The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 30, 1933, Page 3

Militancy of Chicago Dress Strikers Sets Inspiring Example to All Sweatshop a CHICAGO DRESS STRIKERS REJECT PAY COMPROMISE Refuse Sopkin Offer Strikers Battle Scabs CHICAGO, Ill, June 29.—Meeting in conference with the Negotiations Sommittee of the Chicago dress strikers, who are conducting a mili-| lant struggle against sweatshop con- | ditions, Sopkin, the employer, of-| fered certain concessions to the, strikers but refused to grant the) full wage increases demanded. He agreed to recognize the shop com- mittee, grant some improvements in sanitary conditions, provide drink- ing water and a nurse to care for injured workers, but he was insistent ‘on shaving down the workers’ de- mands for increases to a 15 percent raise. “ At a strike meeting at which the “negotiations committee reported, the Strikers indignantly rejected the compromise offer on wages and in- structed the committee to return and fight for the $6 minimum weekly tate which will double the present wage of many workers and more sub- stantial increases on the basis of demands formulated by the strike committee. Wages of 25 cents an hour for operators and 35 cents an ' ‘hour for pressers, an 8-hour day and a 44-hour week, and equal pay for Negro and white workers are among ‘the main points in the strikers’ pro- » ‘gvam. Congressman De Priest, who has already shown his support of Sopkin, Was present at the negotiations and agreed to Sopkin’s offer of a small in¢rease which would scarcely raise the present starvation level of pay. ni 900 Join Union | Nine hundred strikers have al- | Yeady signed up in the Needle “Tfades Workers’ Industrial Union, and the strikers are determined to go back to the shop organized and prepared to guarantee the conces- sions won by strong shop and union organization. *The workers have responded with | the greatest display of militancy and | “aired devotion to the purposes for which the strike is being waged. Picket lines at all four shops have n holding tight in the race of fierce attacks by Chicago police. Ne- gro reformists have entered the situ- ation to break the strike and return | the workers to the same sweatshop ; conditions. Oscar De Priest, Negro _ Congressman, has arranged conferen- ces with Sopkin for the purpose of Splitting the workers’ ranks and for- cing upon them an agreement suited <0 the interests of Sopkin. i BLOCK COMMITTEE ‘WINS RELIEF FOR 35 FAMILIES NEW YORK.—Rent checks, pay- ment of gas and electric bills and no-eviction promises from three land- lords were won by the 9th and 10th Streets Block Committee. An open air meeting on Unem- Ployment Relief will be held tonight at 10th Street and Ave. B at 8 p.m. “Kid” Johnny, Joe Klein, organizer of the downtown Unemployed Coun- cil, Joe Porper and Luciano, block director, will be the speakers. Luciano was threatened by Tam- ‘many gangsters with bodily harm if »he did not stop his activities in or- ‘Banizing the tenants to demand re- lief. His answer to this threat was to appeal to the war veterans on _the blocks to aid the Block Com- tee in their struggles against evic- ms and child misery. Doctors irom the Workers Inter- national Relief on Wednesday ex- “amined children of the neighbor- hood. The children were found to be undernourished, some suffered from rickets, and many had rashes Over their bodies. ‘Lotker Candidate in Election Tonight of Painters Local 1011 NEW YORK.—A program in the interests of painters is contained. in the platform on which Jacob Lotker, who is running, at the elections to- of the Brotherhood of Painters eal 1077, as candidate for Record- Secretary and Council Delegate the left wing ticket. The elec- eu take place at 111 East 116th program as presented by the wing through Brother Lotker,| ds the following: mption of unemployed members dues, and that these members n in good standing and enjoy the rights and benefits granted he general constitution. The re- tatement of all members who lve been expelled because they have been able to pay dues. Freedom of speech and criticism of rism in the union, the reinstate- of members who were framed up and expelled after a farcical trial Ladtzsy and Bialak, the reduction | salaries of local and of dis- officials, and the elimination of 8 Organizers in the local and ‘district. ; _ establishment of an unem- nt insurance fund to be paid he employers pending the enact- it of a Federal Unemployment in- Jaw. This fund to be con- d by the Union through a dem- elected committee from | | | | working conditions. | by Sopkins against Negroes. (All Photographed b; Upper Picture: Part of the.picket line in front of one of the Sopkins shops, Chicago. always, are there to do what they can to break the strike and see that (he workers get low wages and rotten | Workers reds gbee ne GER DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1933 12 SEWING MACHINE SHOPS SIGN Two Strike Victories | in Day Swell Total 24 PICKETS JAILED Appeal Issued for Help in Mass Picketing NEW YORK.