 per cent reduc- tion, The average pay is about $2.00 per day, In many places the workers are on half time and the boss can discharge whomever he pleases at any time he sees fit, Yet it is glorious to be in a Union led by fakers. We miners sure love to be misled like this — but it will soon be different with many of those that are think- ing. CORRESPONDENCE | replied to a letter from Soviet Miners in the Stalino District, U.S.S.R. The following is their letter in part: @ ] the Pennsylvania anthracite region PA. COAL BARONS BREAK CAMP IN SCOTTDALE MINE Miner Calls for Fight Against Pay Cut and Shutdown Frick Coal Co.—Here is a Christmas and New Year's present of Friek Co. to thousands of starving miners. Through its Scottdale office it has made an announcement of a new 15 per cent wage cut. Also that the buildings and tipples at Leisinger No. 3, Monarch and Juanita will be dis- mantled. The official excuse for this cut and lay off is to cut down the heavy taxes the company claims it has to pay. The Frick mines are known to all miners as the worst hell holes in these parts. Robbing in weight is a specialty of Fricks. Already the mass of miners are on the rocks. Working only one and two days a week. The miners are mak- ing small starvation pay, but the company is deducting for past relief, when they were not working, out of their pay. Only united action by all the Frick miners against the Prick Co. wage-| cut and starvation program will force | the company to let up with this rob- bery and wage-cutting. ‘The National Miners Union is working to get all miners together to struggle against this wage cut. —Frick Miner. Miners Prepare to Get “New Deal” By Organized Efforts GARRETT, Ky.—November 8, Elec- tion Day, Bill-Addington and S. E. Lucas decided to lay off for the elec- tion. The next day or so they return- ed to work: Lo and behold, the boss says, “Get your tools and go home. When we need you we will send for you.” They have never sent. They finally landed on the 30- hour-per-week federal road aid job and cannot get even the 30 hours per week on account of lay-offs by the contractors. This is only an example of how things are going. Hundreds are being treated this way. Us part time slaves are getting a “red” foothold and are working to launch a program along the lines of the demands of the Communist Par- ty. Our chief demands are: Federal tio Unemployment Insurance paid by taxation from inheritarice taxes and other incomes. Immediate reduction in farm and all poll and school for workers and the poor of at Jvast 50 per cent, Immediate relief foy the jobless and poor farmers. World de cancellation of all debts. Imme¢ © payment of soldiers bonus with in- terest, and cancellation of interes: on those that have borrowed. ‘These demands may be somewhat revised, but not enough to alter the general idea behind each demand. Will report later with more complete data. We think the time is fully ripe here for anything. So, comrades we are getting ready for that “new deal’—made possible only by the combined forces of the common peo- ple in organized struggle. -F, WELCO, Ky.—The Wells-Elkhorn Coal Co, is one of many Eastern Kentucky coal companies, and what goes on here is a fair example of all the rest. This article is written with the approval of the leading miners of Wells-Elkhorn No. 6 Mine. They said; “Put it down strong. This hell-hole not going to last long. We dety the U. S. Senators, Con- gressmen, the federal government or any damned part thereof to prove that conditions among us slaves are not even worse,” In a dirty 38 or 40-inch seam of coal, full of “bone” on the bottom, slate on the top, the miners toil from before daylight till dark, separating and loading from 5 to 8 tons per‘day (according to the company’s own weight sheets). The pay is 28 cents per ton. There is absolutely no pay for dead work or yardage, except in main headings shot to a depth of 8 to 10 inches. The miner pays for all expenses, according to the follow- ing table: Ce Store Carbide, per II e $ 10 Lard, per lb. .. 10 D. S, meat, cheapest, per Ib..,, 12% 'D. it, + 15 meat, Ontmeal (14 08) Kentucky Miners Want Facts “Put DownStrong” Defy Government Authorities to Prove That Conditions Are Not Even Worse Company Store Prices Contrasted With Those Of Private Stores Rice (12 02.) ...... 10 Cream, 14 oz. cans. 10 Coffee, per Ib. 22 Overalls .... 1.25 Work shirts . 