The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 17, 1934, Page 3

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 1934 Page Three A. F. of L. Leaders _ Colorful Floats and Efigies to Enliven Betray Strike on Giant New York May Day Parade St. Louis Levee Divide White Workers from Negro Dockers by Trotting Out the “Red Scare” and Jim-Crow Tactics | By BILL SENTNER | ST. LOUIS.—The workers on the St. Louis and East | &t. Louis Federal Barge line returned to work after a three-| day strike. They struck for 50 cents an hour, 8-hour day} and the return of the 5 per cent back pay that was due them as well as all Federal employees. The men returned to a 40/ conte -.4n ont, |. hearday which is same pay for 8 hours To Protest Ousting ooh Aisa a | of Militant from | There are about 250 Negro Milli Union| stevedores working on both sides of ilinery Union| the river. About 75 white workers ams ae | work with them as crane men, car-|_ NEW YORK—After being told} knockers, jitney drivers, checkers,|by the boss to get out of the Raye| etc. The white workers have all the | Hatcraft Shop, 65 W. 39th St., be-| best and most skilled jobs. cause she was an active union} 2 ) cs worker, Rose Heller, union shop! Negro Workers Strike chairlady, was told to get out of the When the Negro workers under} Hat, Cap and Millinery Union, Local the leadership of the Marine Union | 24, by Alex. Rose, secretary of the walked off the job, they talked with | local. the white workers who joined them; when Rose Heller went to the in their strike. They drew up the shop yesterday morning the man- demand for a proportional increase ager, Harry Samuels, told her that for the white workers. he had orders from the union to} The white workers were organized| put her out of the shop because into the Association of Federal Em- | ‘‘she caused too much trouble.” | Ployees (an A. F. of L. affiliate).| This is just one of the many | Over the heads of their leadership | cases of the ousting of militant rank | and without the permission of their) and file members from the Millinery | national office, the white workers| Union by corrupt leadership, the joined the strike shoulder to|rank and file state. The rank and shoulder with their Negro fellow) file of the local are preparing to| workers. launch a vigorous protest against | Stool-pigeons were sent in among) the expulsion of Rose Heller, who is the white workers, provocateurs and! well known for her militant trade ward heelers among the Negroes.! union activity. The white workers were called into} ——————— the office of the boss. Agents of the! boss amongst them urged them not B J bl d to take Negro workers with them| LOnx 0 eSs an { for a joint committee. Likewise | Negro nationniss in the ranks of] Fired CW.A, Storm they should not urge a joint com- ae white workers were scien HOME Relief Buro drunk—white chauvinism was; pumped into their heads by the boss | East and their leaders, the red scare was/ és raised. As a result they were bought; to March to Welfare out by the boss and left the Negro) workers to strike by themselves. | Dept. April 19th At this, the Negro ward heelers used all their petty-bourgeois na-| NEW YORK—One hundred and. tionalist tricks in order to split the| fifty fired C. W. A. workers, led Side Unemployed UnionWins Support ‘Among the Jobless $5 2.2m. oss YOU'LL SEE ’EM ON MAY FIRST John Reed Club artists working on effigies ani floats for the un All Organizations Urged to Order Signs, Special NEW YORK—In a long loft at 82 West Third Street, revolutionary artists of the John Reed Club and members of the Sign Painters Union pressive posters and effigies in the Third Street loft. Many of the effigies, parade masks and floats are well on the way to are making May Day signs and| completion. Some of the innovations effigies. | are a flock of huge blue buzzard Artists come to the May Day sign | effigies. Others deal wid yellow hi : dogs, the company union, rats, for eadquarters after working hours to} yi make this May Day the most color-| @PS_and stool pigeons, and the ful and impressive in May Day his-| ab Sih r tory. Others who are unemployed sie y < . The capitalist press effigy, made have donated full time to this work. | ti be is ACevates Sell an doubtedly be long remembered and talked about. A huge dragon, rep- resenting the reptile of fascism and war, is near to completion. Well known revolutionary crafts- men of the brush, as Bill Gropper, Jacob Burck, Hugo Gellert, Adolph Dehn, William Siegel, Phil Bard, “del,” Walter Quirt, and many others have contributed designs as well as actual work in the creation) both sides, will be available for this of a record-making number of im-| parade. In this way, no board will Portland, Me. CWA those who belong to the Portiand Relief Workers’ Protective Associ- ation. We are accepting