The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 19, 1934, Page 3

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1934 Page Three StrikeStopsAll Street Some Notes for the Biography of a Rat--- 300 Westmoreland Cars in Omaha in| Ceerge Williams, Strikebreaker and Labor Spy Miners Reject NRA; Labor Dick, Who Is Bringing Libel Charges ° | By HARRY RAYMOND put the Illinois coal industry on ] C 4 tt ¢: ay ; ; : ; open shop I 2 Spite of A F L Heads - es ade libel pro- Against “Daily” Staff Writer, Was Jailed for | — «now For the Open Shop” | ect O m m 1 ees cee al Attempting to Bribe Union Leader | _The following letter, signed by paper is supposed to come in- ‘ pe ‘ | Wiliiains, was circulated among the ~——_— —— { Rank and File Flouts All Delay in Walkout © court with clean hands.) ————W— - - — er en laeraen eet Pit Groups To Have Nothing To Do With the ieee : é : Just how clean are the hands | Powder puff and other aids to | “The advent of radicals amidst | U.M.M.W.A, Heads and N.R.A. Labor Board Demanding Union and Pay Increases of Mr. George Williams, co- beauty.” the coal miners means that they Rages ears xh y ipleer: | = worker of the notorious Max George Williams, who is now! are here to stay, and that turmoil By TOM MINERICH PITTSBURGH, P The rank and file coal miners of the Westmoreland Coal Co., located in Westmoreland County, Pa., held a conference on April 8. The 300 miners present from the seven or eight mines of the coal company, decided to organize a general pit committee made up of the pit com- = mittees of all of the mines of the same company and to fight for better conditions in | working with Max Sherwood, head of the Sherwood Detective Bureau, [1457 Broadway, helped to supply a| |band of thugs to the taxi owners | to terrorize and slug strikers in the |recent taxi strike. Working for Williams and Sher- | wood in the taxi strike were the | Well-known thugs Eddy Gatti and | |Chas. Rinda, recently arrested in |Philadelphia and held on $3,000 bail }each, for defiling the homes of and chaos will predominate in the fields; also with the introduction of labor-saying machinery, work- ing conditions must change so that the mine operator can oper- ate at a profit and be able to com- pete with the numerous substi- tutes used to replace coal, and with non-union fields in West Virginia. “Any form of union organiza- tion must go, and in the present OMAHA, Neb., April 18.—All street carmen of Omaha/ Sherwood, who has brought crim- and Council Bluffs went out on strike 4 o’clock Monday morn- aa: Gar en ee ing. All trainmen, shopmen and barnmen of the Omaha | expose of the strikebreaking ac- | and Council Bluffs Street Railway Co. walked out demand-| tivities of these gentlemen, will be i ing increase in pay, recognition of the union and re-instate- | Sem, 3 the following notes on Mr.| ment of twelve active union® Williams’ biography: Although the strikebreaking ac- } vorkers. Peoria Unemployment After a delay of two weeks|} Councils Establish a | Five New Forced Labor tivities of Mr. George Williams dates back over a period of over 25 years, he first gained prominence in the the workers forced Interna- tional Vice-President J. M. Parker of the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Em- ployees of America to refuse to wait any longer and immediately the men went on strike. The street car men have been receiving 52 cents per hour and are now demanding 68} cents. The basic pay used to be 59 cents hen the street car com- vany had two-men cars; now the asic pay is 52 cents for one-man ear. Parker is leaving the decision of ke in the hands of R. L. Secretary of the Regional Labor Board at Kansas City. Parker is prepared to betray the strike when he said, “we are willing to arbitrate on the scale.” Pickets are barns. ‘The company is under the N.R.A. code which has a clause to agree to erbitration on the question of dis- charging men, Agreement to Delay Union officials had an agreement with the Regional Board to del; the strike by giving five days notice. The five days would have been up next Wednesday, thus permitting the company time to prepare to defeat the pending strike. City Council of Omaha acts against the strikers. Mayor Towl called a conference to discuss the situation. City Commissioner says, “if necessary we can mobilize autos just as we did in the war.” Com- missioner Hopkins said he believed that the council should license cars as taxis for the emergency merely