The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 14, 1933, Page 5

ROOSEVELT A\ Youths from Shops and Local Unions at Steel Conference sia Hee Adopt Specific Demands for Young Workers; Warm Response to Young Communist League Program; Develop Workers’ Sports By FRANK HILL. Youth Organizer, Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union, now imprisoned by the Ambridge steel trust gunmen.) On Sept. 1ith, the District Youth Conference of the Steel and: Metal Workers’ Industrial Union took place. It commenced on the eve of matur- ing mass struggles in the steel industry and this reflected itself throughout KEPT ON RUN - of Youth the conference. Forty-seven youth delegates coming from 13 different steel gills of -West- ern Pennsylvania were present. All were employed in the mills. The fact that this large number of youth del- egatcs, 35 of whom were elected by shops or locals, regponded during the short. two weelzs of preparations, re- fleets the intense radical swing of the steel youth to the left and. shows their willingness to struggle. Already can be seen the decisive role these youth will play in, the coming struggles in the industry. The conference had the task to conezstely expose the effects of. the N.R.A, upon the steel youth, repudiate the influence of the A.A. upon the youth, formulate youth demands for the steel industry, elect a broad dis- Strict youth leadership in the steel industry that, together with the adult rades in the industry, will guide and direct maturing struggles -of youth in the mills,;and above all, place the S.M.W.LU. squarely before outh as the only up the fight for union which taki their everyday needs. In addition to this, the ith conference took up the tasks of developing working class sports and cultural activity among the stecl youth, Pive many shortcomings, the ‘ence was able to mark~a be- long the line of carrying out The best concrete exposures of the N.R.A, was contrib- uted by the discussion where young steel workers themselves’ reported. y Deicandro, 20-year old strike leader of the Walworth Foundry in Greensburg pointed out how, before the N.R.A. Steel Code went into ef- he had received 42 cents an hour, and now, because he was under 21, he rece! only 30 cents. He was striking der the leadership of the W.I.U. for equal wages for the youth in the plant. A girl worker of Naticnal Electric, Ambridge, reported how formerly she received $4 to $4.50 per day, and now she cannot make more than ‘$3.20. Bell boys from the Central Tube Plant in Ambridge re- ported being forsed to pull scrap dur- ing their half-hour spell period and their wages were meanwhile reduced from 45 cents to 40 cents per hour. Respend to Communists The youth delegates showed warm response to the Communist fighters in the union both in the manner in which they received the explanattion of the rolé of the Young Communists in tite steel industry from Frank Hill, from a youth delegate elected by his Young Communist League nucleus in the Jones and Laughlin Plant, and also in the unanimous election of Jimmy Egan, Communist candidate for Mayor in Pittsburgh, as ch nan of the conference. It is well to point out here that of all the youth present only two delegates Wore Y.C.L. members, but today many of the rest are joining. esolutions on equal rights for the Nesro youth, on the danger of war and support of the World Congvess gainst War in Paris and the U. S. ‘War Congress, for the ecem of Tom Mocney and the Scottsboro boys and against Cuban intervention were all unanimously pessed, Among the youth demands passed by the Conference are the following: 1. Twenty dollars weekly wage minimum, for a 6-hour day, 5-day week. A minimum of 48 working All youth doing the wocks a year. same work as adults to receive the seme pay, 2, All young workers 7 employed that are under 16 to LL taken off job, glven school training and sup- ported by the government and the berse: 3 ‘Two 15-minute rest periods during morning and afternoon, no extra work to be given to youth on plece work jobs, nor during rest per- jod. Spell boys to be work jobs, ‘3 4, Day work only for young work- ets under 21. 5 Sanitary surroundings and fa- es and constant medical super- vision for all workers. 6. Two weeks vacation with full pay for all young workers under 21. 7. No discrimination against Ne- gro youth in giving jobs and no prac- \ige of discrimination in the mills, “8. Apprentices doing same work &s other employes to receive same wages. PACES put on piece | Jailed Leader James Egan, Ambridge Steel Strike Organizor Sentenced to a year in jail. Strike in Cinella Area Kept Solid By a Mine Worker Correspondent CINELLA, Pa.