The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 16, 1934, Page 3

NRA Eases in Swope Fascist Program for Govt and Industry a Gen. Johnson and War) This drive toward sugar-coated companyunionism, either in or out| Supply Manufacturer (of the hands of the A. F. of L. lead-| Support Plan ership, is a vital necessity under the | Swope-Johnson pian. Without its success, how can Swope’s super- chamber-of-commeree promote and} maintain “continuous” relations be- tween themselves and their em-/ | ployers? With its sucecess, with workers corralled and docile in com- | pany unions, the bosses would naturally be able to conduct any |number of “electioris” through the| yee ORE National Labor Board and the Com-| By MARGUERITE YOUNG ——pignce Board of the N. R. A. as (Daily Worker Washington Bureaw) one was actually carried out just| To achieve “self-government in| last week in the Budd plant in industry,” the polite name for open| Philadelphia. ; economic dictatorship by the biggest| Going back to the mechanics of | American capitalists, the fascist |the Swope-Plan and how they are) Swope-Johnson plan lays down a| being adopted: | ten-point program. ‘The National) At the close of the Congress of In- Recovery Administration is now be-| dustry, last week, Johnson called ing reshaped to fit two of the most| Upon the assembled grabbers to} fundamental, as well as others, of | Mame two committees, one to rep-| these ten points. resent the capital goods industries, | One of the two vital points is the ance ae i ee a ban creation of @ National Chamber of ferences which are now ““formula- eae ee ea And distrib. | “ing the policy of the decisions that ution of American goods. The other | ¥* finally make.” That ‘seaegee is the granting of full control of | raging Pasi rede pain sta carrying out the dictates of this/ ersati ith Gi sl TT National Chamber of Commerce and | yersttion with George Sloan (Tex- Tidusley i tha hands of he OR tile) in a public session the previous x on Aticurliten **\ night. Incidentally, Johnson took pate pean ib of Bic pan be- | occasion to point out at that time Pyle vay oga! aes’ riment’s| te fact that the industrialists he Seton ‘Adviloty ee pigrrtiet then faced are on one side of the | fe .- . Council, publicly announced last | Pi pigs a ta eile or November 1, contained the state-| Johnson said: “Pirst we o ‘, s 5) “s pened ment that his proposed National | ini. up to the general public (a Qhamber of Commerce and Industry | reference to the preceding week of would be in ® position of respon-| public “criticism”), which is one ae Hane kabie site: side of the fence, so that they could merce and industry on legislative | come.” Fal — peat tated oy problems,” the Swope statement! i auctry. T don’ sf rig Pp #4 says, “on questions of finance and) ;DOUStY. - . lon’t think we shoul transportation, and work out) cave this great conference without smoling tel Seaaearae eal aoe Rp green ai emit ctin Guus telationa With employees | ‘T2tion, on the basis of everything ‘and denM Shuis thelr seneeamia-| that has been said, in formulating ii the policy of the decisions that we Labia feo ery will de fpr eee finolly make. . .I know that. you can- TARE er ny ne | Tob’ do. business in & crowded meet. Don’t forget — General Johnson, | self-identified co-author of the plan, | ‘"& With some 4,500 people.” told the press, that November after-| Get Down to Real Business noon, that this plan “of course”| So the next day, the two commit- would outlaw strikes. Don’t forget tees of twelve each were named to —Pierre S. du Pont, the munitions) “do business” on behalf of the and chemicals mogul, told the in-| hosts of industrialists. One of these dustrialists’ meeting, last week, they | committees was headed by George adopted “the plan” for develop-|Sloan himself, chairman of the ment of the N. R. A. last December. | National Textile Institute, the trade- Legalizing Company Unions | association group of the biggest boys And @on’t forget that, as the first| in the indutsry who are also the N. article in this series explained, a/R. A. code authority in charge of new drive is now under way to| administering the $12-a-week cotton (NOTE:—This is the third in a series of six articles exposing the fascist developments of the N. R. A., growing out of the Business Con- gress of 4,000 exploiters, employing 90 per cent of the workers under slave codes, recently held in Wash- ington.) ~be whitewashed and continued un- legalize company-unionism under) the N. R. A. Since the meeting, Johnson has told the press that he intends to “clean up” those company unions that are “illegal.” Which simply means that steps will be taken forthwith to dress up the same old coercion of workers into company-dominated unions. In some cases these company unions may be turned over to the A. F. of | L. leadership; in others, they will der the fraudulent name of “in- dependent” unions. In any case they will be nothing more nor less than the mould in which the first bosses of American capitalism pro-| pose to fascize worker-organizations | in the United States; they will be| fought immediately, continuously, | by every classcongcious worker and | by thousands who will not be hood- winked by the new demagogy. ey ty Li a, he i, Over 7,000 Workers Came To Our Last Sale Will You Be One of The Thousands To Come TO THIS SALE? Now Going On 20 to 50 Percent DISCOUNT SALE AT THE WORKERS BOOK SHOPS FROM Fri., Mar. 16—Sat., Mar. 31 Some of the Many Specials HISTORY OF THE AMER- ICAN WORKING CLASS.