The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 3, 1934, Page 4

Commun Membe sMustLeadi e is ~ n Uniting Auto Workers Organize Rank and File! * in Shops to Take the | > Strike Leadership By JOHN SCHMIES While writing this article 3%,000 automobile workers in Toledo isttiking. (The strike has since Sold out by the A of L. Aeaders.—Editor.) over F e ht | = Em Detroit, in quite e darge shops, short deparime @re taking place and, final oo gee sign of m ‘ was the short depar ‘sttike of crank-shaft w 8 . Ford, River Rouge, The strikes, in the main, develop for in- jomeased wages, against the inhuma speed-up system, and in some gentered around individual sl driving foremen, and for the rig! ok workers to organize | ‘These developme: in the last| | Sew weeks, of the rising discontent f the automobile workers further | { show the ‘among these workers for = United Action "The Auto Workers Union Proposed to the Toledo strikers t of united acfion and has ad the Mechanics Educa~ tional Society of An d the members of to unite to; production workers i mt to win the ther ih © one united Society of America the leader of jottal Socic Jedo, are “now in W with the agents of the bo (RA. Committee). In other words, | imstead of being on the | Mniting the work: the strike field, the Of the strike picture a he Mechani of Ameri shingto! pA. F. of L. la smash this growin veloping in this w Butomobile industry. | ‘Rank and File Strike Committees | order to organize and lead tt ising movement in the automobile the workers organized in Feformist unions, such as the A. F.| Por G,, MES.A., etc., must take control | “of their problems 1 build up their moxank and file leadership who| % out of the picket lines and In istrugeles in the departments. an be achieved only when the) organized in these unigns|} adopt and carry out the class | Struggle program, as it is presented} ‘and was applied in the big automo-) Bile strikes a year ago, under the ip of the Auto Workers. Mim order to be successful, it re- n the task of our militant work- Tegardless of what organization | ‘may belong to, to unite all work- organized or unorganized into action committees, organized | ‘@ommittee and strike committee. 1)) For United action of all workers in the industry, for increased wages, ioe hours, against the murderous ‘up and for unemployment and { insurance. , ‘Por one industrial union in every ‘united into one powerful union workers in the automobile in- unity that is d of struggles in Against the company unions. mt the development of company | imions by building up rank and file ‘ of the unions of the automo- eee and against the pjigh- Jaried “A. F. of L. and ME who split the ranks and betray interests of the automobile | What's to Be Done? | nunist Party members and) ary workers around the must now, more than ever, give hip and guidance to this ris- ag movement. The reason for this) wave is to a large part due to i activity and organizational @arried on by the Party and flutionary trade union workers, in Auto Workers Union and other st unions, but as yet we have d to give this movement organ- 'revolutionary trade union lead- Movement has not yet adopted dent action based upon the of @ class struggle industrial th is the only mass instru- i will protect and defend of the workers. It now, the task of the Party and ti y workers around the “to become the leaders in this it by organizing independent of action, such as griev- ninitiees, organizational com- - and prepare these commit~ Jeading and guiding them in Slogans to be adopted must, © the point, leaflets must explain ly the exact grievances and facing the workers and all our and agitetion must show @ organized way out of the misery that is forced upon ‘way out must be achieved at ense of the companies and e heads of all those who stand } way, and who are consciously bing to mislead and destroy the ment. We, as Communists, must ‘and unhesitatingly come out he program of the united front rt and become the best organizers and leaders in the of the automobile workers. is no better way of discussing g the issue before our lonal Convention than Mobilize the Party and the ement for the immediate and organization for the still strike strug- cube Baltimore Seamen Win Strike Which Lasted One Day Get $10 Increase Wages; Set Up Ship in BALTIMORE, March 2.