The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 28, 1933, Page 3

“4 ee Sopkin Striker S Reject DePriest Terms; Stand Firm ®is Ain 6.4% Reformists Urge Arbitration; Strikers Remain | by Union; Ovation for Ford of T.U.U.L.; Police Terror Continues CHICAGO, Ill, June 27.—Request for a jury trial by Professor Robert | Morse Lovett, of the University of Chicago, and Thomas McKenna, of the American Civil Liberties Union, on granted today. against police brutality against the shop on So, Michigan miter CHICAGO, IH., June 27.—Oscar . charges of disorderly conduct, was Lovett and McKenna were arrested when they protested dress strikers picketing the Sopkin De Priest, Negro Congressman, min- | isters and reformist organizations in alliance with Sopkin are actively at work to break the strike of 1,600 Negro and white workers who are fighting sweatshop conditions in the Sopkins Dress Shop here. Four plants are com- pletely tied up as the strike is in its second week, and the workers are L. A. HAT STRIKE ENDS IN VICTORY Win Shorter Week Without Pay Cut LOS ANGELES, June 26.—A three- day strike of the millinery workers of the Lube Hat Works, under the leadership of the Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial Union, ended in a complete victory for the workers. All demands were won by the work- ers. The demands were: restoration of the 44-hour week without any re- fluction in pay; abolition of all dis- srimination and abuses against work- ers in the shop; equal division of work during dull seasong and the Tecognition of a shop committee and the Millinery branch of the Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial Union. Almost #ll the workers on strike foined the union and formed a strong shop committee. Workers in other shops are joining the union, inspired by the results of the Lube strike. The newly-formed Millinery branch of the Needle Trades Workers’ In- dustrial Union is launching an in- tensive drive to bring all the workers in the millinery industry into the militant union. Strike of Weariy 100 Millinery Workers LOS ANGELES, Cal, June 26— Millinery workers on strike here against Goldman Brothers and led by the Needle Trades Workers’ In- dustrial Union have signed up with the union. Although the police are intimidating the strikers on the picket line, the line remains un- broken. The workers are demanding equal division of work, abolition of piece-work, speed-up and lay-offs, and that their union be recognized. Nearly 100 workers are involved in the strike. "The bosses have thus far refused to meet a strikers’ committee, al- , though he has suggested a hand- “picked committee with which he will negotiate. But the workers pro- tested against this trick of trying to split the workers’ ranks, and refused. Needle Workers Plan Strike in St. Louis After Shop Meeting, POCKETBOOK WORKERS STRIKE AGAINST ASSOCIATION SHOPS ST. LOUIS, Mo., June 27.—A de- veloping sentiment among the needle trades workers here was evident last week at a shop con- ference called by the Elaine Shop Group. The conference, one of the largest ever held here in this indus- try, was attended by 80 delegates tepresenting several shops. Girsch of Chicago was the principal speaker. Workers took the floor and told of the miserable conditions which the workers face in the needle sweat- shops here. They exhibited checks as low as $3.18 for 54 hours’ work.) Girsch, who stressed the importance of shop organization, warned the workers. against the new fake efforts of the Amalgamated and the LL.G.W. officials, who are launching an or- ganization campaign with the express _ purpose of helping the government and the bosses defeat any efforts of the workers to win better conditions. These officials announced a mass meeting to start the organization campaign and are playing up the Recovery Act as a means of fooling the workers to join their organiza- tions and accept their company anion policies. PROTEST JIM-CROWISM IN BUFFALO BUFFALO, N. Y.—A campaign against the vicious jim-crow and discriminatory practices of relief authorities was begun at a combined meeting of the International Labor Defense and the League of Struggle for Negro Rights, By HARRY GANNES ARTICLE 4 # Tt aid not require very much time tion. In these six days there were three fundamentals steps taken, each one consisting of a price blow directed omega president of the F. od L., in answering the ques- to him by Congressman Lewis Ne the hearings proliniinary to . the pasage of the bill, whether Green could assure the President of the United States that he could expect to receive the guaranty from the labor Jeaders in the 110 different indus- cree in whieh eae wart were orgal Aeghinnhy Eee that — for struggle! more determined than ever to win| their demands. | False rumors have been spread in| the capitalist press that a strike set- tlement is under way based on the} | offer made by De Priest in behalf of Sopkin granting 20 per et Meera |to workers getting land 15 per cent ssicetes a aie earning $6. The scheme