—Everything quiet in this section. The men at the P. & W. mine tried to work on Tuesday, Fifty- two men went inside, but came out. Next morning we had a picket line The picket line went to John Mos- ko's house and pinned a white badge on him and made him go along. He is the president of the P. & W. local, U. M. W. A, The pickets told him to get his company paid union men and they would show them how to picket and strike. A fire boss tried to take a mule in the mine, but pickets told him to take it back to the barn, and their wishes were complied with in a hurry. DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1933 Page Five STEEL, COAL STRIKE UMWA FAKER Miners Furious at His} Strike-Breaking Role Threaten Him By a Mine Worker Correspondent ELLSWORTH, Pa.—Here in the Ellsworth Branch one of the fattest organizers of \the U.M.W.A., Bozo Demich, did everything possible to keep us from striking. We came on strike despite his orders. Now he is doing everything possible to drive us back to work in those mines that signed the open shop agreement and | in those mines that did not sign the agreement at all. After we refused his orders to go back to work, fat Bozo began to spread rumors, telling the miners in one mine that the miners in other mines voted to go back to work. ‘These rumors caused every local on this branch to call special meetings last Tuesday, only to find out that not | one mine and not even one miner voted to go back to work. At these | special meetings all the locals voted | unanimously to continue the strike. After the meetings, which Bozo did not dare to attend, he came on the street to talk to a group of miners. If he did not decide to run mighty fast after five minutes of conversa- tion, Bozo unquestionably would have found himself in a hospital. Such was the reception of the miners. On his way home Bozo met an- other group of miners from another local and began conversation with them. This time Bozo had even worse luck. He had no time to even step into his house but was forced to miss it, so fast was he running, with his big belly. This is the kind of treatment all the Boros deserve. But this is not enough. It is not endugh to chase these strikebreakers on the streets. The way to make them harmless to the cause of the miners is to kick them out of our organization and keep them out. This is necessary now more than ever before if we want to win our strike, Miner Docked, Then Fired for Asking Why (By a Mine Worker Corrspondent) REVESVILLE, W. Va.—At the Par- ker Run mines here, one miner, look- ing over) his daily tonnage sheet, saw where he had been docked on his coal. He went to the dock boss and asked him what was wrong with his coal and the dock boss told him that it had dirty coal. The miner asked him where was the cars of coal. The dock boss said it was loaded. The miner said that SEVELT ACTS FOR STEEL TRUST AGAINST BOZO DEMICH) ..S22"sive faves Couns» Addressing Fayette County Miners a if the coal was dirty how did the AGNES SNEAR, organizer of the wives of striking miners speak- ing at a huge mass meeting. At this meeting the men voted to stay ont “until Frick recognizes the union.” that? ing in the furnaces. fight they will stay the same. £teel Worker’s Expression of Solidarity with Miners By a Steel Worker Correspondent WARREN, O.—Greetings,-fellow workers, all the success in the world. Why? effect on the steel mills throughout this district. Coal is very much in demand in the steel mills and if you can hold} out a little longer I am very certain you will win your demands. How is Here in Warren, in the Republic Steel mill, there is a great shortage of. coal, Coal is needed in the open hearth. There.are five coal burning furnaces, These furnaces, working 24 hours a day, use about 80 tons of | coal. The five together use about 400 tons a day. But there isn’t a bit of coal in sight. The blast furnaces need coal. So does the bar mill. So do the engines. So does the coke plant. They have used the last bit of coal that they had. Now they are using wood, | tin scrap, lime rock, and anything that will burn, to keep the fires burn- | In other words, they are in a hell of a fix, and if you keep up the | And if they stay the same’ you will force | them to grant you your demands. If you win this strike it means a victory for the steel workers the same as to you. Wishing the coal strikers | Beca use your strike is having sd | | | Little Joe. company sell- if and the boss answer- of the mines. ed. that they didn’t sell it, they| dumped it out onthe raiiroad to make a better right of way. The miner then went and asked him for his car of coal that the dock boss had taken from him and the boss told him to. get his tools and get out The miner then went to one of his U.M.W.A. brothers and asked him what to do and his brother told him to wait until after their coal code was settled and told him not to ask anybody to start a strike. The name of the company is Con- tinental Coal Co., Parker Run mines, [Sold 200 Copies of || | Daily in Mine Area | (By a Mine Worker Correspondent) STUDA, Pa.