(By Mail)—The crew of the S&S. S ‘alo Bridge struck here under leadership of the Marine Workers Industrial Union and forced the company to wages of all hands. The ship was boarded last week by union delegates, who, with other members- of the Marine Workers Industrial Union, mus- tered the crew aft and gave them n outline of what the organized men did in this port—how they are running the relief agency and how they established their own Centralized Shipping Bureau con- | trolled by the rank and file. The ship delegate had already discussed these questions with the | men and had them lined up ready for action (which emphasize’ the importance of having delegates on | all_ ships), The ship was chartered by the Bull Line and the crew discussed the Bull Line. wage scale which was $10 higher than the Scale of the Nelson Line, which owned the ship. The crew put forward the fol- lowing demands: 1—That Bull Line wages be paid to all members of crew; 2—Clean linen, one face, one bath towel be issued weekly; 3—Buckets and soap be issued; 4—Overtime to be Paid at the rate of 75 cents per hour; 5— Recognition of Ship Committee; 6—No one to be fired for tak- ing part in this action or is- sues arising out of it. At the payoff the new articles called for the old rate of pay, and the erew refused to sign and presented the demands to the cap- tain. The captain, seeing the crew well organized, notified the crew that he notified New York, and that he would give them the an- swer when he received it. The crew mustered aft and discussed the smallest details on how each man was to conduct himself. Win All Demands _ About two hours later the Port Captain came aboard and the ship committee went forward and had a discusSion, as a result all of the demands were met, oilers get- ting an rest of the crew received an in- crease of $10. The strike was run in such an orderly manner that the engineers and officers complimented the crew on the way the Strike was conducted. This ship leaves port with a functioning ship committee and a 100 per cent organized crew, and | with a perspective of next time raising the Strike to a higher level. BUSINESS MEN UNITE NEW YORK—In protest against the two per cent sales tax to be in- voked upon city retailers, the Sales Tax Committee of “One Thousand” | voted to call a fiftten minute pro- test stoppage of all retail business on the day the bill comes up for hear- ing in Albany. the Ford factory, in addition to the already developed strikes, are the liv- ing examples before our Party in the District on how correct the Thesis and Resolution are in explaining the situation, increase | increase of $15 and the; DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 1934 : P art y Michigan Auto| Workers Act for State Insurance) Demand HR 7598 on} State Secale Until | Congress Acts DETROIT, Mich,— Rationalization in the industries, particularly in the Auto industry, has been tremendously accelerated by the present deep economic crisis and will keep tens of thousands of Auto Workers per~ manently unemployed as long as the present economic system continues. | The Auto Industry, even more than | any other industry, is the center of \the deadly speed-up, a phase of rationalization, that in itself greatly | increases the permanent“army of un- employed. The jobless are increased. | Not only by lay-off due to increased | productivity per man, but also by ac~- cidents, disability, sickness and the fact that auto workers have no place | in the industry after they have reached the age of 45 because the| deadly speed in these shops has | sapped their strength and vitality. | Spurt Temporary The present economic crisis, even though it may have periods of short spurts in production such as the) present with slight increases in em- ployment, will never be able to absorb ithe gigantic army of unemployed | and the decline will recur time after time with ever ihcreasing sharpness and depth and with always increas~ ing numbers thrown into the army of the unemployed. The auto workers more and more begin to realize that there can be no | form of security against a continuous reoccurence of the present condition | of*mass unemployment and the mass} starvation that goes with it that| reaches and affects millions of work~ ‘ers and their families, unless we workers, through our organized mass pressure force the enactment of a | system of full Unemployment and} | Social Insurance, paid by the em-/| ployers and Government. | Michigan Petition In Michigan, under the leadership} of the Unemployed Councils a peti- ‘tion is betng prepared to force the | State government to put the Workers Unemployment and Social Insurance | Bill GH. R. 7598) on the ballot and to} | pass it pending its enactment by the Federal Government, This petition } must win the support of all sections lof the toiling population. Behind these resolitions and petitions how- ever, must stand the organized work- ers ready to act through demonstra- tions and strikes to force the passage of the Workers Unemployment and Social Insurance Bill. This mass | pressure is the only weapon that the | workers have and the only thing that can compel the employers and their government to act in the interests of the toiling masses. The workers must be on guard against all the fake schemes to be! offered as substitutes for genuine un- employment insurance, The Wagner Bill and other proposals similar which are in the words of the National In- dustrial Conference Board: “agreement should be reached among the employers on the fun- damentals of a program of unem~ ployment reserves that might rea- sonably be