the chal- lenge. Our very liberal city officials are | using all kinds of tricks to intimi- ers are being paid $50 a week, though they know it is a lie. To Mobilize Workers ited front May Day demonstration, Effects, At Once be wasted. Both sides of the sign will carry a message to the workers bordering the line of march. An International Labor Defense branch has ordered sticks con- structed in such a way that shirts can be placed over them. This will symbolize the march of the shirts, black, brown, silver, khaki, ete. and | goof, leader of the delegation, Leo | their downing. | The artists are charging only the cost of the materials in the build- ing of these effigies. All organiza- tions participating in the May Day parade should get in touch with the United Front May Day Com- mittee, 799 Broadway, Room 539, special parade effiects can obtain the mat cost, too. CWA Workers Hit | Gov't Pay Cuts | | CANADAIGUA, N. Y., April 16. —Six hundred relief workers of On- tario County, who. struck against a | wage and hour cut under the C.W. ————_—___—_——__, United Front May Day Committee Called to Meet Wednesday Nite NEW YORK. Front May Day elected by the nearly one thousand Webster il on Sat 14th, are called to a Wednesday 18th Plaza, 15th «i Irving Place. Carl Brods y of the committee, calls the members of the committee to come on time, 3:30 p. m. sharp. Union Men Lose Jobs for Exposing Picture Union Head Sherman Calls Meet To Whitewash Charges NEW YORK—Following the th- ing expose made by a rank and file committee of motion picture oper- ators before the Senate Labor Com- mittee last Saturday, charging that the than $990,000 of the union fu 5 in a year and had in- timidated members, the entire mem- bership of the committee was fired from their jobs at the behest of Mr. Sherman, union members say. The men who were on the com- mittee which went to Washington and were fired were Nathaniel Dor- Brodsky, Samuel Sole, Morris Barth and Lewis Phillips. Besides charging that Sherman had expended $900,000 of the union funds, the delegation charges that he spent $500,000 out of the union treasury without accounting for it. A new form of sign, carried in| and place orders for posters, effigies | This Mr. Sherman called the “re- flag shape, and with painting on and banners. Organizations desiring | babilitation fund.” Seventy thousand dollars of this sum, the delegation asserts, went to a lawyer named David P. Siegal. Excessive Assessments The rank and file committee fur- ther charged Mr. Sherman robs the union members with an excessive dues and assessment system. Each member must pay $40 a year dues to Mr. Sherman’s treasury, plus 12 per cent of the member's earnings, 25 cents a week sick benefit and $1.11 every time a mem- ber dies. says that Alex 21 306, had ex- | j Steel Tru st Tries To Put Democratie Mask on Steel Union Leads Fight for Own Or GARY, Ind., April 16. j sition of the steel worker: developed by the exposures by Industrial Union and Communist Party, the U. S. poration is taking furthe company union. The aim is to® set up the sar another nar mt form. These steps, so far as can be ascertained at present, are only be ing taken in the 7 Illinois Steel, bi ti w be i all U. S. Steel plants as a nation-wide attempt to jkeep the steel workers in the clutches of the company union. Since the March 1 voting on the now slightly revised Employee Representation Plan when the majority of steel workers expressed their oppos company union the have from various dep: the jurisdiction of t union “representatives.” pany these meetings are calied for the While purpose of making the company union appear democratic and work- ers are urged to speak by the “rep- resentatives” and foremen, the real ‘TwoWhites Confess ToCrime for Which Negro Was Killed Negro Worker Had Been | Shot “While Trying | to Escape” THOMASVILLE, Ga., April 16,— An enlightening sequel to the wan- ton murder of a Negro worker by local sheriff deputies three weeks ago was furnished today with the arrest of two white men who are Teported to have confessed to the crime with which the Negro was charged. to the com under ai workers still more. They persuaded | the workers that the strike was lost| now that the white workers had left. This was not so. The Negro work- ers are the main key to the Levee and could have won without the white workers as they did last sum- ner. But the Negro workers were so} | by the Bronx local of the Relief Under the pretense that he is|A. last month, have continued their; The committee The Negro worker was arrested for Big May Day Demonstration Workers League, marched on the| Home Relief Bureau at 149th St. and| Third Ave., yesterday, brushed aside the police guard, and forced the re-| lief supervisors to meet with the) PORTLAND, Me—The Portland workers’ elected committee and| Relief