—Two more sewing machine dealers signed up with the Sewing Machine Mechanics’ Union yesterday, making a total of 12 set- ements in the few days since the strike began, under the leadership of the union, for demands which in- clude a 44-hour week and the aboli- tion of the yellow-dog agreement. Other bosses are asking to settle, and more shops are being taken down on strike. The total of shops at which strikes are held now is be- tween 50 and 60, with a total of 250 workers. Twenty-four workers wete arrested and sentenced to one day in jail yes- terday for mass icketing at the Con- solidated Sewing Machine Co's shop at 48 West 25th St. Provocation Campaign The arrests are part of a campaign of terror and provocation by the bosses through the police and stool Pigeons. Wednesday night the strike committee learned of a provocateur plan to plant a stink bomb in one of the shops. Orders were issued not to go on the picket line in the morning until further notification. A provocateur, since exposed as a result of his actions, led the workers y Workers’ Film and Photo League.) The police, as Below is the picket line, Negro and white strikers together, before the Sopkin dress shop at 39th St. and Michigan Blvd. There are similar picket lines befcre the three other Sopkin shops. Below, also, is Ida Carter, Chairlady of the Gencral Strike Committee of the Sopkin She was elected by the 1,600 strikers and is leading them together with the Needle Trades Workers Industrial | Union in their Azht against sweatshop conditions, starvation wages and against the discrimi: ation practiced sess Strikers. Inter and one of the most vicious and crooked members of the A. F. of L. machine in New Jersey. Brandle was for years on the payroll of the employers until his racketeer- ing reached such proportions that the employers decided to be rid of him. It was to answer the bidding of the employers that the general ex- ecutive board of the International, which has shared in the graft of this corrupt bosses’ tool, decided finally to oust him. Morrin Chief Racketeer It is clear that Morrin, the Inter- national President of the Union, in spite of the recent action of the Board in expelling Brandile is for the support of the whole*crew of racke- teers that are still found in the locals and is openly defending the interests of the corrupt machine at the ex- pense of the membership, fleecing the members of high dues, misusing funds for the high salaries of his henchmen, suspending the unem- ployed for non-payment of dues and riding rough shod over the will of the rank and file. At the same time 350 Consolidated Aircraft Co. Men Strike Against Cut! BUFFALO, N. Y¥.—Between 350 ind 400 workers of the Consoli- lated Aircraft Corporation went on strike today when the company imnounced that the number of jours per week for each worker had been cut down but no increases n wages would be given, LW.W. Heads Slander Leningrad Workers I, W. W. officials are circulating a lying leaflet claiming that longshore- men at Leningrad are sc¢abbing on Finnish Seamen on strike at that port. This “information” was given by one Miilo Vallar, a Finnish Police Spy expelled from the Finnish Long- shoremen’s Union. In Finland he joined the fascists. He was a correspondent for the Va- geagvlad Politiken, a paper controlled by the infamous Ivar Kreuger, and also for the Industrila, run by the Kilnom, Swedish Lovestonite group, The scab reports are denounced as lies by men of the “Vitunen,” the latest Finnish ship to go on strike in the Leningrad port. WELCOME WORKERS RELEASED FROM JAIL NEW YORK.—A welcome reception. Louise Morrison. and Jack Morrison, just released after serving a 40-day jail term for leading workers in a struggle for relief, will be held Sat- mbership body. All hiring to one through a union employment. | controlled by the rank and urday night, by the Charlotte Street Block Committee at the Workers Center, 1447 Charlotte Street, Bronx at 8 p.m, Hague, Mayor of Jersey Citys Officials’ Continuation of Racketeering ‘Expelled Union Official Is Still Close Friend of International Head | Who Was Forced to Remove Him | NEW YORK.