5 Mining lamps 1,00 Private Stores Private stores do not handle car- bine, on account the miners are forced to trade at company store. ans, Breakfast bacon. Oatmeal, 20 02, 50c. And so on, on every article under the coal company domain. Words cannot describe the ‘“split- ting” of meals among them, or the borrowing of each other's clothes. U. 8. war ships kept in the Pacific and prepared at a moments notice Prepare War in As to start the attack on Japan for control over China loot or commence the invasion of the peaceful U. S. S. R. BRITAIN FEARS IRISH STRUGGLE Masses Use Elec ion to |Demands $1,200,000,000 | |Winter Aid in Capital | Push Separation DUBLIN, Jan. 8.—In spite of the fact that the election statement is- sued by President de Valera says nothing about the political status which his government would claim for Ireland in the event of his program being endorsed by the elec- torate, the British press is expressing |great laarm over the situation. The Cosgrave party is given open support by the British press and his promise to resume amicable relations | with Britain “in three days” if he re- great alarm over the situation. British Imperialists Alarmed. ‘What the imperialist spokesmen are afraid of is the effect upon the Irish masses, always the backbone of the independence struggle, of deValera’s anti-British agitation. They have no fear of the de Valera program as such, having long ago decided that while it causes them temporary em- barrassment from time to time, as in the case of the- withholding of the land annuities, the popular side as shown by the present boycott of British goods, carries with it a real danger, Unity And Complete Separation, This is especially true at present because of the increasing influence of the Irish Workers Groups and the coming formation of the Communist Party of Ireland. The Irish masses are driving more and more rapidly toward a movement for complete separation from Great Britain. This involves the position of the North of Ireland (Ulster) as well, where there is, contrary to the pre- vailing opinion outside Ireland, a strong independence movement and Much support for the slogan of an Irish Workers and Farmers Republic —the program of the Irish Workers Groups, The Chief Fear. But the main cause of alarm in imperialist circles is the threatened loss of Ireland as a naval and air base in the case of Britain at war, and the possibility of it becoming a base for a power hostile to British imperialist interests. Whatever the public issues in the coming election these are the basic factors involved and there is, in spite of the Cosgrave betrayals and the de Valera demagogy, little comfort for the British ruling class in the situa- mn, Out of the struggle for power be- tween the parties of the Irish capi- talists and middle class is developing @ clear cut line of revolutionary strug- gle of the impoverished workers and farmers, directed both against the Trish exploiters and their British im- perialist masters. STEEL TRUSTS PLAN PAY CUT Only Strike Action Can Defeat It ; (CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE) the shorter work week in connection with wages and working conditions. S. M. W. I. U. Calls Workers to Action. The Steel and Metal Workers In- dustrial Union; affiliated to the Trade Union Unity League whose na- tional secretary is Wiiliam Z. Foster, early foresaw and issued a call to action against the coming wage cut. Tt is the only organization in the steel industry which the steel trust fears. It is the only organization which has to its credit the defeat |* of a wage cut. In the Warren strike of last fall against the Republic Steel Company it succeeded in forcing the company to withdraw a 7 per cent wage cut. Predicted Cut Last November. The November issue of the Steel and Metal Worker stated, in the course of a call for the formation of mill committees, unity of the em- ployed and unemployed and other preparations for resistance to wage cuts: “The steel bosses are preparing ‘public opinion’ and maneuvering to put over another general wage cut in the steel industry. Recent events .| inthe financial circles of Wall Street .| prove this. “Myron C. Taylor, chairman of the .| billionaire board of directors of the U. 8. Steel Corporation (and right .| hand man of J. P. Morgan, unofficial president of the U.S.A.) recently met with the heads of nine leading rail- 40c.