Workers’ Protective Associ- promise to grant felief to all cases|ation has gained prestige and con- presented. The Home Relief Bureau workers | fidence among the workers since we jhad our march to the City Hall disheartened by the betrayal of the | actively supported the workers*dele-| Though we started our march only white workers misled by their lead-| gation, showing real solidarity be- | 75 to 80 strong, surrounded by cops, ers, that they gave up the fight and/tween the Home Relief Bureau) police cruising cars and plain clothes went back to work. | N.R.A. Does Its Part | Previously they had gone to the N.R.A. regional board which said it washed its hands of the strike un- less the men went back to work and waited for arbitration. This the men had refused to do. On this board is Bill Fitzmaurice of the Interna-| tional Association of Machinists and Mr. Brandt, secretary Central Trades (both A. F. of L.). | The Negro workers have gone| back organized—resolved to stick by their union, They have not given up the idea of strike for higher wages. Inside their ranks is being organized a unit of the Communist Party} which will fight against their enemies and lead the rest of the union in the battle both against white chauvinism and for the unity of the white and Negro workers and against the Negro petty-bourgeois nationalists who are out to break that unity also. Capitalist Newspapers | Hide, Distort Truth, Marguerite Young Says. NEW YORK—The capitalist press ruling class-angles news events by distortion and censorship despite the fiction, of “objectivity,” Mar- guerite Young, Daily Worker Wash- ington correspondent, declared Sun- day night in a lecture on “Press Re- porting In Washington,” at the New School for Social Research. The meeting was under the aus- pices of the Préss League. Three hundred and fifty people attended, while 150 were turned away because of lack of room. “Of course, we frankly write from the working-class point of view,” she said. “But I submit that we ‘very often, for this very reason, present a more complete and truth- ful picture of events than does the capitalist press. We realize that only by knowing the whole truth can the workers effectively combat the forces at work in the events we chronicle.” - Heywood Broun, World-Telegram columnist, was in the audience. MASS MEET AT H. R. B. WEDNESDAY BROOKLYN, N. Y—The work- ers of Williamsburg, led by the Unemployment Council and the Workers’ Ex-Servicemen’s League, will hold an open-air mass meet- ing on April 18 at 10 a.m. before the Home Relief Bureau at S. Fourth St. workers and the unemployed. Trial of Jailed Workers April 26 The three former C. W. A. work- ers who were jailed by the police after the demonstration at the Bronx C. W. A. headquarters at. 188th St. and Webster Ave., urday, will be tried at West Farms Court, 181st St. and Boston Road, Thursday, April 26, at 9:30 am. Workers are urged to pack the court and demand the unconditional re- lease of these workers. SSS Flop House Workers to March Jobless workers living at the Gold Dust Lodge will assemble at Colears and Water Sts., Thursday, April 19, at 2 pm. and march to Rutgers Square, where they will be joined by other unemployed groups, and will march on the Home Relief Bu- reau at Spring and Elizabeth Sts., then to the Department of Welfare at 50 Lafayette St. The East Side Local of the Relief Workers’ League, the Downtown Unemployment Council, the Gold Dust Lodge Action Committee, the Workers Commitiee on Unemploy- neighborhood unemployed groups are supporting the demonstration. The workers will demand rank and file control of the single men’s Gold Dust Lodge flop house now under control of the Salvation Army, the removal of Major Laurie from the Gold Dust Lodge, supple- mentary relief to all “work relief” employes, and free clothing to all clients now on home relief. 8 * Delegations Besiege Hodson Joint delegations of workers from Bear Mountain, Dykers Beach, Mc- Kinley Park, Bergen Beach, Bush- wick Park and other work projects continued to besiege the office of Commissioner of Welfare Wm. Hod- son, at 50 Lafayette St. yesterday. On many of the projects the workers have not received any pay since the end of the C. W. A. and bid transferance to city “work re- ef.” On the Bushwick Park project, superintendent Meller fired two Jewish workers, telling them that “We don’t want any Jews here.” ‘The workers are demanding jobs or cash relief equal to C. W. A. wages for all unemployed, and no discrimination against Negro and foreign-born workers, The dictatorship of the prole- tariat is a fight, fierce and ruth- less, of the new class against an enemy of preponderant strength, against the bourgeoisie, whose determination to resist has been increased tenfold by its over- throw.—Lenin. — BOSTON — given by the WORKERS’ MUSIC LEAGUE Wednesday, April 18 Ritz Palace —8P.M.