The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 31, 1934, Page 1

Communist Party Convention Opens i in Cleveland on Monday Night CIRCULATION DRIVE NEW SUBS RECEIVED YESTERDAY: Daily 61 Total to date. .2,793 Vol. XI, No. 78 HOPKINS ISSUES ORDER TO FIRE C:W.A. MEN TODAY! > 1 New York, N. ¥., under Daily ,QWorker CENTRAL ORGAN COMMUNIST PARTY U.S.A. (SECTION OF COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL) Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at the Act of March 8, NEW YORK, SATUR DAY, Y, MARCH 31, 1934. AMERICA’S ON CLASS DAILY LY WORKING NEWSPAPER (Eight Pages) Price 3 Cents 9 000 000 Auto Workers Strike i in Detroit Hudson Body Plant; Force ee Pine of Wages United Of Men Through era ee 7 Departments Stop, and Bosses Give Into Demands COMMITTEE ACTS Call on All Auto Men to Follow This Example By WILLIAM WEINSTONE DETROIT, Mich., March 30. — A wave of strikes swept through the Hudson Gratiot body plant yesterday, crash- ing through seven depart- ments before the end of the day. As a result of the action of thou- sands of workers, wages were raised, including the bonus, from 78 and 80 cents to $1 and $1.05 per hour. With other departments preparing to strike, the company today raised wages for practically the entire plant to head off a general walk- ot. ‘Two thousand workers were in- volved in the strike actions yester- day. are about 7,000 in the entire plant. The strike action, in which the Auto Workers’ Union members, and A. F. of L. members, as well as un- organized workers, joined hands, comes as a mighty answer to the A. F. of L. leaders sell-out in Wash- ington, Describing the action in depart- ment 3760, which was the first to strike, one of the workers said, quoting a phrase from the Auto Workers’ Union leaflet distributed Wednesday night and yesterday: “We took matters into our own hands.” The men set up their own com- mittee and refused to start the line. After a two-hour stoppage they won an increase in the base rate of from 48 to 50 cents an hour, and in per- centage from 207 to 210. Spreads Rapidly. ‘The strike spread quickly to de- partments 3730 and 3505, where similar increases were granted. This was followed by action in depart- ments 3960, 3980, 3965 and 3983, which gave the company until eight this morning to come across. De- partment 3710 also decided to fol- low suit. This morning the Hudson local of the Auto Workers’ Union distributed leaflets calling for united action in all departments. The company, see- (Continued on Page 2) Soviet Union Spikes French ‘Spy’ Slanders Anti- Soviet Campaign in French Press Is Based on Lies (Special to the Daily Worker) MOSCOW, March 30 (By Radio).—In connection with the recently intensified anti- Soviet campaign of the French ) press, the Soviet newspapers publish the following official state- ment issued through Tass, the offi- cial Soviet news agency: “With reference to statements ap- pearing in the French press alleging that a group of persons of various nationalities were arrested in Paris and charged with spying on behalf of the USSR., Tass is authorized to state most categorically that these reports are absolutely unfounded, and are a slanderous fiction.” The newspapers of Europe and America have carried many ac- counts inspired by the French gov- ernment in connection with the ar- rest of an “international espionage Ting,” including certain Americans, Some of these accounts alleged, chiefly by inference, that the Soviet Union profited in some way from the alleged espionage, although no definite statement to this effect has been attempted, Action , LEO WOLMAN On the “neutral” Anti-Labor Board, helpinz ‘> tab the auto workers in the back, Auto Board in Heavy Blow at Trade Unions Helps Co. Slave-Unions by Keeping Workers from Organizing (Special to the Daily Worker) DETROIT, March 30.—Right off the bat, the so-called neutral auto board picked by President Roosevelt exposed its anti-union set-up by rul- ing that there shall be no “solicita- tion of membership in either unions of company representation plans (read company unions) during working hours.” The open shop Detroit Times an- streamline: “Union membership barred at plant.” The enro!!ment of members took place during the big swing into the unions last month by workers moving around the plants and signing up members while others did their work. This ruling bars this chief method of organiz- ing the workers. The companies do not need to move around but enroll the workers automatically into their unions when the men apply for jobs. Since the big shops are still largely unorga- nized, and with sentiment growing against the A. F. of L. leaders, the ruling is intended to hit at the Auto Workers Union, and the Mechanics Educational Society. Thus