—tThe recent expulsion of Theodore Brandle and his henchmen from the national Bridge Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers by the general executive board of the International focuses attention on the latest maneouvre of this corrupt official- dom to pretend to clean out racketeering from the union. Workers and Building Trades Council, has long been known as a close political ally of Frank Brandle, an official of the Iron they are ignoring the conditions of | the workers on the job. Support of Corrupt Machine in New York When members of local 52 in New York revolted, the Morrin gang es- tablished a local over its head with the same crowd of racketeers in the leadership. Before this, however, Morrin revealed his real intentions. He called Frank Markey who had been elected president by the mem- bership, when it indignantly kicked out the International gang in the local to a conference in Washington. Morrin gave him and the ousted clique a hearing. At an attempted “peace” meeting, Schilling, the oust- ed union secretary of local 52, spoke to Markey. He showed clearly that the International by expelling Brand- le does not whitewash its record nor ecver up its racketeering. Here is the conversation which is now part of an affidavit made out by Markey against the International of- ficials in the local’s fight against the officials: “You wouldn't hesitate making an easy dollar on the outside. Why. should you worry about the members of Local 52: Had I given any other member of our local the same chance, he would be tickled to death. You | know you can’t beat us. See what! happened to Locals 42 and 361 in New York. They kicked too much and so Morrin took them over and took all their property. Look what happened to the Perth Amboy local and the Newark local. Eyen Mayor Hague was made a fool of by Morrin. “Brandle Still In Control. “‘Hague wanted the ousting of Brandle of Local 45 on account of his racketeering activities. A re- ceiver was appointed to take care of the local and Brandle was put out. We fooled Hague. We suspended the meetings of that local so that in spite of the receiver and Hague, Brandle is still in control through his friends. “So the laugh is on Hague. See, Brandle is a friend of Morrin and Morrin needs the support at conven- tions of fellows like Brandle. Do you remember the last convention at St. Louis last Summer? You saw Brandle there with a gang of gunmen. Well, they are the ones that controlled the convention, “Do you remember when that fool from Cincinnati denounced Morrin? Well you saw Brandle throw butts at him and heckle him. He got the works later. That shut them all up and that’s how Morrin holds on. He has them all bulldozed. Did you see how the death and pension funds were wiped out without any opposition and @ new one started? You think he could have gotten away with that unless he had the delegates all bull- dozed or boozed up? “Let International Rule.” “You are licked unless you play ball. Let the International run the key’s affidavit relates, he and Gen- {eral Secretary McCain asked Markey 'to sign a paper, which the latter de- clared would turn the funds of the local, the election and control over to Schilling and the international. The affidavit then says: “I was outnumbered and outman- euvered and I saw by the faces of those present they meant business. I knew at least Schilling was armed. I asked to be excused a minute. walked out and continued going until I reached Philadelphia.” Rank and file members of Local 52 can see clearly that the present pol- icy of Morrin is the policy of Green which is also approved by the goveru- ment. The workers can expect noth- ing from the A. F. of L. officials. They must rather fight to clean out the racketeers and organize their own 4 the job. Over 800 Vets to Be Fired at Army Base NEW YORK. — Out of the 1,200 workers employed at the River Army Base at 58th St., Brooklyn, from 800 to 1,100 are to be fired this week, it is learned by the men. About 98 per cent of the men employed on these jobs are ex-servicemen. Some who have been working a number of years, on jobs at which laborers get only $19 a week, will be laid off just before they are in line for their pensions. Thus the Roosevelt government fires laborers and mechanics on the plea of economy while it pushes its “Recovery (Slavery) program on the pretense that it wants to “put men back to work.” 4 Unemployed to Go on Trial Today in Coney Island Court UNEMPLOYED COUNCIL MEETS TONIGHT A General Council Meeting is be- ing called by the Downtown Unem- ployed Council, 95 Avenue B, for to- night at 8 o'clock. All the Unemployed Workers, Block Committees and Unemployed Frac- tions in the Downtown District South of 14th Street are urged to attend this important meeting. Plans will be discussed to push the Unemployed work in the Downtown area. Police Beat and Arrest 2 Workers . NEW YORK.