—I got the 200 cop- jes of the Daily Worker and have | sold all of them. I sold some in | Avella and other places. I decided to go to Louise, W. Va., and there| I soli 29 copies in one house. I spoke to many miners in| Louise, Most of them have mem- | bership books of the National] | Miners Union. Of course, they belong to the U.M.W.A. at the present time. In my opinion we} | can do some good work there. q} | think we should call a meeting of | | all the comrades and discuss with | them what should be done. | I must say that they almost} grabbed the Daily away from me.| So anxious were they to see the| Daily. Throw Feeney Out Together With His | 3 Scab Letters By a Mine Worker Correspondent | BENTLEYVILLE, Pa.—Last Tues- | day a huge meeting of over 20,000 striking miners was held at Searight | in Fayette County. The meeting un- | animously went on record to con-| tinue the strike until we win, This was to be a rank and file meeting. All the speakers were to be strikers from yarious locals, The only exception was Attorney Calvocanto, personal informant of Governor Pin- chot. Mr. Calvocanto, who at the be- ginning of the strike made inciting speeches, in order to win the confi- | dence of the miners, pleaded with us} to go back to work. He tried to make | an impression that the H. C. Frick} | Co, had signed the agreement by signing the coal code. Mr, Calyo- canto was booed down, As the meeting was in progress a truck pulled in, equipped with a loud | speaker, The truck had the appear- ance of an armored car. In the truck was none other but Mr. Feeney, appointed District President of the Fayette District. The chairman of the meeting gave him a sarcastic in- troduction. Mr. Feeney brought three letters to the meeting: one from J. L. Lewis, one from Governor Pinchot and one from President Roosevelt— all three demanding that the miners return to work. These were the heavy guns of Mr.| Feeney. But he had no chance to and opened his mouth there wasn’t a man in the crowd of 20,000 that did not boo and holler, demanding that Feeney shall not speak. Within a few minutes Feeney was forced to leave without reading the strike-breaking letters. The whole bedy of the min- ers started after the truck, which sped away. Our ranks remain solid. Iteis now entirely up to the rank and file min- 2,000 Strip Miners In Indiana Fight Against UMW Pact Local Officials Try to Keep Men from Striking But Majority of Membership Votes in Favor of It By a Mine Worker Correspondent TERRE HAUTE, Ind.—Two thousand strip mine workers in the southern Indiana fields struck Saturday and, according to capitalist news despatches, the walk-out is in opposition to the U.M.W.A: aggreements with the oper- | ators and is unauthorized, the violation of the code ruling om oper- | use them. As soon as he appeared | | The dispute is supposedly over | Faces Deportation Frank Borich, secretary of the N.M.U. is threatened with deporta~ tion to fascist Jugo-Slavia. 1,500 Pickets Shut By a Mine Worker Correspondent MOLLENAUER, Pa.—Sunday, Oct. 8, a group of Fagan’s henchmen went to work in Mine No. 3, in an attempt to open the way for the rest of the men’ to go back. And they succeeded | partially. Most of the men went to ‘Work Monday. On Tuesday the mine was operating almost normally. But on Wednesday morning about 1,500 pickets came to the mine about 3 am. Not one man attempted to go to work, So this mine is once more shut down solidly despite the efforts of the company and the U.M.W.A. officials to operate it. The pickets wanted to know who were the men that went to work first. Of course, it was the local offi- cials. These local officials were in hiding as they heard the pickets ers to win the striks. shout. Ambridge By HARRY GANNES ‘ROM Noiman Thomas's appeal ‘this | is not the time to strike” to Gen- eval Johnson's threat “strikes are now intolerable” is indeed a very short step along-the same road. Nor was the General, speaking abstractly, He had in mind the method of making intolerable the steel strike in Am- bridge, Pa. To use the General's own mode of expression, it was here that the steel trust “cracked down” on the steel workers. Many of the steel work- ers took the N.R.A. -proviso about right of unionization in deadly earns est, and chose