| roads and agreed to slash the prices of steel rails from $43 to $40 a ton. “This action of the U. S, Steel au- tomatically sets the price of steel products for the entire industry .. . ‘The second event in Wall Street was the payment of the regular quarterly dividend of U. S. Steel stock to its A mining pair of boots serves also for Sunday. Some miners have not owned a hat for two years, as one expressed it-—it's the truth—take it leave it. They are no so ignorant governments, either, Millionaire holders to the tune of “Who is going to pay for the mil- caused by the reduction of steel prices and for BENJAMIN SHOWS | UP ‘RELIEF’ BILL | (CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE) uled to appear, and remained until | Benjamin concluded. These workers | were able to see the strong contrast between the attitude of the capital- ist social service and welfare rep- resentatives and that of the militant unemployed. Fake Ohio Bill. I, M. Rubinow spoke for the Ohio | Unemployment Insurance Commis- | relief which the organization he is | associated with, doled out to the un- employed, admitting that this relief | was about 1 per cent of what the workers were getting in wages. He concluded by urging the adoption of the State Insurance Plan, to which the workers will be forced to con- tribute 1 per cent of their wages. This plan, he argued, if it had been adopted in 1922, would now make it possible for workers to get back 10 per cent of their wages in insurance. | But he was in favor of increasing the | contribution of the workers to 2 per \ cent and the contribution of employ- ers to 2 per cent, Another Speaker, Edith Abbott, de- scribed the misery of children in Chicago and the schemes for cut- | ting relief by means of issuing rations from a commissary instead of cash, tricks used in order to avoid paying rent for the jobless. But she. em- phasized not the suffering which re- sults from unemployment, but rather the fact that landlords were not get- ting a square deal. Cites Wholesale Misery. | Benjamin referred to the appalling conditions described by those who preceded him, pointing out that these descriptions had become the means for those who share the responsibility to relieve themselves of that respon- sibility. The fact to whioh these people so smugly confessed should properly be brought out in the form of an indictment. of their murderous hunger program before workers’ courts gnd workers’ prosecutors. He cited numerous cases of death from starvation, eviction, terror, forced labor and other abuses suffered by the workers in all parts of the coun- try and reported by Worker Cor- respondents in the Daily Worker, Liberator and other workers press. He then exposed the various relief schemes that have been sponsored by demagogy since the Hunger March of 1931. He told of the American Legion and the A. F. of L. job find- ing campaign of the Block-aid scheme of Morgan and Thomas and Swope, Groves, Ohio, Roosevelt, six Governors and other fake unem- ployment insurance and relief schemes. In dealing with the plans sponsored by General Glassford he sald that this intends to imprison homelesss youth in convict camps where they will be militarized in pre- | paration for the imperialist war which is now being planned. $12.05 a Year “Relief” Fe~then proceeded to expose the LaFollette-Costigan bill itself. While thse two progressive agents of cap- italism squirmed in their seats he said that their bill would provide at most $12.05 a year for the 16 million jobless. From newspaper clippings he displayed headlines that an- nounced that this bill was sure to pass and then showed that these stories as well as the bill were pub- lished for the purpose of deceiving the masses to make them feel that it is not necessary for them to unite in militan® struggle as the only means of securing relief. He concluded with the demand of the unemployed for appropriation of $1,200,000,000 to provide winter re- lief of $50 plus $10 as a supplement to local relief, for immediate enact- ment of the workers Unemployment Insurance bill, payment of the vet- erans bonus, stopping of million dol- lar subsidies to bankers and trusts and againsg the sales tax and the new measures of Roosevelt for in- creasing the tax on small incomes. These relief measures he stated, Congress has no intention of passing. ‘We by our organized struggle will, however, safeguard our right to live by eventually forcing Congress to grant these demands in spite of op- position the ‘loss’ incurred by the payment of the quarterly dividend to the stock holders? The stock-holders are not going to pay, otherwise they would not have received their dividend this quarter. “Somebody has to pay—and the U. S. Steel has decided that the workers shall be the victims, It is now six months past since the last wage-cut, and basing ourselves on the above- mentioned events in Wall Street, we must prepare ourselves for a new gen- eral attack bf the Steel Trust within the next few months .. . the wage cut will probably be general (na- tional) with indications that it will occur during the period of December January.” SRE SET Lea: | workers’ representatives were sched-) | sion for an hour on the miserable} tion Painters Union held December Union to the T.U.U.L. was broadly di | present. The question was put on the orde oe © 3GOVTS RUSH TROOPS TO FRONT | aes ee , Bolivia Training New Reserves | (CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO) zon, thus indicating a sudden with- drawal of the Brazilian government from the U.S. bloc of puppet states.