The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 19, 1933, Page 4

: .Paze Four ROOSEVELT’S FIRST NRA EXHIBIT—MISERY IN THE TEXTILE MILLS How NRA Operates in the Silk Mills Around New Jersey Worker Says “We Are Organizing for Strike,” | As Cost of All Food Goes Up, Cutting Down Living Standards Sharply By CARL REEVE “We are organizing and preparing a strike against the conditions and wages under w hich we are working.” This is the statement of a worker in the Weidmann Dye Company in Patterson, a month after this National Recovery Act Dye Code. and 15,000 broad silk wot (mostly weavers) in the two branches of the silk indust around Patterson are di with the terms of the code under which they have been working since the end of July. The minimum wage of 13 dollars a week and the 8-h day, which is in the blanket textile code, applies in the silk indu y. But even this small minimum wa and the reduction of hours t only a small part of the story of the workers bad conditions. A worker ean buy half with his dollar what | he bought early this spring, bef the code went into effect. The eoncerns already have their shel stocked with unsold goods, and wholesale shutdowns and mass un- employment can be expected in the | immediate future. The few impor- tant concessions that silk conctrns as a result of strik Food Prices Way Up “In February, a twenty-four and a half Ib. sack of flour cost me 59 | cents. The same sack of Heckers flour now costs me one doll: d ten cents,” the wife of a worker said. “Yes,” the warper interjected “J am supposed to have received a 25 per cent increase in wages. But | my wages are really less than they were before the code. In cash, I get about $2.06 more pay, consider- ing the reduction in hours. The Warpers are the most ski craft im the broad silk, and average now around 18-20 dollars a week. But tiy wages would have to increase 50 per cent to keep up with in. creased prices. Code Reduces Wages These high prices work greater | Hardship on the weavers who form the bulk of the workers in broad silk. The weavers row get around 15-16-17 doliars a week. For the weavers and the other workers in the broad silk industry no separate code has been finally ratified by the NRA. The code finally pre- sénted however by the Silk Associa- tion of America made public on Au- st 8 calls for a minimum wage for all Northern silk workers of $1300 a week, the same as the blanket code now operating. ‘lhe competition between the small northern mills in the association aiid the large silk and rayon com- panies caused a disagreement as to the provisions as to who should ad- minister the code the small shops demanding a say. But there was hh éortroversy among the employ- @rs as to the 13 dollar a week minimum for the weavers, quillers, warpers, etc. The employers, the government and the A. F. of L. tex- tile unions have maneuvered into a position whereby, according to the provisions of the code now in ef- fect, they can reduce wages, now averaging sixteen-seyenteen dollars @ week, to $13.00 a week and re. eéive the protection of the Roose- velt cod;. The silk manufacturers and dye houses will again try to make the workers bear the burdens | 6f the glitted market, afid reduce | Wages to the minimum and lay off workers. Dyers Preparing Strike How the eight hour provisions in the code now in effect works out among the dyers, can be seen among the Weidmann dye house wwerkers. “What is the use of the @ight-hour day for us when we only Work an average of five and a half hours a day anyhow,” this worker said. “The silk workers this spring through their nation wide strikes and threat of strike and organiza- tion; forced the manufacturers to ant increases. Now I get the code tate of 45 cents an hour. My last two weeks pay was $36 or 18 dol- lars a week. This is less in many eases than we got working longer hours at_the rate of 37 cents an hott. Often workers get below that ih the dye houses. The weid- mann Oo. is a part of the United Dye, the biggest dre works in New Jersey, which has a dye house near Passaic with several thousand work- have been | won, have been forced out of the | concern began to run under the } The 20,000 dye workers 1 of the d me up from t e near P: didn’t-want the V | workers to go out on strike. you have to have # un “re n why do aid, ‘why our own ’ ‘The only differnce the code business all be friend I can see sin came thr r t ad @f the two We really nt times, in: 'fts we had before. work an extra half hour, be at. lunch period we have to m each others frames and don’t get paid extra. We want a strike and are going to demand sixty cents an | hour.’ Many Strikes Occurring Many strikes in dye houses and weaving mills are taking place now and show why the code was forced |to propose an increase in the piece |rate, at the same time, however, re- \di cing hours which cut down the | The Libert: ike, the A and B e, the Rosenbloom all for increased | wages. The large Sun mill is on ike against the layoff of the en- night shift because several embers of the night shift organ- for a strike, The 2,500 hat band 8 and won a | ng von a raise in July. The mill owners are trying to con- ceal the market conditions but the known. The owner of one mill de- seribed conditions as follows: “Be- fore this Nira I was paying $1.15 a pound for raw silk. After Nira raw Japanese silk jumped to $2.30 to $2.40 a pound. For my woven cloth I was getting 18 to 19 cents a yard before NIRA went into effect. After NIRA the price rose to 32-33 cents a yard. Then two or three weeks ago raw silk prices dropped again some- what. Now I pay $1.75 a pound for raw silk and get 28 cents a yard.” this employer opened a large safe ten feet high, and showed it crammed full of rolls of silk.” Of course the dressmakers’ strike in New York has had a temporary effect. But regard- less of this strike, \the market, is flooded. Under NIRA the mills all went on two eight hour shifts in- tead of one 10 hour shift. The in- creased production was based on speculation and hope of a better- ment of the market.-If conditions of the market do not get better soon I will close down my plant. I expect many mills to close down in the near future. I think the emplogers will try to reditte wages to the $13 minimum where they don’t close down.” ants and em- nm held a NIRA had a parade and organized all their forces to “put across” the NIRA. But in spite of the parade and the flag raising a |city hall, the merchants and mil owners cannot hide wha: is going on behind the scenes. Many workers are complaining that the code is being violated and that they are getting less than $13 a week or working more than 8 hours. These complaints were “referred to the Patterson Chamber of Commerce” by Deputy Labor Commissioner Roach. These violations continue. (Patters of August 15.) The big strikes 0: May and the constant strikes in in- dividual plants since then “have forced the employers to grant small increases in wages. These increases were partly nullified by shorter hours. These increases have not kept pace with the increased prices for necessities which the workers must pay. The employers will now place the burdens of the crisis the workers by thass unemployment and by reducing wages to the $13 minimum in the code and increased violations of the code. Bathaway Mill Tells Workers to Make $13 M NEW BEDFORD, Mass.—The Na- tional Industrial Recovery Act is be- ing used as an excuse for making the young wotkers in the New Bedford téxtile mills speed up. The first week that the N.LR.A. was put through, the bosses in all the weave roots in the Hathaway Mill told the workers to elther make the minimum wage, which is $13, or they shall get tired. ‘This shows that the NRA is noth- more than a National Industrial | Act for all learners who are beginning to run the same inimum or Quit (By ® Textile Worker Correspondent) | amount of machines as the skilled | Were settled at the right moment, workers. We can’t make the $13. Yet if we don’t make it, we get fired. In the weave room at the Hatha- way Mill most of the workers are young learners. The boss keeps after us, always. looking at the clocks on | our machines that we run, to see if we are making enough cloth. Since the N. I. R. A. has passed through neither I nor any other semi-skilled worker has received the | minimum wage of $13. That's Roose- | velt's New Deal. | The one and only way out of our situation is to organize and join the National Textile Workers’ Union, we can | 8 hours andthe | eases to only about $2 a week) most and in many cases meant overproduction is becoming generally | But I can’t sell my cloth. Look here,” | “| the Boston press and the A. F. of +AILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1933 National Textile - Union, Built Thru Story of NTU from the} | Gastonia Strike to | Present Day Militant struggles for a living e and better conditions for work- mark the history of the Na- | 1 Textile Workers’ Industrial Union. From the first large strike| in 1929, the Gastonia Strike, saortly after the formation of the union, to the present series of struggles against the NRA and its slave code, | the story of the Textile Union is| | the