—Two workers were severely beaten and then arrested at a Salvation Army street meeting last night at Sixth St. and Avenue B election and both pf us will be re- elected.”” When Schilling had finished, Mar- when a crowd of workers objected to the Salvationists methods of ex- tracting money from workers —_- forces to win better conditions on|- out anyway, and they were immedi- ately picked up by the police. The police have also visited the strike headquarters frequently in the past few days, looking for “kidnap- pers.” These are the same frame-up tactics used against the Food Work- ers’ Industrial Union recently. Formerly With A. F. of L. The Sewing Machine Mechanics’ Union, which called the strike, was formerly affiliated with the A. F. of L. as Local 605. They were joined on a united front basis by the Metal Workers’ Industrial Union, and have since affiliated with the M. W. I. U., in disgust at their treacherous re- formist leadership. On one of the police “kidnapper” hunts in the strike headquarters, the cops were Page Three TUUCAPPEALS Natt’l Textile Union FOR DEFENSE Demands Answer OF FURRIERS | WASHINGTON, June 29.—Hitting at the real purpose of the textile \bosses in their proposed starvation | wage code, the delegation of the Na- | tional Textile Workers Union which | will voice the textile workers’ de- mands at the hearings before General | Johnson on the Industrial Recovery | Slavery) Act, made public its state- for |ment of demands. The proposals | which the textile workers will present state: |. “1. ‘The proposed code for the cot- ton industry is a direct attack on the/| workers. It fixes a minimum wage much lower than the average wages now prevailing in the industry, not- withstanding the fact that wages to- Calls Workers to Help Struggle Against Slavery Program INCE JULY 15 Will Lay Plans Meeting Attack on Unions NEW YORK.—A call to all workers to rally to the conference July 15th for the defense of the trade unions, and to support, financially and in every other way, the furriers’ union, is contained in the following appeal issued by the Trade Union Unity Council, and which reads in part as follows: The Fur Section of the Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union is conducting a struggle for the main- tainance of their conditions and wages, for the maintance of union control. This struggle continues with the fighting furriers winning more and more, due to their solidarity the unity of all forces against the com- bined attacks of the employers, the government, the Tammany police, the underworld, as well as the strike | breaking agency of the American Federation of Labor, supported whole heartedly by the Socialist Party lead- ership. The furriers have succeeded in un- iting 95 per cent of all the fur work- ers in New York under the leader- ship of the Industrial Union. They have succeeded in even winning to their support the last stronghold of the A. F. of L. Local 3 of the In- ternational Fur Workers Union into a united front. They have won over the rank and file elements of the So- cialist Party, the majority of the members of the Joint Council, who | are now members of the Industrial Union. They have won over even elected officers of the defunct Inter- national. Organize Mass Basis For Conference The Trade Union Unity Council is participating actively in the work of the Provisional Committee in mob- ilizing the broadest possible mass support, particularly of A. F. of L. unions, to participate in the July 15 accompanied by an A. F. of L. of- ficial. In the original strike for shorter hours, conducted on a united front basis between the union local and the M. W. I. U., the bosses offered to concede the demands if the work- ers would disband their union and join a company union. This plan was admitted by the bosses to be in line with the Industrial Recovery (Slavery) bill of the Roosevelt gov- ernment. A. F. of L. officials urged the workers to put their faith in the “Recovery” bill. An urgent appeal was issued yes- terday calling upon all unemployed members of the Union and all un- employed sympathizers to help to picket over 60 shops that are on strike, All pickets are asked to report at 100 W. 25th St. for picket duty. Louis Michaels, one of the strik- ers, was arrested yesterday on a iframed-up charge of beating up a scab, He was fined $10. a lockout of the association bosses. applied to all workers, with a 40- hour week, and no readjustment and no reorganization. At a packed mass meeting yester- day at Irving Plaza Hall, the right wing burocrats, on whose behalf there appeared Norman Thomas, Jacob Panken, Weinberg of the Workmen's Circle, and Orofsky of the Jewish Hebrew Trades, urged the workers to have faith in the Re- POCKETBOOK WORKERS IN OPEN SHOP JOIN GENERAL STRIKE; 4,000 NOW OUT NEw YORK.