— , 12 Choruses—English-Jewish. ~ Chorus of 450 Voices—Music by Bert Orris and ‘ a His Musical ; SPEAKER: CARL SANDS SECOND ANNUAL CONCERT and DANCE i 218 Huntington Ave. -Lithuanian-Russian Mass Reviewers Admission 35¢ Sat-/ men, our ranks swelled to over 600 | before we reached the City Hall. | Notwithstanding the police provo- cations we stayed our grotind and | waited in the cold in front of the | City Hall until our delegation re- turned from the conference with Mr. Barlow. Then we marched back to our hall and listened to the re- |port of our delegation. ‘We decided to follow up our dem- onstration with a series of open-air meetings to be held every Thursday evening stressing the importance of our demand for 50 cents per hour. Our speakers will expose the Cham- ber of Commerce's 30 cents per hour | scheme, and what this coolie wage means to all the workers. We'll tell the people how and why the city officials are discriminating against members of our assoviation. Mr. Horton, the supervisor of the Poor Department, came out bluntly that his department wouldn’t help Shady Characters, Under S. P. Wing By ANDREW OVERGAARD (See’y, Trade Union Unity Council) New York where 40,000 workers waged a most heroic struggle against company unionism, inspir- ing the whole labor movement, the leaders of the Socialist Party played the most despicable role of open strikebreaking. Due to the militant leadership of Sam Orner, president, Joseph Gilbert, organizer, and Eddie Can- tor, all of the Manhattan Local, the leaders of the Socialist Party, Pan- ken and Levy, were not able to be- come “legal sellout experts” in the last. strike. But no sooner was the strike over than the whole Socialist Party leadership, led by August Claessens, Thomas, Panken, Levy, and Most, united with the most des- picable underworld elements in or- der to drive out these militant lead- ers and force the workers into the grip of the strikebreaking leaders of the A. F. of L. ‘Together with a number of Tam- many hangers-on and petty rack- eteers in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and other shady elements in the Manhattan Local, who succeeded in getting themselves into official po- sitions, the stagt had been set to break the unity of the hackmen. One of these is Cecil Maurer, who scabbed in the 1922 railroad shop- men’s strike in Mauch Chunk, Pa., and was a scab herder in other strikes in New York. Another one ds Max Wiener, with a record for petty racketeering on the East Side, an official henchman of Tammany Hall. These elements, together with Bill Rubin, the financial secretary, and the recording secretary Abra- mowitz, who after the first strike got themselves into official positions pranks ® being paid a salary by the Associ- ation, “Mother” Waldo stopped M’s. |relief for a whole week. His wife |has been visited and told to keep her husband away from the Associ- ation, | They are sending investigators to public places, and when they find an unemployed in a 10 cents movie house, they report him to the poor | department, where his relief is being |eut for the terrible sin of watching |® show. “Mother” Waldo continu- ally refused relief to a woman, who | hed a sick child and no food in her house, until this poor woman fainted in her office from fatigue and hunger. And the very just Mr. Hor- |ton had the audacity to come out | with a statement in the press the | other day that there is no starvation |in the City of Portland. The Portland Relief Workers Pro- tective Association will throw that lie into his face. That’s why they didn’t let us carry our signs in our | parade to the City Hall. They were | afraid of that march of hunger and | starvation, In our preparations for May |Day we are getting considerable support from the workers and ex- pect. to have a good turnout on May ist in celebration of the Interna- tional Workers’ Holiday. D. E. world and attempted to take over | Strike under the TERA forced labor | system, and are still out and going | strong. | On Saturday, April 7, the strikers accepted a compromise of 45c an | hour, the granting of free transport- ation, recognition of their organi- zation and committees, to and from work on the administration’s time, no layoffs, etc., and planned to re- turn to work to organize 100 per | sible for 50c an hour. | Upon reporting for work Monday |morning they were informed that | the rate would be 40c instead of 45c, so they immediately struck again against this trick upon the part of | the County officials and TERA work relief committee. | The strikers are organizing the {Ontario County Relief Workers League, with over 400 unemployed workers in the County already |signed up. The League is to affi-| | liate to the National Unemploy- ment Council. | An Unemployed Conference is be- ing called