} government would be a the British imperialist riv: E red wars in Street. The two unde South America reflect the fierce struggle for markets between these two imperialist rivals. The bian warships held up by Bri clude the former U. “Bridgetown” and several other ves- sels purchased the opening of hostilities Call for Conscripting Women Conscription of women for the} “non-combative” branches of the | military service is being advocated by Brazilian militarists under the usual imperialist pretext of “national| emergency.” In addition to the Colombian forces on the Amazon, Colombia has also dispatched 3,000 soldiers over-| land from Bogota to Cau on the Putumayo River. These forces in-| clude a number of fighting planes.} Peru has 3,000 men, three gunboats, | four river launches and seven air- planes at Iquitos or along the Ama- zon. River. | Chaco Battle Rages. | Bolivian artillery yesterday de-) feated an attack by Several squad- | rons of Paraguayan cavalry in the] undeclared Gran Chaco war. The| Bolivian government has mobilized and is training thousands of reser-| vists of the classes of 1923 to 19 for active military service. This war| which likewise reflects the clash of! U. 8.-British imperialist interests, as| well as the desperation of the native} bourgeoisie in seeking a capitalist | “way out” of the crisis, is threaten-| ing to involve Argentina. GRANITE CUTTERS EXPOSE PAY CUTS By A. R. About the middle of November a | meeting of a committee from the Concord, N. H. Branch of the In- ternational Association of Granite Cutters ,with Squibb, the president) of the union, and the Concord Gran- ite Manufacturers, took place. Its purpose was to settle a dispute about re-employing two men who had been fired from a Concord shop. Discover Wage Cut. After an agreement had been reached putting the men back to work, Swenson, one of the largest granite manufacturers in the coun- try, asked Squibb if it was true that a branch of the union in Rockville, Minn., was working for seven dollars a day. The constitution of the as-| sociation (the A. F. of L. Granite| Workers’ Union) calls for a minimum } wage of $1 an hour ($8 a day). Squibb at that time said that he did no know, but that Clark, the Rock- ville manufacturer, was “one of his friends!” One of the militant workers who was on the committee brought the Rockville wage-cut to the attention of the Concord Branch, who elected a committee to investigate the wage- cut of the Rockville Branch. More Wage Cuts Uncovered. The Concord Committee went to Quincy, Mass., where, due to a re- cent amendment to their constitu- tion, the Executive Council is con- centrated (geographically). The Ex- ecutive Council is handpicked by ; Squibb, There they compelled Squibb to call a special meeting, at which the Concord Committee discovered that two other branches, one in War- saw, Michigan, and one in the South, were working below the minimum wage scale. It is a clear case of the violation cepted dues from these branches, who should be expelled according to the Granite Union's constitution; or Squibb should have sent organizers to lead a strike to win the minimum wage scale. When asked why he sold out to the employers instead of send- ing organizers, he replied that out “there” the workers are “natural scabs,” The employers in the Granite in- dustry are preparing to go “open shop.” In this, they have been aided by Squibb (a typical labor faker) Such a withdrawal by the Brazilian), i for | in this country since |” of their constitution. Squibb ac-} Fast “288 (Shall the Alteration Painters Union Affiliate By M. KUSHINSKY, Secretary, Alteration Painters Union. (Discussion Article.) At the second semi-annual General Membership meeting of the Aitera~ With TUUL? 18 the question of affiliation of our ussed by a large number of workers r of business of that meeting by the leadership of our Union because we kr that there was a sentiment ripening in the minds of our mem- bership for affiliation, Not