The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 25, 1934, Page 3

Girl Exposes Father's | Frame-Up of Day; Will Testify in Nettie Samberg Telis How Landlord Concocted Case Against Oscar Day As Told to JEAN BOLAN “I want to tell you how Mr. Marko- witz, my father, framed his Negro janitor and how the International Labor Defense is fighting for his freedom.” | It was Nettie Samberg speaking. | Nettie is a member of the Young| Communist League and a fighter for full democratic rights and uncondi- tional equality for the Negro people. | Indignant at the attempts of her) father, aided by bourgeois politicians end the courts, to railroad an ‘inno- cent Negro worker to jail, Netty came to the office of the Daily Worker to expose the vicious frame-up of Oscar Day, Negro janitor. Her story fol- lows: Day Paid $10 a Month for Drudgery “This Negro worker, Oscar Day, worked for three years as a janitor of a tenement house at 259 Riving- ton §&t. Manhattan, which my father owns. My father paid him 310 a month and an apartment of three small rooms, rent free. For this $10 Day had to give three to four hours of housework to my moth- er, help out in my father’s grocery store for one or two hours a night as well as be the janitor of the house. He was so well trusted by my father that he would carry huge sums of money to the bank every week to deposit in my father’s ac- count. My father often told Day, ‘I trust you more than I trust my own children, You know one of y daughters stole $30 from me. You Tq trust with anything.’ | “And so, for three years, Day kept | slaving away for my father. Landiord Furious When Day Gets Sick “On December 22, Oscar how up for his usual drudgi father went to his home and de- manded t he come to work. ‘I’m eart trouble. I can’t “You lousy nigger,” said my father, aud he tried to grab Day by the thr Thereupon, Oscar provoked 2 that weighs heavily filers, turned back Trial Today 2 ro Rights | | Fights for Neg NETTIE SAMBERG Member of the Young Commu- nist League who supports fight led prevent railroading of Oscar Day on lying charges trumped up by | white landlord and politicians. Unemployed Leader Seized Giving Leaflets to C.W.A. Workers NORFOLK, Va., Jan. 24—H. Car- rington, a member of the Unemployed Council, was arrested for distributing leaflets to C.W.A. workers, held three |days incommunado, and fined $5. He was sentenced in the Norfolk police court on an old city ordinance that prohibits the distribution of hand- 't | bills Without a permit from the chief of police. The Jeaflet, issued by the C.W.A. Labor. Union, called upon the C.W.A. {workers to organize and struggle against the abandonment of the C.W.A. program; for free transporta- tion to and from thé C.W.A. jobs; and for a job or immediate cash relief for all unemoployed workers. The Unemployed Council of Nor- foik i fighting for relief for the un- . |umder the N. R. A. they have the by International Labor Defense to | Arrest Norfolk, Va. DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 193 i | By N. R.A. To Sav By HARRY GANNES | “Economic en ion. s how |John L. Lewi ved the N. | R. A. on the very d: s adopted. arr | “Roosevelt t ancipator!” g the U. M. |W. A. convention which opened in Indianapolis on Jan. 23 | Hardly in ai R. A. shown | functions so clea: fields. } Between the two “emancipation” } and oppressive as in the coal speeches the miners had been en- slaved as never before. Every one| | 5 e@riier date. of their s had been smashed | direct intervention of the | emancipator.” “No strike” | and starvation wage agree-| | ments are the lot of the miners. To} help further their “emancipation” privilege of paying a fine of $1 to $2) |a day for every day they do strike. |The check-off chains now tie the miners to their strikebreaking bu- reaucrats and help the operators | lower the starvation pay. |. When Lewis speaks w on the |N. R. A. before the 1500 mine dele- gates in Indianapolis, the miners | should remember that he is attempt- | ing in the open light of day to carry | out what was concocted between the {coal operators, John L. Lewis and | William Green in secret in the home | Approved as to form Franklin S. Pollax, Counsel to the Board ‘of Bernard Baruch soon ofter the 'N. R. A. was adopted. For example, Black Diamond,) mouthpiece of the coal operators, back in July, 1933, when John L. Lewis began his activity to achieve “economic emancipation,” declared: “General Jchnson, speaking be- fore a committee of 19 operators representing 90 per cent of the soft