by resolution. Police at the 25th and Cumings St. car barn let scabs go through by the show of shot guns. Police cruising cars were ordered to stay in stationed at all car |Ployment Councils here. Press as the central figure in a ey plot in the month of May,) It was during the hosiery work-| ers’ strike in Paterson, N. J., that! George Williams, using the name of Ralph Robinson, was caught red- handed in the act of attempting to Affiliated Branches | PEORIA, Ill—Unemployed, fired} C. W. A. workers, part-time and re- lief workers are being organized into branch locals of the Unem- Already the Veterans’ Council and Councils in Richwood Township, Peoria Heights, Bartonville and Limestone Township have organized and affili- ated with the Peoria Unemployment Councils. Committees are at work setting up branch locals in all other work- | ing-class sections of the city. bribe Carl Holderman, New Jersey |and New York representative of | the Full Fashioned Hosiery Workers. | Arrested for Bribery son press at that time, and the “Hosiery Worker,” official organ of the Federation of Full Fashioned | Hosiery Workers, a man who told cording to reports in the Pater-| Through the daily struggles led| the police he used the name of by the relief committees of rank} Ralph Robinson and O. G. Williams | and file workers, much of the red tape surrounding the granting of re- lief has been broken down, and re- lef is being won for jobless workers. MarineMenBoycott Of Lake Carriers Association Grows Fight Against Shipping of Scabs by 1.S.U, Heads BUFFALO. — Boycott against the Lake Carrier's Association Ship- ping Hall for a rotary system of shipping, continued by seamen of the Marine Workers Industrial Union despite attempts of the lead- ers of the International Seamen’s Union (A. F. of L.) to crack the boycott by shipping scabs from their | Shipping halls. the neighborhood of the strikes. . Eee ae The hotels and Seamen’s Relief A. F. of L. official, Parker, is re- ceiving secret radiogram messages sent by Washington to army of- ficials in Fort Omaha. There is an anti-picketing law in the state ef Nebraska. This Jaw will be used egainst the strikers to force them to acespt the terms of the Regional Board. Daily Workers have been dis- tributed and sold among the picketers. The paper was eagerly tead and discussed. The distributors Were told to come around again. Workers Urged to Jam Court Trial of Jailed Unemployed Friday NEW YORK—Polize brutally at- tacked a joint demonstration at the 149th Street Home Relief Bureau Tuesday, called by the Unemployed Committee of the Alteration Paint- ers Union and the Charlotte St. Unemployed Committee, dragged four workers into the back yard of the Home Relief Buro, and after clubbing them with blackjacks, took them off to jail. These were released through the International Labor Defense. When they come up for trial on Fride: | Home. 1 Wyle Ue, | | Fifty produce truck drivers went on Bureau has co-operated 100 per cent by withdrawing their men from all Lake Carriers Association ships. At a mass meeting last Sunday, the seamen elected a delegation to get better relief in the Seamen's Following the meeting, the M. W. I. U. changed their headquar- ters to larger rooms at 200 Ellicot St., due to the increase of seamen accepting the leadership of the M. N. J. Produce Drivers Win Wage Increase, ATLANTIC CITY, April 18.—| strike here yesterday and won their wage increase, which they demanded, | this morning. | Drivers bringing produce into the city from outside will receive $30 a week instead of the $20 before the strike, while local drivers received a raise from $15 to $25 a week. " Soda Water Causes Illness of Three | PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Bottled | soda water caused the illness of Marie Brennan and three daughters | mysterious (ater found to be George Williams) | | approached Carl Holderman with | would supply information regarding union activity to the agency which |the mysterious gentleman repre- sented. terested in the proposition and in | the presence of witnesses had fur- ther interviews with the so-called Mr. Robinson, The “Hosiery Worker” (Vol 6— No. 7) describes in detail how the bribe scheme was nipped in the bud: | “On Thursday, May 2, Holderman final arrangements for closing the deal between them. Holderman plainly told this person that he was not going to enter into the ,filthy business. The man became abusive and Holderman had him locked