$1.95 LENIN by Fox textile code. The other committee was headed by George H. Houston, president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works and Vice-President of the notorious, brutally anti-labor National Association of Manufac- turers. It was this association which, along with the National In-| dustrial Conference Board, promoted | the principles of the Swope-Johnson plan, without mentioning the name, for weeks before the Congress of Industry assembled. While these and _ twenty-two others of their ilk conferred with Johnson, the Commerce Depart- ment’s Business Advisory and Plan- ning Council assembled also. Their chairman is none other than Swope! They discussed the Congress of In- dustry. And then Swope announced that they were seeking a way of co- ordinating the committees of twelve and the Business and Advisory Council in a new “American Eco- nomic Council,” or a “Council of American Industry.” It was then Swope unblushingly declared they are looking around for “some per- manent plan that may possibly suc- ceed the N. R. A. and where super- vision of the work should per- manently rest.” FORCES” US. TO_STARVE | Haverhill: Shoe Strikers Force New Settlement To Send Delegation To /ashington To Hit Labor Board Special to the Daily Worker HAVERHILL, Mass., March 15.— A new victory was scored by the striking shoe workers when the Newburg shoe shop signed an agree- ment with the union yesterday. Picket lines are solid in front of all struck plants, The union was informed yester- day that the National Labor Board has called a hearing of union rep- resentatives and maufacturers in Washington Monday. The workers will send a delegation to the hear- ing to expose the strikebreaking policy of the National Labor Board. At a strike meeting, Sam Ziebel, union leader, pointed out how the Wagner Bill is designed to break strikes by calling out the forces of the government against the workers. It was reported here today that over 600 shoe workers are striking in Manchester, N. H., for better con- ditions and recognition of the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union. Strikes are looming in every shoe town in the New England states, The Relief Committee set up by the strikers is functioning well. Shoe workers, however, are depend- ing on aid from workers from other centers. The Haverhill union has issuefl an appeal to workers thru- out the country to send relief funds to the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union, 88 Washington St., Haverhill, Mass. United Action Gets Pay Rise on Gov't Roadwork Jobs Workers, Farmers Form United Front; Stop Tax Sales WASHINGTON. N. H., March 15. —Uniting on the issue of wages to be paid for government work on the roads, the small farmers here and the workers on the roads oyer- whelmingly voted themselves an in- crease of 50 cents a day labor on the roads. This will bring their pay to $3.50 a day. The decision will have to be put into effect, and will affect many of the jobless workers and farmers in this neighborhood. They also voted to prevent the town select men from selling any of the homes and farms that have been seized for tax delinquencies without a majority of the townspeople. This is @ considerable victory for the (To be Continued.) Examine Work of Shop Nuclei in Pre-Convention Discussion Some Experiences in the Nuclei in the New York District ® es: Personal Guidance of Section Committee Gets Results x By MARGARET COWL i bas draft resolutions for the Eighth Party Convention points out the need for a“. . . quickening of the tempo and improvement in the quality of the work of the Party to fight for winning over the majority of the working class by more quickly carrying through the decisions of the Open Letter with regard to rooting the Party among the basic strata of the proletariat, in the most important industries and factories, through the application of the policy of concentration.” It is a general complaint that factory nuclei do not respond to letters from the Section Commit- tee. That these nuclei do not func- tion as a part of the Section. Upon investigating Section—I found that: factory nuclei are made up in the majority of new members, many of whom do not understand the terminology of our And Many More At WORKERS BOOK SHOP 50 East 13th St., New York City 27 Hudson