supported as a substitute for Unemployment Insurance.” War Orders Our fight is for genuine social in- surance in the interests of the work- ers and only the Workers Unemploy- ment and Social Insurance Bill offers full insurance, in the interests of the workers. Not a single one of the so called insurance bills so far intro- duced, excent the Workers Unemploy- ment and Social Insurance Bill, was drawn up with the idea of aiding the workers, but on the contrary, were drawn up to check the rising demand on the part of the workers and to aid the manufacturers and bankers. At the present time the auto shops are in a mad rush to get out produc- tion of trucks for war purposes. In nearly all auto shops war orders | are the main bulk of the work. This production of trucks and other sup- plies for war means further read- justment of the lines with still CLOSED Group of pickets near one of the large auto plants.in Detroit during a strike a few months ago. No scabs got in there. TIGHT! Stormy Sessions MarkTool, Dye Makers Convention Amidst Cheers, Conyention Representing 20,000 Endorse Workers Unemployed Insurance Bill EDITORIAL NOTE: — The fol- lowing is the first news we received on the convention of the M. E. 8. A, and print it without comment at this time. We urge Detroit workers, especially Party members to send im additional news and comments on this important con- vention, By a Worker Correspondent DETROIT, Mich.—The Mechanics Educational Society of America held |@ convention on Feb, 24th and 25th, representing a membership of 20,000 tool and diemakers. A convention for the establishment of a constitution and by-laws had been held at Schiller Hall on the 24th and transferred to the Carpathia Hall on the following day. Delegates representing Detroit, Toledo, Pontiac, Flint and Salem, attended, practi- cally in full force. After a good many stormy mo- ments, the proposed constitution and by-laws had been formally adopted. Many revisions and alterations were found necessary. ‘The first tilt arose over the pre- amble. A resolutions committee had been elected. This body rejected the preamble submitted and _ strongly favored one offered by Brother John Anderson, embodying a class strug- gle spirit. Harry Harrison, one of the trio of organizers, raised strenu- ous objections to the adoption of Brother Anderson’s proposal. When the first session adjourned, Brother Brown criticized Harrison for his stand against the new pre- amble and a fist fight was narrowly avoided in the dining room just be- fore the delegates lunched. Brother John Chapman, the newly- elected general president of the union, officiated as chairman during the entire convention, relieved tem- porarily by Brother J. Murdock, our present general vice-presislent. It must be stated here that Brother Chapman handled the chairmanship in an admirably masterly manner. greater speed-up. This is in line with the situation throughout the world, where every capitalist country is feverishly preparing for war as the one last way out of the crisis. This war means the lives of mil- lions of workers fighting for the profits and interests of the capital- ists. We must raise the demand that all war funds must be used to pay unemployment insurance and organ- ize in every neighborhood to back the demand with the mass action and pressure of the workers, We have one way to win this insurance; Or- ganization and struggle, One significant fact became clearly demonstrated throughout the course of this convention. Matthew Smith, general secretary, had witnessed his popularity waning, while Chapman became the delegation’s favorite. Smith had evidently underestimated @ Wave of radicalism manifested by the various groups. If he persists in his attitude of “brotherly love and conciliation” towards the employers, he may find himself back on the shop bench again and this is equally true of the other officials. In the face of wholesale violations of codes, discharging stewards, and individual abuses against union members, the present leniency shown offenders cannot be tolerated any further. The terrible speed-up instituted by the job shops especially, is responsible for the stiffenitg of a militant frame of mind of the increasing numbers of victims, clamoring for jobs around | the offices of the locals; the problem of this burden becoming heavier day by. day. The resolutions committee con- sidered the Lundeen Workers and Farmers Unemployment Insurance Bill submitted by Brother John Anderson, providing $10 per week plus $3 per week foreach dependent, for all unemployed, which had been ap- proved without any opposition and passed unanimously amid cheers. The Convention decided to or- ganize all production workers in ad- dition to its own tool and die crafts- men. An organizational committee had been elected for this purpose to function immediately. Experience upon the picket lines in the last strike had shown the absolute neces- sity of strict, rigid cooperation. Tool and Die makers are now extending a hand of friendship to their produc- tion brethren, consolidating their forces; thus insuring success and a complete tie-up in case a strike is called, A rank and file election had been held some time ago, by secret ballot. The following national officers were elected: General President, John Chapman (Teledo); Secretary, Mat- thew Smith; Treasurer, W. Russell; Vice-President, J. Murdock; Organ- izers, Harry Harrison, J. J. Griffin, R. Covert. CHAMPAGNE SALESMAN WALKER NEW YORK.