The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 8, 1933, Page 3

AAA OABEL BEE MINERS REJECT ea LEWIS (CONTINUED “FROM PAGE ONE) attitude is that of the miners meet- ing at No. 8 of the Pittsburgh Ter- minal Coal Company at Coverdale, where the meeting voted to stay on strike at least one day after Fayette County miners have settled their | Strike. Even where there are maneuvers of U, M. W. A. officials, a majority vote to return to work is jockeyed through a local union meeting, the strike continues -at the Ellsworth Mine (Bethlehem Steel Company sub-} Sidiary). The miners presented de- mands for elected checkweighmen and recognition of the mine commit- tee, and stayed on strike. At prac- tically every meezing at large mines \committees of fifteen and more are ‘pein to canvass Fayette County to Le find out what is going on ard give ee eS there. At the same time committees elected by Fayette County miners are touring the coal fields of other counties. which practically makes them inde- pendent of the press, and able to combat the rumors spread by stool Pigeons and the back-to-work propa- ganda of the U. M. W. A. officials, the Pennsylvania state government and the Roosevelt administration. Jeer Roosevelt The Pittsburgh papers, notorious for their biased and lying actions in all labor struggles in this domain of steel and coal, in this instance are forced hy the sheer impact of the mass c},allenge to the coal and steel barons and the Roosevelt Recovery Act to publish a fairly accurate esti- mate of the situation. The “Sun-Telegraph” today, for Picket Beats in Coke Regions, Jeer- ing Roosevelt Pact. Strike Here Ties Up Mines.” In its lead the story says: “Pittsburgh District coal min- ers today refused to abide by the terms of President Roosevelt's truce in the Pennsylvania mine strike. Most of the mines“in the area were closed despite the acceptance of the “peace terms” by officials of the United Mine Workers of America. . Even’ at mines of the Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Corporation, which has been operating under union agreement, the men did not show up to work. Fagan maa? “Tnere is a bad Red influence circulating in the District.” The same paper says, under a Uniontown date line, “Thousands oi Yl picrets defy the Roosevelt Mine Truce Sle the Connellsville Coke Region by Continuing the Strike in More Than Fifty plants in the District... . The Jast active mine in Fayette closed this morning. The Davidson mine of the Purity-Connellsville Coal and Coke Company suspended when the pickets assembled there. Refusal of the miners to return to work was blamed by operators and close ob- servers on the controversy to Com- munistic agitation.” The National Miners’ Union, through its rank and file commit- tees of sirikers, has distributed 40,000 leaflets which state; “Over 70,000 striking miners are being be- trayed by Lewis, Fagan, Feeney and company. President Roosevelt, who was trusted by the miners, is lead- ing the betrayal to an arbitration eard which will never decide in favor of the miners.” RALLY ALL ON PICKET LINES The leaflet states further, “The strike is being called off in the President’s truce because it is so strong that the operators would be forced to grant all the demands of the miners.” The leaflet calls for rallying women and unemployed on the picket line, It calls for the spreading of the strike to every mine and for the sending of a mass delegation elected by miners to Washington for a hearing on the Mining Code. Duncan McCallum, Pinchot’s_pri- vate secretary, has been working here with Joseph Washington, special in- vestigator for the State Labor De- partment. Both have been trying to get the miners back to work, Both are blaming the National Miners’ Union for the continuation of the strike and are greatly worried by the fact that miners’ meetings at which they speak yote down their proposals, as at the meeting of miners of Colo- nial No. 4 Mine of the Frick Company, yesterday. After addresses by these harbingers of peace at the expense of the miners, several thousand strikers picketed the Colonial Mines this morning’ in the face of National Guardsmen pa- trolling with fixed bayonets and ma- chine guns at strategic points. There has never been in any period of the many militant mass struggles of the miners in this country a finer example of the splendid solidarity and rank and file initiative than in this struggle. The hunger and sla- very program of the Roosevelt ad- ministration has struck a snag in the mine fields of Western Pennsylvania. ‘That this is realized in Washington is to be seen by the hysierical char- cter of the Washington dispatches n the Pittsburgh press. Tobacco Workers End Conference; to Place NRA Demands NEW YORK -—Anewerlne ry call of the ‘tobacco Workers’ Industrial, Unicn more than 200 delegates elected in the shops and factories | of the city gathered at the conven- | tion of the tobacco toilers on Aug. > and 6, at the New Harlem Casino, and delegates representing the cigar takers of Philadelphia and nearby cities were also present, A list of demands to be made to phi poses Pe ea as ORG t © ~y DUBINSKY, CLOAK BOSSES AGREE TO PIECE WORK AT NRA CODE HEARINGS Meeting of Cloak Makers Cond Makers Gondenna Code; De- cide to Organize United Action for Week W ork NEW YORK.