story of struggle. Jack Stachel, acting secretary of | the Trade Union Unity League, | with which the N.T.W.LU. is affili- | ated, in an interview today, listed! some of the more important of these struggles. Among those he men-| are the Gastonia strike in § the struggle of 10,000 textile workers in Lawrence, Mass. in March, 1931; the strikeg throughout Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massa- chusetts and New Jersey; and the present strike wave throughout New England against the vicious slave | codes adopted under the NRA The union was founded in Patter- }son in October, 1929, by a left-wing | group who led the Passaic, Patter- son and New Bedford strikes in that same. year. Ann Burlak, heroic working class | leader, now under threat of deporta- | tion, is National Secretary of. the | Union. Jim Reid is prdsident and | Nat Kaplan national organizer. The National offices are at 1775 Westmin- | ster St., Providence, R. T. Jack Stachel said that, due to the recent struggles of the N.T.W.1LU., over 2,000 new members had been recruited during the last six weeks. | | Help improve the “Daily Worker.”| send in your suggestions and criticism! Let us know what the workers in Strike Struggles} WATCH T. HE BirodiE // Picking Slim Pockets with NRA slogan of the textile bosses where got—and more. rents of company houses.) Second, to our advantage.” your shop think about the “Daily.” Evens Pay Rise By Taking It Out of Workers’ Hide BALTIMORE, Md.—“Take it out of the hide of the worker,” is the by the application of the N. R. A. textile code wages are actually increased and hours reduced. A startling letter is published here by the Baltimore Sun, from its special Washington correspondent, M. textile boss tells how he makes the workers pay back whatever raise they Farmer Murphy, in which a Southern An extract from this letter, written to the New York representative of a Southern cotton textile mill, follows: “As you know, we have had to advance the wages in accordance with the N. R. A. and also shorten the hours. We have done several things to offset this increase. We have adjusted the rents. (Meaning raising the’ we have installed electric meters in all the houses, and we charge the tenants for the current they use the approximate rate prevalent in Birmingham and other fair-sized cities. As you know, we secure this power at the manufacturing rate, and by letting it out at the domestic rate We should pay for the installation of these meters within a few months, and from then on it should work We can be sure that these are not the only methods used by the Southern textile mill owners to keep the wages of the workers actually below what they were before the textile code was passed. Three important textile textile strikes took place in Providence, R. I, involving 1,850 workers, between July 13 and August 7. They included: International Braid, Charles St. mill (cotton narrow fabrics) 300 work- ers; Colored Worsted Mill 350 workers, American Silk Spinning Co:, 1,200 workers? The important features of these strikes were: 1.—Each strike broke out spon- taneously. The National Textile Workers Union (NTWU) éame in on the first day and won the lead. ership of the workers. 2.—The strikes were offensive struggles for higher wages and shorter hours and hence were ob- | jectively against the textile em- ployers slavery code and for a real workers textile code. . _ 8——-Both during the strikes and jimmediately after, the workers | kept out the strikebreaking officials jof the United Textile Workers Union (A. F. of L.). 4.—Thus the sellout of the strikes were prevented and they all ended in partial victory for the workers. 5.—The strikes resulted in thor- ough unidnization of the struck mhills and the spreading of organiza- |tion to a fourth mill. Four mill | locals were established. Over 1,690 workers signed up in the NTWU, 1,245 paid initiations up to Aug. 7th (250 of these workers we | transferred to the independent local to keep the unity of the workers). | Strikebreaking Cry Against “Reds” In every strike the employers try © smash the ranks of the workers | by dividing them along political and |religious lines. In the three Provi- |dence strikes the workers did not allow themselves tu pe divided on this issue. We were able to prove to them that the so-called red lead. jets of the National ‘Textile Workers Union are the most experienced, |honest and practical trade union officials. It is significant that while L. officials were shouting from the housetops, “beware of the reds!” the Providence boss-controlled press kept a stony silence