up by Paterson detectives. At the po- lice station “Robinson” gave ficti- cious names and addresses and de- clared he had casually met Holder- man on the street and had merely “asked him the time.” Hid Identity “After two days in jail the man still refused to reveal his identity. Attorneys discovered that, under the| New Jersey laws of 1911 it was a| misdemeanor to improperly influ- ence a labor representative.” “Robinson” was then brought to court on May 4. He was indicted on the charge of having sought to bribe Holderman, Because “Robin- son” would not tell who he was, the high bail of $5,000 was set by the City Recorder. When the case came to court the Mr. “Robinson” was fined $500. “Robinson” was later revealed to be George Williams in an article on America’s Organized Spy and Strike System, by Martin A. Dillman, which appeared Feb. 1, 1930 in the Federation News, published in Chi- cago. “Since the stool pigeon as well as his master often navigates under assumed names, a lot of people are reading the signature of George .Williams with the sickening recol- lections of the ‘T. G. Williams,’ who recently drew a $500 fine in a Pat- erson, New Jersey Court, for at- tempting to bribe a labor leader.” A Sheepish Figure Describing “Robinson’s” appear- | offers of large bribes if Holderman| | Holderman pretended to be in-| met Robinson, ostensibly to make! | GEORGE WILLIAMS, alias Robinson, as he appeared in 1929, when he was arrested on a bribery charge in Paterson, N. J. grey hair. Whether the dye was part of a disguise, or mere vanity, | could not be determined. Among the effects of the spy was a ‘Issues Clear in Workers Benefit | Militant Group Supports Social Insurance Bill H. R. 7598 eve | NEW YORK.—At no time in the | history of the organization were the |issues placed so clearly before the {members as at the present elec- |tions to the National Executive Board and the Control Committee of the Workmen's Sick and Death | Benefit Fund. membership, the Group to Safe- guard Proletarian Interests stands squarely on a platform calling for an anti-fascist united front, for support to the Workers Unemploy. |ment Insurance Bill (H. R. 17598), |for improved management of the | funds of the society, and for drastic reductions in the administrative ex- |Penses which have doubled in the past eight years. The candidates of the militant group are: President, J. Ysewyn; | vice-president, A. Fleischer; Rec. Sec., Elsa Jansen; National Sec., | Ernst Kornfeld; Treas., Ed. Arnold; for Trustees, Ernst Hubert, Ernst | Huettig, Wm. Hamp, Michael | Prechtl; and for Control Commit- | tee, Carl Jansen, Marie Thon, Her- man Selle, Fried, Koehler, Ernst |Margenau, Wm. A. Voelkel, Adam Goellert, Fritz Schubert, Ed. Scheer. i7 in ‘Anti ‘War Student Strike Are Suspended De Witt Clinton High School, all strikers of the S.KF. industries. | While on the Philadelphia job, the jthugs were said to be working for | the Bergoff Detective Agency, 2 |Columbus Circle, New York. (We | will deal with Bergoff in future articles.) The “Williams Service” Williams, while for many years a |close associate of Max Sherwood, | jalso hed a private detective bureau | the Williams eaking organi- ished in 1930, The Wil- had phone servive at 11 West 42nd Street and Williams jhad an office in the Fisk Building | where he plied his nefarious trade. | In 1930 the Williams Service be- | | fight the operator has the chance | of a decade to free his business | and go ahead! “The Williams Service in their tong years of experience and with an excellent staff, can introduce the open shop without costly ex- pense in money. terrorism, would be able to op- erate your mines with part of your own help and organize a working force that would mean the end of terror and union dom- ination. (Undoubtedly Williams had in mind making a coal miner out of the New York gangster, Eddy Gatti —H.R.) “We suggest that you bring this We, eliminating iza- came active in the Illinois coal| ™matter up before your organ’ fields. At this time Williams made| tion or take it up with other op- In placing the issues before the | \overtures to the mine owners asking | ¢rators in your district and the |for a job, assuring the operators | |that for a consideration he could | | To Demonstrate at ‘Coach Co. Sat. for Fund Elections Jobs for Negroes. ostox'sn ort'tuor! White Workers Rallying) to Mass Fight Against | Discrimination | | NEW YORK—‘We demand {obs| for Negro drivers and