the board, which was her- alded by the A. F. of L. officials as a sweep against discrimination and a shield for unionism, is in prac- tice the actual reverse. The board has no definite powers but it is taking over the investiga- (Continued on Page 2) weeps Plant Trucks Bear Workers to 8thC.P.Meet Come from Adjoining Towns To Attend Open Mass Meet Monday CLEVELAND, Ohio. — Cleveland workers will come together at Music! Hall of Public Auditorium on Mon- day, April 2, at 7:30 p.m., to give| a rousing welcome to 500 worker and farmer delegates arriving from all over the country to the conven- tion that day, and to participate in the opening mass meeting of the Eighth National Convention of the Communist Party of the United States. The workers, Communist and non-Communist from scores of working class organizations, will welcome the convention delegates with banners and songs. of workers to Music Hall will take place from various parts of the city. From outlying towns, delegations of workers from the basic industries will come in trucks and cars to hear outstanding leaders of the Commu- nist Party speak at the opening mass meeting of the convention. Among these speakers will be Earl Browder, national secretary of the Communist Party of the United States; Jack Stachel, acting na- tional secretary of the Trade Union Unity League; C. A. Hathaway, editor of the Daily Worker; James. W. Ford, and other revolutionary leaders, ineluding Mother (Hila Reeve) Bloor. Hundreds of greetings from work- ers’ organizations have arrived for the convention. Included among them is one from a group of Amer- ican workers thousands of miles away. The American workers and specialists in the Kharkov Tractor (Continued on Page 2) 3,000 Camden, N. J. Shipyard Strikers Continue Solid (Special to Daily Worker) CAMDEN, N. J., March 30.—Gov- ernment officials and the owners of the New York Shipbuilding Cor- poration continued their meetings yesterday, in attempting to force the 3,000 strikers to submit to ar- bitration. In contrast, the strike headquarters ring with the slogan of no arbitration. D. Davis, organizer of the Tool and Die Makers Industrial Union, at a mass strike meeting Friday warned the strikers to fight every move for arbitration. Orner, Taxi Union Head Speaks in B’klyn Sun. NEW YORK. — Samuel Orner, President of the Taxicab Drivers’ Union, and Max Weiner, of the Joint Council of the Union, will speak Sunday night at 3200 Coney Island Ave., at 8 o'clock, at the In- ternational Workers’ Center.. This is the first of a series of mass meet- ings arranged by the International Labor Defense in support of the striking taxi workers. The net proceeds will go to the war chest of the Union. Lies of Bosses’ Press Fail To Mar Unity of Cab Strikers Union Presents Conditions to LaGuardia for the Settlement of the Strike By HARRY RAYMOND They agreed to return to work on NEW YORK, March 31—Lies of | the following basis: splits in the ranks, inferences of re- volt against the leadership of the Taxi Drivers Union, which were smeared across the pages of the capitalist press yesterday, failed to bring about a disorderly retreat— that consummation so devoutly wished for by the General Motors and the New York fleet owners. The strike continued yesterday with pickets being dispatched in an orderly manner from the strike halls to all the struck garages. ‘ Samuel Orner, Joseph Gilbert, Samuel Smith and Herman Gold- stein, leaders of the union, meeting at City Hall yesterday with Charles A. Schneider, who is acting for the Mayor in the strike, laid down plans which the union was willing to ac- cept. 1. That all striking drivers be taken back without discrimination. 2. No discrimination on account of past or future union activities. 3. That the fleet owners recog- nize the garage committees elected by the men. 4. That the Mayor designate the Arbitrator provided for in the agreement in the February strike. 5. That the companies drop all charges against the strikers. 6. That all of the hack licenses which were revoked by the city be restored. Leaders of the union, upon their appearance at City Hall were backed by « delegation of over 1,000 hack- men who massed in City Hall Plaza (Continued on Page 2) Marches | FRED BIEDENKAPP Militant candidate for National Organizer of the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union, who re- ceived 2,400 out of 2,800 votes cast in New York by shoe workers. In- complete returns indicate his elec- tion nationally, Returns Show Biedenkapp Is Elected Head Of Shoe Union |N. Y. Men Give Militant Candidates Huge Majority NEW YORK.