The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 1, 1934, Page 5

ome Minor Rips Into New Deal Ballyhoo at the N.R. A. “Monster Epidemic of U Ts Ravagt o— nuunist Party Replies i> Gen. Johnson With *rogram of Struggle HINGTON, Feb, 28. — The the full text of the | yered by Robert Minor, the Communist N.R.A. open hear- or OBERT MINOR : I hope the rules plied as to limit the minor disagreements We are. not impartial. at the workers. Neverthe- we have very definite and con-) rr is to present here—pro- represent the immedi- he workers. all other capitalist a ww in the fifth year of deepest, the longest and most’ i 2 economic crisis in the his- of the world, a period of profound change ied of cataclysms. The rise n and preparations for the 2cond World War are to be seen on ides, and in our own country distinet signs of the pro- developing fascism, while ed hic) is of tl e. | crying immediate necessity of the | DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1934 as automobiles and textiles, the| “speed-up” and the “stretch-out” ac- company every step of the N.R.A, and mean that for every wage dollar that is paid out to the workers,.more pro- duction is being demanded of the workers. Therefore the capacity of the market is relatively decreased by the N.R.A. in proportion to the stocks | of unsold goods. | This means that unemployment is permanent, as far as the, capitalist system is concerned. If the NiR.A. were to succeed in opening all fac- tories, mines and workshops to full | capacity, there would be millions still | left unemployed. It will be remem-| bered that there were estimated to be at least three million unemployed at the height of the boom days of 1929. Since then the “speed-up” and “stretch-out” as well as technological developments have greatly decreased the number of men employed for a iven unit of production. Therefore we of the Communist _ Party declare that there must be | instituted now a system of full un- employment and social insurance on a sing’e nationwide sca’e by the federal government. The Workers’ Unemployment and Social Insur- ance Bill (H.R. 7598, now: pending in Congress) is the bill which meets the needs as far as they can be met for the immediate present. We insist upon this bill as the most American working people. Let us have no confrsion of this bill with the so-called “anemnloyment-in- | surance” bills, such as the Wagner- | Lewis bill. All such bills are em- ployers’ measures and not workers’ the masses of ople think of funda- like 2 menstrous ging the lives of manufacturing indus- to the figures of » rose from 55 per 26 index, in March, to increased pro- fon for war. The ‘is increase is shown nts since October. flex fiture of 74 in'that nent has dropped to According to the es, unemployment steadily for five suc- months.’ In January along, gs to Mr. Green, the num- unemployed inereased 089 in manufacturing . Figures carefully pre- | the Labor Research Asso- New York City show a case in unemployment, © tofal unemployed dur- n of December at 15,- These figures , include temporarily engaged in . jobs—workers who are now ing laid off wholesale and who will all be jebless by May 1, with certainly no prospect of industrial production’s increasing at a rate sufficient to absorb them, Lower Standards the American ‘Federation of Labor's Monthly Survey of Business for January declared that the over- whelming majority of American workers “have been forced to a lower living standard.” Only thos> work. ers in the lowest-wage group,’ the sweatshop industries, had gained. I read from the survey: “There have been definite gains under codes for the lowest wage’ groups; but workers of average or higher wages have been forced to a lower living standard.” ‘The problem of unemployment is not being solved. It is not being solved by the N.R.A. nor by any in- devendent recovery feature. The objective of the NR.A.—‘Si million re-employed by Sentember 1st’—has not been realized. The figure given by Secretary Ickes and repeated by General Johi this morning, 3,000,000 re-employed, not correct. The N.R.A’s way of dealing with unemployment, in “any event, does not abolish unemployment. It in- creases the degree of exploitation of labor. It increases the stock of un- sold goods in proportion to the wages of the workers which form the basis of the home market. For instance, in the iron ‘and steel industry, the backbone of the country economi- cally, from December 1932, to De- cember 1933: oe Employment increased. . Production increased. Pay rolls increased. . Wage cost per unit of pro- . duction DECLINED...... 