coal industry who were wor®ing on a code, stated his repeated declara- tion that organized labor would not be permitted to use the Jabor pro- visions to unionize industry was @ source of assurance to the indus- The same issue of the coal opera~ first passed Roosevelt declared: IDIFICATION OF SUBSTITUTION GRANTED THE LAUNDR’ JS FOR PARAGRAPH 6 OF THE PRESIDENT'S REEMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT The fourteen cent (14¢) minimum hourl; dugtive labor in the Laundry Industry shall remain in effect until January 30, 1934, unless the Gode of Fair Competition for the Industry is approved at Recommended by the National Compliance Board. A. J. Altmeyer TP. _Behney Approved ~ January 16 Green Calls for Breaking Strikes e Capitalism | 14 Cents an Hour—*Decent Living Standards” rate for pro- Southern area No. 2 Acting Chairman William J. Barrett Industrial Member Labor Member. 1934 Administrator The above is an official N.R.A. order decreeing 14 cents an hour for Negro laundry workers in the South. When the N.R.A. was “By living wages I mean more than a bare subsistance level—I mean the wages of decent living.” He considers 14 cents an hour “decent living wages” for Negro workers, since he approved the code. tors’ journal said that John L. Lewis} was present at the home of Bernard | Baruch, Wall Street gambler and financier, working out plans for a coal code preliminary to the code hearings. Break Miners’ Strike When the miners went on strike in | Pennsylvania, John L. Lewis and} William Green helped break the) strike. Philip Murray, vice-president | of the UM.W.A., conspired with} | struggles against the slave codes and for union recognition. They wanted to join the A. F. of L. and use them as instruments for improving their wages and working conditions. The A. F. of L. leaders wanted them in the A. F. of L. so that they could e Of peta aha | employed. Unemployed workers lead- jing the struggles at the City Relief It 1s and oun 2G agencies are daily threatened with is a Democrat, |®!Test- y and henchman of Edward; A’Hearn's District Club on Scammel | and East Broadw: He quickly hit | t upon a n—Why not frame | a. eman s ea cd on a long term? Assault’ and| ttery? That's not long enough for f Th N oroe me. No, no, let me think.’ or ree e 8 ‘Thought Up Vicious Frame-Up “and my father did think—and| ILD Exposed Frame-Up; hard. The next day, on entering the! | cellar to make the steam heat and hot) Calls for Mass Protest ‘| water, he found “some tools wrapped | ae in newspaper. “Just the thing I} } want. He took the bag of tools to! Attorney-General Thomas E. Knight, \® court the next day and immediately | Ji/ig “convinced beyond a doubt that » had the charge of assault and bat-|the extreme penalty should be ex-, j— tery changed to ‘Robbery with intent | acted” from three of the nine Ne- {@ to kill” The Neg § him and then roi iim, rob him of! Feb, 9, in a lynchers’ holiday set by > all his money,’ said my father.” ‘the State Supreme Court. Here Netty clenched her teeth. We | ij ak pata WH 4 , | Among these three is Bennie Fos- pee bee to tell us something about ier, whose frame-up and torture has “When I joined the Young Com-| een. thoroughly exposed by the In- munist League, after breaking away | 'mpational Labor Defense. “from the lying, hypocritical leaders |, Phe-other two, whose legal murder of Zionism (my parents are very re-| the Scottsboro prosecutor recom- igious and brought me up the same; ™Mends, are Ernest Walker and Solo- way), I was ostracized by my family, , "0m Roper. : who made my whole life miserable.| Knight's recommendation is made They covld not understand why I) "a member of the “pardon board” should be dissatisfied, since they | © whom Governor Miller, granting gave me every comfort.. I couldn't) “pardon hearings” to the nine, be- _ stand it any more and I left home. | cause of the protest against this holo- tp President Moses of the H. C. Frick better betray the workers in an or- MONTGOMERY, Ala., Jan. 24. — | ganized way, as well as increase their graft funds through greater dues payments Where the workers, even within the A. F. of L., actually went on strike, breaking through the bounds of the A. F. of L. tov leadership (as in Wier- ton Steel), Green and Lewis actu- ally helped to destroy the union. Independent Unions Coke Co., subsidiary of the U. S.