— Pocketbook workers in independent and open shops joined the general strike yesterday of the pocketbook workers in the asso- ciation shops, making a total of 4,000 workers now on strike, in answer to The workers are demanding a renewal of the union agreement, to be conference for the protection of trade unions as fighting organizations of Tabor. The Trade Union Unity Council further realizes the. need of financial support for the furriers and calls on all Trade Unions affiliated to the Trade Union Unity Council, upon all | fraternal organizations, upon all left | wing groups and all independent un- ions to immediately take up the sol- idarity campaign with the furriers, which up until now have been ne- glected and immediately take up col- lections for the Furriers Defense Fund, and send funds to the head- quarters of the Needle Trades Work- ers Industrial Union, 131 W. 28th St., and rally to the support of the fight- ing furriers. —Trade Union Unity Council. | BATHROBE WORKERS MEET | Bathrobe workers, preparation for Struggle, meet Saturday at 1 pm. on the first floor, N.T.W.LU., 131 West 28th St. | covery (Slavery) bill. The chairman, who had promised free discussion, tried to adjourn the meeting soon after these officials spoke. When the rank file protested, @ strong arm thug, Mike Cole, tried to provoke a fight. The workers showed their militancy and discipline by preventing this disrupter from breaking up the meeting. Strike Declared at Severn Cafeteria NEW YORK. — A strike was de- clared at the Severn Cafeteria, in the garment district by the Food Workers’ Industrial Union on Thurs- day. The workers are demanding a 10 hour day a 25 per cent increase in wages and union recognition. The management is using an association injunction issued against the Amal- gamated Food Workers in 1927 to prevent picketing. Under this in- junction seven arrests were made yes- terday. NEW YORK.—Following the policy of self-defense as outlined by N. Y. District International Labor Defense, Isadore Chrussel, member of the Alteration Painters’ Local, No. 1, Bronx, forced the court to re- lease him Thursday morning when he wes tried on framed-up charge of having threatened scabs at a shop at Fifth Ave. and 114th St., where a strike is in progress. Chrussel told how the strikers of that shop came to the Alteration Painters’ Union for help in the strike and that he among others volun- teered to picket the shop. He ex- sposed the miserable conditions in the Worker Arrested for Picketing, Defends Self in Court, Cross Examines Boss, Freed the| character of the Alteration Painters’ DRESS STRIKE IN BRIDGEPORT FOR PAY RAISE | BRIDGEPORT, Conn., June 29. — | Although the owner of the Buddy | Mfg. Co., attempted to head off a strike in his plant by announcing a 10 per cent increase in wages for the workers, more than 50 workers walked out on strike Tuesday, led by the Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial | Union. The strikers demand the re- instatement of a fired worker and the reduction of working hours to 44 a) week. At present the workers are em- ployed 52% hours. shop, explained the rank and file Union, and proclaimed his solidarity with the workers striking for the right to live. His speech in self-de- fense aroused a tremendous interest and sympathy in the crowded court- roo! m. Acting as his own lawyer, as well as a witness in his own behalf. Chrussel cross-examined the boss of the shop who tried to frame him and caught him as well as his scab-wit- ness in a maze of contradictions. Chrussel was arrested late Wednes- day night and was kept in jail over night, |the development of inflation. day are much lower than they were before the present economic crisis set in. In practice the bosses will de- press wages for all workers down to this minimum. It does not provide for increased wages for the cotton workers. It does not provide for a periodic adjustment of wages to meet the constantly rising prices due to Under this code, while prices would con- tinue to rise, wages would remain sta- TEXTILE CODE TO LOWER WAGES NOT. END CHILD LABOR Is Maneuvre to Stress Need of Starvation Wage Rates WASHINGTON, June 29.