16% ‘Thus we see a lowered labor cost of 16 percent, while there was an ‘increase in the price of iron and products of 6 per cent. The rate ,|ing March 5 will be “the first fascist is measures—intended to protect em- ployers against the expense of real unemployment relief, and. not to protect workers aya‘nstthe ravages of unemp'oyment. Such measures general'v pronose to leave the nres- ent 16.900.000 uncmployed without rel'ef, while providing a mythical future “insurance” for unemoloyed, workers over and above the 16,000,- 000 who at some future time may become unemploy-a. Furthermore, these bills attemnt to relegate re- sponsibilitv to the states, away from the federal government. The N. R. A. shows its class char- acter in every step of its operation. Who Direct N. R. A. The N. R. A, is composed in its de- | cisive framework of such men as | Walter Teagle, head of a tremendous |non-union oil corporation which | fichts savagely against labor on every | occasion and ruthlessly suvpresses all | attempts to organize among the | workers; and Gerard Swone, head of | an electrical indus‘ry which is notori- ous as the most callous enemy of labor organization. These are only examples which can be catried on | down through machine manufactur- ing and other industries. It is not | accidental that the big industries of |the United Sta’es, which are the most reactionary and the most vio- lently anti-labor, are the most de- cisively represented in the N. R. A. We do not agree with those who say that the industial conference open- congress” of the United States. But certainly a strong strain of fascism will be found in it. The most powerful men in the councils of the N.R.A., as represen- tatives of “industry,” are men who are fighting at every turn and with all weapons against the struggle of the workers for unemployment in- surance and relief. We hear irresponsible demagosy about “revolution” in connection with \the “pro-labor resnec‘ability” behind | | unemployed Americans into mili’ary there is the attempt to give the N.| R. A. a “pro-labor” complexion—but | this is pure cosmetics. Trade union leaders furnish the “window dress- ing” of the N. R, A. while in fact} it is an offensive against the working | class of America. As in Germany, | workers are forced into company | unions, and “labor leaders” furnish | which strikebreaking is cfrried on. New Deal War Plans The N. R, A. offers nothing better | than militarization of the unem- ployed whom it has failed and will! continue to fail to restore to em-| ployment. Assistant Secretary of War Wood- | ring has openly declared that the Civilian Conservation Corps is in fact a vart of the preparation ofthe povulation for war, and openly in the press, writers are callin for the complete herding of -the millions of | camps under the command of army officers. The worst sufferers of all the unemnloyed are the Negro workers. Ont of five and a half million gain- fully employed in 1930. there were | one and one-half million unem- proyed Nezroes in 1933. In many places destitution is twice as great among Nesroes as among whites. For instance, in the Harlem. sec- tion of New York City, there are 60.000 onemployed now amonz the 130.000 Negroes rainfully employed in 1930. In Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louts and especially Birmintham, Ala., the Negro workers are facing the most terrible starvation, The N. R. A. offers to them not relief, but the most callous discrimination and devrivation of even that pit- tance wh'ch the white workers get here and there from some recovery project. ‘The N.R.A. shows by all its actions as well as by the composition of its leadership—with its preponderance of employers interested in | lowering labor costs and preventing any effec- tive form of unemployment insur- |ance—that it is a measure of the {government and of the employing class, conserving the interests of the jemploying class and striving above | all things to prevent “encroachments” | of labor against capital. General Johnson pointed out this morning that he is limited in his |fréedom of ’ction, that he cannot | force wages up, etc. This undoubt- j edly. avplies also to the problem of | unemployment. It is not from any sources within the N.R.A. that the necessary answer to the unemploy- ment question will come. «Rising Strike Wave , out