| Steel Corporation, to smash the strike of the “captive” mine workers. The A. F. of L. officials, in every one of their acts, worked consciously to prevent struggles, esvecially strikes, | while the codes were being put into | effect smashing down living stand-| | ards. | This is clearly seen in William Green’s editorial on “The Right to} Strike” in the September, 1933, issue | experience knew of the strikebreaking of the “Federationist” year’s huge strike wave was gaining| bureaucracy, formed independent momentum | unions, in order to be in a better “The spirit of the Recovery agen- position to struggle. It is imperative cies as provided by law,” wrote Green, |to work within these independent “is that of collective bargaining; | unions. =o intended to kill’ groes.tramed and sentenced to die) agreement on conclusions in the light of discussion and factual evidence. When a decision has been reached, it should be put into effect. If work- ers or employers wish to file protest, they should have that right, but |work should be resumed pending | further action. |. “We are facing a crisis in our ef- | fort to save our national institu- | tions and it is wise to avoid inter- | ference with work if possible.” Once codes were concocted through | dom, working with the bosses, Green declared there should be no strikes. The A. F. of L. officials worked furiously to carry out this strike- presentation of facts and mutual) the help of the A. F. of L. official- | i t Many workers, who through long! when last! and flunkey role of the A. F. of L.| believing the phrases about the “right | tive” mines of the steel companies, | to organize,” flocked into the A. F.| company unions have been formed in | of L., and immediately began strike | the wake of the strike betrayals. Ac- cording to figures published by the Pen and Hammer, from around 1,500,000 workers who were forced into company unions before the N. R. A, recently there were around 5,000,000 in company unions. In the Basic Industries Page Three for Marine Industry |Low Pay, Slave Condi- tions for Seamen, Dock-| ers in New Code NEW YORK.—To fight ag At that time the new will come up for h N. R.A 5 ith the aid of the member chosen fro Association, the shipowners’ slave code w modif ions to make it wor: The code guarantees the open shop principle, tt time Board, w owner shall h der which the “ship- ve the right to choose are to be “decas- industry by thou- 8 und that there are “too many to make a living.” No) provision is made for those thrown out, of course. Strikes Forbidden Strikes are forbidden under tt code, through the or tion of arbi tration boards with representatives of the shipowners, the labor fakers and the government to “settle” all dis- putes. The di alization plan, besides kicking 50,000 or more longshoremen out of the industry, will set up arbi- | tration boards to prevent any fight for improved conditions also. Sell Out The terms of the code represent) a complete sellout by these unions, ; and especially by the I. S. U. The I. S. U. went into the negotiations |with a demand for $75 a month for} able seamen. At that time the M.} |W. I. U. pointed out that the I. U. was making these demands for bar- gaining purposes, which now have ed the $50 code under Olan- upervision. Worse even than the slave wages are the conditions of labor on sea- going vessels according to the code. The working day is officially fixed at eight hours—three watches—for the operating crew. Nothing is said about hours of the service depar | Lew These workers are mainly in the Fo Frank Borich in the fight against strikebreaking machine. Veteran Lewis Packs Convention Against Miners Payrollers : Represent Locals They Do Not Belong To By TOM MYERSCOUGH INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Jan. 24.—A glance is all that is necessary at the| | partial report of the Credentials Com-| |mittee for the 331d Constitutional |Convention of the U.M.W.A., which} opened here this morning, to con-/ vince the knowing ones that Lewis is | stacking the cards against the work- jing miners. | Every old and known payroller, and |every new ones, can be found “re- presenting” locals to which they do} basic industry, where the slave codes | have lowered living standards most. | In fighting against the N. R. A. and| all-its fascist moves, in preparing for Strikes, the greatest energy certainly must be centered among these work~ ers. There are dozens of methods of | fighting within the company union} and in the factory. Every act of} the company union must be exposed. | Department and factory committees | should be organized so that when an issue is raised, independent action of the workers can be aroused to break through the company union oppres- | sion, No deed of the company union | should be left unanswered. One of | the most potent weapons in fighting! ment—the stewards. They can con-|not belong. In some instances, locals} tinue the indefinite hours they work|to which no one belongs are on the today, as high as 17 a day in many} list and represented by payrollers. 