on this issue, They were afraid that it would prove a boomerang against them; |that it would convince too many | workers that it is a good thing to be a red, a working class fighting in the ranks of the Communist Party. Destroyed Old Fairy.Tales The thtee Providence strikes de- stroyed a number of old fairy-tales that the employers have been ped- dling for years among the workers. They are: | Fairy-Tale No. 1: That the industrial unions affili- ated with the Trade Union Unity League (TUUL) believe in long drawn out strikes. All three strikes | when it was clear that the workers jhad won everything they possibly |eould win for the time being. The | strikes lasted from 2% days to 11 days. In each casé the workers themselves voted to settle the strike upon the recommendation of their strike committees and the N.T.W.U. |It is not the workers, but the em- ployers, who are responsible for | long drawn out strikes, | Fairy-Tale No. 2: | That we believe in provoking | fights between workers and police, Three Providence Mill Strikes By NAT KAPLAN, Organizer, N. T. W. U. ourselves by getting our heads cracked. It so happened in these strikes that the capitalist ¢ity gov- ernment and their police followed the policy of not dramatizing the strikes in fear that it would spread like wildfire to the other mills. Hence police interference was kept down to a minimum. Mass picket- ing was not hampered, no airests were made, and there’ was just pih- prick provocation by the police. We therefore told the workers that while we won’t stand for anyone taking our strike and picketing rights away from us, we should not allow ourselves to be provoked into a fight with the police on stall questions. No offensive against the cops, but we will defend ourselves when necesary. It was obvious to every worker that the police were helping the ¢ompany and not the workers Fairy-Tale No. 3: That we can’t win improved ¢on- ditions for the workers and force the employers to recognize the Na- tional Textile Workers Union. Every strike cut the hours of labor down from 54 to 40 hours a week with- out cutting the pay. On top of that every striker won a raise in wages. In the Colored Worsted the raise ran as high as $7 more per week for some workers. In the Interna- tional Braid there was a 10 to 20 per cent increase. In the Ameriean Silk there was an average 10 per cent raise. In each mill the employers were foreed to recognize the workers elected mill committee eompased 100 per cent of union members. The employers were not kidded by this and they knew that it was in faet a recognition of the National Textile Workers Union. When the masses of workers are in the union the employers are forced to recog- nize the workers elected milletaoi a nize the union and deal with it. Certainly the employers couldn’t recognize Mr. Gorman of thé United Textile Union (U.T.W.) who called meetings of these Providence strikers in Pawtieket and not a single worker showed up to’ hear him. Gorman wanted to cofvince the workers that their strike “should be prevented” in the name of NIRA, the workers were already convinced that their strikes should be won. Fairy-Tale No. 4: That we can’t win strikes in the present period of economic crisis because thé unemployed will scab that we like to make martyrs of and-take our jobs away. In the jfirst strike (Ifternational Braid) ithe employers with the help of Ed. ward P. Reidy, poc: aid director of Providence, tried to recruit joh- less textile workers from the city projects as scabs. The jobless workers, members of the Right to Live Club, came down to the mill. saw it was on strike and instead of scabbing they joined the picket line. While not a single jobless worker could be recruited as a scab during the strike, the day on which the strikes needed and the workers re- turned, there were htndrds of un- embloyed crowding the mill gates lookiig for work. The importance for the employed workers to fight for unemployed and social instirance ean be clearly seen here. Question of Independent Unions In the American Silk strike we not only had to win the workers away from the U. T. W. misleaders, but also convince them not to form an isolated, independent union. In regards to independent unions we must kegp in mind three possi- bilities: 1—If they remain honest rank | and file controlled unions then there is absolutely no difference between them and the National Textile Workers Union, What is necessary here is to set up united eommittees for joint activities and eventually to merge these various unions into one strong rank-and- file controlled industrial union in the textile industry. 