that the American working class the National Industrial Recovery Act under the domination of Messrs. Teagle and Swone, etc, It is no secret that there is now brewing a tre- mendous storm of strikes a7ainst the N. R, A. ‘This storm will inevitably be connected, and must be connected, with the growifig mass unemploy- ment movement. In order to solve the problems of the unemployed, the striggle of the employed workers and that of the unemployed must be coupled to- gether. y Where gains for labor are made under the N. R.. A—it is only by striking or threats of striking that any gains are made, Just so, the only way that, unem- ployment relief and the establish- ment of unemployment insurance by the federal government can be ob- the N.R.A.,, claiming to represent “the forgotten man,” All along the line tained is through the building of nemployment ng Lives of U. S. Workers” —@ | strike; and in turn the unemployed | However, it is necessary to point | is not bourd by the limi‘ations of | ions | Hits Slave Codes As Means of Lowering Living Standards ganizations under independent con-' trol of the workers themselves and | co-ordinated with the organizations | of the employed workers. A nation-| wide unemployment organiza’ ion, | united and powerful, can give effec- | tive help to raise the wages of the employed by organizing mass picket- | ing, by the unemployed in every} can develop strike action to compel | the adoption of U. S. government Bop W X ost social and unemployment insurance. | Permanent Jobless Army j It is truly said that unemployment | cannot be and will not be abolished | under the capitalist sys‘em. true that capitalism is a savage sys- | tem which actually requires for its employed, together crises, starvation and war, General Johnson and Mr. Richberg were correct this morning when they said in effect that the N. R. A. has for its purpose, not any change in the system, but an attempt to pre- serve the system. And to preserve the sys‘em would mean, if its preser- | vation were possible, the preservation of unemployment, starvation and war. Our proposals for the immediate handling of ‘the problem of unem- ployment are: xa 1, The adoption of a nationwide and uniform system of social in- surance, including unemp’oyment insurance, at the cost of the gov- ernment and the emon'oyers, and without charge against the work- ers, to b> administered by represen- tatives freely selected by the work- ers themselves. 2, The transfer of all funds now being devoted to war measures, such as the $570,000.000 Vinson bill | authorization and the $238,000,000 Navy allowance, to the use of un- employment re'ief by cash payment direct to the unemployed workers themselves, 3. The immediate raising of all code minimums for waes not alone to cover increased costs of living, but to much higher leve's, which would greatly increase the purchas- ing power of the masses. 4. Thé immediate cessation of all strik-breakine activities of repre- sentatives of the N, R. A. 5. The employment by the work- ers of their right to organize, to | strike and to picket; the right to | orzanize being construed as the right to form whatever organiza- | tion the workers themscives may choose, without the employers or | government having any hand or any rithts to interfere in the man- | ner of choice. | If the workers’ organizations re- , sult in nothing less than the diver- | channels of conferences a+ Washing- ton, controlled in reality by the em- ployers. ‘This conference in that case | would serve only as a part of the | strategy to defeat the wave of strikes that is coming now, as well as the accompanying movement among the masses to compel the adoption of a | federal system of unemployment re- Hef, ~ But the final word will be said by the wokers in the steel mills, the coal mines, on the railroads and in the workshops and factories of the na- tion, The workers by their own ac- tion can and will win unemployment powerful unemployment council or- insurance, Roosevelt Code Put Over Steep Cut in Real ~ Wages WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 28. — Lashing the N. R. A. codes, and es- pectally the furniture code, which has reduced the wages of skilled workers to a veritable starvation level, Joe Kiss, National Secretary of the Fur- niture Workers Industrial Union, shook the smug complacency of Gen- eral Johnson's “criticism fest,” ‘which opened here yesterday. . Speaking on the “Furniture Code of Fair Competition,” Kiss. said: “The ‘Furniture Code of Fair Com- Petition,’ which was approved by Pres- ident Roosevelt on December 7, 1933. and marked as ‘approved Code 145’ and’ the subsequent allied furniture Joe Kiss, of Furniture Union, Lashes creased hours in our industry, “Ac- cording to official figures given to us by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics, hours worked from October, 1932, to October, 1933, averaged 41.2 per cent per working week. The code established & working week of from 40 to 45 in the furniture and bedding and 40 to 48 in the linoleum industry, The Bureau of Labor Statistics also show that 47 per cent of all furniture workers were unemployed during the first eight months in 1933. Obviously, the N. R. A. code, which increased average hours, could not bring the ab- sorption of the unemployed in the furniture industry. ‘ Wages in the Furniture Industry “The N. R. A. code handed us a steep cut in real wages. According to the United States‘Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average wage in the furniture industry in October, 1933, was 34 cents an hour, and the averaxe exploitation of labor increased 26 per cent in iron and steel. . figures, covering the most all industries, are given merely by of illustration of the fact that the N.R.A. does not answer the problem of unempleyment, but arpens it. Other industries can be ‘aken. Tn manufacturing industries such Railroad Men to Hold Gala Affair in N. Y. NEW YORK. —The Railroad Lyotherhood Unity Committee, with «Mices at 799 Broadway, announced yosterday that it is planning*to oven « large headquarters ip the Tear fu- ture from which it“ will lead and crect the struggles of the Pullman porters and dining car workers on the big railroads, To raise funds for the new center the “Unity, Committee has o special evening of entertainment to be held Saturday, March 10, at the Workers Center, 50 EB. 13th 8b. ‘These basic of according to the statements of the manufacturers and the N. R. A., were intended to es- higher wages, shorter hours, and to increase the purchasing power of the W1US creating ie ab- unemployment in our pected ‘Phe workers in our industry found al these statements ee. In the main, we wish to say, id we shall prove our statements with gov- ernment figures, that as far as we are concerned the N, R. A. has lowered our living standard and has created even greater unemployment than was the case befo™: June 16, 1933. ‘What the N. R. A. Created in Our j Industry. 5 “The N. R. A. code actually in-/ earnings were $14.94 per week. The minimum wage under the code, 40 hours at 34 cents—is $13.60. But in many cases, particularly in the South, }Wwages went down below the minimum. Furthermore, the drop in the pur- g power of the American dollar the adoption of the codes has been such that even Mr. William Green of the American Federation of Labor now tells us that ‘workers are steadily losing by price increases.’| Food prices according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, have increased 16.7 per cent. The prices of clothing and furnishing in department stores, 27.5 per cent. “But this is not all of our wage story. Today the $13.60 has become generaly the maximum. Moreover. we do net by any means earn even this sum, for 52 consecutive weeks of the year. The majority of furniture work- ers in fact are employed no more than 20 to 25 weeks per year, so that our weekly earnings averaged over a year- ly period actually amount to $6.80 per worker, per week. “The National Furniture Workers. Industrial Union, in its last National Conyention, held in New York City, February 9, 10, 11, 12, 1934, has adopied a resolution unanimously on Hours and Wages which declares: - “Whereas, nearly 50 per cent of the workers in the furniture industry are unemployed and reduction of hours of labor give more jobs for a large number of the unemployed workers: and “Whereas, in the last decade, mod- ern machinery has been introduced in the wooden furniture industry which doubles and in many causes triples the amount of production per capita: and reat “Whereas, speed-up in the siderably increased the amount of production per worker; and “Whereas, the Furniture, Bedding, Linoleum codes provide for the fur- niture 40-45 hours per week,+-Bed- ding 40-48 hours per week, Linoleum 40-48 hours per week, and 30c¢-34c— 30c-35e—35c-42c an hour respectively by these above trades as the mini- mum, which does net provide a de- cent living wage, nor