2 But the eight-hour day ‘These are the “Blue Sky” local unions, vision is cancelled by the provision| which have gone out of existence that “no overtime shall be paid in) years ago any department.” That permits the} “Tax Due” Locals shipowners to work the men as many| ‘The report shows very few of the hours as they wish, and pay the same | officials representing their “own”| wages. locals, Outstanding in the partial| The M. W. I. U. is carrying On @| report is the fact that Panama, IlL.,, vigorous campaign to get @ mass is not even listed. This was the home| delegation of seamen and longshore-| of tewis, the International President. | men to go to the code hearings on}. great importance too, is the fact | Jan. 31, to fight against these Ve | that 465 local unions are marked “tax | terms. men and longshoremen | qyev ' 4 : Py j, |aue” in this partial report. This} from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, In the anthracite, where| : oh +2 | means a lot. Baltimore and Norfolk will be in the the recent split took place, for in-| | stance, a large number of locals are| 5 delegation, which will demand that Mass Delegation t) UMW Convention Report Fight Revised Codefonores Strike , Calls r NRA Slave Code OK Jobless and Negroes Are Not Even Mentioned in Official Report By DAN DAVIS NAPOLIS, Ind., Jan. 24.— ort of the United Mine ‘d biennial the union here called rs to accept the wage- made no reference to ike struggles, and er cent of unemployed vileged,” stated Philip Murray, Vice-Presi- dent of the Union, who read the report, “to cooperate with the opera- tors in the industry and the repre- sentatives of our government in ef- fectuating stability and a more ra- tional existence for the coal indus- try and those who depend upon it, whether they be operators or mine workers.” Propose Officers’ “Retirement” Fund While the report made no mention of the strike struggles or the unem- ploy a retirement fund was pro- posed for officers and employees of the union itself. It was also an- nounced that the expenditures of the union for the last two years was al- most $2,000,000 or exactly $1,977,753.51. The report included no mention of struggle to prevent discrimination against Negro workers or demands for young workers. There were no Ne~ | groes on the crowded stage of the con- vention. There are no Negroes on the U.M.W.A. pay roll except the “Uncle Tom” type, nor are there Negroes on the executive committee. Negro delegates are jimcrowed at the convention, being compelled to live in the Negro section of Indiana- polis or at the Negro Y.M.C.A. Foreign born workers, the most mil- itant of the miners, were said in the report to add to the poor conditions in the mines. “The competition of cheap labor, hungry and helpless,” read Murray, “from Austria, Hungary, Poland, Rus: sia and Italy, rendered the miners powerless to release themselves from the intolerable conditions...” Reading the conclusion of the re- port, Murray said: “We are perhaps too closely as- sociated with the manifold details of our daily problems to be able to adequately appraise the true value | of the great progress which has been made by our union since the last convention in 1932, It is a far cry from the decimated industry of that year, with its persecuted and harried workers, to the organized coal industry of 1934, with the mine workers of the country breathing the air of a new freedom, coupled with an earnest determination to cooperate with our great President in making effective a New Deal for all the people of our nation. | The revolutionary trade union onjthe company union is a regu-!these slave terms be scrapved and jall fronts increased its activity. It|larly appearing shop paper) the demands of the Marine Workers’ | built new unions, strengthening those| that deals with conditions of | Industrial Union and other rank and already built, and the militant mem- i bers of the A. F. of L. began to work more energetically in rank and file | opposition groups. But now, with the new members | in the A. F. of L. acting as a ferment | for struggle; with the old members, especially those who have been | mulcted and betrayed