—A movement of the cloakmakers to strike all possible assistance to the miners In this way the miners; wages for piece workers range from! have set up a communication system ) 63 cents to $1.30 an hour. instance, headlines that “Thousands| ® Garment turers at the code hearings. which the workers have fought against for many years, has now been adopted in the trade. | A minimum of $14 a week for all non-manufacturing employees is pro- vided in the code. The coat and suit cutters’ scale is set at $47 a week: and drapers at $29. Minimum A division is agreed between wage rates in New York and other cities. In eastern cities the scale is to be 10) per cent lower, while in western states it is to be still lower. The signers of the code are the Industrial Council of Cloak and Suit Manufacturers, Inc., representing the inside manufacturers; the American Cloak and Suit Manufacturing Asso- ciation, Inc., comprising the contrac-} tors; the Merchants’ Ladies’ Gar- ment Association, consisting of the jobbers, and the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. David Dubinsky, president of the I. L. G. W. U., hailed the agreement s “providing a splendid instrument for stabilization of the industry and offering increased carnings for the workers.” The bosses fought for piece-work because it makes it pos- sible for them ts beat down the wages of the workers and further in- crease the speed. No objection is made by the manufacturers of week work in small towns where they hire sweatshop labor at $6 to a maximum of $10 a week. This is considered by the union officials as “increased earnings for the workers.” The union and manufacturers will start negotiations on a new agree- ment based on the decisions of the code. The old agreement expired June 1, If an agreement is not reached the dispute is to be referred } for better conditions was frustrated temporarily as a result | of an agreement reached between the International Ladies’ Workers’ Union officials and the cloak manufac- The scourge of ODIs work; to a national arbitrator to be named by the N. R. A. from among its mem- bers of the Labor Advisory Board. | What the N. R. A. arbitration means is bitterly felt by the 70,000 miners who are on strike. Behind bar doors every effort is made to fc the miners back to work under sla~- very conditions. It is such az ments that, the arbitrator will decide in the cloak trade, which the work-| ers are asked to accept as final. J. Boruchowitch, cloak department of the Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial Union, characterized the agreement of Du- organizer of the } binsky as “a treachery against the workers in the cloak industry.” There can be “no guarantee of a minimum wage under a piege-work system,”| said Boruchowitch. Webster Hall was packed last night with Council, the Action Committee of Local No. 9. Every worker who took the-floor con- demned the piece-work agreement between the I. L. G, W. U. leaders and the cloak bosses. A resolution was adopted unanimously to unite the cloakmakers in a struggle for) week work, The action committee for week work of Local 9, I. L. G. W. U., in a leaflet addressed to the “Cloakmak- ers of the Industrial Council Shops,” calls on “all cloakmakers, irrespective | of where they belong, to become im- bued with the spirit that will enable | them to fight against the piece-work system and to stand ready to fight for week work.” The action committee calls for “the unity of the cloakmakers in the struggle for week work.” workers from 18 shops con-) | trolled by the Industrial | which .were called to a meeting by Head Amalgamated Union An increasingly common scene: striking for better conditions while bosses try to enforce slavery code. picket before Rogers Peet clothing plant at Broadway and 18th Street, Ni Workers Picture shows ew York, with blue eagle emblem in window of firm. ney Hillman, Clothing Work “leading” the strike, the NRA Labor Advisory and Bosses Flaunt NRA Sign at Strikers! Sid- head of the Ama ated Union, which union is is also a member of 3oard. 800 Meet for Ist Time at Point Steel Mill ApproveWorkers’ C Own wn Code; Many Join Steel Union BALTIMORE, Md., “Aug. For the first time in the history y of the Beth- lehem Steel Co, a union meeting was held directly near the Sparrows Point shop, when 800 Negro and white workers gathered on the street near the Enterprise