in Canandaigua on Sun- | day, April 15, to which delegates from all over the County are send- |ing delegates, and where the final |plans for the League, and a mii | tant program will be adopted. Sev- teral locals of the League have al- Socialist Leaders Unite With Underworld in At ment Locals 2 and 3, and various! |clean union and the taxi driggrs cent and coming out as soon as pos- | the two recent taxi strikes in| the leadership and eliminate Orner, | must take advice from respons! le | Gilbert and Cantor. These elements, | trade union leaders.” In the next seeing that it would be impossible | breath he stated that “Larry Fay to make a plain racket out of the| Was not a bad fellow.” Larry Fay, ) union and that the policy of Orner,|Tecently murdered, was a notorious | |Gilbert, Cantor and other militant | racketeer, gangster and character | Polin, who was fighting Sam Kap- lan, former head of the union who | was convicted of graft, has spent large sums to bring in the Lepky- Gurrah gangsters into the union to | terrorize the members. Polin, who argued ageinst the $20,000 a year salary which Kaplan received, is the one who made the motion that Sherman get the same salary, the | committee said. Calls Meeting In an attempt to protect his face. Sherman called a meeting Monday night at Central Opera House, 205 E. 67th St., where he says he will | expfain the charges brought against him, The rank and file is expected to demand a show-down at this meet- ing. A large group of operators have pledged to support the committee which brought the charges. | Will your name appear in the May Day edition of the “Daily”? Make sure that it will. Send your greeting today. Address, Daily Worker, 50 E, 13th St., New York City. ready adopted the Workers Unem- | ployment and Social Insurance Bill as their bill, and all workers speak | favorably of it. dia could very easily say: “Our friend Jake can help solve the ques- | on “suspicion” of attempting to ex- tort $110,000 from H. M. Hanna, Cleveland financier, at his luxuri- ous winter home in this town. The innocent Negro worker was sub- jected to a fusillade of bullets be- fore his arrest ad subsequently shot down in the prison yard on the pretext of “attempting to escape.” The two white men now chargea with the crime for which the } was framed are J. E. Pullian and Emory Callahan. 2 Plan to Celebrate Victory in Stopping Eviction of Briggs NEW YORK.—Tenants of 425 B. Sixth St. are arranging a victory celebration for April 29 at the Workers’ Center, 35 E. 12th St., to | popularize their tremendous victory in forcing the powerful Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank to back down on its attempt to evict Cyril Briggs and enforce racial segrega- tion in its Sixth St. tenement | Richard B. Moore, general secre~ tary of the League of Struggle for Negro Rights, will speak on “The Necessity of Working Class Uni Against Growing Fascism.” Admis- sion is set at 20 cents to insure a | mass attendance. | empt to Split | Wiener and Maurer, in the Manhattan Local, brought) Bronx, stated “that the attitude of | and Levy became pliable servants; mously rejected by the men, who | with them a whole gang of profes-/|the A. F. of L. is like that of re- | for LaGuardia in his attempts to! knew that this would mean intimi- | sional elements from the under-|spectable citizens, but they want a sell out the strike. Mayor LaGuar-| dation, coercion and could not be! |democratically conducted. Later on, due to the militancy of | tion.” the men, LaGuardia and the fleet During the negotiations in the Owners agreed to hold a plebiscite first strike it was Mr. Thomas who| before the strike was over, but| raised the question of a survey as when the news came that Green, | the main problem ‘and put the ques- | President of the A. F. of L. had} ing every problem before the rank and file, have now become allies of the Socialist Party leaders in order to stifle the militant union for struggle against the fleet owners, against company unionism and pre- vent real rank and file democracy. When a meeting of the garage chairmen decided to elect an exec- utive committee and also to demand a full financial statement from the financial secretary and treasurer, these elements, seeing that they would have to be responsible to the rank .aic@ file, cast their lot with the leaders of the Bronx and Brook- lyn and the Socialist Party gang. “Democratic” Procedure by Socialist Leaders The Socialist leaders, together with the president of the Bronx local, Samuel Smith, Goldstein of the Brooklyn local, and the charac- ters mentioned above, first called meetings in the Bronx and Brook- lyn and packed them with mem- hers of the Young Peoples Socialist League and strong arm squads un- der police protection and took votes to join the A. F. of L. Mr. Amicus Most, commonly