time and again showing signs of resistance, the im- | portance of immediate strengthening — of the rank and file oppositions in | Preparation for the new strike strug- | gles cannot be overstressed. Where | rank and file oppositions do not exist they certainly can be organized in I was 15% years old when I was thrown out of my home, and soon afterward found that I could not stand the hokum that was handed ?me in the schools. I looked for a way out and found it in the Young Communist League.” Hartford Jobless caust-raised by the International La- bor Defense,. has turned over the | cases The LL.D. has called for intensified massprotest from all over the coun- try to-force Governor Miller to free | cular-Negro war veteran, also framed | and-sentenced to die, as well as the Scottsboro boys, | thesemnine, and Willie Peterson, tuber- ‘ ‘The convictions of Heywood Pat- terson-and Clarence Norris will come Demand Cash Relief Fight for City to Okay Unemployed Insurance HARTFORD, Conn., Jan. 24.-—After ‘Mayor Beach had refused cash relief to the city’s unemployed on the grounds that no manner could be found for raising the money, the _ Unemployed Council of Hartford pre- sented to the Board of Aldermen a detailed plan for rrising money. This plan calls for a tax upon all firms, factories and insurance companies earning more than $10,000 a year, and a cut in salaries of city officials, The unemployed workers of the up’on motions for a reversal of the verdict, before lynch judge W. W. Caliahan at Decatur, Jan. 27. 9 Be a shock brigader in the Daily Worker circulation campaign. Talk about the “Daily” to your neigh- bors, fellow-workers and members of your union, mass organization, unit. Get them to subscribe. N.Y. “Welfare” Head to Put Homeless in ¥ Forced Labor Camps NEW YORK.— Homeless unem- ployed: will be withdrawn from municipal lodging houSes and put breaking policy. every local of the A. F. of L. The The National Labor Board recent racketeering exposes and the The National Labor Board was immediate angry response of the rank formed. Steel workers were driven | 4nd file against their betrayers shows |back to work with promises. Four-| the readiness of the rank and file teen thousand Weirton Steel Co. | fr struggle. But they must have workers, on the verge of victory, were leadership and organization. ordered back to work by William Work In Company Unions Green “when a decision had been| Company unions received a tre~ reached.” 'mendous stimulus through the ac- Once the strike was broken, the/ tion of the National Labor Board bosses just laughed at any decision|and the A. F. of L. officials. For on workers’ elections. linstance, in the automobile indus- The same thing happened in the|try the “merit clause” signed by |Ford, Budd and Philadelphia Rapid | Messrs. Green, Lewis and Hillman, ‘Transit Co. strikes. Every strike was| was the charter for the organiza- | knifed and betrayed by the A. F. of | tion of the fascist type of company L._leaders. iu inion. The workers, in many instances! In Weirton Steel and in the “cap- j break strikes. The result of his; in his field the workers, exposes the company | file groups be accepted. unions, calls for action on the part of the worker, helps to lead partial struggles which break down the authority and grip of the company! union over the men. Now that every worker in som SET | KELLY TO SUCCEED McCOOEY NEW YORK.—Frank V. Kelly, pub- lic administrator of Kings County, | was today indicated as the successor e S ‘0 John H. McCooey, as chairman of manner or other is learning how the | the Brooklyn Democratic Party. Kelly N. R. A. lowers wages (the “higher” | hag been a right hand man of Mc- paid through the lowering of thelr) Gooey and was conversant with all wages to the minimum; those receiv-/ the deals of the Brooklyn boss ing the minimum, through the low. ering of their real wages, etc., etc.), | the National Labor Board will find! it more difficult through its dema-| gogy to stop strikes. Its promises | are wearing thin, as the general transportation strike in Philadelphia showed. They will resort to more What is your organization doing to gain new readers for the Daily Worker? Help build our “Daily.” |Party in trade union work we can-| ; |not speak seriously of leading the| open fascist attacks on strikers. | new, developing strikes. This re-| Why Green Howls | quires participation of every Party The howl of Green against “low member in trade 1 work in some | wages” now is actual preparation to field, depending on what