—The dapper former Mayor Jimmy ‘Walker was considered @ good enough champagne salesman to be approached by a French con- cern to offer him a job. The G. H. Mumm and Co. representative said, “YT think the former mayor could sell champagne in New York better than any other man, I know he is so well equipped.” lare-Up of Auto Strikes Emphasizes Task of U WhyAluminum Workers Went Out on Strike Worker in Mellon Plant! Tells How Walkout | Was Called | — | By a Worker Correspondent | NEW KENSINGTON, Pa., March 1 desire to have you print the| following letter as an example for/ my brother and sister workers to see the procedure we workers musts un- dergo in order to improve our work- ing conditions: ‘The United States Aluminum Co., employees of New Kertington, Pa., organized a union under the auspices of the American Federation of Labor in September 1933 and remained af- filiated directly with the A, F, of L. since, Our delegates were sent to Pitts- burgh to interview the Aluminum of- ficialdom in regard to a general wage increase a few months ago, and the Company agreed to give the grievance the best of “consideration,” which they did. Subsequently we received the “best of consideration” and that was all we got. On a second appeal two weeks since we met with very much the same results, expecting a remark the big shots made in re- gard to the Company having no funJs. Wotta joke! They didn’t ask us if we had any funds when they slashed our rates 20 to 50 per cent since 1929. y Now, to proceed with “causes and effects,” The A. F, of L, union No, 18356, on learning the fact that it would get no support from the A. F. of L. officialdom in Washington decided to adopt the following pro- cedure: It wired all the Aluminum unions throughout the United States to send delegates to New Kensington for a National Aluminum industrial con- vention, at which all the unions formulated codes to present the Aluminum Co,, for “collective bar- gaining,” and “consideration.” After the Union representatives made ar- rangements to meet the Aluminum Co. representatives at which the Aluminum Co., representatives failed to appear, the entire organized Aluminum Industry workers voted 100 per cent strong to declare a holiday until the Aluminum repre- sentatives appeared with cards on top of the table. The workers were considerate enough to permit union men with credentials to enter the mill, such as engineers and electricians and mechanics, so as to keep furnaces from going out, to keep water cur- rent in case of fire and so on, but no man or woman will be permitted to enter the mill without authorized credentials by the Union executives. The “holiday” was called on the 28th of February to take effect on the 1st day of March, and to remain in “effect” until the Aluminum owners do some damn high and wide con- sidering. ' The unions involved are not only common labor organizations, but also semi-skilled, and skilled labor unions. In conclusion, I want to express my sincere appeal to all workers to organize and to compel the Com- panies to grant us a living wage and decent working conditions. _ Devotedly your Brother Worker. Youth Delegates Will Investigate C.C. Camp NEW YORK. — Delegates from youth organizations who will investi- gate conditions in C.C. Camp No. 45 as part of thé committee organized by the Youth Section of the Trade Union Unity League, will meet this afternoon at 3_p. m., at 80 E. ilth St., room 238. The delegation plans to leave by private car, Sunday morning and to return the same evening. Expenses per delegate is $2.00, Get Tribute in Steel, Oil, Coal, Aluminum and Wars By HARVEY O'CONNOR Author of “Mellon’s Millions” (Note: The following was taken from the pamphlet by Harvey O°Connor, entitled, “How Meilon Got Rich,” published by Interna- tional Pamphlets, 799 Broadway, New York, price 5 cents.) ee es ‘OWERING among the financial giants is the Mellon family with its billion-dollar hoard, probably the largest in America, The Pittsburgh titans of finance capital, are directly interested in corporations with assets of $10,500,000,000, Although he is usually described as king of aluminum, Andrew Mellon, former secretary of the Treasury, raked in his billion from an amazing variety of industries. For . . , the Mellons draw tribute from real estate, bafking, steel, railway equipment, oil, coal and its myriad by-products, aluminum, utilities, Workers in al- most every industry you can name are being exploited to