known as “Micky Mouse” and called a “militant” in the Thomas group, openly threat- ened the workers and told them there would be no discussion. When Sam Orner at the last meeting at- tempted to speak for the hackmen, who demanded he be heard, the So- clalist leaders refused to allow him to take the floor and had the lights turned out in typical A. F. of L. Style. August Claessens, speaki! | thousands of dollars from hackmen, |food workers, laundry workers and others in order to build up speak- easies. At one time as much as $16,000 in initiations was pocketed \by this scoundrel, about whose der. 0g siee JANKEN and Levy, who in the taxi strike failed to find great pick- ings in the form of legal fees, wished to again force their legal leadership on the hackmen. While the A. F. of L. did not dare to openly unite with the company unions and Rob- bins of the Parmelee, they are find- ing roundabout ways to force the same kind of a union on the men without consulting “the membership, Socialist “Leadership” During the Strikes At the time of the first strike, Panken and Levy were invited by LaGuardia, and later were joined by Norman Thomas in negotiations. ‘The cab drivers never made any de- cision to invite these experts in sell- ing out strikes in the name of “So- cialism.” The policy of the Socialist leaders was the same as that pursued in the fur industry, where despite the riers selected the Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union as their organization, Panken proposed that. 5 per cent together with the .™- ployers, would decide who would lead them. In the hearings in Washington, Senator Wagner was forced to tell Judge Panken that his | policy is much like Fascism. From fact that 95 per cent of the fur-/ | wages, the return of the nickle, into |the background, thus giving only |pie in the sky to the workers, which |is a very good stock in trade on | the part of this former preacher and | now “Socialist” misleader. It was memory August Claessens is so ten-| Mr. Panken and Thomas who cre- | ated division by having the Brook- jyn and Bronx locals vote to return |to work in the first strike without consulting the Manhattan local, | where the men were ready to con- tinue the struggle. | The Socialist Party leaders in the \last strike further continued their |policy of treachery, beginning with |Yaising the “red spare” in order to split the unity of the strikers. Its strike leaders in the Bronx lined \up with the Tammany elements in | the union in an attempt to prevent |militant mass action and demon- |strations as advocated by the lead- jers of the Manhattan Local, which | would have forced the fleet owners |to terms. The greatest action of betrayal was the instructions by the |Socialist Party not to support the jconference call issued by labor unions for relief to the strikers, In spite of this sabotage, unions and mass organizations in New | York City, under the leadership of the labor committee set up at the conference, collected nearly $5,000 in support of the strike. | The Socialist Party leadership further supported the proposals of bor Board, which suggested that the |men go back and take a vote after- |wards. The Socialist Party attacked the leadership of the Manhattan |Loval for not submitting to this in the the very beginning Judge Panken' proposal, although it was unani-' Nain SGN BS |elements was one of always bring-| who for a number of years squeezed | tion of immediate needs, such as Si@ned the Roosevelt agreement in| |the automobile industry, legalizing | jcompany unions, LaGuardia turned | jabout face and like the obedient | jservant of General Motors—which | the is—refused to live up to the| | agreement. | The attack of the Socialist Party leadership on Ornor and Gilbert on this question further chowed their complete support of the A. F. of L. misieaders and the company union policy of the General Motors. a= a Re. HEN the militant leaders decided | to call a meeting of the rank} and file of the hackmen to organize | | the garage chairmen and bring the} whole question before them in order | Co. Union to Win, Workers’ Right ganization —Due to the overwhelming oppo- union, largely the Steel and Metal Workers’ Steel Cor- r steps to “democratize” the is to lay the med support union (all who at- supporters) and : Representa- “soft soap” m has been formed The purpose of t uite evidently is to set up another body through which to drag out,the increasingly numerous complaints of the work- o better organize the com- order to put over policies in a concerted pion in 8. Si ion and slightly dif- ferent form is being established in order to catch the steel workers who are seeking militant working class unionism. At meetings of the departments called by the company union, the workers on several occasions have taken the floor and raised