does it reduce the working hours per week suffi- ciently to absorb the unemployed ee in our industry: be it there- ‘ore, oe “Resolved, that we declare our- selves in favor of the 30-hour,—5 day week. without reduction of wages: be it further “Resolved, that the minimum wage “Thus we see Mr. Administrator, that the N. R. A, code did) not in- ' ae for unskilled furniture and allied furniture workers shall be 75 cents an hour, and the minimum wage It is} “smooth” operation an army of un-| with periodic | sion of their struzgles into the futile | the skilled handicraft trades has con- | the N. R. A, National Labor Board smash the strike. Victims of N.R.A. Auto Strikebreaking obeying NRA Above are four Chester, Pa., Ford strikers, who lost t! ii, ORKERS — Jobs He Dry jobs when stepped in and helped Henry Ford A. F. of L. Strike |Refuse to Call Out the | Dockers; Ship Sails — | With Few Scabs SEATTLE, Wash., Feb. 20 (By Mail) —Pete Gill, delegate from the Inter- national Seamen’s Union, and Ben- | nett, the I. L. A. secretary, helped the Luckenbach Steamship Company |break a strike’ aboard the Andrea | Luckenbach, led by the Marine Work- ers Industrial Union. When the M. W. I U. sent a delega- tion to Bennett askitig:him to call out the longshoremen, Bennett telephoned | Gill, who told him there*was no strike on the ship. Bennett used this lying jexcuse to refuse to call his men off {despite the fact that there was a | picket line of 400 around the ship. The strike began Sunday, Feb. 18, | went aboard the ship at Todd’s Dry- | dock. The deck department called a meeting and decided to strike for the | following demands; 1. Ten dollars in- Help to Break Ship Leaders in Seattle were tossed off and the ship sailed| jout with a fe\. scabs that were brought aboard with a tug boat. | As the ship sailed out the lines |could be seen hanging over the side, | | with only two men hauling them in. ‘Portland, Me. CWA. ‘Men Win Back Pay) | 600 March on City Hall, | | Force Payment on Time) | PORTLAND, Me., Feb. | hundred C. W. A. workers here, in- | formed that they would no* be paid | on Feb. 24, the regular pay day, threw when a delegate of the M. W. I. U. down their tools, marched on the City | Hall, and forced tt | to issue pay checks. As the men | Hall from eve C. W. A, officials city project hurried (Training at Camps | 12 Young Workers Leave | endure | Camp Witoga, Huntersville, x recently left the camp and returned| town, Ohio, When interviewed, the | boys eagerly set to w exposing the | war nature of the cz s. The Your -++made to hundreds of unemployed | young steel workers who left Youngs- | 28—Six | Wired by the state law, the boys said. | converged on the City | leave the camp. Once in three weeks! crease in pay; 2. Pay for ‘all over-| calls were sent in for police reserves. | time; 3. Improvement of food; 4. Soap jand wash buckets. for ea man; | Adequate linen supply; 6, No one to. |be fired for striking. The strike was to begin the follow- ling day (Monday) when the ship |docked to load cargo. ‘The ship, how- fever, sailed for Everett instead of main passive, this conference w"l re- |!oading in Seattle. A committee of was given to i M., W, I. U. members went to Everett, visited the ship and it was decided to strike on Tuesday morning. Longshoremen Stop Work On Tuesday morning the longshore- men refused to work the ship. The deck department. struck. Unable to get the ship loaded-it sailed for Seat- tle, towing three barges of cargo, the United States Marshall letting the lines go with a gun jn his hand. In Seattle, Bennett refused to call the longshoremen out. Some con- tinued to work at a snails Dace, 5 of them throwing away their I. L. A | cards, one of whom was a member for over 10 years. in readiness near the docks the lines Squed cars and po! surrounded the | build: Al’ hough the -w 'S were | orderly and resisted any provocation | by the police, they were driven from | the building. C. W. A. officials hurried phoned the state C. W. A. h juar- ters’ in Augusta, and authorization ue checks immedi- | ately. After having been paid, the | Workers marched to the Worke |} Center on Union St..held a mass pro- test meeting and sent protest letters | to the press. Mass Firing in Princeton, Ind, PRINCETON, Ind.—The majority y_tele- of the C.W.A. and P.W.A. workers | |here are being fired. Immediately | after the first Roosevelt wage cut, | Wholesale lay-offs were begun. | Recently an airplane flew over the | got a dishonorable discharge—but we | week and half @ day in cam) | Y over at rect (leaders. to urge the workers to pre- And we never got rest.