is Ln at to eliminate the militant girls those earning the lowest wages. | The strikers are demanding 25c oe hour for operators and 35c pressers as a minimum wage rate, 8-hour day and a 44-hour week. Reformists for Arbitration Reformist agencies and De Priest are actively working for arbitration in order to force out of the leader-| ship of the strike, the militant Needle | ‘Trades Workers Industrial Union. The strikers are demanding their own union representatives at all meetings. At a meeting held on Monday, De} Priest raised the red scare and ex- pected to split the ranks of the work- ers thereby. But the strikers answer- ed with a tremendous ovation to James Ford of the Trade Union Unity League and to union speakers. De Priest was unmasked and exposed as attempting to prevent the workers from fighting for improved condi- tions and from joining a union of their own choice although at the; same time a supporter of the Na-| tional Recovery (Slavery) Act. A number of workers, misled by the capitalist press reports went back to work but came out again when in- formed of the meaning of the offer. The strike committee is determined to carry on the struggle to abolish sweatshop conditions and stop dis- crimination against the Negro work- ers. el Lovett Arrested Robt. Morse Lovett of the University | of Chicago and Tom McKenna of the Civil Liberties Union were thrown into jail on Monday when they ap- peared on the picket line and pro- tested against police attacks on pick- eters. Lovett and McKenna, both present as observers, saw the workers organ- ize their picket line and march in orderly manner past the shop. They also saw the police attack and at- tempt to disperse the pickets. When they stepped forward to question the poli¢e, they were arrested and thrown into a crowded, filthy and unsanitary cell. They were released on $25 bonds in the morning. MILLIONS FOR | | provements. : FOUR FURNITURE. REFINANCING OF | FARM MORTGAGES Nothing | WASHINGTON, June 27.—Fifty- four men on the payroll of the Féd- eral Farm Credit Administration are at work in Wisconsin, “refinancing” farm mortgages. They ate to buy up from the mortgage sharks some $50,- 000,000 in mortgages. The price to be paid for them is limited to 50 per cent of the appraised value of the) land, plus 20 per cent of all farm im- Doesn’t Benefit Farmers No farmer will get one penny of this money being spent in Wisconsin. Only the mortgage sharks who have not been able to realize anything off their paper because of the resistance | of farmers to evictions and foreclos- ures will benefit. Their papér will be | bought up by banks and then the| | federal government will use its power to compel the farmers to pay the bankers. The Reconstruction Finance | Corporation has loaned a St. Paul} bank $35,000,000 to enable the bank| to buy the mortgages. STRIKES ARE WON Get Wage Inc Increases of 15 to 49 P. C. NEW YORK.—Four strike victor- ies, resulting in wage increases of 15 to 40-per cent are announced by the Furniture Workers’ Industrial Union. The wage increases were won at the Blumenthal, Ovington, Livingston, Feldstein and Ficarri Bros. shops. The Furniture Workers Industrial Union is carrying on a campaign in| the rest of the furniture and uphol- stery shops in the city for similar demands. The strike against the Parlor Frame Co., Bronx, for an increase of wages is holding solid. Fifteen workers of the Cornell Up- holstery on De Kalb Ave., corner Broadway, Brooklyn; are on strike for the following demands: 1—Rec- ognition of shop committee; 2—In- crease of wages; 3—Equal division of work, A mass meeting will be held Thurs- day at Manhattan Lyceum, 66 E. 4th St., of all workers working in the furniture industry. The Nationa! Industrial Recovery Bill will be explained and a plan of action will be proposed. Speakers will be Ben Gold, J. Ru- | bin, Osvaldi Eusepi and M. Pizer, 50 DAYS FOR L. A. WORKER LOS ANGELES.—John E. Hester, | militant worker of Lowndale who | was brutally beaten and arrested when a delegation of workers were attacked at the Los Angeles Welfare Bureau by the “red squad” was found guilty by a jury in Judge Crum’s court on two counts of “stealing electricity,” with intent to defraud the public utility companies. He was sentenced to serve 50 days in jail for “contempt of court” when he insisted that the real evidence involved in this case be put on the | record. NEW YORK.