their demands, as happened in the case of the meeting of the Central Mill men on March 30. “Company Is Too Poor” These workers raised the demand for double time for Sunday rk, clean drinking water, adequate wash room and toilet supplies, etc. When the company representative, Mac- Nabb, who was present, attempted to plead that “the company is too poor” to grant these demands and admitted that “the company union can’t change company rules or raise wages,” the workers answered that they are not concerned about. the profits of the company and that if the company union can’t do these things, “What good is it?” At other meetings, similar action by the workers was noted. It is because of these events that U. S. Steel is pushing forward the new form of company union. It is an attempt to keep the workers from going over into the S. M. W. I. U., which is gaining greater in- fluence each day. This new com- pany union is disguised with talk of it being an “independent” union. So far no meeting has been called to establish a branch of this outfit, The company union representative of the electfical depat{ment, Mallin- son, called this meeting and suc- ceeded in being elected as chairman of the Executive Board. He is sup- posedly responsible for drafting the plan for the new U. 8. Steel Em- Ploye Federation but it is quite clear that this plan has been drafted by the Steel Institute and Mallinson selected as the man to introduce it among the workers. While all these maneuvers of the steel trust are taking place, the misleaders of the Amalgamated As- sociation (A. F. of L.) are silent. They have tried in vain to keep the workers from acting, and hoping that the N. R. A. and Labor Boards would do something to improve their condition. The workers are start- ing to realize that only through their own united actions as proposed by the S. M. W. I. U. can condi- tions be changed. The S. M. W. TI. U. calls upon the workers of the steel mills to join in united action in the departments and mills, re- gardless of their union affiliation, around a militant program as pro- posed by the S. M. W.I. U. Taxi Union Expel, Orner, Gilbert in Absence of Both membership should study closely the black record of their leatership and reject this new move for betrayal and splitting of the organization. The taxicab drivers in New York do not want the Pankens and Levys, but have full confidence in the leadership of the militant elements around Orner and Gilbert, and it is of the utmost importance for every hackman to clean out imme- diately all of the racketeering and shady elements in the Manhattan local and reject the 5; ing tactics of the Socialist Party leadership. The strengthening and building of powerful garage committees com- prising the best fighting men to rep- resent them, building a real union based on democratic control of the rank and file, must be the answer to these misleaders. The Taxicab Drivers Union should begin imme- diately to take up all of the griev= ances of the men in the respective to discuss all of the problems and) garages for economic demands and tactics democratically, immediately| at the same time prepare for the the Socialist Party leaders got busy | coming struggles for full union rec- and called a joint council meeting, ognition and complete defeat of in which these fighting leaders were | company unionism. in the minority, and, without even) The taxicab drivers of New York notifying them, announced in‘the| City must reject the attempts of capitalist press that Orner, Gilbert,| the Socialist Party leaders to drive and Cantor are expelled. them into the A. F. of L. The union Mrs. Herrick of the Regional La- | Already the hackmen have an- | swered on this question and two | special meetings called by the Man-| | hattan Local endorsed the Policy | | of Orner and Gilbert and temporary | headquarters have been set up at | 131 West 28th St. | The union is calling further meet- \ings of the Manhattan and ak preparing to call meetings of the Bronx and Brooklyn men to put all) the questions before them and to prevent the hackmen from getting into the hands of any racketeering elements and into the hands of the sell-out experts of the A. F. of L, The rank and file Socialist Party | must take up a determined struggle against the revocation of the licenses and reinstatement of any blacklisted men. The union should begin a serious struggle for the unity of the white and Negro drivers against any discrimination and blacklisting and for the right of the Negro cab drive ers to be employed outside of Har- lem. The building of a powerful independent union of taxicab driv- ers, controlled by the rank and file and in unity with other transporta= tion workers will be the best answer to the splitting policy of the Socialist | Party leadership and its Tammany and LaGuardia henchmen,