| | pare to go back at the manufacturer: CCC Workers Expose Conditions, Military Huntersville, W. Va. |? 2C.C. Camp YOUNGSTOW Twelve C.C.C. the we king in a body to their hor in Young: d Communist League is arranging a | Series of meetings at which some of | ° | these boys will report. | “So long boys, I'll see you in a month or so,” said Major Patchen of | C.C.C. Camp Witoga at Huntersville, W. Va., to the Youngstown boys as they were leaving the camp weeks ago. ‘What do you mean?” asked the | boys. “You'll never see us again.” “Why, don’t you know?” said the Major. “There’s going to be a war.” Promises of good food, recreation | and the job of rebuilding forests two} town for the C.C.C. camps four} | months ago to work for $1 a day.|, ; lve ¢ ; E st | ists, again popularized by the dema- mwelve of these Doys have just) ogy of President Roosevelt, that’ temporary wage increase (practically come back from Camp Witoga before | their term expired. Open Heari F work monthly pa; | proposal (th Pj | ja Page Five nes Urge Toledo Strikers ‘To Resist Scabbing ot AFL Heads and NRA Workers Unanimously ‘avor Continuiig Strike for All Their Demands (Special to the Daily Worker.) OLEDO, Ohio, Feb. 26. — The ll spreading here, already out, and the Chevrolet Motor Co. line. being Jed by the Au- ‘kers’ Federal Employees” Union, an A, F. of L. organization, ce the strikers at from ith the capitalist press g thé lower figure and the ers claiming the latter. The lude the following cate- tool and die mak- blacksmiths and as well as production 00 to 4,000, jrop The strikers demand a minimum wage of 65 cents an hour for men d women workers; the right to or- r waiting time, and pay instead of the bi- The execut: “committee of the striking auto parts wodxers today ® rejected the manufacturers’ counter- is proposal was made by hilip Nash, head of the sub-regional ; Labor Board, when the slave-driving |manufacturers refused to propose ing but the N.R.A. slave-codes ‘inst which the workers struck) |for a temporary five per cent wage increase. i See Through Trickery. the old gag of the capital- This i “We were told we would build only a few pennies, as opposed to the forests and plant trees, but we haye|° P e © | temporary wage becomes permanent, not even seen a tree. on under supervision of State men, and the Army officers. We were dojny| We were put! ? | construction at $1 a day and doing} strikers’ demands) be accepted; the ing | and no final settlement is ever made, road Work “and dem” building | unless the rank and file go over the misleaders’ heads and strike again. The workers are unanimously in the unemployed construction workers | favor of continuing the strike until out of a job at the minimum pay re- | 9! their demands are won. “We. were only supposed to work | 32 hours a week, but they made us| work eight hours a day, five days a Saturday. The officers kept us under strict dis- they let us’go to Marlington in the camp trucks. We had no games in camp or recreation of any sort. The} food was just lousy. We would kick) about the food—sometimes it would change, but most of the time it was poor stuff. | “We didn’t get any time off to} rest—even if we were sick. They had| a camp doctor, Dr. Podesta, who co-| operated with the State men on the construction job. We had to be pretty sick before we were let off from work. In some cases we had to buy our} own medicine, If we came late on| the job, got up late or something, we were docked a whole day’s pay. If we lost one day on account of cold, rain, etc., we were forced to make it up on Saturday. “Then for one month straight they drilled us in the camp. Without| guns but they taught us all the army methods of marching. , . . Yes, we At the meeting called Monday night, Feb. 26, the strikers accepted the decision of the executive com- mittee, with wild enthusiasm, despite the cbvious efforts of the A. F. of L. terms. : ,Thomas Ramsey, business agent o. the Automotive , Wc cers’ Federal Union, is carrying on the usual tac- tics of the A. F. of L. misleaders. He calls constantly on the strikers~ to maintain “our orderly picketing,” and fights constantly against the call is- sued through a leaflet by the Auto Workers’ Union (revolutionary union) for mass picketing. At several mest- ings he has made the same