Laundry Kriday night, The audience shouted unanimous approval of the union’s steel code, approved previously by tens of thou- sands of workers, and many signed membership cards right there. ‘The company police had orders not to attack the meeting because the Sparrows’ bis the mill chimney smoking| Lamont steel code was still pending. nearby, 4 : ori 7 Three hundred girls were laid off Carl Bradley, organizer for the in this city by the Crown Cork and Seal Co. last week, showing that | production is falling off. Steel and Metal Workers’ Industrial Union and delegate to the Washing- ton steel hearings, spoke. Metal Display Line NEW YORK Fix- to go on the imsbedints future against low wages, long hours and against un- ble conditions as they day existing in the shops. A committee of seven has been} elected from the ranks at the last meeting of the union to work out aj} program of action. The code for the trade is the following: 1, Flate rate $16 for all work below $14. 2. Twenty-five per cent increase in ges for all $14—$25 and $5 incre | ers above $25, w ase fi r all work- 4, to ‘et eal ited as prices | of commodities rise | First Successful U Fur Dyers Win Strike, 1,400 Join New Union Six Union in Industry, Hundred Still Out NEW YORK, Aug. 7.—A chewing. triumphant gathering of 1,400 fur dyers met at the Manhattan Lyceum here to hear and vote approval of a detailed report of their victorious strike. As a result of the settlement last Saturday, which involved the majority of the striking shops, the representa- tives to the joint empioyers’ and union conference were able to report sub- | | 4—Minimum wage of $32 or 80 . Prepares for Strike}: are to-|} above | stantial gains on every point raised¢ in the union’s demands. Enthusiastic applause broke thru the heat and smoke of the jammed hall time and again as Sam Burt| made the report for the delegation. | The employers were forced to | sign an agreement calling for: | 1—A 40-hour week during busy season 35 hours for the rest of the | year. | 2A maximum of 8 hours over- | time at the rate of time and a quarter payment. | 3.—Minimum wages of $25 or 62 1-2 cents an hour for unskilled workers. an hour for skilled workers, 5.—Full payment for legal ho! days, two and a quarter time pay- ment in case of work. 6.—Three per cent of payroll to | be paid into Unemployment Insur- ance Fund by the employers. | 7.—Equal division of work, favoritism. 6—For chauffeurs—a wage in- crease of 10 and 15 per cent, ten iegal holidays, one week’s paid hal = cation, Five members of the Conference Committee representing Negro, | Spanish, Italian and American work- | ers in the industry spoke in their various languages. On the platform {for the first time in their lives, these men spoke with a fervor, reso- lution and grasp of the | situation that again had the crowd on its feet. cheering. “For thirteen years I waited for | | this union,” Dimir, the Spaniard, | | said “Now I have it, and there is | not an outfit that can stop us.” Ben Gold, secretary of the Nee- | die Trades Workers Industrial Un- |ion, summed up pointfhg out the necessity of continuing the strug- | gle for recognition of the Fur Dy- ers Council's demands in the other | shops where 600 are still out. | “Both the A. F. of L. and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers’ Union have declared the fur dyers | | to be unorganizable,” he said, “This | 'is our answer.” cen! no Lay Réign o of Tetrov! in Fur Trade to ‘Union’s Enemies NEW YORK.—The Citizens’ Com- mittee to Investigate Conditions in the Fur Industry, which carried on its investigation from July 6 last until July 20, submitted the following re- port on its findings: (Report on the Conflicts in the Fur Industry in New York City, by the Citizens’ Committee to Investigate Conditions in the Fur Industry) 1, The Citizens’ Committee to In- vestigate Conditions in the Fur Industry was formed on the initia- tive of some of its members, whose attention had been attracted by press stories of police brutality to fur workers, gangster and mob-violence, and fishy-looking injunctions, In~- formal investigation of these stories made it clear that a definite public interest attached at this time to the situation in the fur industry. It was apparent that a struggle was there going on between the Furrier’s Joint Council of New York of the Interna- tional Fur Workers’ Union of the United States and Canada, affiliated with the American Federation of the government as representing the “present aspirations of the tobacco orkers, in what they consider would ens about some improvement ,in ir present conditions, was 0 adepted, and a committee of five workers was elected to go to Wash- ington to present and defend these tlemands before the Recovery Admin- Istrator. A mass meeting will be ialled soon t6 rally the tobacco work- rs in support