The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 14, 1933, Page 4

Page Four DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1938 STEEL UNION IN NEW YORK HAS LED 5,000 METAL WORKERS IN STRIKES portant Gains Made 5 Weeks’ Strike . By JAMES District Organizer, the months ! September 5,000 metal work out in New York on the leadership of the Ste Workers Industrial Unior Intensive Drive Prepares for S These strike str Ss, 1 the light indus of an intensive o that was carried on fo among the silver wor of>New York. Most that we can learn can from the general str workers, and that is why we cuss this more in detail. Rank and File Carries On Organ- ization Drive One of the most ou acteristics of the ei ganizational drive amc workers prior to the fact that the whole ticipated in this very beginning, when th ‘was ‘organized, the worke mobilized to go in front of r shop, and line them up for the or- ganization. Due to the mobilizatic of the rank and about cent of all the workers of numbering about 3800, in the organization witt having a paid organ Shop Strikes Prepare General Strike Before the general strike was go- ing in the silver r eight months’ organ number of shop str’ all of which ended partial victories helped a to intensify the organizational 75 per AS a result of these p: we ‘were successful in sto cuts, lay-offs and f Educational Drive Prepares the Mem- bers for General Stri Side by side wit tional drive, an inten program was put through a the silver workers. Special empl was laid on explaining to them th rolé of the A. F. of L. The members of the executive board were given 4 copy of the Strassburg Resolution in ordér to acquaint them with the cor- rect strike strategy. This educational activity had a great deal to do with keeping our members intact and immune from the influence of the A.’P. of L. during the strike. Another unique feature of preparation of the silver strik the creation, by very helpful in weeks of struggle. Wnited Front With the Spinners ‘These successful preparations of the’ general strike could not be car-| ried. out without bringing about the | unity of the metal spinners, organ- ized into the Metal Spinners’ Union, and the members of our organization. ‘This. unity was brought about as a Tesult of a continuous and stubborn struggle on our part against the} reactionary elements in the Metal Spinners’ Union, who opposed this/| ‘unity. | Important Gains Made as a Result of the Strike | As a result of the five eral’ strike, important ns wel made by the workers. Though m of ‘the shops settled on a Shop Com- mittee recognition basis, the union control is maintained in the shops. ‘The wages of all workers out on} strike were raised considerably. $2 per week was the smallest wage in- eks’ gen- crease; but wage increases of $10 @md $15 per week were not rare. Solderers who were receiving $29 before the strike went back to work on @ $42 weekly wa Similar wage increases were given to many work- ers. None of the bosses can fire any of the union men and in most of the shops only union men can be hired. Shortcomings of the Strike In spite of the proper prepara tions, a number of important short-| comings haye been committed in the| strike. One of the most important | of these was that at the beginning | of the strike no joint strike commit- | ee was set up with the Metal Spin-/ ners. The reactionary elements of| the Metal Spinners’ Union succeeded | invbaving a meeting with their own | membérs and setting up their own} strike committee, which * functioned | imfependently of the rest of the| striking workers. We were not per- sistent enough in demanding and the members of the Steel Metal Workers Industrial Union a bring about this joint strike com- . This brought about a situa- in the fourth week of the strike wheh we were forced to settle strikes 'B shop committee basis, and all went back under these con- tions. But the metal spinners stayed out on strike in spite of the fact that rank and file workers of the union ready to go back to work un- same conditions. The metal stayed out one more week our last shop was settled and ly went back to work under its similar to ours. Al er shortcoming was that we Were not able to bring about the necessary enthusiasm of the strikers to take care of the scabs effectively, Tt was also wrong to over-emphasize the importance and necessity of rrec- omnizing the union, In spite of all these shortcomings, the strike can be called a great suc- cess. Out of the 800 workers par- ticipating in the strike, between 450| 500 remained members of the| ion. The work of consolidation is | on satisfactorily and more| '§ realize the necessity and im- ince of maintaining the strength ofthe union. Strike Brings About Indus- Ni trial Strikes ‘The general strike of the silver HE ture line were preparing for a strike same time. The struggle end- ® complete victory, ‘The were forced to recognize the | the in des as well. Three workers of the] workers of the Durable, | of the Mutual Lamp, 200] f the United Metal, 200) nd a number of other | out under our leader- | little previous organ- | ese shops, With