the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union, But they put all their reliance in strike to gain their demands, Ambridge was like a sputtering fuse ready to set off a general steel strike, The iron heel of the steel trust stamped out ‘the hissing spark be- cause it was placed too near the in- flammable coal strike. But the fires of struggle are burning in a hundred places, But the battle is just 5 From every important steel mill in the Pittsburgh area the report comes that the overwhelming majority of the workers are ready to strike. The question we must ask is: What effect will the Ambridge massacre have on this strike sentiment, and how will the Steel and Metal Workers Union come out of this grueling test? r Retreat for the Advance ‘The result of thé organized fascist attack on the mass picket lines in Ambridge has had the effect of mak- ing the workers temporarily recoil — only the better to continue and en- ¢ offensive. It has cleared the Tn the SM.W.LU. it is necessary | 278° to organize special discussions on the need of developing youth activity. The Jeading comradés are not yet con- vinced that youth’ work is a means of strengthening union activity, No consolidation of the union is pessible without the formation of youth committees calculated to spread the influence of the union among che youth in the industry. The fail- are to develop special forms of work among the youth has led our unions away from the youth, and away from that section of the working class which is becoming rapidly radicalized. Write to the Daily Worker sbout every event of inter- st to workers in your fac- ‘ory, neighborhood or city. JECOME A WORKER COR- *ESPONDENT! of many illusions about the N.R.A. and workers’ its. It has put farward as the lem of the day more thoroughgoing strike prep- aration and organization, and: the necessity of concentrating in a num- ber of decisive centers, The Steel and Metal Workers In- dustrial Union, which had been grow- ing very rapidly before the Ambridge strike, is now faced with its first re- treat. It now has to work under con- ditions of extreme terror and unex- ampled difficulty. This is true not only in Ambridge, but in every steel mill in the country. ' For the time being, the coal strike of 100,000 miners in Pennsylvania, with their instinctive understanding of the necessity “of spreading the strike to steel, is helping the spread of strike sentiment and organization among the steel workers. Without any strong leadership, the miners in Carnegie Fayette County chose the Steel Corporation plant in Clairton, Pa., as their point of attack to draw steel workers into a common strike against the powerful steel corpora- tion. The choice was an excellent one. The Carnegie Steel plant at Clairton is the largest coke products unit in the United States, supplying coke for all of the U, S. Steel mills in the vicinity. The successful clos- ing down of this plant would have put the cold hand of a general stoppage on all of the steel giants, f “8 8 What have been the losses, and second, what the gains of the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union? In Ambridge, during the period of open organization, over two thousand members were drawn into the union. Shop and department committees Steel Strike Strike Sentiment Growing on Wide Front in| Most Important Steel Mills; Battle in Steel Is Just Beginning , were set up in near! every mill, The ike has ig nificant few—capitulated to the ter- ror, and openly severed their union connections. But on the whole, the workers have correctly estimated the situation.. If was imr the conditions of organized gangs, without the more rapid sr of the strike to more decisive mills, t continue, They recognize that fought valiantly stuck to their posts and suffered the consequences “of shooting, ‘torture and imprisonment, They did not realize the brutality, ruthlessness and the might of the forces they were fight- the union | nig that all its leaders| Strips NRA. The heroic struggle of the Ambrid, workers from the first day of t rike until they gave wey before the armed terror only when they left the | tr wounded | and dead is one of the most stirring | ts strewn with their examples of the militancy and deter- ation of the American workers. and women picketed day and st the greatest odds, In e of the oncoming thugs, ion ped up and di go down fight- Nothing short of wholesale murder could have crushed the mass 7 ing of the Ambridge workers. But these wholesale murders cannot pre- | vent the rapid development of future struggles, The Ambridge workers look upon ing. They now feel that the union’ the Steel and Metal Workers Union must be built stronger, more pains- takingly; that