—Latest returns of the elections for national officers of the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union show a tremendous majority of votes cast for Fred Biedenkapp as the N. Y. workers’ choice for national organizer of the union. Of the 2,800 votes cast, Biedenkapp reecived 2,400. Zimmer- man, opposing candidate, polled only 200. Incomplete returns from other cities indicate that Biedenkapp will be elected national organizer of the union. Unofficial, but almost com- plete returns indicated that Lynn, Mass., workers had voted in favor |of Biedenkapp against William J. Mackesy, New York workers elected Ralph Holmes, militant candidate, as their choice for secretary-treasurer. Holmes got 2,000 votes. The rep- resentatives to the General Execu- tive Board are Ziebel, Tony Cam- posa, N, Lillienstein, Max Spierer and Joseph Shada, When the polls opened at 12 noon Thursday, workers began to stream into the polling stations. At 4 a.m. all the factories under the control of the United Shoe and Leather Workers Union stopped promptly and the crews marched in a body to the polls, Hathaway at Chicago Meet Sunday Night Coliseum Meet Opens District Convention; Gebert to Speak CHICAGO, March 30.— Clarence A. Hathaway, editor of the Daily Worker and member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the United States, and Bill Ge- bert, Chicago district organizer of the Communist Party, will be the principal speakers at the opening mass meeting of the convention of the Communist Party here on Sun- day evening at 7:30 o'clock at the Coliseum, 15th St. and Wabash Ave. The convention will rally Chicago workers against voting in the pri- mary elections on April 10, since by yoting in these elections the work- ers would thereby not be able to sign petitions for workers’ candi- dates. Workers will be urged ai this mass meeting to save their votes for Communist candidates who will run in Congressional and Assembly District elections here on Nov. 6. Madison Sq. Garden Ushers Plan Strike NEW YORK.—Ushers in Madison Square Garden are preparing to strike against the firing of Peter Murphy, an employee for seven years, who was fired for union ac- tivities. Charles C. Levey, secretary of the Theatre and Amusement Employees Union, Local 118, filed a complaint with the N.R.A. Regional Board, % Strike on Chicago C.W.A. Project TO JOIN MARCH Plan Struggles Against New Starvation Plan of “Work Relief” (Miswest Bureau Daily Worker) CHICAGO, March 30.—Fif- teen thousand C. W. A. work- ers refused to work at the Talon Park project, 74th St. and Western Ave., when they reported for their last day’s work, yesterday before being laid off and pub on “work relief.” They elected a committee to place their demends before the relief board, and voted to join en masse in the united front job march through the Loop on Saturday morning. The workers on the Talon Park project demand a 30-hour week at a minimum wage of 60 cents an hour, the right to make up lost time, and free transportation to and from the job, The committee elected to place the demands, is made up of beth white and Negro workers. Report on Project Monday Against the “work relief plan” to split the men into two groups of 7,500, working three days each, the men have also decided that all 15,000 will come to work Monday morning and meet at the project site at 6:30 a.m. to hear the report of their committee. “Not a truck wilt move” they say, “until our de- mands are set.” Members of the Civil and Public Works Labor Union, the organiza- tion which called the United Front Conference that launched Satur- day’s job march, initiated the or- ganizational action of the 15,000 workers, When they reported for work yes- terday, the men simply stood around in groups of 50 and refused to touch a tool. New Scientific Starvation The 65.000 workers still left on the C.W.A. who are considered the neediest cases, will be given “work | relief” at starvation rates, accord- ing to the amount the budget pro- vided by the Illinois Relief Com- mission allows for payment of sal- aries, These workers will be placed back under a “case worker” as at the time before the C.W.A. was started. The number of hours work they will be given, according to the plans of the relief commission, will be adjusted each month by the relief bureaus to fit in with the ccst of covering the barest necessities for existence, FAILURE TO READ PAPERS NOW A CRIME IN GERMANY BERLIN, March 30.