the| e Mutual Lamp strike, | have been won, The} e back under better con- nd, just as in the Majestic 1e union ‘was recognized. Out- | in these strikes was the militancy shown by the an workers, who make nt of the novelty trade, trike-breaking attempts of the of L. in all the strikes where any degree of organization ed, and they were forced | | d over into the novelty | | Spontaneous Strikes 2,000 workers of the Dubi- Aeroex and other radio shops ked out spontaneously on strike. e lasted about two days and | unable in this period to] the necessary organiza- unteract the agitation of e bosses’ agents ané@ of the A. FP. L. All of these radio strikes ended i t and out of the 2,000 strikers e not able to retain more nan 50 in§our union. Role of N.R.A. in the Strikes the beginning of these strikes, of the workers thought that V-R.A. would be an instrument ng about better conditions for the to b union éhops, The striae! Will. Hold Convention November 11-12 them. In the case of the silver strikes we were not forceful enough in mobilizing the workers to force the N.R.A. officials to bring about a conference between the strikers and the boss associations. But by and large we can state we were able to convince the workers that they can= not expect anything from the N.R.A.; that it is not an instrument in the hands of the workers, but an in- strument in the hands of the bosses to fight against the workers, We were able to do this not by ignor- ing the N.R.A.,. but by showing the workers through their own expe- rience what the N.R.A. actually is. As a result of these strike strug- gles the SM.W.1.U, grew from a small group of scattered workers a year ago to an organization of 2,000 dyes-paying members with a num- ber of shops signed up, with four paid organizers and five different func- tioning sections, The most important shortcoming of the union is still the absolutely un- satisfactory status of the union among the heavy metal workers; among the machine building, ship building and navy building workers. ‘The District Convention of the union which will be held on Noy. 11 and 12 is being prepared in such a way as to mobilize all the forces of the union to hasten the strengthening of our union among the heavy metal workers, which is absolutely impera- tive in the present deepening war situation, Jewelry Workers’ Strike Spreads Conference for Strike Settlement Continues NEW YORK.—Jewelry workers who came out on strike Thursday were actively organizing groups of strikers to. persuade the workers still employed, of which there are only about 5 per cent, to join the general walk-out. At the same time the conferences on a settlement continued between the union’s com- mittee and the bosses. At the J. R. Woods shop it is re- ported that half of the workers did not enter the shop yesterday as a lt of effective picketing by strikers around the shdép. The strik- ers expect to concentrate on win- ning the entire shop out on strike. Peter Garcia, president of the local,, reported the results of Thursday’s conference with the bo: at the strike meeting yes- terday. The bosses are willing to concede a 35-hour week, a mini- mum wage of $1.25 an hour for platinum workers, $1 an hour for gold jewelers, chasers engravers, etc, and 85 cents an hour for pressmen. They agreed to abolish piece-work and subcontractors, but are against the clause that abro- gates their right to fire any worker after a four weeks’ trial. Other as- pects of the agreement are to be iscussed in the conferences to fol- low, and the agreement as a whole is to be subject to the approval of the workers. The workers are aroused against » attitude of the International offi who urged them not to strike. While the strike is contrary to the wishes of Beardsley and Wil- liams, Garcia, the local president, x, called the strike as a result of the strong sentiment in the union. China, Glassware Workers on Strike Picketing on in Three Shops NEW YORK.—The workers of the Eagle Cut Glass Co., at 375 Berry Street, Brooklyn, the Anchor Manu- facturing Co., 377 West Broadway and the Empire State Glass Decorat- ing Co, at 197 Grant St. New York are on strike under the leadership of the China and Glassware Decorators Industrial Union. In these shops wages have been cut from scales of $30 to $55 to $8 to $25, within the last year or so. The most skilled workers in the line are not receiving more than $25 a week for a 50 hour week, and this is only for six months during the year. The workers are on strike for a 7 hour 5 day week, $15 minimum and the return of the wage cuts, in ad- dition to the recognition and the shop committee. Picketing is taking place at all three shops. { Last night a mass meeting of the union was held: at Damaszek’s Manor, 12 St. Mark’s Place at which the union pledged its full support to the strikers, The union headquarters are 101 Avenue A. All workers in the trade are urged to apply for information regarding organization in their shops. Brooklyn Election Meet. Robrt Minor and Williana Bur- reughs will speak at the Del’ Or Palais, 4214 14th Ave., Brooklyn, to- night. Brodsky in Bronx