—A strike against a! is to -be confined only ‘to “Association ¢ shops. Officials Postpone General Strike A. F. of L. officials in control of the strike refused yesterday to call @ general strike, declaring that it should be postponed for a later date. The official clique is bent on repeat- ing the treachery of 1931, and has assumed full control of the strike and settlement committee, keeping, out the rank and file. The Rand School meeting was the occasion of a demagogic speech by the officials, in which the Recovery Act was brought in to stifle any militant struggle. i} Rank, File Calls for Real Strike. The rank and file committee calls upon the pockethook workers to turn the strike into a genuine, militant struggle and to force the officials to declare a general strike to include, for assistance to this program,” Green replied that he would give this assurance. (page 121 of the low us see what the program is in action, in life and not in words, which Green assured the framers of the industrial recovery bill he would pee to drive the workers to sup- port 1—The setting of a minimum wage of $10 in the South and $11 in the North for textile workers under the industral recovery act will serve as a precedent to be followed for mini- mum wages for the entire working- class. Not only that, the so-called minimum wage (which in practice, as admitted in the hearings, will usually become the maximum wage) applies to only a part of the textile workers, excluding apprentices, clean- ers and other outside workers ih the textile industry. This fully shows how Section 7, paragraph C of the bill will work in practice as we ex- plained in the previous article. That nized, fant reads: A. F. of L. Leaders, However, vever, Refuse to Spread Strike to Rest of Industry bosses’ association was declared yesterday at a meeting of pocketbook workers held at the Rand School. The strike followed after the bosses announced their shops to be open shops and refused any longer to recog- nize the union. The Strike, which is controlled by the A. F. of L. officials, ll pocketbook shops affiliated to the the independent and open shops, The workers are demanding a re- newal of the agreement without re- adjustment, without reorganization, a 40-hour and 5-day week. All pocketbook workers are called to picket duty today at 7:30 am. at their respective shops. A meeting of the pocketbook workers employed in the open shops is called for Wed- nesday at 6 p.m. at the Rand School by the union. YOUNG ROCKEFELLER GETS JOB BAYONNE, N._J.—Winthrop Rock- feller, son of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., has a job in his father’s business —the Standard Oil Company. He will start at the bottom with a job in the personnel department better known as the stool pigeon depart- «sent by the workers. the employes effected and accord- ing to locality of employment.” The minimum wage in the textile industry—that is the starvation wage as a guide to the bosses in the steel mills, coal mines, automobile indus- try, ete—is restricted only to cer- tain, differentiated workers—and is not a minimum wage in the indus- try at all! Imediate discontent swept through the textile industry among the work- ers when this fruit of Roosevelt's dizzy promises was known, with the result that the very same A. F. of L. leaders who supported the bill and helped to put it over, inviting just such action, were forced to grumble a little in order to save appearances. The New York Herald-Tribune in a special dispatch from Washington (issue of June 22) reported: “Organized labor leaders today ex- pressed dissatisfaction with the draft code submitted by the cotton indus- try and indicated that labor expects to contend for higher wages, shorter hours and further protection. . . .” “The president may differentiate | But didn'y Green this was the ‘morn to experience and hl of most looking legislation” ia DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JU Rank and File Miners’ Wives Marching to Picket Pennsylvania miners have waged many bitter struggles, against Le the operators and the United Mine Workers’ treacherous leadership. they are meeting to formulate their may be repeated. demands, and scenes he the Mon 1,000 DEMONSTRATE AGAINST DUBINSKY’S PIECE WORK PLOT Cloakmakers Demand I. L. G. W. U. Officials Call Open Meeting on Question NEW YORK.—A protest demonstration of cloakmakers against the at- | tempt of David Dubinsky, president of the International Ladies Garment | majority vote of the locals that | | Workers: Unién; to help the bosses sneak back the piece-work system, took | drive be launched to exempt the un- | place yesterday in front of the headquarters of the LL.G.W.U. at 16th St. | employed from dues payments and Over 1,000 workers participated in the demonstration, following a meet- | also those miners working less than ing at Bryant Hall, where cloakmak- @—— ers packed the hall to hear their rank | and file action committee report on how Dubinsky had rejected their de- mands that he help the cloakmakers in their struggle for the retention of week work. Referendum Thursday The fake referendum called by Du- binsky on the question of piece-work will be held on Thursday. The work- ing of the question on the ballot shows how Dubinsky is trying to swindle the workers into accepting piece work slavery, “Do the workers,” the question reads, “insist on week work under all circumstances, or will they author- ize the conference committee to ne- gotiate an agreement on a piece- work basis with safeguards?” Dubinsky tries to spread the illu- sion among the workers that | they can get piece work “with safeguards.” | The word “safeguards” is the bait | in the referendum trap set by Du- binsky and the bosses, Afraid to Face Workers Dubinsky dares not come out openly at a mass meeting of work- | ers, such as is demanded by the rank and file, and see at an open vote whether or not the workers want piece-work. Instead he wants a ‘‘se- cret” ballot where the counting will also be done in secret by Dubinsky’s henchmen. The cloakmakers showed in yes- terday’s demonstration what they think of this slimy attempt to in- troduce piece-work. In Thursday's referendum, they must be prepared to block Dubinsky’s attenipt to fal- | sify the results of the vote. Notorious Zausner Steals Painters Council Elections Bosses, Underworld Pad Ballots to Elect Him NEW YORK.