of the committee and | written. ‘he demands, Labor, and the Fur Department, Needle Trades’ Workers Industrial Union. It was apparent that most of the men and women employed in the fur industry were members of the Needle Trades’ Workers Industrial Union, It was apparent that the em: ployers’ organization, known as the Associated Fur Coat and Trimming Manufacturers, Inc., was cooperating with the Furrier's Joint Council against the union of which more than four-fifths of their employees were members. It was apparent that the situation thus created involved an unusual degree of violence con- nived at by the police, and that the purpose of this violence was to set up a condition of duress and fear which should compel the members of the Needle Trades Industrial Union to become members of the Furrier’s Joint Council. It was apparent that this Council by arrangement with the Manufacturers’ Association, had for this purpose applied to the courts for an injunction which would pro- hibit the members of the Association from employing any but members of the Joint Council. In every instance the animus of the conflict seemed to focus on the fact that the Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial Union professed radical political and eco+ nomic doctrines, and that it was com- monly known as the Left Wing. Objection to it among manufacturers seemed confined to this ground only. This Association seemed to have called the International Fur Work- ers Union, thereafter known as the Right Wing, into the field on the plea that they did not’ want to deal with “Communists,” 2, Inasmuch as the Industrial Re- covery Bill provided that for the dif- ferent jndustries codes should be set up which would inevitably affect the rights: and status of workers in such industries, it was felt that the issues in the fur industry must be cleared up by impartial inquiry before a proper code for this industry can be Accordingly public-spirited citizens of different shades of opin- Citizens’ Committee Fur Investigation Substantiates Charges of Industrial Union Against S. P., Bosses and A. F. of L. ion were invited to join themselves of briefs submitted by their attor- into a Citizens Committee to investi- Bate the. tfipartite conflict of em- ployers, Right Wing and Left Wing Unions. The invitations were ac- cepted by the following members of the .Citizens’ Committee to Investi- gate Conditions in the Fur Industry: John Chamberlain, associate editor, Saturday Review of Literature Kyle Crichton, editor, Scribner's Magazine Lucille Copeland, Conference for Progressive Labor Action ‘Theeodore Dreiser, author Horace M. Kallen, New School for Social Research. Benjamin Goldilstein, rabbi Jerome Michael, Law School, lumbia University John B. Matthews, Fellowship of Reconciliation Thyra Samter Winslow, author who thereupon constituted the Citi- en’s Committee to Investigate Condi- tions in the Fur Industry. Horace M. Kallen was elected chairman and Thyra Samter Winslow secretary. The committee arranged to hold pub- lic hearings, These hearings were set for Thurs- day, July 6th; Friday, July ‘th; Thursday, July 13; Friday, July 14th, and Thursday July 20th, at 2 p.m., in the Labor Tempie. Invitations to testify before the committee were sent to the follow- ing: (a) Employers and employers’ rep- resentatives: Emil K. Ellis attorney for the New York Fur Trimming Manufacturers Association; Henry Rosen, president, New York Fur Trimming Manufacturers Associa- tion; Herman Scheidlinger, presi- dent, Associated Fur Coat and Trimming Manufacturers. (b) Impartial chairman, Baldwin, (c) Representatives of the Fur Workers’ Joint Council: William Col- lins, Central Trades and Labor Coun- cil of New York; Pietro Leuchi, Fur- riers Joint Council; Samuel Marko- witz and Samuel Null, attorneys for plaintiffs; Samuel Shorr, manager, Furriers’ Joint Council. (a) Representatives of the Indus- trial Workers’ Union: Louis Boudin, attorney for Industrial Union in in- junction proceedings; Jacques Buit- tenkant, attorney for Industrial Union; Irving Potash, secretary, Fur Department, New York Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union. ‘They were advised that full oppor- tunity would be provided not only for oral statements but for all avail- able and relevant documentary evi- dence. 