Carl Brodsky, Communist election campaign manager and candidate for Assembly in the third district, Bronx, will speak at an open-air rally to- Fighting Bob Minor Robert Minor, Communist candidate for Mayor of New York City, ne: at the time of his arrest for leading picket line of furniture workers striking against ‘N.R.A. slavery. Map Drive to Clean Racketeers From.A. F. of L. Unions $50,000 Extorted from Workers’ Wages Weekly; Rank and File Arrests of A. F. NEW YORK. — Implicating high Tammany officials in the racketeering policies of the A. F. of L. officials inthe local unions and on building construction jobs, Jack Taylor, sec- retary of the Anti-racketeering Com- mittee of the A. F. of L. Building Trades Unions reporting on the situ- ation at a mass meeting Wednesday night declared that only well-organ- ized rank and file committees in every local working together would force the elimination of these criminal practices against the A. F, of L. mem- bers. The mass meeting at Irving Plaza was crowded with more than 800 rank and file workers of the A. F. of L. local unions, adopted a resolution calling for the immediate organiza- tion of anti-racketeering committees in every local and demanded that the district attorneys of New York and Brooklyn together with the Federal attorney initiate a campaign to wipe out the racketeering in the unions and on construction jobs, including government buildings, Edward Hoffman, a member of lo- cal 3 of the Electrical Workers’ Union, who presided at the meeting declared that Senator Copeland and Colonel Hutchinson of the Senate Committee to investigate racketeering had prom- ised action after the anti-racketeering ring committee had exposed the nest of graft in the Electrical Workers’ and other unions but that a month has passed and these politicians have done nothing. That $50,000 per week is being ex- torted from building trades workers by the gang of racketeers in the A. F. of L. unions who swindle thou- sands of members for the privilege of working was revealed by Taylor in his report. “In March, 1932,” said Taylor, “15 members of local 3 brought suit against Broach, former International President and the officials of local 3 for an accounting of $7,500,000 of union funds which had been used night at Claremont and Washington Parkways. Solidarity of Labor Urged in Appeal to A. F. L NEW YORK.—The National Board of the Trade Union Unity League addressed an appeal to the 53rd an- nual convention of the American Federation of Labor, to its affiliated locals and to all organized and unor- ganized workers urging the solidarity of labor against the NRA attacks on the working-class. The message urges a united struggle for the or- ganization of the workers and for the support of the steel and coal strikes, The full text of the message reads: To the Convention of the American Federation of Labor: To the Local Unions of the American Federation of Labor: To the Membership of the American Federation of Labor: Brothers: ‘The Trade Union Unity League ex- tends fraternal greetings to the workers of the American Federation of Labor on the occasion of the 53d Annual Convention. In the name of the solidarity of labor, in the inter- ests of our common struggle, we take the liberty to address you on a num- ber of questions of the greatest con- cern to the membership of your own and -our organization, as well as to the vast millions of unorganized toil- ers of this country. The workers of this country are on the march! During the first nine months of this year, a million work- ers struck for better conditions. The fight of the unemployed for the means to live embrdces ever wider strata and has become more militant |Trade Union Unity League Addresses Letter to Federation Convention and to Locals and spirited. Labor is trying to re- gain its lost positions and in many places to secure even new gains. At the very time when your Convention is in session, a hundred thousand miners, fifty thousand textile workers, twenty-five thousand steel workers, tens of thousands of auto workers, and countless thousands in other in- dustries, are engaged in a bitter strug- gle for improved conditions—fighting for the rights of labor, Hundreds of thousands of workers into Union Unity League, and established various so-called inde! But the combined organizations has not yet succeeded in organizing the tremendous mass movement of the workers now tak- ing place. This is so not only be- cause there is lacking pains and united effort, but be- cause the top leaders of the American. Federation of Labor, professing to the name of labor, openly sabotaged and disrupted the struggle of the workers. They, together with the employers and the government, have united to stifle the developing workers’ movement. We, sincerely be- lieve that the membership of our or- ganizations and the membership of the A. F. of L. through united ef- fort can greatly stimulate by many times the number that have thus far been set into motion and organize them into the trade unions. We be- lieve, notwithstanding the existence of our two separate trade union cen- ters, that