ANew Question, The question of affiliation of our uion to the T.U.U.L, is by no means ew in the ranks of the Union. The fact of the matter is that when, about 18 months ago, the question of launch- ing of the union officially came up, the question of affiliation was taken up als At that time we were not ready to art a discussion in the Organization Committee of this problem, Our Union came into existence as a result of a broad demand on the part of a arge number of Painters who were ing to begin building ation for struggle against and for better conditions U of Union was born and developed > and has gained in strength lence because the workers is the Union they were . for many years Other Leadership Failed, We know that one of the reasons that we have not yet succeeded in drawing in larger numbers of work ers into our Union is, that the paint- |ers of New York have seen many at- tempts made within the last 20 years to organize the Alteration Trade and that the leaders of these attempts have never fulfilled heir promises to the painters. In most cases the Painters were badly disappointed by elements that got themselves into the leadership of these unions and groups who were only playing into the hands of the corrupted and discredited leaders of the Brotherhood As a result of these disappointments the masses of Painters are still look- ing with a considerable amount of distrust at the attempt made by our Organization to build a mass Altera- tion Painters Union. “Watchful Waiting.” There are many thousands of Painters who are now convinced that our Union is the proper weapon for struggle dnd that it is the Union that they will sooner or later join, They are convinced that our Union has the correct policy and tactics but are adopting the attitude of “watchfully awaiting.” T.U.U.L. Popular. The popularity of hte T.U.U.L. and the trust and confidence the workers are placing in the T.U.U.L. cannot be doubted. The Painters of this city are hesitant to join an Independent Union having learned through ex- perience that in every case in the past such a Union in the Painting trade has been misused by the Brotherhood misleaders to the detriment of the workers. The workers see and realize that our Union is different and that our policies of militant struggle against the attacks of the bosses are very much in line with the tactics and policies of the other class struggle Unions that are affiliated to the T.UUL, Question Must Be Met. The question therefore arises in the minds of many painters as to the advantages that would be gained by our Union if we affiliate to the TUUL, It is the opinion of the writer of this article that the present situation of the Alteration Painers Union and the problem of building a mass Union as well as the problem of drawing into our Organization the many militant workers whom we have not yet reached largely depends upon whether we affiliate to the T.U.U.L. or remain indefinitely an independent union, Encourage Discussion. We must open a broad discussion in our Locals and in the press on this question. It should be the object of the leadership of our Union to en- courage this discussion so that as many rank and file workers as pos- sible express their opinion. The field for our Union is wide open. Thousands of Painters in New York are closely watching our activity and our progress, and if affiliation to the T,U.U.L, will in any way help in bringing masses of painters quicker into the Union we must not delay this question much longer. and the A. F. of L. bureaucracy. Action Called For, The crisis must be met by the en- ergetic action of the rank and file. Elect a committee of action in your branch, get in touch with “Commit- tees of Action,” Box 25, Essex Sta- tion, Boston, Mass. Our immediate goal is the im- peachment and expulsion of Squibb for his open violation of the Asso~ ciation’s Constitution, for his “friendly” and money relations with the employers. Our slogans are: Answer lockouts with strikes! Main- tain our wage scale! Organize all the granite workers under a militant leadership, elected by the rank and file. Every City Worker NAME ..--+0+-ssneneesoensses ADDRESS ~~~ armament nen Ranma Nia! PRODUCERS NEWS PLENTYWOOD, MONTANA (OFFICIAL PAPER OF THE UNITED FARMERS LEAGUE) The only farmers paper coming out openly Against Evictions and Foreclosures, Every Farmer Should Kead It! Farmers and City Workers Unite! PRODUCERS NEWS: one year $2,00; Six Moaghs $1.00; ‘Three Months 50c; Six Weeks 25c. WORKERS: SUBSCRIBE FOR YOURSELF and YOUR FARMER FRIENDS AND DO IT NOW! Should Read Itt a2 wa men ws CeO