St., Yonkers, N. Y. 699 Prospect Ave., Bronx, N. Y. 2075 Clinton Ave., Bronx, N. Y. 62 Herzl St. (Coop. Barber Shop) 4012 8th Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL ALGONQIN 4-6953 Welcome Spring in ey oo resolutions, who do not low the structure of the Party; CAM P that there are many concrete prob- lems in the factory nuclei which are entirely diffeernt from that on street units. This finding forced the Section Committee to appoint members of the Section Committee to give Personal guidance to a selected number of factory nuclei by at- tending every meeting of the nu- ITGED AIGE Beacon, N. Y. Tel. Beacon 731 Cars leave daily at 10:80 A. M. from Co- operative Restaurant majority of the population here. Se WOE CUTS FP eunove MR. Hela sell Lowtsanmecte HG SOLD, LAG BOOM 2i THE £0: 4 HUMAN res Stating | FS TNMUMAN 1S LRONG WAGE CUTS TO POSTAL WORKERS; SUBSIDIES TO AIR MAIL CORPORATIONS Voicing their protest against the firing of thousands of Post Office workers, cutting pay, forcing payless “vacations” by the N.R.A. government, 3,000 subs marched on the New York Post Office Tuesday. Similar seenes were enacted in other cities, Members of 21 RR Labor Unions Can Officials on What to Do About It By WALTER BOLT Oiling the Machinery for Another Wage Cut The Grand Chiefs of the 21 stand- ard railway labor organizations, the President of the United States, Railroad Coordinator Eastman and of course the railroad owners are busily oiling the machinery for the wage cut for another six months from its expiration date, June 30. They propose to call in the 1,500 general chairmen on this matter, as they did in previous negotiations, to give the impression that the ex- tension is being accepted in ac- cordance with the will of the mem- bership. How is this illusion of rank and file endorsement being staged? The general chairmen were noti- fied on Feb. 19 to obtain authority from their unions, empowering them and the executives to com- plete negotiations on the points to be discussed by the conference. What is meant by “obtaining authority?” Will special meetings of the 400,000 members of the 21 organizations be called, where the entire wage question can be dis- cussed and the will of the member- ship really be heard? Quite the contrary. Except in the rarest in- stances the membership will not even know when and how their authority has been granted. The general chairman will place the matter before his Division Commit- tee if he deems advisable, or he will merely fill out the necessary cre- dentials, the procedure suggested by the Brotherhood of Locomotive En- gineers in the wage negotiations of the fall of 1931. Instruct the Chairmen Technically, when this has been done, and the general chairmen proceed to Washington, they are acting in a manner authorized by the membership, but actually they are not. Therefore, it is necessary for the membership to immediately instruct the general chairmen as to what they want done in Washing- ton. Tt is necessary for the mem- bership to immediately pass resolu- tions in every lodge, such as those Passed by the three. lodges in Minneapolis last week. This resolu- tion, adopted by Local 299 of the Railway Carmen, Local 3 of the Boilermakers and the St. Paul Union Station Lodge of the Rail- way Clerks, states emphatically that the membership of these lodges want “the immediate and uncondi- tional return of the 10 per cent ‘deduction,’ an additional increase in wages sufficient to meet the rising cost of living due to infla- tion, and enforcement of agree- Wage Slash Should Instruct Their) extension of the present 10 per cent | Stop 10 P.C. Extension AILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1934 Daily Worker Midwest Bureau | SPRINGFIELD, Ill, March 14.— }One himdres and twenty-five min- Jers, eTeccua by opposition groups within the Progressive America and the United Mine |Workers of America in Centralia, unanimously adopted a militant | program of struggle when th met jin conference here last week. The |conference also decided to begin is- jsuing a paper to be called the “Miners’ News” within one week. The Peary machine sent a group |to the conference in an attempt to |distort the program and split the meeting, but failed. They left the hall together with their leader, Jack Allen. ments and restoration of conditions which existed and were recognized to the depression.” Such a mar negotiations, expresses very clearly what the membership wants. Workers Must Act At Once! The present wage agreement does through in this manner? There would have been ample time to haye |taken a referendum of the entire membership on so |considerably less. Instead of the $75,000 (estimated at $50 apiece), which will be the minimum cost of transporting, housing and feeding the 1,500 general chairmen to and from Washington, a referendum could be taken for less than one- third of this sum. The membership is still smarting