now they must work under martial rule conditions in re- forming their committees and prepar- ing for future action, | as their most powerful weapon, tem- porarily defeated by superior forces. During the worst days of the terror, it functioned, at a heavy loss of forces. The threads of organization have later shot down plokets \ Scene of fight at Spang-Chalfont plant when 200 scabs were rou! Scabs First Attack on Ambridge P ted. De} and established martial rule to break the strike, i ian ‘ickets puties and steel trust gunmen of | | Ambridge strike. But this does not eS : 7 of Lying Valliant Fight Agains Forced Workers to But the situation de- It demands the most tional work in the that was not tike, and in the re, re conditions are the most It is by its means of o coming these tremendous that the steel workers in the Pitts- burgh district will judge the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union. There has also been some justified | criticism by the Ambridge workers of the sirike tactics in this particular instance. We must say, however, at this point, that even an absence of these weaknesses would not have overcome the highly organized and heavily armed fascist terror. outcome would have been different quipa, wi difficult. tion of the union would have been to rebound, for quicker action in the future. The chief criticism made is that the strike at Spang Chalfant ‘was too precipitous and in the nature of a stampede. Only several hundred vorkers were called together, repre- nting, it is true, all department and hop leaders, and the decision made, “Sorlke Now!” The strikers of the ‘ther pianis already out marched on jpang while some union members were still at work in the,plant. A} mass meeting of all workers had not | seen called to take a strike vote, everybody judging sentiment was so} rotten ripe for strike, at it was. The | result was that the workers forces} were split by the precipitous action. The union leaders recognized this mis- take, but the march was already on. Rank and file control, full demo- cratic rights and the united front discussion among the members is giv- ing every facility for correcting the , Mistakes. | * 8 | ANOTHER weakness was the limit- ed points of concentration, All the eggs were put in one basket, in Ambridge. Not sufficient work was carried on at Clairton, where the A. A. was active — preventing the strike. It is true the forces are lim- ited, that it required almost every ounce of available energy to lead the obviate the fact, that with sufficient attention to Clairton, a strike here would have .been the greatest boon to Ambridge. It would have been! nore, It would have raised the ques- | ion of the united front. more con- cretely with those workers under A, A. influence; it would have made in Steel Co, in Alli-| The} only in that the resulting organiza- | stronger, more closely knit and ready | cf Promises t Steel Trust Gunmen Retreat—to Prepare Greater Strike Offensive miners who were ready to march tens of thousands into Clairton, if success | were in sight. And only the Steel and Metal Wo! Industrial Union could | furnish the requirements of leader- ship | Clairton. Very few leaflets were is- | sued. Very few S.M.W.1.U. members | mingled with the miners and steel workers, | All these weaknesses are nesses of rapid growth, of the wu ep of a powerful strike wave, in | which the Ambridge defeat is an epi- | sode in a greater movement now de- veloping before our eyes. Remedying Weaknesses But because the movement is de- veloping so rapidly, we must with all | haste remedy our weaknesses, with the most resolute determination, in- crease our day to day activities in all of ihe steel mills, strengthen our forces in the Steel and Metal Work- |ers Industrial Union, throw the Mine in Mollenauer | For days nothing was done at} ——® ting time of. the mines. The workers are angry because the owners insist | on operating Saturdays, although no individual miner is employed beyond the working hour limit; but we shall | see for ourselves. “Just a misunderstanding of code specifications by the workers them- se! ” say U.M.W.A. offiicals as representatives enter the fields to urge the miners to return to work and to liquidate the strife. The usual strike-breaking tactics of the official- | dom of the U.M.W.A, | It is undetermined how wide- spread the struggle is as many déep- shaft miners in the vicinity did not | work the day of the walk-out, Eastern Ohio Miners Do Not | Like UMWA Pact By a Mine Worker Correspondent | BELLAIRE, O,—The miners of Eastern Ohio received the new agreement which was put over by the coal operators and the Lewis ma- chine. I never saw