union leads | Every Party member) “criticism” is to call on Congress and | should be active either in the revolu- on the National Labor Board to re-| tionary trade unions, the A. F. of L. |so marked. In “Van Bittner’s West | | Virginia” 120 locals are tagged “Tax | Due.” From Washington State, Dis- | trict 10, only two delegates are seated in this convention, according to this | preliminary report, and it is question- able whether there will be any more—| that is, “seated legally.” | The same is true of the two Cana-| dian districts from where only two| delegates came and are listed, one} from each of the districts — Alberta | and Nova Scotia, Another noticeable | thing is that many of the officials) have themselves listed as delegates from so many locals that in some parts of the report they are checked | as “having required amount” | The usual speechmaking ceremonies | are the order for the first day. Even @ brass band is hired out of the dol- lars collected as dues from the hungry miners and, according to statements} given out by the offi what will} robably be the shortest U.M. W. A. convention ever, is scheduled. This| means they are prepared to “rail- road” everything and check any op- vise the law “strengthening” Section | rank and file opposition, in the in-| Position from being heard. Besides, ‘-a. The probabilities are that these | dependent unions, or in the shop} Lewis wants to get back to Washing- strikes and against the workers. bor Board will step out more openly strikebreaker. Without participation of the whole At the same time, the National La-| sections will be strengthened—against | committees working within the com-| ton | pany unions. Only by being intimately connected | with the workers in this way can we and boldly into each strike as a| defeat the strikebreaking program of|for his payroliers to give him the the A, F. of L. officialdom and the government through the N. R. A. to mingle with his political friends of the bosses’ parties and not suffer the environment of so many miners any longer than is necessary mandate to continue selling out the miners who work in the pits. “We have made progress and our people feel an intense gratitude to our able and courageous President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who is the only President of the United States, during the lifetime of most of us, who has lent a helping hand to the oppressed and impoverished mine worker. May the prayers of count- less thousands in the mining com- munities of the nation sustain him in his great humanitarian work.” Minneapolis Workers to Call State Wide C.W.A. Convention MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Jan. 24. —The United Relief Workers Asso- ciation here, at its last regular meeting voted to call a state-wide conference of all O.W.A. workers’ organizations on or about Feb, 15, when mass lay-offs begin on a na- tional scale. The state conference will take steps for a mass struggle against the present lay-offs, wage cuts, and the discontinuance of the en- tire C.W.A. program. Relief workers’ organizations have already been established in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth, anq similar organizations are be- ing established in smaller towns. Decisive. Struggle Is easy task in coralling the Utah min- F ‘ ers into the U.MW.A. where each Being Prepared in would pay $10 initation and high dues for the privilege of belonging to a Union with leaders which had sold Kirkpatrick is best known for being @ gunman in the strike of 1922. Kirkpatrick then commenced to blackjack the miners at Standard- ville to join the U.M.W.A. on threats single men’s group of the Unem- ployed Council are demanding jobs _or cash relief for all workers without iscrimination; guaranteed minimum es of $18 a week to all relief into “transient” camps for 30 hours Weekly in the open at wages of 90 cents a week by what welfare com- W. H. Hodson character- Utah by N.M.U. Editor's Note—This is the third and concluding article by Pat Toohey on the strikebreaking acti- vities of the U.M.W.A. leadership them out years before. But Nick made a mistake and ran into hot water from the outset. On arriving in Utah he found the ma- ‘of losing their jobs. Other supers and company bosses did the same. Nick needed more help and sent in a call for forces. Lambert, Morgan kers, union wage rates to apply for skilled workers; free lodging and ew clothing to the jobless; and that the city government endorse the Workers’ Unemployemnt and Social Insurance