—Philip Zausner, no- torious thief who stole $100,000 from the treasury of Painters’ District Council No. 9 in 1927, was “elected” secretary-treasurer of the Painters’ District Council at the election held last Saturday. It is reported that the Master Painters’ Association, to- gether with the Washington Heights Association, paid $25,000 to “elect” Zausner. How the According Election Was Stolen, to the ballot count of the official machine, Zausner re- ceived 1,200 votes, only 24 per cent of the total vote, Four other can- didates received between 800 and 1,000 votes each. Besides mobilizing the whole underworld under the lead- ership of Jake the Bum, 800 books were issued by Zausner’s gang for members who were non-existent, and each person was given a bribe of $5 or $10 to vote with the book. Last year the General Executive Board, the Master Painters’ Associa- tion and the politicians in the Dis- trict Council combined to bring Zausner in as an appointed man- ager of the District Council, but the mass revolt was so great ‘that the Executive Board were forced to withdraw him. This year they de- cided to put it over by stealing the elections, Rank and file painters are up in arms against this election and are taking steps to oust Zausner and his gang, Every local union is urged by the rank and file to adopt resolutions of protest demanding the ousting of the agents of the bosses in the Dis- trict Council and to take organiza- tional steps to put honest rank and file representatives in this office who will fight for the members against the bosses, Go to see every subscriber when his subscription expires to get his re- newal, Clothing Bosses Grudge -Worker Time for Funeral (By_a Worker 0 Correspondent) NEW YORK.—Recently I worked as a salesman in a men’s clothing store. My hours were from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. Every two weeks we dress- ed the windows, so my boss gracious- | ly selected Sunday—our supposedly day of rest, for that job. In all I was allotted one day of rest every two weeks, There were two other salesmen and a tailor also working the same hours under the same conditions. These men are married and have small children, One salesman and myself tried to make the other salesman and the tailor class-conscious. At first they opposed our arguments against capitalism—but when we held our boss up as an example of the capitalist system, they gradually be- came enlightened and read the revo- lutionary propaganda that my fel- low comrade and I gave them. One day the salesman received a telephone call informing him that | his brother had just died. He im- mediately asked the boss to allow him to go to his mother’s home, so as to comfort her. The boss refused. The next day the salesman told the boss he was going to the funeral. The boss said: “All right, go, but don’t take too long as the funeral shouldn't take more than two or three hours. He stayed away for five hours. At the end of three hours the boss grew angry, and when he returned, the boss flew Into a wild frenzy. It did not do any good to explain that the mother was in hysterics and would have collapsed had her only remain- ing son deserted her at that time. The boss insisted that his business came first, and the salesman was so infuriated that he finally quit the job, preferring to starve. And how does the bourgeoisie get over these crises? On the one hand by- enforced destruction of a mass of productive forces; on the other, by the conquest of new markets, and by the more thorough exploita- tion of the old ones. That is to say, by paving the way for more exten- sive and more destructive crises, and by diminishing the means whereby crises are prevented.—Com- munist Manifesto. '|Mexican Consul Uses) E 28, 1933 - Coal Miners Meet to Plan Struggle | Formulate Program; Wits Lewis Demanding | Right of Workers to Draw Up Code Under Recovery (Slavery) Act ge Three SEATTLE LAUNDRY WORKERS SOLD ‘OUT BY OFFICIALS Officials of Laundry Union Confuse Them and Defeat Strike By a Laundry Worker Correspondent SEATTLE, Wash.—Last summer the laundry workers went on strike |for the payment of the 4th of July | SHENANDOAH, Pa., June 27.