we not only CAN but MUST organize jointly to fight for the im- mediate needs of the workers. Carrying Through United Action Can such united action of our re- spective members be organized? Al- ready, it is being carried through on a scale that cleafly demonstrates the power and effectiveness of such unit- ed action. In the present national strike of silk workers we have suc- and all the workers there are { seeded in organizing joint striixe com- mittees in Allentown, Easton, and na- tionally of representatives of the unions affiliated to the A. F. of L, (U.T.W.), the TU.UL, (N.T.W.0.), and independent unions, In the Pitts- burgh district, joint action and pick- eting of the striking miners organ- ized into the A. F. of L. (U.M.W.A.), illegitimately by officials of the local from 1926-31, large amounts of which Committee Forces Five of L. Racketeers had been shared with’ Tammany offi- cials in order to stifle threatened in- vestigations of the racket carried on by favored contractors and the union officials. At. subsequent. hearings, Robert Wilson, ousted president of local 3, admitted that some of the money might have gone for political protection. To prevent detection, vouchers and records of expenses close to $1,500,000 were destroyed by @ union official. A number of arrests of A. F. of L, officials have already been made ‘aS a result of th pressure of the members of the A. F. of L. locals through the establishment of the anti-racketeering committee. Graft and corruption on jobs at Radio City, Post Office buildings on 29th and 30th Sts. Harlem Hospital, the Bankers’ trust buildings and others have been uncovered. Ed McLoughlin of the Plasterer’s Union and James Young of the Carpenters’ Brotherhood have been arrested on charges of extortion after members of the union who were forced to surrender a part of their union. wages to these racketeering agents, brought sworn affidavits in proof. Jess Williams, Salvatore Saliu and McElroy were indicted in con- nection with graft on the Roxy The- atre job. The money extorted by these A. F. of L. racketeers from the wages of the. workers were shared with the contracting company and with politicians. Alfred Terry, a member of local 3, speaking from the floor of the meet- ing, declared that the only assurance that racketeering will he eliminated from the A. F. of L. union is to oust the whole nest of officials from Green, Woll and others down and establish honest rank and file control. The Anti-racketeering committee which is composed of rank and file members of eight building trades unions proposes to intensify its cam- paign among the rank and file to organize and battle the corruption in the unions and to put fie greatest amount of pressure to force action on the part of the government au- thorities against the bosses’ agents in the unions, Shoe Strike Won Big Increases in Seventy-Two Shops Six Thousand Out Now, Resist. Whalen’s Attacks NEW YORK, Oct, 13.—‘The Shoe and Leather Workers Industrial Union has secured increases in wages of from 30 to 60 per cent for several thousand workers as a result of the shoe strike,” says Fred Biedenkapp, general secretary of that union. Biedenkapp was summing up the re- sults of the struggle of his union so far, “Six thousand shoe workers are on strike now,” Biedenkapp declared. “The strike is ten weks old. At its’ height there were 12,000 workers in- yolved in 118 shops. They include the shoe, slipper, and down stitchers. In addition there were more than 5,000 shoe repair men on strike from 500 shoe repair shops, and also chain stores, etc. Seventy-two Shops Settled “The shops already settled include 72 shops, and 285 shoe repair shops, in addition to an association repre- senting 500 shoe repair shops.” Biedenkapp, who led the delegation to Grover Whalen’s office in the Pennsylvania Hotel today stated that in addition to the increasé in wages, the workers in the settled shops “won a reduction of hours from 70 to 40 hours a week.” “at the beginning of the strike,” Biedenkapp said, “there were about 300 members in the Shoe and Leather Workers Industrial Union. Now there are more than nine thousand. These shops were forced to recognize the union in spite of the issuance of 44 injunctions against us by both demo- cratic and republican judges, in spite of 275 ‘arrests on the picket lines, and raids by the police on the headquar- ters of our union.” 