under the assess- ments to defray the expenses of the first wage cutting negotiations, assessments which have had to be met from the reduced pay check. The negotiations are being rushed through, just as they were rushed through in July, 1933, when East- man interfered to extend the 10 per cent for eight more months, pre- cisely because our Grand Chiefs do not wish to give the rank and file in the organizations a chance to ex- press themselves. There will be no protection what- ever to the membership of the 21 standard railway labor organiza- tions nor to the half million unor- ganized and company unionized railroad men in the 1,500 general chairmen sitting The membership in the lodges must act at once to instruct the general chairmen and the grand lodge offi- cers as to what they want done in Washington. Unless there is imme- | diate pressure the 1,500 general chairmen will sign away.our rights as they did in the past negotiations. The emergency which exists be- cause the date for negotiations has been set by our Grand Lodge of- ficers for March 15 necessitates a resolution at the very next lodge | meeting or, if the lodge does not hold a regular meeting before March 15, the demand for a special meeting where such a resolution can be passed. Failing a quorum at such meetings, and, of course, we must strain every effort to avoid such a situation, there is still the possibility of circulating petitions and sending these in with a state- ment’ that since no meeting was called the membership took this means to express their wishes. Resolutions Not Enough But resolutions and petitions are not enough. in Washington. organizations slip from our hands. If we do not want to see the com- plete breakdown of our conditions, such a breakdown as is already oc- and accepted on the railroads prior | date, coming before the opening of | not expire until June 30, 1934. Then | why are negotiations being rushed | important an| issue and the cost would have been | We have let the machinery of our | The program passed by the con- | ference follows: 1. That we demand and organize action for the immediate restora- |tion of the $6.10 scale, and around this immediate action prepare our | forces to fight for a $6 basic wage |scale for all miners in or around the mines, with a minimum guar- antee of $30 per week, 40 weeks’ work per year and a maximum working week of five days and six jhours per day. 2. The right of the miners to be- long to a union of their own choice, which means the right of the P. M. A, miners in the U. M. W. A. con- trolled pits (south) to organize their own locals side by side with decide. The recognition of each union without checkoff. 3. Full support in the enactment of the Workers’ Unemployment In- surance Bill (H. R. 7598) presented to Congress by the Unemployed Council. 4. Immediate increase of unem- ployment relief. Minimum of 24 hours’ work at union scale on C. W. S. Protest against any lay- offs from C.W. A. or the cutting of 30-hour minimum in small min- ing towns. Additional clothing, food, fuel, ete. All this not to be deducted from ratio of relief. 5. In case of a referendum vote, we demand that every man who 1931, be given the right to vote. 6. Miners’ checkweighmen on every scale, elected and controlled by miners. curring on the D. & H., the Louisi- ana and Arkansas, the Kansas City Southern, the D. & R. G, the Southern Pacific and the C. & N. W.—if we do not want to see the spread of the open shop company unionized roads—then we must take steps to win back control of our unions for the rank and file. The place to start getting back this control is in the lodge rooms and on the job. It lies in the set- over the heads of the Grand Lodge officers if necessary, to unite the various crafts for organized action to settle grievances on the job be- fore they pile up to the number of thousands, workers to establish contact and confidence with the mass of unor- ganized and- company unionized men who have no apparatus what- ever for winning wage agreements jor protecting their working rights. It calls for setting up united front committees between the organized and unorganiped. Send us names of those you know who are not readers of the Daily Worker but who would be interested in reading it. Address: Daily Worker, 50 E. 13th St. ing in the apparatus of trade unions, into the factory nuclei. The Section Committee also held joint meetings with buros of several of the factory nuclei and jointly re- viewed their work and problems. This resulted in bringing some of factory nuclei into the orbit of the work of the Section Committee, and in improving the work of these nuclei. They now serve as a guide of how other factory nuclei should organize their work. Leadership of factory nuclei can- not be effective if the Section Com- mittee is not acquainted with the concrete situation in the respective factories where nuclei exist. Lead- ership without