—A big hollabaloo was made about the “pro- posed” elimination of child labor from the textile industry at the hear- ing on the textile industry code now going on here. This dramatic man- oeuvre by the textile barons, in order to draw the workers’ attention away |from the starvation wage rates they | the workers. are trying to put over, came in the form of a declaration by T. M. Mar- chant, president of the Cotton Man- ufacturers Association. “Mr. Chairman,” he said, “this is a time that brings happiness to me. For many years, serving the textile industry, I have been interested in something we are now considering most seriously. We believe, as you put it yesterday, the minimum wage provision of the code will end child labor, which has already reached a vanishing point in the industry.” Brings Him Happiness ‘The gall of Marchant’s statement sould be clear to every worker. These textile barons who for decades have been swelling their profits out of the labor of hundreds of thousands of chil- dren, now find, under the new code which McMahon of the A. F. of L. helped prepare, it will be cheaper to |hire adult labor in the place of child | labor. This brings great happiness to the textile barons. Besides, Marchant says, they are going to eliminate something which has “already reach- ed a vanishing point.” In short, they claim they are going to eliminate very little. It is true, that under the ter- rific blows of the crisis, the textile bosses have been employing adult workers under the stretchout and speed up at wages they formerly paid to child workers. Now with the slav- ery code being rushed through, they will find it more profitable, wherever it suits their convenience, to hire ex- perienced, adult workers at the starv- ation level formerly paid to children. “A Great Victory” This Wm. F. Green, president of the A. F. of L., wants the workers to consider as a “great victory’ under Roosevelt's industrial slavery bill. General Johnson stopped the pro- gression of the hearing to emphasize the meaning of the “proposed” elimi- nation of child labor. “Of course,” said the General, “the suggested in- clusion in the code is one of the most significant developments of this hear- ing.” And then he went on to ex- plain why he thought so: “If you have a minimum for adults as well as adolescents and children, as a practical matter you have eliminated child labor.” As a practical matter, the bosses, he thinks under the wage code that President Roosevelt will be handed for approval, will find it cheaper to hire and exploit adult workers than child laborers. This is the most “signific- ant development” that this experi- enced exploiter of labor can find in the proposed textile wage code. ROSENBERG DOLL WORKERS STRIKE NEW YORK.—The first rank and file strike of the doll and toy work- ers of New York is now on, at the Rosenberg Toy Co., 40-46 25th St., under the leadership of the Doll & Toy Workers’ Union of New York. Wages at that shop are as low as $5 a week. Last Friday, a group of workers of the Rosenberg Toy Co. come to the union office, elected a shop commit- tee and a shop chairman, and de- clared a strike for the following de- mands: 1—An increase of 25 per cent in wages. 2—44-hour week. 3—Recognition of the shop com- mittee elected by the workers, and recognition of the Doll and Toy Workers Union of New York. 4—No firing and hiring to be done without the consent of the shop com- mittee and the Union. 5—A srepresentative of the Union to be permitted at any time to visit the shop and to check-up on the ful- fillment of the agreement. 6—Over-time to be paid time a: a half. This strike shows the way to all workers in the industry to better their conditions. All doll and toy workers are therefore asked to help win the strike by coming to the union office at 226 Lafayette St. and nd \ help collect funds for the strikers. Bosses’ Slave Code tionary, thus in reality undergoing a constant lowering. The code leaves many loopholes such as no provisions for outside workers, apprentices, etc., under which the bosses will lower wages to their hearts’ content, thus in practice wiping out even the mis- erable standards set and especially discriminating against Negro workérs in the South. A New Stagger Plan “2. Regarding hours of labor: The code proposes a maximum of 40 hours per week. But it does not provide for a guarantee of 40 hours of em- ployment per week, nor does it pro- vide for any number of weeks per year. This in reality negates any | fixed minimum wage, aside from the other considerations mentioned above. Wages for workers now receiving above the minimum are not to be adjusted upwards so