2—If reactionary elements gain | control in these independent unions | then there is the danger that they Wlil hand the workers over to the U. T. A. misleadets or convert the locals into open é¢ompany unions. 3.—If they remain isolated, with- éut the support of the textile work- ers of other centers, the danger is that they will grow passive, disin- tegrate and die, or be smashed up from within by the agents of the employers. The Colored Worsted and Amer- ican, Silk strikers realized this and decided to remain in the NTWU. Under certain definite conditions we favor the formation ot inde- pendent tions as the first step in the correct direction. In Salem we guided the workers to break away from the U.T.W. and to form their own independent union. Out of 1,800 workers about 400 wanted to join the NTWU immediately, but we told these 400 to remain united with the other workers. We are more interested in maintaining the unity of the workers than in win- ning a féw hundred new members. In the International Braid in Providence we had a sithilar situa- tioy. A section of the workers never having experienced the sell-out tac- tics of the U. T. W. leaders watited to give them a trial. Another sec- tion of the workers wanted to remain in the NTWU. In ordet to prevent a hae we urged the work- ers to reniain an independent local for the time being. This local is now carta out joint activities with the NTWU local in the Elm- wood mill of the same company and has defeated the attempt of the UTW misleaders to grab conttol of their organization. The national textile conference ealled in ¢eontiection with the The Trade Unioh Conference for United Action for Atigist 26th, 27th in Cleveland will matk a big step for- ward in uniting and consolidating the rank-and-file controlled unions in the textile industes |Here Is the Code Roosevelt Refused to Sign for You June Croll Presented It at Washington for N.T.W.U. When the National Textile Union, through its representative, June Croll, exposed the slave code of the textile bosses in Washington, she presented the fdéllowing de- mands: 1.—That industry and the gov- ernment assume the responsibility for a fixed minimum weekly and yearly wage for every worker in the industry. This is to be achieved through provisions that no worker shal be given less than 40 weeks ner year of employ- mént—no less than 30 hours 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 min- imum wage of $720 yearly for every worker, Only such a pros posal, if embodied in the provi-~ sions, would represent a mini mum wage provision as agai the present proposals which are a fraud upon the masses and guarantee nothing. 2—That where the industry does not provide workers with this minimum of yearly earnings the government shall pay unem- ployment insurance equal to this amount, and for part time work. ers the difference between the amount ($720) and the actual earnings. Workers who receive higher thaw the minimum at pres- ent shall be paid insurance equal to their present average wage- 3.—That the wages of workers receiving at present above this minimum shall be increased im- mediately by 25 per cent. 4—That wages shall be ad. justed for all worsers regularly as prices rise so that there shall be no lowering of the living standards due to inflation. 5.—That the labor code shall pxovide for democratically elected shop committees controlled by the workers, in all mills, to be re- eognized by the employers. These committees to deal with the em. ployers in the enforcement of wages, hours, discharges, condi- tions of labor, ete. The right of the workers to belong to any union cf their own choice shall be fully stated. The right of the wérkers to strike whenever any demands are not granted shall be stated in the code. 6.—No night work for women in any part of the country. ' 7—No child labor under 16; shorter hours for youth between the ages of 16 and 18. Southern Workers Hard Hit by NRA CHARLOTTE, N. C—The skilled textile workers in the South find themselves particularly hard hit by the NRA code. Fourteen hundted workers struck at the Tubize-Chattilon Corpora- tion, a rayon plant, in Rome, Ga., when they found that the wages of the skilled workers had been re- duced by the code. Another strike oceured et the Lane Cotton Mills in New Orleans, when the wages | of all wofkers making more than | the minimum specified in the code, were eut. Machinists’ pay was re- duced from*$34 to $27. The work: | ers in Rome won increases in pay. | The workers in New Orleans were | bamboozled by the Trades and Labor