this knowledge is abstract and will result in the isola- tion of the factory nuclei from the Section and may result in the dis- solution of su¢h nuclei. The Factory Nucleus as the Builder ot the Kevorutionary rade Union Movement In this work it is very essential that a better working relationship be established between the factory nuclei and the trade union frac- tions. Very many of the members in the factory nuceli came into the Party because they were convinced that the Party gives leadership in their bread and butter struggles. And comrades, trade union* func- tionaries, overburdened with the many tasks they have in their spe- cial work, are not able to attend many Party meetings and thereby do not feel the pulse of Party life as they should, do not keep up the necessary Party consciousness. They cleus ae its buro. Also to transfer one or two more experienced Party members including comrades work- 2700 Bronx P’k Rast. Ph.: Estabrook 8-1400 | either do not attend factory nuclei meetings or when they do, more up the shop problems from a trade! ae e | : In another section Factory Nu-| this latter happening, some say that! Factory Units Must Be Miners of | the U.M.W.A., wherever miners so| worked in a mine prior to April 1,| More Ala. Miners Strike, Bringing Total to 13,000 Despite Troop Movements | 7. For democracy in each union jand local; freedom of expression jand action. Reinstatement of all ‘those expelled by the officialdom Reinstatement of those miners |dropped because of refusal to’ pay | dues from C. W. A. jobs. | 8. The right to strike. organize and picket, free speech and assem- blage, and against arbitration | 9. Payment for all forms of dead- work, horseback, age, slates, | ete. | 10. For the right of Negro miners | | to work on all jobs in all sections | of the mines and all shifts without | any discrimination, and the right | to live in any house on equal terms | |with the white miners. | 11. That we unite the rank and| file of the P. M. A. and U. M. W. A. junder the leadership of the Illinois Miners’ Rank and File Unity Com- mittees at a conference to be called at a later date, on the basis of these | | demands, strive to unify the miners to secure one militant class struggle union here in Illinois and also con- nect ourselves natianally with other |Similar movements toward calling a National Conference for uniting jall the miners into one fighting union, free from labor fakers, on |a national seale. | We go on record as calling an- other conference. Invitations to be nt to the locals of the P. M. A and U. M. W. A. and Women’s Auxiliaries. Imported scabs or men | taking other men’s jobs cannot at- |tend this conference. Fired in CCC Camp, ‘Denied Pay Checks | Lads Had Been Forced |to Work in Open Dur- ing Zero Weather PHILADELPHIA, Pa. March 13 (By Mail)—Forty-five Negro boys arrived home yesterday after being fired from a C.C.C. camp in Kane, Pa., and cheated out of a month’s pay when they were forced to leave the camp before pay checks were Rank and File Miners of PMA, UMWA in Ill. Map Struggles Rank and Page Three File Cireulete Demands Through 5,000 Leaflets BULLETIN BIRMINGHAM, Als., March 18. —Strike votes of representatives of eight captive coal mines forecast the spreading of the strike in the Alabama coal fields to 4.000 more miners, This wil bring the total out to 12,000. The captive mine workers in the Tennessee Coal & Iron Co., the Woodward Iron Co., and the Republic Steel Corpora~ tion mines, the heart of the in- dustries of the South, are affected. Governor Miller's “mediation” Board has failed thus far to break the strike. More troops, according to De- puty Bill Alexander, are being sent to Bradford and Porter to check pickets, “with blood in their eyes.” Rank and file committees in the U.M.W.A. and A. F. of L. in leaflets brand William Mitch, President of the U.M.W.A. district, as a strike- breaker, and working in close c- operation with troops, and the C.C.C, camp at Townly, the “dan- ger spot.” Judge H. J. Martin placed nine strikers wnder peace bonds yester- day after their arrest for picket- ing the Johnson Manufacturing Co, where they fought scabs. BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 14— The strike in the Alabama coal fields in seven counties is spreading, until now 11,000 of a total of 16.000 em- ployed miners are fighting for union recognition, and against the worst conditions in any mines in the county. The rank and file are strengthen- ing their ranks, rallying around their demands, despite the obstruc- tions of their U.M.W.A. leadership. In many places, there is spontaneous mass picketing, while mine owners and union heads dally negotiations behind closed doors in the swanky Thomas Jefferson Hotel in Birming- ham, Why the Check-off? The main issue the U.M.W.A. of- ficials are raising is the check-off, which would mean big pickings for them, while the coal diggers’ starva- tion wages