Bill. Netty soon became involved in strike struggles, particularly in the metal trades, where she found work. As a result of the strenuous work in metal shops and the unsanitary con- ditions her health broke down. Netty is a militant, couraegous worker and as soon as her health improves, she will be in the forefront of the work- ers’ struggles as before. “As soon as I learned what my father was doing, I rushed to the I. L. D., who is now handling the case. T shall take the witness stand against my father in defense of the innocent Negro worker, Oscar Day, when the irial comes up on Thursday.” Netty will tell the story on the wit- ness stand much the same as it is given here. CONSIDER INSULL DEPORTMENT ATHENS, Jan. 24.— The State Countil adjourned yesterday without having reached a qecision concerning the expulsion from Greece on Jan. 31 of Samuel Insull, corrupt Chicago utilities operator. ’ ized as one of the reforms in his department. on “Humanized Public Speaking Relief” at a forum in the Pan-Hel- Tenic... anxious League, Hodson said: “I am NEGRO LEGALLY LYNCHED IN wipe GEORGIA “MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga., Jan. 24— Framed on a charge of “at a white “woman,” Albert Dobbs, 19- year-old Negro, was legally lynched in’ the electric chair at the state prison farm here, Jan. 12. FRAMED NEGRO SENTENCED TO _ ‘THIRTY YEARS BIRMINGHAM, Ala—Thirty years Sek Lolita caesn charge of “at- tacking a wi woman,” was the sentence imposed on Elore Sanders, Negro,-by Judge J. Russell McElroy, and.confirmed by the state supreme court, Jast week. ‘upport the National Convention wae Feb, 3, in ashit D.C, * jority of the Utah miners already members or more sympathetic to the National Miners Union. Moreover, the sentiments toward Nick and his boss, Lewis, was decidedly hostile, so much so in fact that Nick quickly moved from Helper, which is the heart of the coal district, down to Price, the county seat, which wasn’t in the Western coal mining states. Se ae By PAT TOOHEY (Article 3) A typical example of how the leader- ship of the United Mine Workers of America functions is the activities of one Nick Fontecchio in the state of{so hot, where he became very Utah. Nick is an old messenger boy}chummy with the notorious Rollo of John L. Lewis and one of Lewis’) West, Mayor of Price, and various Most unscrupulous henchmen. At} county officials. divers times Nick has been run out| Nick could not stay in Helper be- of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and|cause one morning a delegation of Tilinois by the miners, where his} women heard he was in town and reputation is well known because it|/formed a committee to go see Nick. stinks to high heaven. In their hands they carried various About June, 1933, Nick boarded a| weapons of warfare, a reason perhaps train for Carbon County, Utah. He|which convinced Nick that he could came wi Cape diag cae nae not see this delegation. Lewis himself, w! signal as “International Representative” of| Refuse To Follow U.M.W.A. the United Mine Workers of America. Lewis sent Nick Fontecchio to Utah to bring the Utah miners into the fold. Miners Hostile to Lewis It was the first time in eleven years that Lewis dared send anyone into Utah, because the Utah miners also well remember the treacherous be- trayal of 1922. But after 11 years maybe the miners would forget, Nick reasoned, and visioned himself an The miners of Carbon County refused to follow Fontecchio or the UM.W.A. Like the New Mexico miners, their choice of a union was the fighting National Miners Union. But Nick did not give up. He im- mediately enlisted the aid of various mine managers and company offi- cials. Nick obtained the support of ardville mine. Kirkpatrick gave Nick every assistance in forming his locals. and Radilji from Wyoming came in to help out. But even this array of | high-priced fakers could not budge the miners. They still maintained allegiance to the National Miners Union and would have nothing to do with the U. M. W. A. By means of threats of discharge, pressure from the company, etc., some miners were forced into the U. M. W. A. But the vast majority be- longed to the N.M.U. General Strike On August 16th a general strike took place in Carbon County. The strike was under the leadership of the National Miners Union. It was called in order to win certain neces- sary local demands, recognition of the union, checkweighmen and against the discharging and intimidating of the miners by the companies. In this strike the most violent