Council into going back. 4,009 Strike The very day thé textile code went into effect, foiir thotisand workers struck at the High Point, N. C., seamless hosiery’ mill8; 1,000 at the W. F. Poe Manufacturing Co., in Greenville, S. C.; 850 at the Arial and Alice Mills at Easley, S. C., and 850 at the Appleton Mills at Anderson S. C. -Skilled workers in all these mills found their pay cut as he result of the application of the textile code. | A master weaver in Charlotte said he ha* had a big reduction in pay sifee July 17, afd that his status had been réduced t6 that of apprentice by the mill management. any Complaints Strikes and ¢omplaints against the stretch-out are numerous. In the East Marion mill in N. C,, the number of looms per worker has been increased from 20 and 25 to 81, the spinning sides from 6 and 8, to 10. There have been many lay-offs because the workers were unable to keep up with the in- creased speed. Now is the textile code resulting in ineteased employment. On the contrary, hundreds of textile work- ers have been added to the ranks of the unemployed since July 17. The relief agencies of South Carolina repért that the number secking relief has been increased as a result of the textile code. Sen- ator Byrnes of South Carolina ad- mits receiving many letters from textile workers who have been fired _ Binge June 17. Fire 150 In_prepatation for the new code, the Hudson. Silk Hosiery Mill at Charlotte fited 150 workers some weeks ago. “No apprciable increase in em- ployment will result from the adoption by the enville tex- tile plants of the ions of the code of competition,” says the Greenville News after an in. vestigatia~ textile industry, and it is here Bfore the codes were passe and later in silk, rayon and wool the manufacturers were producing at a furious rate in order to get the benefit of the higher prices. They wanted a period for pause and “Feadjustment.”. They knew it would take a little time to work out the lower wage schedules under the act. But now they snipping at. the workers on all sides. In the meantime, stocks are pil- ing up so that more unemployment faces the textile workers. For example, the Journal of Commerce on August 15, made the following report: Overproduction ’ “Manufacturers are becoming anxious concerning the state of the gray cotton goods market where prices are weakening and detuand is fitful. The long delay in getting the NRA ia working order in industries outsid2 of tex. tiles makes it clearer each market day that it may be a long time before purchasing power can Gives Fish to City Pond; Skins Mill WorkersWithNRA NEW ORLEANS, La.—A strike is brewing in the Lane Cotton Mills here. After the application of the textile codes, wages of the majority of workers began to go down. Workers are being taid off at the rate of 50 a week. Sigmund Odenheimer, owner of the mills, claims to be one of the originators of the textile code idea. He. paid for the publication of a book ¢alled: “Jobs or Revolution.” FF] He is known as a philanthropist, having given fish to the city Parks. But the starving textile workers couldn’t stand for wage cuts even by a philanthropist, and so Oden- heimer had to issue a hurried call to Washington for help to smash the thteatening strike. In came goveriixient concilliator Harland. A mass meeting of the cotton mill workers was called. The A. F. of L. leaders worked hand in glove with Harland to keep the workers from striking. Then up popped the-A. F. of L. leaders, admitting the rotten con- ditions, but urging the workers not to strike. “Macthines have been speeded up so fast,” said Muhs, sécretary of the Central Trades and Labor Cov: “that they are comitig off the floor. He braggéd about the A. F. of L, having broken one strike, say’ “T may add that’ the president of the council awd other labor officials averted a strike of these mills by their efforts this week.” James Dempsey, ‘president of the A. F. of L, Centtal Trades and Labor council said: “Nothing would be gained by striking.” When-a militant worker, Sidney Pailet, got up demanding the floor to expose the NRA, he was arrested on the ofder of the A. FP. of L. officials, and held until after the meeting was ovet. Textile Workers Will Lose Jobs | As Stocks Mount Result of NRA Is Big Overproduction and a Lowered Living Standard for Workers in All Branches of Textile Roosevelt's New Deal for labor was first applie@ to the we can best see how in practice d first in the cotton textile mills, roms catch up with the rise im produc- tion costs and prices. Orders are beginning to expire with little promise of early