3. Although invitations were sent by telegram or registered letter for each and every sitting of the Com- mittee, and although they were ad- vised that the committee would gladly hear anybody they might send to speak for them, if they were un- able to appear in person, the repre- sentatives of the Furriers’ Joint Council and the Associated Fur Coat and Trimming Manufacturers, Inc., not only failed to appear; they failed to make requested acknowledgement of the committee's invitation. In so far as the committee has been able to take cognizance of the position and claims of these two organiza- tions it has done so through copies Co- Roger derfied or contradicted, and sub- mitted in evidence by Messrs. Potash, Buittenkant and Boudin. In all, the committee heard the following: Mr. Emil K. Ellis, attorney and spokesman for the New York Pur ‘Trimming Association; Mr. Roger aE neys in applying to the courts for an injunction, and transmitted by Mr. Louis Boudin with the rest of the Court Record; and through reports, statements and interviews in Women’s Wear and other journals, never Needle Union Statement on Citizens’ Committee Report)»: NEW YORK.—The Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union issued the following statement Thursday regarding the investigation and find- ings of the Citizen’s Committee to Investigate Conditions in the Fur In- dustry: “The Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union appreciates the in- vestigation of the state of affairs prevailing in the fur industry made by the committee of intellectuals, The findings of this committee verifies and substantiates the charges of the fur workers and of the Industrial Union against the Associated Fur Manufacturers Inc., the officials of the A. F. of L. and the Socialist Party. These charges state that they entered into conspiracies against the fur workers. Over a period of six years they have attempted through the use of hired gun-men, lock-outs, police persecution and imprison- ment to force the workers to belong to the A, F. of L, and Socialist Union. It was this union which betrayed the furriers time and again and openly helped the employers to force wage cuts upon the fur workers. It helped the bosses to enforce long hours of slavery, an inhuman speed-up sys- tem, sub-contracting, mass unemployment, misery and starvation. The findings of the committee reveal the criminal tactics used by the high-priests of the Socialist Party and the American Federation of Labor against the workers, The use of the injunction, the open alliance with the employers, the use of gangsters and racketeers; all these fascist meth- ods employed by the Socialist Party officials are covered up with dema- gogic phrases to mislead the workers. The fur workers, under the leadership of the Industrial Union suc- ceeded in defeating the conspirators, The fur workers have organized themseives into a powerful union and through heroic struggles have suc- ceeded in maintaining their minimum wage seales, their 40-hour work- ing week and union conditions. The fur workers succeeded in estab- lishing an unemployment fund paid by the employers and administrated by the workers, Thanks to the class consciousness and militancy of the fur workers and thanks to the policy of the Industrial Union, thousands of fur work- ers succeeded in a period of a few weeks to obtain wage increases above the minimum scales specified in the contracts, These wage increases range from $3 to $10 a week, The fur workers are at present also mobilizing their forces to enforce a 35-hour week which the bosses accept dema- gogically in words only, although it is a part of the Blanket Code. It is because of these outstanding achiévements that the fur workers are a splendid example to the entire American working class, of how to organize and rid itself of the traitors of the A. F. of L. and Socialist Par- ty. That is why all the most reactionary forces are mobilized against the fur workers. °The fight of the fur workers is the fight of the entire American labor movement, The victory of the fur workers encourages and inspires other workers to follow suit, The Socialist Party leadership as well as the A. F. of L. bureaucracy is aware of the danger facing themselves. As soon as the American workers will learn how to deféat them, the end will come to the rule of the bureaucratic, corrupt and criminal clique of leaders. The victory of the fur workers, their achievements and gains, serves as a valuable lesson and signal to the entire working class of the United States, who are forced to take up a struggle against the policy and tac- tics of the ruling class and its agents, as expressed in the National Re- covery Act. The misery and exploitation, child labor, inhuman speed up, starvation wages, mass unemployment, mass evictions, oppression of na- tional minorities Negro lynching, persecution and deportation of the foreign born; all these policies must be stopped, and can and will be stopped through the organized power and militant struggles of the Am- erican workers. The investigation and findings of this committee of American in- tellectuals helps to a considerable extent the unmasking of the misleaders of the labor movement and thus supports the working class in their struggle, Needless to say that the Industrial Union unhesitatingly accepts the recommendations of this committee