—Rank and file delegates of 16 local | wages. | unions of the United Mine Workers in the Anthracite fields were present | | at a conference held here on Sunday and formulated a program of action | This question was being quibbied over in the union when the bosses for the rank and file of District 9 of the United Mine Workers. The dele-~ |sent @ letter that the wages should gates drew up a series of demands calling for the stopping of all wage cut- ting schemes and for the restoration » |of the colliery rate sheet and work- | | ing conditions where wages have been cut. The demands include also pay for dead work for all yardage, tim- | bering, props, building of chutes afid | pitching coal, the establishment of | the colliery rate on all mechanical | mining, such as mechanical loaders, shakers, chutes and the abolition of | all special contracts, a 30-hour week without reduction in wages and no| discrimination. | | Plans for struggle against the Lewis | machine were formulated and a pro- | gram drawn up to demagd that of- | ficials be subjected to recall by a 8 days a month. The rank and file | will also work for the abolition of the } check-off, the reinstatement of all} provisional locals and the return of) jal lifted charters. Demand Right to Draw Up Code. The conference went on record to | demand a special convention accord- jing to the constitution which per- mits 15 locals in good standing to| ask for a special convention. A telegram was sent to Lewis from the conference condemning his move to draw up a code for the miners un- der the National Recovery (Slavery) Act without consulting them. The | miners demanded that the workers | themselves should have the right to draw up their own code. | A committee of action to put the | program into effect was elected con- oie | of 12 miners. 'ASKS FOR GOV'T AID TO CRUSH SAN GABRIEL STRIKE Recovery Act Against |Agricultural Workers} | LOS ANGELES, Cal. June 21.—| | Officials of the newly formed “Union of Mexican Farmers,” organized by the Mexican Vice Consul Ricardo G. Hill, who was responsible for betray: ing the agricultural workers in San | Gabriel, Venice, Sawtelle and Santa | Monica, on strike against the sie ger wages which are being paid, wired President Roosevelt last week to set- tle the strike through the machinery | of the National Recovery Act. The consul together with a preach- er, Manuel Gonzales, came into the | strike of 3,000 agricultural workers, stirred up race hatred among the workers, organized the fake “all Mex- | jican Union” and after driving out the organizers and sympathizers of the workers’ struggle succeeded in stifling the workers’ militancy. Hun- dreds of scabs were brought into the field while the consul advised the workers to wait for Roosevelt's aid. False Promises of Strike Relief The consul reported last week that the President of Mexico had sent $1,000 to the strike fund, but thou- sands of workers ‘locked out by the Japanese bosses are starving and have not seen any of that money. Nineteen Mexican agricultural workers, who refused to accept the consul’s policies, were arrested. Workers Back at Same Low Pay In El Monte, where the major struggles took place, militant work- ers sympathetic to the Agricultural Workers Industrial Union are being terrorized and intimidated. Many of the workers have gone back to work at 15 cents an hour. In Torrance, 300 workers of the “Mexicén Association” are out on strike for 30 to 35 cents an hour. | Other workers in Centennial Valley are also striking. | Reactionary managers of some of | the Unemployed Co-operative Relief | Associations send their members to) scab on the strikers, the unemployed workers getting one-third of the crop they gather. | American history, didn’t he promise the support of the entire A. F. of L. to it? The talk about “contending” | man, ‘for higher wages has as much signi- ficance as Green’s “violence” threats for higher wages of last year. 2—The leading bosses accepted General Hugh 8. Johnson's declara~ tion of the wiping out of collective as another victory for them, as an indication of how the bill will actually be used, Collective bargaining, as one of the adjuncts to trustification (as an expression of the new class collaboration) was one of the greatest boons the industrial re- feb Hdeal ae wma Parad el of L. told the workers. Commenting on General. Hugh 8. Johnson's first bul- letin, eliminating collective bargain- ing, a of Wall Street's News agen- cies writes: “Ho (Johnson) makes it plain that their (the cartel’) provision need not be ‘arrived at by colletcive bargaining.’ But this blow must be covered up by a new maneuvre, and that is left to two in this line, with no Wille eid 2 the Avr. of Le These | Three Heavy Blows to Workers .in the First Six Days of Slavery Act two experts are Secretary of Labor, Frances S. Perkins, and Dr. Leo Wol- , head of the labor advisory out~ it 0 of the Industrial Recovery Board. Within a very short time these wor- thies will try to replace the corpse of the collective bargaining piling sion by some sort of mediation cém- mittee that will wipe out entirely the phrases about workers’ representa~ tion, or trade union rights in dis- cussing wage agreements. A Wage Cut for 1,000,000 3—The continuation of the wage cut of 10 per cent for all railroad workers in the period of rising prices and inflation (with the industrial re- covery act, if it means ig at all, makes certain still further rises in the cost of living) completely shows up the lying nature of Roosevelt’s promises about the meaning of the industrial recovery act, After the passage of the bill velt said: “Throughout ind the change from starvation w: (that is, the cutting of wages) starvation to (in- crease in wages) em- f oan, large part, be made by an industrial covenant to which all employers shall sub- scribe.” The railway workers got an ex- tension of the cut in wages, a con- tinuation of, as Roosevelt himself “starvation wages,” and not “sustained employment” but more unemployment under the same bill that gave them the cut, the railway coordination act. But perhaps the best commentary on this wage cut action comes best from those whom it benefits most, the bankers. Their ideas are epitom- ized as follows: “Such an extension (of the 10 per cent in railway wages) must be considered in the nature of a vic- tory for the managements, for few of them seriously thought they would be able to achieve this action without a prolonged struggle.” (Herald-Tribune, June 22, 1933). ov written by Roosevelt 4 Co, A victory for the railway bosses! A victory in which the American Federation of Labor contributed by its yoeman service is helpiing to put Wall Street as FIRST MEETING OF NAT'L MINE UNION IN GEROME, PA. JOHNSTOWN, Pa.—A National | Miners Union meeting was called for the first time in Gerome, Pa. on June 18, 1933, on a few hours’ notice. Every worker came to the meeting | who had been notified. Eighty-eight | miners were informed by word of | mouth. Eighty-eight new members for the N. M. U. signed up. On the short notice it was impossible to see mote of the miners at this mine, | Hallman Coal Co. There was a stool-pigeon present, | of course. I wouldn't rate him as a |man, anyway, so he doesn’t count. But he tried to break up the meeting and lasted just a few seconds. The workers present told him to leave or he would be thrown out. He looked at the faces of the angry workers and | decided to leave the meeting, and if | jhe had not left I am afraid to say what might have happened to him. | This damned stool-pigeon for the company is named Mike Benson. A dirtier rat never breathed. He was exposed by the speaker and by some of the workers present. The speakers held the crowd's at- | tention and every word was food to the miners. When they exposed John L. Lewis and the other “leaders” of the A. F. of L., the miners cheered wildly, saying: “Down with the Lewis machine! To hell with the U. M. W. A.! We want the National Miners Union and nothing else! To hell with the American Federation of Labor. We won't have the damn grafters here in central Pennsylvania.” The Unemployed Councils of this | section are cooperating with the N M. U. in any way they can, and furnished a speaker to help us out. These 86 miners that joined the N. M. U. today warn the U. M. W. A. organizers that they will not tolerate their presence in the Gerome section, and warn them to stay away. There are a number of meetings | lined up for the N. M. U. for the next | several weeks here in this section, which means the miners are going to have a mighty union here soon. Baltimore’s Mayor on) the City: Rock Pile By a Worker r Correspondent BALTIMORE, Md.—There is an ar- ticle in “The Post” of Mayor Jack- son swinging a sledge hammer on the city rock pile. In my travels all over the U. S. A. I have seen many workers swinging sledge hammers and their suits are of the zebra stripes and to keep them on the job these workers were chained. In Mayor Jackson's mouth there is a nice big cigar, probably made in one of Tam- pa, Florida, factories where child la- bor is exploited. He only crushed one stone on this rock pile and he tired very fast. On the city relief plan workers that have worked in offices and in factories are put on this project. Workers demanding more relief or talking against rotten conditions in front of the stool-pigeons, on other jobs are sent to these projects. The Mayor and all the other city offi- cials that visited these jobs went in city cars, but the workers have to dig down into their own poekets and pay 20 cents a day car fare out of their measly pay. It is up to the workers in Balti- more to demand the abolishing of project 58 and that is to organize Negro and white in the Trade Union Unity League, Only by unity of work- rs will such projects be abolished. Al. IT’S FORCED LABOR IN BELGIUM, BUT IT’s A JOB HERE By a Vet Correspondent NEW YORK CITY.