ter- rorism against the miners was used. On the basis of “civilian martial Jaw” hundreds of deputies, gunmen and sluggers roamed the county raiding, attacking and fighting the miners. The County issued bonds for $45,000 which was used to pay the! deputies and buy ammunition. U. S. army officers from Fort Douglas as- Mi. Kirkpatrick, super at the Stand-| sisted in the drive. Picket lines were smashed. Hundreds of houses raided and searched, Four hundred miners were arrested and held in bull-pens. Miners were kidnapped and beaten. The union was outlawed and driven underground. All leaders of the N. M. U. were held for “rioting” and “crimnal syndicalism.” What part did the U.M.W.A. take in this strike? The U.M.W.A. officals were an integral part of the forces of reac- tion attacking the miners. Not only ;did the Fontecchio’s attack the strike in the press, but they look an active and leading part in the smashing of the strike itself. Among the gunmen at all mines United Mine Workers of America leaders could be found. Among those active in smashing picket lines U.M.W.A. leaders were al- Ways present. j The Salt Lake capitalist papers} lobserved this in the following way: | “Members of two unions were in op- posite camps. Members of the U. M./ W. A. were seen at the mines guard- ing them from the pickets of the National Miners Union.” U. M. W. A. Gunmen | These “guards at the mines” were | gunmen, whose job it was to smash} picket lines and help the employ- ers break the strike. Not content with instructing their members to continue working in the mines, the U.M.W.A. leadership also sought to have them act as gunmen and fascist bands to attack the picket lines. The rank and file of the United Mine Workers of America refused to do this, however. An instance was re- ported from the. Standardville local of the U.M.W.A. during the height of the strike. A motion was pro- posed by a U.M.W.A, official at this nape obser Hetaan meeting that the entire Standard- ville U.M.W.A. go to the Spring Can- yon mine the next morning to smash the picket line. The motion was de- feated by a great majority, and the smashing was left to the U.M.W.A. leadership of the locals and sub dis- trict. In_the Utah mines, where the U.M.W.A. has established an organi- zation with the direct assistance of the superintendents and bosses, it functions as a company union and provides no protection to the miners. Needless to say it is not interested in bettering the conditions of the min- ers and does not even attempt to do this, nor does it even talk about it. The concern of the U.M.W.A. leader- ship is to enroll the miners and hornswoggle thes: into the U.M.W.A. and soak a $10 initiation and high dues for the privilege. The fact that the N.M.U. has the opposite program, and that*these two platforms are un- derstood by the miners is the ex- planation of why the Utah miners reject the U.M.W.A. and support the N.M.U, Company Union Character The company union character of the U.M.W.A. is well understood and appreciated by the coal operators in Utah, That explains the activities of the companies in assisting the U.M.W.A. to become established, and explains the terrorism and violence against the National Miners Union. ‘The employers well understand that the leadership of the U.M.W.A. is not concerned with the wages, hours and working conditions of the miners and will do little to have them changed, a Strikebreaking by the U.M.W. A. Leadership in the Utah Miners’ Strike U.M.W.A. Officials Acted As Deputies, Sold Out Miners but is primarily interested in the dues, check-off and corralling the miners for the highest bidder. This explains the present activities of the U.M.W.A. leaders in Utah, With the masses of miners in the National Miners Union, the U.M.W.A. officials in league with the com- panies, have launched a vicious cam- paign amongst the miners to them to join the U.M.W.A. and drop the N.M.U. Miners are being forced to join the U.M.W.A. or lose their i own choosing” is, as far as concerned, hollow and a sham, and shows clearly the close association of the employers with this a union and the lengths they . to prevent a militant from becoming established. But, despite the league of the bosses and reactionary U.M.W.A, burocrats, the Utah miners are itis ied their forces as ipl sult of the retreat during the K organization are tightening up their and recruiting new members—pre- paring for a bitter struggle the forces of reaction, for the right to establish a union of their own choosing, and for better