enchance the financial power of the Mellons. Count off the major enterprises of Mellon and you will include most of the basic industries... . Coke links coal and steel. It is the pure fuel left when gases have been driven out of coal, and it is used to smelt iron ore, Through his Koppers Co., Mellon is the most important commercial coke producer in the United States and Canada, The by~ products derived from coal constitute the base for explosives and all war ~ Mellons Own Over Ten Billion Dollars, Squeezed from Labor gases. The Mellons hold key posi- tions in the war industries through steel, coal, and by-products of coal gas and petroleum. Bethlehem Steel cashes in handsomely by the sale of armor plate for battleships built in Bethlehem’s own yards, Aluminum Oo. of Most famous of Mellon's corpora- tions is Aluminum Co. of America, which, through its control of raw materials and patents, holds a 100 per cent monopoly on the manu- facture of this extremely useful light- weight metal. Aluminum is one- third the weight of steel and just as strong when properly alloyed. Alumi- num Co. of America, ever since its organization way back in the 80's, has enjoyed the express protection of the United States government through patents, tariffs and failure of govenment departments to pros- ecute it under the anti-trust law Its tremendous profits have exceeded $20,000,000 in one year. The sweat- shop inquiry in Pennsylvania in 1933 found that Aluminum was firing men, earning $4 and $5 a day, from some departments, and hiring women to do their work at 18 cents an hour... . The full list of Mellon companies fills many pages, They are heavy stockholders in the Pullman sleeping car monopoly, Pittsburgh Plate Glass, American Tar Products, and National Lumber & Creosoting. The Mellons are the perfect ex- ample of the fusion of industrial and finance capital. Their $250,000,000 Union Trust Co, in Pittsburgh has the highest cash dividend rate in the banking world: 200 per cent. Their $250,000,000 Mellon National Bank finances industries far and near, Another $250,000,000 is represented in eS ANDREW MELLON & chain of banks which covers west- ern Pennsylvania. The Mellons main- tain close relations with the Morgan and Rockefeller banking interests in Wall Street, and have considerable holdings in other corporations dom- inated by one or both of these groups, Mellon and Labor Mellon is a staunch believer in Jong hours and low wages for his workers. The state sweatshop in- vestigation in Pennsylvania in 1933, as we have noted, revealed that his aluminum factories paid 18 cents an hour to women. His aluminum plants worked the 11%4-hour shift even in 1933, : Strikes periodically convulsed his spy-ridden factories and mills, In ium workers in New strikers lacksnake whips to beat off ebreakers. Si police to the plant to break up meetings and picket lines, After ‘six weeks, the workers were forced back under promise of arbitration. In 1915, at Massena, New York, his aluminum workers struck, took pos- session of the aluminum plant and threw up a barricade in front of the main gate. Governor Whitman (Re- publican) of New York, sent in com- panies of militia which stormed the barricades and finally drove the workers out in a series of bloody encounters, Strikers’ homes were raided and a strike leader later died of wounds inflicted by guardsmen. A hundred workers were jailed. The strike was soon settled with the com- pany promising slight wage increases and correction of grievances over rents, Again in 1916 the Aluminum work- ers in New Kensington struck, de- manding the 8-hour day and rec- ognition of A, F. of L. unions, but were defeated when the company shifted its war orders to other plants. ‘The workers were forced back after three months. In the Standard Steel Car Works at Butler, Pa., in 1919, state troopers beat back workers who joined the great steel-strike. The troopers’ horses were trained to kick in the doors of , workers’ homes and to enter, scatter- ing terror among wives and children |of the strikers. In Pittsburgh Coal, however, the Mellon labor policy came ‘to highest fruition. R. B. Mellon, once chair- man of the company’s board, prac- tically admitted before a Senate com- mittee that “you can’t run coal mines without machine guns.” Pittsburgh Coal, Charley Schwab's Bethlehem Mines Corp., and Rockefeller’s Con- solidation mines, took the lead in 1925 in breaking a contract with the United Mine Workers and smashing that union. Miners were evicted from the company towns in which they had been forced to live; coal and iron police, licensed by the state and paid by the coal and. steel companies, terrorized strikers. Tear gas and ma- chine guns helped the operators. ‘When miners joined the National Miners Union in 1931 and conducted another great strike, Pittsburgh Coal ;Co. exceeded its previous efforts. Dozens of miners were shot, hundreds were gassed, others were sent to prison for long terms, their families