275 Arrests The strike has been conducted along militant lines, Biedenkapp pointed out, with mass picketing and rank and file strike committees leading the strike. . “at the present time,” said Bied- enkapp, “the bosses are planning to get out injunctions aaginst us in all striking shops, The strike is solid in all the shops now out, numbering more than six thousand workers, The Arcadia Hall mass meetings are big- ger than ever. There were more than 7,500 at our last meeting.” Grover Whalen, head of the N.R.A,, as well as the N.R.A. labor board and mediation committee, have not only refused to see the representatives of the strikers, but have also tried to break the strike, by bringing in the discredited Boot and Shoe Union of the A. F, of L, Biedenkapp charged. “In Bfockton,” he said, “the Boot and Shoe has been driven out of town by 9,000 former members of that union, who, tired of betrayals, have Jeft the A, F. of L. Here in New York, the Boot and Shoe has only a couple of hundred members. And yet Whalen announces he is conferring with the Boot and Shoe and the manufacturers to avoid a strike of 18,000 shoe workers. There are not 18,000 shoe workers in the entire city outside of our union. The six thou- sand strikers are all members of our union.” “In spite of the N.R.A. strikebreak- ing attempts,” Biedenkapp concluded, the strikers are maintaining a solid front, and expect to extend the vic- tories alréady won to the other sHops still striking.” N.R.A. Code One of Worst “The. N.R.A. shoe code, now finally signed, is one of the worst codes,” Biedenkapp said, “It calls for the low minimum of 37 and one-half cents an hour. It allows overtime work, and has an even lower minimum wage for women. Our union is de- This is the first of a series of two articles on the inner workings of a typical large N.R.A. complaint bu- reau in the City of New York. The series is based on wholly authentic information supplied by an N.R.A. worker, , a LONG line of workers used, to stand before the windows of the Brooklyn, New York branch of the NBA. They came there confidently, They wanted to tell the N-R.A. about the miserable conditions in their shops, The N.R.A. would fix it, they were sure. Hadn't Roosevelt promised them that the N.R.A. would set up a com- plaint division that would take care of the workers’ interests? And they believed Roosevelt's prom- ises, implicitly. But there are no longer any lines of workers standing in the swell offices of the Brooklyn branch of the NBA. Shipyards Strike Threatens to Spread to South and West 1600 Out at Erie Basin U’ S. Conceiliator Here NEW YORK.—The strike of the workers of the Todd Shipbuilding Works at Robins and Moss Dry- docks, Erie Basin, Brooklyn, con- tinues with 1600 Workers involved. Tt was started by 1,100 boiler- makers who walked out in protest against the dismissal of five work- ers active in organizing for their union, the International Brother-| hood of Iron Shipbuilders, Boiler- makers and Welders of the A. F. of L. Five hundred organized and unorganized workers are out in support of the strike Which now has the possibility of spreading to the shipyards in Mobile, Alabama and Seattle, Washington. Several hundred have struck in Hoboken, N. J. at the Tietgen and Lang yard, also owned by Todd. Yesterday Anna Weinstock of the Department of Labor Conciliation Board entered the scene, announc- ing that she would stay until the strike is settled Captain O’Connor, police head of the Hamilton Ave. station, informed union officials that. “I'll empty every dump on that waterfront if you picket.” The strikers had voted to picket last Wednesday night at a meeting where a member of the Steel and Metal Workers Indus- trial Union advocated this action. Despite the threats of O’Connor, the men turned out yesterday and John Mellon, business representa- tive of local 1224 stated to your reporter “We'll picket until we win.” e men demand recognition of their union representative, rein- statement of the discharged work- ers and agreement to discuss the wage scale. The men want $39.85 which they received for a 48 hour week until 9 months ago in place ofthe $27.00 they now get for a 36 hour Week with the present hours. manding a workers code of the thirty hour week, a minimum wage for the industry of $18 for unskilled; $30 for semi-skilled and $40. for skilled work- ers. The code enables the employers to reduce wages in many cases.” N.M.U. and the steel workers organ- izing into the T.U.U.L. (Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union) has been established. Recently, in Cleve- land, a conference of 700 worker del- egates from A. F. of L., T.U.U.L. and independent unions, from unorgan- ized workers and unemployed organ- izations was held, at which issues which most vitally concern every worker were discussed, and decisions for joint action unanimously adopted. What were the issues clearly for- mulated at this conference of elected workers’ delegates? These’ issues were unity in the fight for more wages; for shorter hours without reduction in pay; against speed-up and dismissals; for unemployment relief and unem- ployment insurance; for the right to strike; against injunctions and com~ pulsory arbitration; for the right to organize into unions of the workers’ own choice and against company unions; against discrimination of for- eign born and Negro workers, for the. right of Negro workers to all jobs at wages those of the white workers; for equal pay for equal work for all young workers. We are con- vinced that these issues for which tens of thousands of workers are al- ready fighting today can become the means around which to effectively unite all workers, regardless of their trade union or political affiliations. ‘We have just addressed a letter to the A. F. of L. Convention, asking fors united support