of $2 and $3 a day, and 10 to 11 hours’ work are being ig- nored. Governor Miller of Alabama has appointed General John Persons of the National Guard as “neutral member” of the committee. Persons | ee i toi gr camp commander on | fir saarttceabler - ca rental | the theory that Southern whites , ‘ | know how to “handle” Negroes, be-| Tennessee Coal & Iron Co., Mor- - | gan-controlled U. S. Steel subsidiary gan picking on the youths when yesterday again proved his rsd Beemer tar ry eb aosy fine them | “ncutrality” when he ordered out Pe perry inspection, — | another battalion of the National Last Wednesday, with the tem-| Guard to the strike area in Jeffer- | perature 11 below zero, the boys were | ees peeled Bes iba Safar sent to dynamite rocks at a site 11| US Ge Abate agi evs | distributed. Capt. Mosely, of Alabama, who | ting up of rank and file machinery, | it depends on the} ability of the organized railroad | —® union angle and not from the view- point of politicizing our work in becoming the political leader in the given factory. The combination of these two factors, is the reason why so many factory nuclei are just merely a duplicate of our trade union fraction. Of course where the Section Committee gives special at- tention and where the factory unit itself is determined to approach shop | work in a more political way, even our comrades working in the trade union apparatus become involved in helping the factory nucleus carry on its work in a more political way. This determination on the part of | the nucleus is bound to give better) results in bringing the face of the Party before the workers in the fac-| tory and is a factor in drawing in our comrades in the trade union more into the work of the factory | nuclet, eit Sees. S K SECTION -— a certain factory nucleus did not get the necessary co-operation of the comrades in the trade union apparatus. They were told by certain of the latter men- tioned comrades that that particular Place was a good place for Party concentration, but not for trade union concentration. This in spite the factory and thereby the nucleus | | cleus —— was confronted with op-| it was not proper to bring the Party | position on the part of comrades in before the workers as was done. The a trade union apparatus, when it| nucleus had a discussion on this and of the Party in shop work and to in-| carried out its work, and warned There were some inner clashes as| success” and to guard against ex- these questions arose, but due to the| posure of individual comrades be- determination of the nucleus, it suc-| cause this harms the work of the attempted to bring forward the face| decided that the nucleus properly} volve the Daily Worker in this work.| comrades not to get “dizzy with | ceeded in establishing the influence of the Party in that factory. And very important that it involved these same comrades from the trade union apparatus in this work. The immediate reaction of the factory nucleus in this factory in telling the workers in the name of the Party, what to do under certain particular situations in the factory. electrified the workers into a discus- sion of the proposals of the C. P. the sentiment of quite a few work- ers in favor of the tactics of our trade union in a given situation. The appearance of the Party before the workers in one particular situation caused a discussion in a number of departments on the Party being the sole party leading the daily strug- gles of the workers. This gave our comrades in that factory a very good opportunity to talk to the workers more extensively about the work and program of the C. P. The of the fact that the place under dis- | cussion is connected with the war) industry in a very important sense.) But the nucleus went ahead and| carried on its work as best as it! knew how. In a short period of| time the nucleus organized about 20. workers into a trade union opposi- | often insist on the nucleus taking j } fear of the “red scare” which in- fluenced a number of the members) in this nucleus has been broken be- cause of the nucleus, At this opportunity I wish) to mention that this also caused some comrades to take a leftist ac-| tion in openly coming out as Com-/ jentire nucleus. IN Sectoins 1-2-7 some factory clei do not publish shop bul- |letins or get them out very rarely because comrades from trade union | apparatus oppose their issuance on the ground that it would rather harm than help in the work in the | shop or that because of lack of forces |the trade union opposition paper trade union apparatus over-rule de- cisions of factory nuclei, in instances even without consulting the nucleus organizer. Here is manifest a lack of appreciation of the Party’s ability to lead the masses and of the factory nucleus being the organization giving political leadership to the workers in the factory. In the re-election of our Section Committees—which are the most important acting links