spéseh, saying, “Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do to your mother.” Ramsey’s speeches are very ramb- ling and uninteresting, consisting of no directives at all and rotten, sense- less generalizations and appeals to the strikers to refrain from anything “radical” so no one can charge them with lack of patriotism. Hoid Ranks Tight as Hell. The first leaflet issued to the ers by the Auto Workers’ Union ‘alled upon the workers to hold their ranks firm until their demands were ‘won and urged mass nicketing=to | city and threw out twenty-five cent| don’t care—we were damned glad to | Concentrate on the Electric Auto-Lite, | merchandise tickets redeemable | local. store. at a) get away from the place.” | the workers scrambled for the tickets | ¥.C.L. here is organizing meetings loca The manner in which in Youngstown at which these fel- With police and State Troopers held | indicates the mass starvation and | lows will expose the conditions in | hunger of the workers, i The the C.C.C, and their war character.” N. R. A. Code: At Washington Hearing crease our total purchasing power, or] ther, these cold facis were laid before | aS we said the: raise our individual earnings. Fur-| you promulgated our Code, so we say | furniture manu Resolution Hits Speed-Up and Starvation Wage-Rate WASHINGTON, Feb. 28.—Fellowing his speech at the N. R. A. hearing yesterday, Joseph Kiss, Secretary of the Furniture Workers In- dustrial Union, introduced the following resolution: io for upholsterers, mattress makers, cabinetmakers, drapery and curtain Operators, slip cover operators and cutters, metal bed workers, varnish- ers, finishers, broom makers, reed and willow workers, quilt workers, linoleum workers,—shall be from 75 cents to $1.25 per hour: be it further “Resoived, that this Convention of the National Furniture Workers In- ; dustrial Union goes on record against these starvation codes which have bepn carried through in spite of the vigorous protests of the militant labor upions in behalf of the organized and unorganized furniture, bedding and lnoleum workers in this coun- try. We in body, repudiate these slavery codes of the bosses and of the government, and pledge our- selves to fight for the workers’ codes, which were proposed by our Na- tional Committee, at the November 9th, 1933, open hearing of the “Mair Competition in the Furniture Inejs- try” held-at the Chamber of Grm- merce Building, Washington, D. C. The code presented in behalf of our National Committee was drafted by the workers employed in the furni- ture industry. “The General Executive Board of the National Furniture Workers In- dustrial Union, in accordance with the wish and determination of all of its members nationally demands the abolition of these starvation codes it the furniture and all allied indus- tries, It demands at the same time the right to bargain collectively with~ out any interference by the manu- facturers and the government. ‘acturers’ ‘way out.’ Employment and Payrolls We also may record, Mr. Adminis- trator, that the situation in the fur- niture industry, may be gauged by the | Teport of the Survey of Current Busi- ness (February, 1933) published by the | |U. 8. Department of Commerce; In | December, 1933, it reports plant in | Operations in all districts, manufae- | turing household furniture were at 34 ;Per cent of “normal,” and in the Grand Rapids, Mich., district at 33 | per cent of “normal.” Employment stood at 53.8 and payrolis at 30.4 in December (the 1926 averaze equals |100), the Department of Commerce | reports. Employment had de“lined 8.9 per cent and payrols 11 per cent be- low the previous month. We also note, that the rate of operations in fur- niture plants during December, 1933, averaged 47 per cent of capacity or 8 points under that, of November. 1933. Betwden December 15, 1933 and January 15, 1934, furni zre employ- ment in the state of iiichigan de- creased 7.9 per cent, payrolls 15.2 and average weekly earnings 7.9 per cent. The average weekly earnings of fur- niture workers in Mich‘gan were $13.57 in January. 