of, the strike of over 75,000 miners, Here we were com- pelled to appeal directly to the rank and file members and local officials against the leaders of the A. F. of L. and the U.M.W.A. who are dis- regarding the wishes and interests of the striking miners and jointly with the operators and the government are ordering the miners back to work without recognition of the U.M. W.A., for which the miners are fight- ing. It may seem strange to you, fel- low workers, that the T.U.U.L. asks support in the fight for the recogni- tion of the U.M.W.A., while the U.M. W.A. leaders themselves are trying to break the strike. But it is not strange at all, The U.M.W.A. leaders, in or- dering the miners back to work, are as usual capitulating before the em- ployers and their government and be- traying once again the interests of the workers. Always carrying through & policy of/defending the interests of the workers and supporting them in their struggle, we, who have tried to build the independent class union of the miners, the National Miners Union, support the miners’ struggle for rec- ognition of the U.M.W.A. The miners in this powerful strike have expressed their desire for recognition of the U.M.W.A. We support them in this fight. The fight of the miners, with- out distinction as to the nature of the U.M.W.A., has become one of the most important battles of labor in this country against company unionism and for the right of the miners to belong to a union of their choice. It is this that we see ih the struggle of the miners, although we know that Lewis and his machine are danger- ous enemies of the miners, who must be thrown out of the ranks of the labor movement, Form Committees in Factories > If you too recognize the urgent need today of establishing joint action, then we should consider how this can be achieved. The first and best place where such unity of action can be. established is the workshop—the fac- tory. All workers, no matter to which organization they belong, no matter if organized or unorganized, face common issues and grievances in the factories. We can unite on these is- sues, We can organizé joint commit- tees in the factories on those imme- diate demands. We can and must unite against the bosses’ company rapidly being established, e in such important indus- tries as auto, steel and coal. We can simuitaneously organize joint com~ mittees for organization and defense of our interests in each city and town. We can form joint committees represéntative of the local organiza- tions of our respective unions. In the process of this movement, many questions will arise, Adopt Policy of Clas . Membership s Struggle and Stand Solidly Against NRA Company Union Plan question—into what union shall we organize the workers. ‘These, in our opinion, can be settled easily and in a brotherly spirit on the basis of working class democracy, on the basis of the right of the workers to join any union they please. What are the real hindrances to united action? The bosses, of course, are against the unity of the working class. They have always tried to Givide the workers, even those be- longing to one union. They divide them by craft, religion, nationality, creed, color, age and various other means. But they are not alone. The top leadership of the American Fed- eration of Labor are also opposed to unity because this would prevent them from carrying through the ppl- icies of the bosses within our organ- izations. It should be clear to all of us, that anyone who is opposed or tries to disrupt the unity of the work- ers is not acting in our interests, but in the interests of our enemies, - We charge that the Executive Council of the A. F. of L. and the en- tire top leadership do not represent your interest. ‘To prove our conten- tion, let us but examine a few facts, What did they do during the last four years when we were under attack? President Green entered into an agreement with former President Hoover that there will be no strikes for higher wages and the bosses should not cut wages. But, it is now well known that wages were slashed right and left. What did the A. F. of L. leaders do in the face of the increasing millions of unemployed? They told the unemployed to be sat- isfied with charity. They openly op- posed unemployment insurance. When the rank and file protested in such large numbers that they could no longer withstand the tide and were compelled at the last convention to go on record for unemployment in- surance, what happened? Did they actually take up the fight? No! They continued their record of passivity and open sabotage of the fight for unemployment insurgnce, RA Aimed Against Strikes i From the very beginning, we point- ed out that the N.R.A. aimed to stop the fight of the workers for better conditions. The N.R.A. was enacted only after it had become evident that otrikes were spreading. Did the A, F. of L, leaders expose the purposes of the N.R.A.? Did they organize the fight for better conditions? Again no! Instead they hailed the N.R.A. as a new charter of rights for labor. They said strikes were unnecessary, that the N.R.A. would