--Since men from the Home Relief Bureau were put to work in the parks, etc., for 10 days a month, I always was and am under the impression that it is forced labor. My friends call it a “job.” I said that it isn’t a job because you don’t get a living wage. In the New York Times of June 2, 1933, page 14, I read a headline— “Forces Jobless to Work.” “Belgian Government will enroll all who seek relief. Brussels, June 1.” Is the ten days a month a job or forced labor? Ex-Service Man. Editor's Note: These workers are| not working for wages, They are on the relief list, and would be cut off if they insisted on getting regular wages for their work. ‘This is forc- ing them to work, and therefore all relief work is forced labor. “WORSE THAN SLAVERY” By a Worker Ci it DENVER, Col.—The situation in Denver is deplorable. Men, women and children are starving to death. Every day there is lots of work here, but no pay. Men are forced to work for groceries, it is worse than slavery here. People evicted every day. ‘Things will get better when the work- ers take things in their own hands - run thing to suit them~*-~ the | be slashed 15 per cent. The whoie |membership was in an uproar and @ | strong strike sentiment prevailed. Certain officials in the local took | the floor and told the workers they ‘should ignore the letter concerning jthe wage-cut, that they could and j would force the bosses to stick to the old contract. When a strike vote | was taken, the membership was con- jfused on the issues at stake, Im- ;agine a local of 1,500 members strik- |ing for a day’s pay when a 15 per- |cent cut was staring them in the j face! | However, the strike was called. As soon as the business agent took the workers from the shop, he called them to the Labor Temple to form strike committees. When they turned to picket, they found sc: already at work unmolested. The strike was called off in about a week. Results: Minimum wage- cut from $17.25 to $15. Loss of holi- days with pay. Guarantee of full day when called to work, cut to guar- antee of four hours. However, the |officials claimed they saved the Union—a place to pay $1.25 monthly for women and $1.75 for men. The strange part of it all is that no sooner had they gone back to work than the question of the July 4th pay was again taken up, The Business Agent reported he was still working on this and expected re- sults soon. Experienced Worker at Swifts Unable to Keep Up the Terrific Pace (By a Food Worker Correspondent) CHICAGO, Ill—I was employed |by Swift & Co. five years. I was \laid off last January avd have not worked since. The other day I went down to the company, hoping that T {would get a job. This is what hap- pened. The first thing the employ- | fnent agent asked was whether I am ‘getting relief. I said yes. Then he asked what place I was getting it. I |told him. Then he wanted to know |how long, and, when I told him, his \remark was that it was too long. Well, I was signed out to the job. As soon as I got on the job the white coat man shouted: “Step on it,” and kept that up. I was work- ing with all my vim, but it did not suit him. At the end of the dayI was laid off. The job was to load trucks, lifting 500-pound barrels, and only two men to lift these heavy things. At 5 p.m. the foreman told me to_ go to the office and get the couple of dollars. I was too tired to go to the office—-I went home, I think: that I shall go back to the place to tell the workers how I was treated. |And the rest are not being treated any better. At the end of the day the superintendent came down and asked the foreman how many trucks- were loaded that day. The little |slave-driver told him. A broad smile came over the face of the guy. He slapped the foreman approvingly on the back. I want to tell the workers there to join the Packinghouse Workers! Union and fight against such slave. driving. Prostitution Is Part of Young Girls Job in Selling New Deal Beer (By a Worker er Correspondent.) | BOSTON, Mass.—A New York firm began to run a Venetian Night here, and arranged with an employment |agency to get 75 girls. Out of 300 who applied, 75 passed the test on the following—pretty, nice bodies, singing ability, a good mixer, daring |inasfar as sociability is concerned, jand selling beer. No pay except a commission of 7 cents from every dollar of beer sold. The first night the girls worked |from 5 pm. to 2 am. and they hardly made 75 cents apiece. They had to stop work, jump on the stage and sing and dance, then again keep sociable on the floor and force ase sales. The management refuses to hire: to pay union wages, and the firm will not be able to do with union | workers what they can get away with, with unorganized girls. Such exploitation and driving young girls to prostitution is the new fruit of the Roosevelt New Deal. The waitresses’ union has registered & protest, and the entire labor move: ment should join in this protest, SOCIALIST LIBRARY CUTS WORKERS By a Worker Correspondent . MILWAUKEE, Wis.—The Milwam kee Public Library is giving me @ since I haven't been paid for two and a half months, I’m sort of in @ quans, dary, We've had an 18 per cent cut here, with the Socialists proposing. %, © Per cmOk. Uh ane 8. Ae: pearend month’s vacation without pay and. union waitresses, as they will have « SA