renewal. In cases where seasonal spring mer- chandise is involved . . « the sit- uation is already resulting in the shutting down of machinery, tem- porarily. In print cloth and sheeting markets reports widely circulated from the South lead buyers to believe that goods have accumulated far in advance of current shipment requirements.” §° prosperity isn’t coming to the |¥ textile industry as the result of jcodes. On the contrary, goods are piling up, and greater unemploy- ment looms. How are the codes working: out? We will call in a witness, very |much biased in favor of the NRA. especially in the Massachusetts te: tile centre, one of the biggest bally- hooers for the textile code, the | labor. At its 48th convention recently eld in Springfield, Mass., com- plaints of worse conditions on the |eode poured_in to the great em- barrassment of the A, F. of L. lead- ers. | strike—against the codes. The Boston “Globe,” friend of the textile barons, coneluded th-t ithe 49th Massachusetts State A. F. L. convention provea ne Workers | weren’t finding any blessings in the code. “It showed lack of confi- dence on the part of organized labor in the success of the NRA, as it is now operating.” Why this lack of confidence on | the part of the workers, especially’) in the textile industry? PI Because in practice the eodes are lowering the standards of living of the_ workers, When the textile code was first passed, “Fibre and Fabric,” organ for textile bosses, discussing wages and hours, from the viewpoint of the bosses, said: “It (the 40-hour week) is no handout to labor as none of us are going to get a penny more than we earn whatever the work. ganized or otherwise, @ increased effort and produce as much in 40 hours as in 48 or 54 or it will get only 40-hour * the textile workers are to produce as much in 40 they did in 48 or 54 only 40 hours pay. E have some detailed reports W from the American Woolen Co. and the Pacific Mill Hours have been cut, it is true, but wages are also being cut, For ample, combers who used te receive $16 for a week of 62 hours’ work, now get $13.36 for 40 hours work. New types of Speegeey are bein; put into effect. No time is allowe: for lunch in some departments. There is no time for washup. Night work is being introduced for women. s 4 T= most damnable piece of news comes from a private letter written by a Southern textile owner to his New York representative. The letter was published in the Bal- timore Sun by M. Farmer Murphy, special Washington correspondent. | The letter says that in those ‘eases where wages were increased to conform to the code, where workers were getting less than $12 a week, this was a mere bookkeep- ing stunt. The boss took every penny back. He raised rent on the company houses, and he illed electric meters im’ the workers’ homes. He not only pay for the electricity, bub me pend fe have done sev- Tinding himself successful with . this stunt, the Southern expoiter will sce how much more he can offset until wages are fat below where they were before. a The results of the textile eode, definitely brand the NRA as a I ve living of the workers. W Massachusetts and other state A. ‘ } gels the blue vulture of the Nu A. The Communist Party leads the ism and its system of hunger and starvation, no matter under Workers, join the Communist Party! Join the Communist Party from the drop of the first card in Roosevelt's New Deal for the Wor! the Communist Party has been the only party aétually meant. When William Green, John L. Lewis, officers of the United Textile Workers were telling the workers a new day was dawning for labor, the Communist Party correctly forecast that the N. R. A. was a slave act aimed to smash HILE the A. F. of b. officials were calling fur no strikes, While the textile workers shackled to their speeded-up machines, the Commu- nist leaders of the National Textile Workers Union wete leading and winning strikes for higher wages, bettst Seno and union recognition, * Republican Parties, while the Socialist Party helps the bosses to keep back strikes (Norman Thomas: “Now is not the time to strike,’ | the N. R. A. as a blessing to the worker's. ‘The Communist Party leads the fight on the slave codes jlaw. ’ ft and all ot down the standards of * * the fh .F, of L, leaders were trying to: . R, A. stand both the Demooratie and ot tha He ea sttuiggle for the overthrow wages are slashed, speed-up increased, and the conditions \of / the workers made more miserable under the NRA, VA Massachustts state federation of © Talk was rife of a general © ns What actually happened ip that | ) f | a