take care of everything. In the name of the N.R.A, they yoted for the open shop auto code, for the $13 a week textile code, for the starvation wage steel code. In the name of the N.R.A. they agreed to outlaw strikes and enforce compulsory arbitration. The present attempt to break the miners’ strike is especially the |») but the logical result of this whole of support for the N.R.A. on the part of these leaders. ,At the same time these leaders continue to support discrimination of Negro workers, which they too practise ‘in the A. F. of L. organizations, They continue to call for attacks on the foreign born workers. They are de- veloping racketeering and gangster- ism in the unions, as part of the machinery to rob the workers of their democratic rights. How else can Lewis and Murray drive back to work the 75,000 miners who repudiated them time and time again? It is these same leaders who are opposed to building the industrial unions be- cause they would unite workers. of all crafts and make it more difficult for the bureaucrats to pit one group of workers against another. They fear the solidarity that would result from such industrial, unions. 1 (TO BE CONTINUED) NRA Complaint Buro Never Acts on Worker Grievances The N.R.A. complaint division just folded up, and like the famous Arabs, silently stole away. And there was good reason for their folding up. They were being flooded with the complaints of the workers, From every corner of the largest bore ough in the City_of New York com- plaints came pouring in, And so the N.R.A. complaint bureau folded up, The workers’ complaints were getting too hot for comfort, Furthermore, these complaints, if they ever became public would reveal working conditions so utterly rotten and degrading that it would hardly make nice reading in a newspaper, But the Daily Worker was visited the other day by some workers in the N.R.A. offices who gave the whole story away, The Daily Worker now offers some of the complaints made by trusting workers to the N.R.A. offices. These are taken literally and exactly from the records—just as they appear, name, date, place, everything. Not one of these complaints ever received the slightest attention from Roosevelt's expensive New York N.R.A, complaint bureau. First Case:—Working at the Silver Quarter Rest—underpaid, works 12 hours a day. No action taken, Second case: a group of employees, underpaid, working 12-14 hours a day at the Fulton Coffee Shop, 2094 Ful- ton St. No action taken. Third Case:—Works at the Fair- mont Food Co., 90 hours a week, badly underpaid. No action taken. Fourth Case:—Employed at the Crawford’s Men’s Clothing, 26 Man- hattan Ave. Salary cut to $20 from $45 because of the N.R.A, No action taken. Fifth Case:—Employed at Kaplan and Abramson, 101 Broadway, gets $6 a week for very long hours. No action taken, Sixth Case:—Working at the Sim- co Shoe Company, 444 Fulton St., salaries taken away, work only on commission basis now. No action taken, There are hundreds of such cases. Here are several more typical ones of the blessings of the N.R.A.: Woman employed at Dugan Bros. Bakery, Brooklyn branch, 75 hours a week—No salary, only small commis- sions. No action taken by the N.R.A, complaint bureau. A worker at the Struhls Busy Bee, 15 Myrtle Ave., 60 hours a week, $8 pay. No action taken by the NRA, A worker at the Steve Yervas_Res- taurant, 151 Montague St. Long hours at $8 a month. No action t#ken by the N.R.A. Most of these employers fly the N.R.A. Blue Eagle. For example, the famous R, H. Macy Store, with the so intimate ad- vertisements, don’t you know. Look at this case taken from the N.R.A, complaint book: Employees work 12 hours a day at the Long Island Warehouse, And they get starvation wages. Or the city-wide Howard Laundry, where the workers get starvation wages for working 84 hours a week. There are hundreds of such cases— thousands. .. . The Daily Worker has scores of such cases on record. In not one instance has the N.RiA. Complaint Office taken the slightest action, And now that the office has been closed up? No action ever will be taken. . What was there about the personnel of the N.R.A. that the exposure of these conditions of wage slavery were quietly buried? (To be concluded Monday). MOISSAYE J. OLGIN ‘Will Lecture On i “What’s Happening In | Russia?” This Saturday at 3 o’clock WORKERS SCHOOL 35 East 12th Street, 3rd floor Admission 200. Questions. AIRY, LARGE Meeting Rooms and Hall To Hire Suitable for Meetings, Lectures and Dances in the Czechoslovak Workers House, Ine. 347 E.72nd St. New York Telephone: RHinelander 5097 MIMEOGRAPHS Complete with All Supplies STENCILS, INK, PAPER $27.50 Union Sq. Mimeo Service 108 East 14th St., Room 200 ‘New York City BRONX SHOE REPAIRING 677 ALLERTON AVENUE All work done by factory method. All Soles Sewed. No Nails Men's Half Soles............+-59¢ Rubber Heels Free Ladies’ and Children’s. Rubber Heels ..... Ladies’ Leather Lifts Ladies’ Rubber Lifts.. “ —Quick Service— COMRADES MEET IN Field’s Cafeteria * 3824 THIRD AVENUE f (Near Claremont Parkway) , Comradely Atmosphere. Proletarian Prices,