such a great dis- satisfaction. Every miner is dissat- isfled with the agreement; all are bitter against it. The check-off was put into effect and every penny that is checked-off | by the company office from the min- ers is to be sent to the district sec- retary in Columbus. I do not know whether the locals will receive any money or not. The miners are against many points | in the agreement but especially | against the check-off and the way | it has been arranged. The locals are | preparing to call a special conven- | tion in the very near future. It ap- | pears to me that a bitter struggle will | take place between the miners and the strike-breaking officials, How a Class Conscious Ky. Miner Answered a Louisville “Lady” (By a Miner Correspondent.) MIDDLESBORO, Ky.—A lady from the relief headquarters in Louisville, Ky., came in to the coal \fields the other day to make an in- vestigation of the unemployed sit- uation here’ and she was also a writer for some magazine. While in Pineville, she decided to go into |} the mining |camps. Someone told her it was dangerous to go up there. | So she went to Walter B. Smith and got a permit to go into Mr, Home's mining camps, | So when she reached the Coal Co. property she came face to face with a machine gun on a tripod, but with | her pass she went on, but didn’t | stay to get much information. When she came to Middlesboro, the | relief agent spotted out a known | Communist to her. She began. to | question him about how he felt about |the U. M. W. A. He told her he | Was against the fake officialdom. She asked whether he belonged to | the N. M. U. the Communisis, | He her, “Both.” She told him | gles of the workers through fascist weight of the whole party behind it:| he ovcht to be careful, that he might From a political angle Ambridge is| get of the highest importance. Here the| he told her the workers didn’t have | Roosevelt program has stripped itself! any society and told of the starva- | to its naked fascist skin. The Com-/ tion and the gun thug rule here in munist analysis of the N.R.A. was cy, | proved ’here up to the hilt. The N.R.A. said she didn’t favor gun | is the program of the imperialists, | but the Communists wanted | the big bankers and gigantic cor . w our government. Then j he told her the workers didn’t have any goverrnient and told of being isted for over two years. She that it was bad to be blacklisted, He exposed the fake relief which | porations to smash the rising struz- means. We must use this ins!ance to| expose the real meaning of the N.R.A,, all its sham hollowness, its demagogic phrases behind which the/ had been put out through forced big corporations are today organizing | Jaber and now it was stopped and he their fascist murderers. In the high! was going to get something to eat schools, young boys were recruited! regardless of what it took, but she society turned against him. So; for the fascist onslaught in Ambridge | under the slogan of “Defend the Blue Eogie.” In our propaganda against Nazi terrorism in Germany, we must draw the workers’ attention to the Amer- ican steel trust’s “nazis” at home, un- der our very noses. We must work out means of de- feating this terror, of breaking through the military rule which will spread to all basic industries, espe- cially to all coal and steel ateas. We must fight*for the right of organiza- tion in real earnest, using every means available to break into Am- bridge, to fight for the right of open union meeting, for the right to the legal establishment of the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union. The Steel and Metal Workers In- dustrial Union is now the axis of all the Open Letter means and is the test of our ability to root ourse! ‘es advised him to be careful and not talk. She asked him if he felt the N. R. A. would be a success and how j the peoplel in general was feeling about it, He told her they were get- | ting damn sore waiting on their lies | and beginning to talk about mass | action, CHESTER STRIKE SOLID By a Worker Correspondent CHESTER, Pa.--Shutdown or no iutdown, the workers on strike at the Ford auto plant here are on the job, and have no intention of leaving their post. The Reading Railroad freight pulled into the auto factory yatd yesterday evening at 6 p.m. and at- tempted to take all the loaded cars away, but the workers who were pick- eting the plant told the conductor he could only take two cars. The com- pany guards attempted to interfere,” among the most decisive masses in ® more solid juncture with the coal the most decisive basic industry. but found themselves helpleas against. the militancy of the strikers, * by lew se ed od nd o- n, rRes oe oY