with the higher Party committees because they connect up with the units and nuelei which carry on direct work) | among the masses—it is advisable successful work of the/to include a number of comrades! trade union work and in that way! from trade union fractions so that | they may carry the Section Com- mittee decisions on factory nuclei tion group in the particular plant. | munists in the factory, Because of | Work into these fractions, ; ~ takes precedence over the shop bul-| nucleus and resulted in switching! letin. In sections 1-2 comrades from) where workers stay a short time miles from camp. The truck stalled | |in the heavy snow drifts, and they were forced to return to camp. | Lieut. Cleaver, camp health officer, | declared it was entirely too cold for | ; the boys to work in the open and} permitted them to remain indoors. | Moseley, however, disagreed, charged | the lads with insubordination, held | a summary court-martial and eject- | ed them from the camp. Although it was pay day they were not per- mitted to wait for the pay-off. CHORISTERS STRIKE IN N. Y. NEW YORK.—Choristers of the Cosmopolitan Theater, 59th St. and Columbus Circle, struck last week in protest against the hiring of} non-union singers by the company. The choristers are organized into the Grand Opera Choral Alliance of the A. F. of L. Builder of the T. U. Opposition | aeCOE It is necessary to bring sharply) to the attention of the entire Party that trade union work in itself will} not raise the political level of our membership nor the class comscious- ness of the workers, The role of the factory nucleus as the leader in the factory must be emphasized in our pre-convention discussion and in our Party resolutions Uniess the political level of our factory nuclei | is raised unless we increase our poli- | tical activities in the factories, there is danger of losing new Party mem- | bers in factory nuclei. Especially in shops in New York District there is a constant turn over in labor, jin the factory, where we have very | litle time of contact with these | workers, must we speed up the poli- | teal education of these workers. If we are not on guard on cor- recting what has been indicated above, then there is danger for tight opportunist practices to creep into the work of our factory nuclei. We can help to prevent this, by bringing these points out sharply in our Party resolutions. In this way we will help to increase and main- | tain the attention of the entire) Party on the improving of the) quality of the factory nuclei and |help to quicken the tempo of root- |ing the Party in the factories for | the great task of winning over the | majority of the American working i class . accepting the result of the negotia- tions between the U.M.W.A. officials and the mine owners. Two hundred miners picketing the Porter mine accosted scabs, asking them to join the strike. Sheriff Hawkins called on Governor Miller and General Persons for more troops. “It’s a question of bloodshed or backing down,” the sheriff de- clared. Troops were also sent to Bradford mine. The mine company truck carrying 17 extra guardsmen to Al- ridge refused to halt on the miners’ demand, so it was fired on. Miners’ Victory The case against the little Ca- | haba miners for disarming 15 thugs, deputized as sheriffs, was held over by the grand jury, as they “felt it not advisable this time, in view of the situation, to indict.” This is a partial victory for the miners, | though the indictment can be raised again later. Negro and white miners, as well as employed and unemployed, are fighting militantly. But real leader- ship from the rank and file must be elected. The miners ranks must be consolidated around their own de- mands to prevent sell-outs and the breaking of the strike by the labor board’s maneuverings. The U.M.W.A. rank and file oppo- sition is organizing to help spread | the strike, calling on the miners to close all mines, and elect their own strike committees with sole powers of negotiation and settlement. Demands They are rallying the miners around the following demands: Recognition of the union, with check-off for union dues going to the local treasuries; against all com- pany union schemes; a basic day rate of $3.40 for outside workers, and $4.40 for inside labor; 62 cents per ton, with a minimum of four cars a day; abolition of contracting; equal pay for equal work, and the right of Negro miners to any job; an eight-hour day; re-installing of free transportation to work and for larger bath-houses; reduction in high commissary prices and lower powder prices; government cash re- lief for all striking and unemployed miners, Five thousand leaflets with these demands have been spread in the mine fields, Freiheit Gesang Farein Annual BALL Sat. Eve., Mar. 17th Large Orchestra for Dancing Excellent Musical Program at Teving Plaza Hall 15th St. and Irving Place Tickets 38 in advance 40c a door A