evicted and starved. But a Pittsburgh Coal superintendent and a bunch of com- pany euards at Arnold, Pa., who shot and killed John Philipovich, a strike sympathizer, were convic‘ed of mere manslaughter and paroled. Two Pitts- bureh Coal guards who tortured Mike Barkoski to death in their volice bar- racks were given light sentences. In the company town the company owns not only the stores, but all the drab, monotonous shacks, the school, ] pays the private police who patrol the streets and roads, help keep organizers out, spy on militant workers, and try to disrupt their or- ganizations, y Aluminum and Race Riots The East St. Louis race’ riots 1917 were laid at the door of Aluminum Co. and other by a Congressional investigating com- | mittee, Aluminum Ore nited Front Must Be Ready With Action to Meet New, ‘Wave of Auto Strikes Problems Facing Auto Workers Union in Present Situation By J. WILSON This year in the auto industry we are again faced with impending strike struggles. | The shops here are like a powder keg, and a spark will result in a wave of strikes that will by far surpass the strikes of last year, not only in the numbers involved, but also in mili- tancy and bring the workers in a sharper clash with the state, }which will give a more decided class char- acter to the struggle. The spark may be the Toledo or Milwaukee situa- tions, it may be a strike of the M. E. 8. A, or of the A, F. of L. The task of |the Auto Workers Union, the class struggle union, is to prepare the workers who are in these unions for a militant policy of action, | based upon the principle of the class struggle. The task of the A. W. U.| members in the shop must be a policy of United Action. As yet the big majority of the work- ers are unorganized. The task of the A, W. U. members is to form | groups in the plants, these to lead to the forming locals. Now, on these groups, workers who are gotten to- gether will be workers who want action, not those who join a union just to talk. Must Be Ready With Action ‘When these groups are gotten to- gether we must be on the job to see to it that they are given action. They are looking to us for proposals, for leadership. Work with them to issue! leaflets, stickers, etc., on their gtiev- | ances. We must not only tell them | what to do but we must also be doers. It was this policy, of getting the workers together, and carrying out the tasks mentioned above, that re- sulted in the strikes last year. Last year they wanted action. This year they want it even more, In the; last few weeks there have been 23 or; more strikes in the shops of a depart- mental nature. Some have been led by the A. W. U. Most of these have been sponaneous, but the workers elected committees to present their demands. Practically all have been successful, Here is an example of how one was carried on by the A. W. U. A group of workers were gotten together from @ department at the ..... Co. We took up with them the grievances in their department. After a long dis- cussion they decided to call another niga with a broader representa~ ‘ion, Action Comes First At the following meeting. 14 were present. One worker suggested that, the main thing was that they all! join the A. W. U. I pointed out that; there must not be a precondition that those coming to the meeting must join the A. W. U., but that we get | together to plan some action to bet- ter our conditions, and that on the basis of the action we carry out we ask them to join. This they agreed on. The result was that they took a vote and 10 joined the union and formed a local. Then after quite a bit of discussion it was decided that some action be taken, the main de- mands being a 25 per cent increase | in wages and no piece rate schemes. A committee was elected to get out a little 4” by 4” leaflet, another com-| mittee was elected to distribute them | in the plant the next morning, 500; were made, Another committee was elected to steer the action. The steering committee was not decisive enough, so that when the superintendent called for a commit- tee, the steering committee fell down on the job, The line struck for 45 minutes, and the company promised a substantial raise and no piede work, Then the men returned to work. ‘When preparing for action in the Drive Labor and Shoot Down Strikers Who Demand More Pay its low-paid white workers then on strike, imported hundreds of Negroes | from the lower Mississivvt valley. So | many were brouzht in that there! were jobs for only part of them. Race hatreds were fanned. In the terrible riots tha* followed at least 25 Nezroes, | men and women, were burned to death, shot, drowned, hanged and their homes burned. The police and. militia refused to interfere. | In 1933, the Aluminum Co. signed a code stinulating 30 cents an hour as the minimum wage in the industry. But even this hunger wage was too much to suit the Mel'on company, | and within a few weeks it was vaving hundreds of its women workers at New Kensineton, Pa., 