1934, as compared with tion in the southern furniture center, went below this bare minimum. In Massachusetts, the average week- ly earnings of furniture workers were $16.88 in December, 1933. Employ- ment in the same month stood st 67.8 per cent of the 1925-27 average. So, in submitting these figures, Mr. Administrator, we state squarely that with all the high falutin’ phrases of the N. R. A. Administration, it did not create employment in our in- dustry, but instead it further de- creased the working force in our in- dustry, throwing more men out of ex- isten¢e as before the introduction of the No R, A. wages and payrolls steadily went down as the figures $14.73 in December, 1933. The situa-! eet the future code is al NRA Hel | | | | ped to Build the | Company Unions in Furniture Cities | shown to us, and as we receive our| information from our locals affiliated | to our National Furniture Workers Industrial Union, Workers Right Violated with Government Sanction “The Section 7A of the N. R. A. is} Supposedly guarantee of the workers | right to organize, to belong to a bona fide labor organization which protects and promotes their interest. But in practice we see, that the manufac- turers with the governments’ silent | sanction, are interpreting Section 7A for their own benefit, using this para- graph for their right to build up com- pany unions, violating the very code they manufactured. Compahy unions have been organized by the manufac- turers in our industry. The Armstrong | Linoleum Co., Lancaster, Pa., employ- ing 2,000 workers, was the first signer of the Linoleum and Felt Base Code, signed by President Roosevelt on Sept. 18, 1933. At that time, a bona fide labor union-was in existence*in that| factory, embracing the vast majority- of the workers in that factory. Hl “We know for instance that in| connection with the Armstrong Lin- oleum plant in Lancaster, Pa., the | discontent of the workers was so} great, that two N.R.A. conciliators | came down from Philadelphia, Pa., in December, 1933, to “investigate.” They had a meeting with the bona fide representatives. of our union down there. These N.R.A. con- ciliators openly recognized the fact that the Armstrong Co. organized a company union in a violation of their own code, but added, that they were powerless to do anything. “So we see, Mr. Administrator, that | the workers cannot depend upon the NR.A. to establish decent living con- the most important plant, and “close it up tight as hell!” Although the workers accented ‘the leaflets with- out any resentment, even enthusi- astically, Ramsey and officials under him took exception to the statement that told the strikers not to take orders from the police and calling Ramsey a police azent if he accepted ~~ police order of six pickets to a gate. That this charge was correctly made, was proved at tonight's mect~ ing in the Coliseum, attended by approximately 1,000 strikers, when workers circulating another leaflet issued by the Auto Workers’ Union were evicted from the meeting by. orders from the platform, in obedi-+ ence to the A. F. of L. offiicals seated there, Wave Aside Wages One union official had the verve to tell the workers that, “Wages: fs not our main demand. We must fits have decent working conditions in the factory.” This is the old dodge of the A. F. of L, leadership to break In reality, its chief is to prepare the strikers to go back with- cut winning their demands. Ramsey is not even a smogilr demagogue, but the workers’ previous lack of any organization lays them open to the vicious betrayal by such A. F. of L., officials. Ramsey has won the approval of the strikers by the loud-mouthed pretense to refuse to go back, “unless they grant, in the name of the almighty, every one of our demands.” Yet, it is this same misleader who says there must be no mass picketing, who says “the N, R A. administration, the police and the National Labor Board are with us.” It is this same Ramsey who told the workers to evict the workers who passed leaflets from the meetings, to use no violence but to call the police to handle “outsiders,” And he claims he is no agent of the police. More Expected To Join At least five or six more local plants are expected to join the strike. Among these are: Moto-Meter Gauge and Equipment Co. andthe Dura Co. Ramsey refused to read a United Front call from the local Unemploy- ment Councils which stated that all forces of the Unemployment Coun- cils would be used in support of strikers, even to the extent of somng the picket lines, and in .t.e fight to obtain relief for all strikers. He reed a notice Sunday from the Lucas County Unemployed League (Mus- teite-lett reformist), the same or- ganization of unemployed whos: leaders tried to bresk a strike of Ue ditions, to absorb) the vast unemploy- (ment, unemployed Jast September for cas! relief! a strikes which they cannot prevent. « eT i sei