that they shall receive the same wages for the 40 hour week that they now receive for the longer work week. This places the hours provision on the same footing with the previously advertised and widely-practcied Hoover-Teagle stag- ger plan. Already we see that the employers are introducing new speed- up methods by which they hope to get out as much work from the work- ers in the shorter workday at re- duced wages, as they did inethe long- er work day at higher earnings. The | code does not prohibit night work for women, nor provide shorter hours for youth labor. Demand Right to Organize “3. Regarding the right to organ- lize! The code merely repeats the general provisions of the National In- dustrial Recovery Act without defin- | itely defining the rights of the work- }ers to organize into unions of their own choice. It does not provide ; against company unions or the forc- jing of the workers into unions con- trolled by corrupt officials with the laid of the bosses, as is the case in | many instances where the bosses ¢ol- lect dues for the labor leaders who taake agreements over the heads of It does not provide for the right to strike if the workers re- |fuse to accept the conditions of the code or for any other grievance |during the duration of the |code, but, on the contrary, calls for |the system of compulsory arbitration |which would force slavery conditions ‘on the workers with the backing of the whole machinery of the govern- ment. We propose the following “a) That industry and the govern- |ment assume the responsibility for a |fixed minimum weekly and yearly | wage for every worker in the industry. |This is to be achieved through pro- |isions that no worker shall be given, less than 40 weeks per year of em- Ployment—no less than 30 “ours per | week and a maximum of 40 hours per | Week; that wages shall be set at a minimum of 60 cents per hour. This | would provide a minimum wage of $720 yearly for every worker, Only such @ proposal, if embodied in the provisions, would represent a mini- mura wage provision as against the present proposals which are a fraud upon the masses and guarantee | nothing. | “b) That where the vy does |not provide workers with this min- jimum of yearly earnings, the govern- |ment shall pay unemployment insur- |ance equal to this amount, and for |part time workers the difference be- tween the amount ($720) and the actual earnings. Workers who receive higher than the minimum at pres- ent shall be paid insurance equal to their present average wage. | “c) That the wages of workers re- ceiving at present above this mini- taum shall be increased immediately by 25 per cent. “d) ‘That wages shall be adjusted for all workers regularly as prices |rise so that there shall be no low- jering of the living standards due to | inflation. “e) That the labor code shall pro- |vide for democratically elected shop committees, controlled by the work- ers, in all mills, to be recognized by |the employers. These committees to |deal with the employers in the en- | forcement of wages, hours, discharges, conditions of labor, etc. The right of the workers to belong to any union of their own choice shall be fully jstated. The right of the workers to strike whenever any demands are not granted shall be stated in the code. “f) No night work for women in any part of the country. | “g) No child labor under 16; shorter hours for youth between the ages of 16 and 18,” 140 Workers Strike in N.J. Leather Shop NEWARK, N. J., June 29.—Work- ers of the Louis Lefkowitz Leather Goods Shop of New Brunswick, N. J. struck last Friday demanding an increase on all operations of 25 to 50 per cent. 140 workers are in- volved in the strike and nearly all have joined the newly formed union. A strike committee of 30 has been elected and mass picketing has been organized. The strikers have accepted the leadership of the Trade Union Unity League and include in their demands recognition of their unon. Wages Top Since 1930 wage cuts have come with increasing speed until the level of the workers’ wages in this shop has declined to $6 to $8 a week. The working week was 49 and a half hours and no extra pay for overtime. Working conditions here parallel any sweatshop in the state. The firm moved to New Jersey from New York in order to get cheaper labor, Offers to raise the wages of the workers ten per cent have met with emphatic refusal by the strikers who stand by their demands, which, con- sidering the rise in prices of come modities, are not considered steep by the strikers. The strikers are appealing to’ the workers of New Brunswick to sup- port their struggle, i ;