—Failure to read the newspapers is now a crime in Nazi Germany, Two old women were sentenced to a year in prison today for failing to report foreign currency in their possession. When the defendants said they had been unaware of the law, passed in 1931, the Judge said: “I must find the defendants guilty, for anybody who fails to inform himself by reading news- papers or other publications con- cerning government orders acts negligently.” AN EDI Fight CWA Firing and Pay Cuts! TORIAL The liquidation of C. W. A., ordered by Roosevelt, goes into effect today. Hundreds of thousands are to be fired. The rest are to be’ given drastic wage cuts on “work relief” projects. C, W. A. WORKERS—EMPLOYED AND UNEMPLOYED! FIGHT FOR CONTINUATION AND EXTENSION OF C. W. A. JOBS! Organize committees on every C. W. A. and relief offices against C. W. A. job. Demonstrate at the the C, W. A. firing. Demand con- tinuation of every C. W. A. project without one C. W. A. worker being fired. FIGHT AGAINST ROOSEVELT’S WAGE CUTS ON RELIEF.” “WORK Demand union pay on all C. W. A. and “work relief” projects. De- mand union conditions, Demand recognition of your C. W. A. workers’ organizations, STRIKE AGAINST WAGE CUTS ON C. W. A. AND “WORK RE- LIEF.” | Demand no discrimination against Negro workers on C. W. A. and “work relief.” DEMAND JOBS OR ADEQUATE CASH RELIEF FOR ALL UN- EMPLOYED. Demand Cash relief equivalent to the average wage in the community. FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO VELT’S HUNGER DECREES. DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE LIVE—FIGHT AGAINST ROOSE- ENACTMENT BY CONGRESS OF THE WORKERS’ UNEMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INSURANCE BILL (HL R. 7598), tacardia Fires 30,000 hi PE i Y. F rom Cc WA, Cuts Pay Chicago CWA oa Jobless to March Thru Loop Today A. F. L. and Socialist Workers Join United Demonstration (Daily Worker Mid-West Bureau) CHICAGO, Ill., March 30.—C. W. A., Trade Union, employed and un- employed workers will march through the Loop here on Satur- day, March 31, demanding conti- nuation and enlargement of C. W. A. to provide jobs for all unem- ployed workers, and for the imme- diate enactment of the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill. The workers will assemble at 10 a. m., Saturday, at Union Park, and at! 10:45 a, m., will start the march through the Loop, past City Hall to Liberty Square, Congress and Mich- igan Avenues, In addition to the twelve A. F. of L. locals which have previously endorsed the march and are mo- bilizing their membership to par- ticipate, the Bakers District Coun- cil, which includes five locals, has endorsed the job march through the Chicago Loop Saturday morning. The endorsement by the council, which also contributed five dollars to the arrangements for the march, followed the earlier endorsements by Locals 62 and 237 of the Baker's Union, All locals were given permission to carry their banners. At the same time police announced that the del- egation to be elected by the march- ers Saturday to place the workers | demands before the C. W. A. offi- cials, can meet with the latter in the Mayor's office, NEW YORK.—Mayor La Guardia | | announced the firing of 30,000 C.| | W. A. workers today and drastic wage cuts for those remaining on| “work relief” rolls (transferred from | CW.A), | Many more than 30,000 are act- ually to be discharged. The cen-| tral office of the Home Relief Bu-| reau has stopped all other work} and has been working overtime for | a week writing out C.W.A. dismissal slips. The questionnaires are read| in the central office, and passed to the clerical staff to write out the dismissal slip. -Every questionnaire which is considered slightly incom- plete or “protested,” is being used as a basis for dismissal. | Workers have been notified on| many C.W.A. projects in New York City that they are not to be tran: ferred to “work relief” unless they can show a slip from the welfare that they are “in need.” In other| words they stand fired unless they | can secure an O.K. from the wel-| fare, |The C.W.A. administration in New York has issued a bulletin to all departments headed, “Pro-| | cedure when it is desired to dis- | charge workers.” This bulletin! gives instructions for firing in| groups of one hundred. The first section is entitled, “In the case of} a@ large group” and gives instruc-| tions that “any city official wish- ing to discharge a group of workers (Gontinued on Page 2) Detroit To Hold Many CWA Meetings 2 DETROIT, Mich. — Mass protest meetings against the Roosevelt | abandonment of C. W. A. are being held in five sections of the city as | Director Hopkins | D. ©. today. “| given such jobs, but he did not | kins admitted that # 15,000 Chicago CWA Men Strike Against Layoffs, “Work Relief” ® 15,000 CWA Workers | Pauper Basis Is New Hopkins Relief Scheme for Fired Men 70% CUT IN RELIEF “Work Relief on 24 Hr. Maximum and 30c. an Hour “Wages” NEW YORK, March 30. The “Roosevelt gov ernttiedt liquidates the C. W. A. today, with hundreds of thousands | of C.W.A. workers fired thru- | out the country, perhaps more than @ million, and the remainder of the C.W.A. men moved to “work relief” rolls at drastically reduced .wa | This was the