25 cents an, hour, in flat defiance of its own code. ‘The workers at the New Kensineton plant made their ovnosition felt hv an overwhelming vote against the combanv union which wes to be set up on the basis of the code. 4 Melon's Pittsbureh Coal Co. signed a N.R. A. code and a working azree-! ment with John L. Lewis of the Coal and Lewis, the checkoff was forced on the miners, to be paid into the district office instead of to local unions, the previous practice, In this way the local unions were robbed of their financial autonomy. - to then went alone the line and gave | to wait. shop, special emphasis must be laid on the question of the committes that is to talk for the men, or te see that the action is carried owt, This is very important for if the committee fails in the moment when they are expected to take the lead. the rest of the workers are con- fused, with the result that the work in building the union is greatly hindered. Plenty of time should be spent on electing a committee. ‘The local has now recruited many more members and has carried out « similar action. They are now taking steps to spread the union to the other departments. Now then, here is an example of how an individual member of the A W. U. worked in forming a group. He get a job. No other worker in his department of 300 were union members. There was quite a bit of kicking about the wages, so he im- mediately began to agitate the men to take some action. He went around and talked to the men. He proposed an inerease that appealed to all the men, and they all talked about this Then he proposed striking and going to the superintendent. This they talked about. Then he proposed a time which they acepted. He then went to the men and told them that they were all depending on each other, so that when the time came to act, they all started to move the superintendent’s office. He little egging to the weaker ones, with the result that they all struck. He himself was the last to leave the de- partment, and the workers were watching him get them all out. Then when the superintendent asked for the spokesman, they looked to him He stepped up and vresented~ the demands of the men. The result was they got a substantial raise. He was then looked upon as the man that got them a gaise, with the result that he has now gotten a groun together, and they are forming a local, not be- cause of these things alone, but be- cause he pointed out to them that he was carrying out the policy of the Auto Workers Union. In another department, the men were going to do the same thing, byt here the A. F. of L. has a foothold and they decided not to strike but This was used as a means of exposing the A. F. of L. Outside Work Important These are a few examples to show that\we can use different methods of organizing in the shops and that we ‘should not insist that we have & group and then act. But we must keep in mind the main emphasis in ‘ building our unions. Class struggle unions must be based on action carried out by groups in the depart- ment and shops as 2 means of build- ing our union, at the same time we must not neglect the outside work, shop gate meetings, leaflets, mass meetings, etc. Last year we had quite # Job with the Red Scare, and the companies were able to use this to an extent eve stively. This was due mostly to the fact that we left t¥e field to the capitalist press, with the result that they succeeded at times in splitting us from the workers. Since the last strikes stevs have been taken to over- {come this shortcoming by issuing Party leafiets at the shops, and sel- ling the Daily Worker, etc., but this work is far short of being done as it should. Bt we have learned our lesson. This time we are exolaining who the “Reds” are, and when the strikes come we will and must come out boldly and let the- workers know who the Reds are, and why the Red Scare is raised. Then the most important thing that all members must have as their nersvective, in all the work they do, in getting grouns together in issuing leafiets, in selling vaners etc., is the question of the United Front with the workers of the other unions. We must have in mind always the ques- tion of building a United Industrial Union in the Auto Industry, proving and showing to the workers during the course of our every day work and struggles that this is the only way that we can expect to effectively stop the starvation program of the em~ ployers and Government, FILM AND POTN EPAGUE PARTY Movies, Jazz Band, Photos Entertainment and Novelties TONIGHT AT 8:30 12 EAST ith ST. Sunday, Symposium “Future of the Ffim” ADMISSION 25¢. Freiheit Gesang Farein in J. Schaefer's Oratorlo “TZVEL BRIDER” (Two Brothers) POEM BY I. L. PERETE ° Also in a Group of _ New Soviet Songs ° EMMA REDELL SOPRANO, Assisted by = Symphony Orchestra Saturday Eve. March 3rd, 1984 e at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Take LRT. Subway to Atlantic Ave, BMT. to Pacific St Tickets 50c, 7c, $1.00. rs.