Baldwin, impartial chairman, under the the Fur Associ- ers’ Industria] Union. Rabbi Benjamin Golstein. Mr. Irving Potash, Secretary for the Industrial Union. for the Industrial Union. Mr. Louis Boudin, Attorney for the ; Industrial Union. In addition, the Jollbwing, members | Cherkis, Irving Bloom and Langer. All had forr y been members of Fur foint ~=Council. that he had left the Joint Council for the Industrial Union for no other reason than that the latter was the stronger and more efficient organi- zation, and more successful in en- forcing agreements, maintaining union standards and conditions and protecting its members in their rights. After taking evidence and study- ing the various affidevi ports ard other documents su to it, the committee met to determine what conclusions might correctly be drawn from the data under consider- ation. It laid especial stress on the evidence of Mr. Emil K, Ellis and Mr. Roger Baldwin, who are not par- ties to the conflict but have a defi- nite interest in the maintenance of peace and effective organization in the Fur Industry. The committee finds the following: That the great majority of the workers in the fur industry of New York City, are members of the Fur Department, Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union. That this union is a strong, ef- fective organization, willing and ready to keep its agreements by enforcing discipline among its members and meeting all other obligations involved in collective bargaining, while the Joint Coun- cil has proved in these respects unsatisfactory. That although this union is cus- tomarily called “The Left Wing”, its members belong to all kinds of political parties, and that membership in the union does not impose political faith or any political affiliation whatsoever. That the charge of, “Commun- ism” is being used only to dis- credit the Union in the public mind, and to provide a fictitious excuse for vitiating authority of its officers, breaking its organi- zation and driving its members, by threats and intimidations. That the-present disorder in the Fur Industry is due to a col- lusive activity toward this end by the Manufacturers’ Associa- tion and the Joint Council. That, to further this end, the Manufacturers’ Association and the Joint Council entered into a collusive arrangement where- by an injunction was obtained by the Joint Council restrain- ing the Manufacturers’ Asso- ciation from employing any per- sons or other than members of the Joint Council, inasmuch as the application for injunction was granted also for the same 1) 2) 3) 5) 6) SC a iii ation and the Needle Trade Work- Mr. Jacques Buittenkant, Attorney | ) Finds Only ly Industrial Has Right to Speak for Fur Workers reason, That the injunction, if continued, would by legal duress | compel members of the Indus- | trial Union to affiliate them- selves with the Joint Council. |) That workers have, in fact, been beaten and intimidated into join- ing the Joint Council. That numerous assaults on mem- bers of the Union have been committed by paid gangsters and that the gangsters have been represented in court by attor- neys for the Joint Council or the manufacturers or both. 9) That such assaults have been committed with the knowledge of the police, and that the police have made no efforts to prevent them. That the the Fur Industry in the City of New York is today suffering a reign of terror which threatens fundamental rights of the workers as employees and as citizens. ) That the just and equitable ap- plication of the National Indus- trial Act makes it necessary and desirable to establish the pre- ferred affiliation of the workers of the Fur Industry. That under the terms of the Act only such preferred Union has the right to speak for the workers. That under the terms of the Act, affiliation in a Union must be voluntary and uncoerced, the free choice of the worker. To the end that peace and good order may be established in the Fur Industry in New York City, and that workers in the Fur Industry may be safeguarded in their right to earn their living without fear or duress, the Committee recommends: 1) That a poll be taken of Union preferences of the workers em~- ployed in the Fur Industry of New York City. Thav an Impartial Tribunal be Set up for this purpose. That in any Board or Commit- tee provided for under a code pursugnt to the National Indus- trial Recovery Act, this poll shall determine the proportional rep- resentations of the respective Unions—the Joint Council and the Industrial Union. 4) The Committee further recom- mends that these findings shall be laid before the proper officials of the Police Department of the City of New York, the District Attorney of New York County, the Mayor of New York City, and such persons as may, under the National Industrial Recovery Act be charged with the formu- lation and adoption: of the Code for the Fur Industry. Horace M. Kallen, Chairman Thyra Samter Winslow, Secretary John Chamberlain Kyle Crichton Lucille Copeland Theodore Dreiser Benjamin Goldstein John B. Matthews Jerome Michael Respectfully submitted, 2 -— MARINE UNION HELPS WIN SHIPS’ ‘CREWS’ DEMANDS NEW YORK.