substance of a state- ment issued here by Federal Relief in Washington, “We have demobilized the C.W.A.” Hopkins boasted. | Hopkins, in announcing that two million C.W.A. workers will be re- | moved to “work relief” rolis, ad ted thereby that 2,000,000 h fired in the past few wee! | figure of two million still on w | relief is arrived at by computing | four million which i claimed worked a few lon C.W.A. rolls \figure) and taking from this the | nearly two million who have been | fired since liquidation of the C.W.A. was announced by Roosevelt on Feb. 28, But all of these two million men now on C.W.A. will not by means be given “work relie: Hopkins said “a majority” will be set figures on the drastic firing. The extent of the firir takes place Saturday, March be seen when it is con: in Chicago alone 123 uled to be fired, in and in New Ji every city and r the coun come rep: - sale firing of C.W.A. w the Roo: government is receiving ficoc protests against the C.W.A. fi The extent of the cuts in relief which go into effect t velt's order are re announcement that at the of the C.W.A. the Roosevelt ment was spend: | week for C.W.A. and the plan going | into effect today calls for expen- diture of only $15,000,000 and $20,- 000,000 a week. This is a reduction of nearly seventy per cent in the amount of “work relief” from the federal government. The new plan is the Roosevelt Pauper-basis relief scheme which will replace the C.W.A. The “works division’ ing to a recent Hopkins ment, sets a maximum of 24 ja week and a “minimum” of 30 *e! an hour—which means $7.20 a | The average C.W.A. wa said today, was “about $13 a Thus a 50 per cent wage cut effect today for many w According to Hopkins’ an- nouncement, applicants for this “works div m” will be required to: prove pauperism and to submit all | grievances to arbitration by local relief boards. Hopkins declared that his relief outfit has $600,000,000, which must last it for an unlimited time. During | the four months of its existence, the C.W.A. spent $750,000,000 for pay | part of the national campaign against the stopping of C. W. A. rolls, and about $250,000,000 for ma- | terials, he ~ said. Lewis Conceals How Miners Forced Through Gains By JACK STACHEL (Special to the Daily Worker) PITTSBURGH, Pa., March 30.— Announcements here declare that as a result of the negotiations over the wage agreement expiring April 1, the miners have won the seven- hour day, and an additional nine per cent increase in wages, making a total increase in hourly rates of 24 per cent. ee does not yet in- clude* Fairmont, West Virginia, where the operators demand a 24 cents differential. It is also un- clear as to the Illinois fields where the present agreement does not ex- the $5 basic day wage prevails for | a 40-hour week. It 1s claimed that the agreement | already includes 300,000 miners in the bituminous fields. Even if MIli- nois is included in the 35-hour week, the miners there do not benefit by the wage increase of 40 cents per day, but continue on the $5 scale. The Southern fields also continue on wages less than $5 a day, since they have a 40 cents lower day rate. Continues No-Strike Slause The new agreement continues the fines and the anti-st~'ke clause, as well as the compu’ «4 arbitration measures, containea the old agreement. A Despite these unknoy factors rol- e- and the extension of the ct laboration features of th seven hour day for 300,000 miners | |represents important gains for the | miners, John L. Lewis hails this as a gain for the miners as the result of the policy of class collaboration, stat- ing: “This is the first application of the seven-hour day to any in- dustry of magnitude. It is a re- markable demonstration of the ef- ficiency of collective bargaining in a basic industry. We believe tremen- dous good will follow with this mag- nificent start. We are entering an era of more rational relations.” It is clear here that Lewis speaks of more “rational relations” in the same sense that Roosevelt speaks of “charting a new course in social engineering.” trying to make the workers believe that any gain they Fear of Mine Strike Forces Pay Rise, Hour Cut s pire for another year, and where, ment, the wage increase and the| Only Militant Action Can Hold Them and Win Better Pay can obtain results from class col- laboration instead of struggle. What Lewis Conceals But Lewis conceals the fact that these gains were made because of the tremendous pressure of the miners, as revealed in ths 2,900 res- olutions on scales that the locals sent to the last United Mine Work- |ers Convention, all of which de- | manded wage increases and the six- |hour day, which Lewis abandoned This gain is also due to the ‘knowledge that the operators have | (Continued on Page 2) $ A