—When a port organ- izer of the Marine Workers’ Indus- trial Union recently went aboard the S. S. Minnequa of the Moore-Mc- Cormick Line, he found plenty of grievances: long hours on gleck, etc. The main grievance was when the |erew joined this coffin ship, they were told by the bos’n that the wages would be $1.33 per day, sea wages on 40 cents per hour straight time. That would make the scale $3.20 when signing on The company was going to pap them off at $2.08, which the crew refused to take. Immediately a com- mittee of nine was elected to repre- sent the crew, a leaflet was issued aboard the ship by the union, and the port delegates stayed aboard all | night to lead the struggle . 25 Per Cent More on Subsistance Pay The following morning the com- mittee went to the captain with their demands. The captain informed the Officials, and they decided to give the crew 26 cents increase on the subsistence allowance. After the com= mittee brought back the report, the crew decided to accept. The ship sailed for Copenhagen well organ- ized, and the ship’s committee ready to take action. The first fight on the Moore-Mc- Cormick ships took place on the Sagarporack, against undermanning, Committees were elected and de- mands won. Similar action was | taken on the City of Fairbury against undermanning, and the demands were won, On the Munson Line, in which the Marine Workers Industrial Union have led many struggles in the past | year on 11 individual ships, the crew | of the S. S. Southern Cross, which docked here on Thursday, were told they would be paid off on Friday. Friday came and there was no pay- up. The crew took action immedi- ately, and forced the company to pay |up in spite of knowing that the U. S. Commissioner was present. On the 8.8. Westen World after returning from a South Am- erican trip, rumors were spread that the ship would not pay off. After waiting 48 hours a leaflet was issued by M.W.LU. for the crew to take action. The crew immediately took action and went to the percer and captain and demanded their pay, which they received. All these strug- gles have been led by the M.W.LU. Commodore Strike To Continue Despite Attack by Police NEW YORK— Twenty-four of the twenty-seven workers arrested at the demonstration supporting the Hotel Commodore strikers Friday were dismissed yesterday by Judge Van Ameringe in the East 57th St. Court. The other three workers, Frank Bond, Robert Esmeja and Ramon Salavio are being held for investigation by officials of the alien department. Their trial comes up in the same court tomorrow, Wed- nesday, morning. NEW YORK.—In a statement is- sued by the Food Workers Industrial Union, the brutal attack of the po- lice, instigated by the Commodore management at a demonstration of strikers on Friday, August 4th, was bitterly condemned as an act meant to break the strike. As a result of the attack, 27 strikers were arrested. Three of them, the most militant, Frank Boud, Roterto Esmeja, sec- retary of the strike committee and Ramon Salavia, an active worker, were held for investigation by the alien authorities. The rest of the 24 were held under $100 bail for trial this Monday morning. Judge Aringe, in pleading bail on the strikers, in spite of the strong protest by the defending attorney, specifically stated that he placed bail becquse they are foreign-born workers. As a result of a strong protest on the part of the rest of the workers, the attorney for the union was suc- cessful in getting the release of ten women strikers, on parole under his custody. Statements in the capitalist press on the Demonstration, gave the im- pression that this Demonstration was not around the demands of the Com- modore strikers, but was merely a group of unemployed food workers who came there in order to force the workers of the Commodore out on strike. The “New York Journal” and the “New York American,” in spite of of the fact that they received inters views wih our Union, made these lying statements. According to reliable information which was obtained by the Union, it was Berell, assistant manager of the Commodore Hotel, who himself instigated the attack on the demone strators. While the attack was being made on the strikers, strong pro- test could be heard from the people massed around the demonstration. In concluding their statement, the Food Workers Industrial Union, to= gether with the strikers of the Come modore and other sympathetic ore ganizations, express their determina. tion to continue the struggle in spite of all the terror of the of the Commodore