conductors! | We demand an end to discrimina-| tion!” will be thundered before the | office of the Fifth Ave. Coach Co.,| 132nd St. and Broadway, by thou- | sands of Negro and white workers writer would be glad to present his plans and mode of operation, the appointment to be made at any place designated by you. “We are the only company with coal mining experience and so far we have handled every major strike in the mines and never lost one. “We would submit our refer- ences for your approval, “WHICH SHALL IT BE, “GEORGE WILLIAMS, “President.” Thus the slimy strikebreaker solicited business. No doubt the coal mining experience which Williams referred to was the little job he did in the West Virginia fields, where he is reported to have hoodwinked a lot of men to do a strikebreaking job and then left them stranded without pay. Or perhaps he has in mind a job he did some time ago for the Pitts- got money from the company offi- named Roche, in the hole, | Rights, 119 W. issth St.. is suP-| "a man who knows Williams very |ported by many unions, workers’ | egg |clubs, Unemployed Councils, In-| Well described him in 1930 in the | ternational Labor Defense branches | fellowing manner: cath |and other, organizations throughout ‘He comes around soliciting, the city. The Communist Party| wearing a big fur coat and ® fur |and Young Communist League have| hat... . Mr baa Sole fe | stated they will mobilize their mem-| have access to the books 0: ie | bership in this demonstration Communist Party eat he aid : q 7 inside service, as well as claims to cavers sep @ ve te ns | break strikes, His first approach, Pps eat Shand Sas he Negro | When calling on a prospect, is to | Strugg! gt | Rights, 119 W. 135th St., the Inter- | 8Uarantee to give at the eet 54 2 x py! y* b i ie rospect s national Labor Defense, 126th st.|°f 12 or 15 men in the prospe F lant who are members of the and Lenox Ave., and the Liberator | 2 ea “ ise Joffice, 2162 Seventh Ave. where|Communist Party, or some radica ospect. can check Harlem workers will gather, and (sich Wgeratleseditehd 4 up on this, and if he has the men | aearats Bone to the Coach Co.|;. his plant by the names given |him, he is to pay Williams $12.50 Hundreds of organizations, speak- | or each name. ing in the name of thousands of r. Williams claims he has the workers, have sent letters of pro-|inside of the entire Communist test to President Frederick T-| party, and knows the names of all Wood, of the Coach Co., demand- members of all radical parties in jing jobs for Negro drivers and con- | this country.” ductors, oe an Bene. oe ee Like a slimy snake, this ae members will not use the busses! stool pigeon, racketeer and labor |until the campaign is over. Daily,| soy continues to ply his trade in and other parts of the city are|/the LaGuardia administration. Camps for New York NEW YORK.—Five new labor camps are to be built | York state to house “trans |Homer W. Borst, transient relief director, announced recently. This will bring the total enrol New York state up to 1,40¢ ed ie hor forced Roosevelt. Relief Workers on | Strike for Jobs tee Bridgeport Bergin, Socialist ‘Leader’ Shows No Signs of | Fighting | BRIDGEPORT, Conn., April 18.— |Several hundred workers went on strike yesterday on the F.E.R.A. pro- jects and hundreds more went home, when the relief administrators an- nounced that 850 men, one third | lof the quote, would be transferred |to city relief. On city relief they | get $5.60 in scrip and a box. | Jack Bergin, socialist commis- sioner of education, who is one of | the safety engineers on the job and receives a good salary appointed himself “leader” of the workers and called upon the workers to leave on Saturday, April 21. : see the superintendent of Public The demonstration called by the|Cials and sneaked off leaving his) wejfare, League of Struggle for Negro|Partner, another strikebreaker! ‘The delegation, followed by about 200 workers went to the Welfare building where the committee pre- sented the folowing for ‘“‘considera- tion.” Payment should be in cash at the rate of fifty cents an hour for twenty-four hours a week; con- tinuation on the Fera, prote: against certain projects being tra: ferred entirely to city relief while others were not touched, If these | proposals would not be met by the | Relief Commission, then it calls upon the workers to strike, | An announcement was made by Bergin, after returning from the conference, where they received | little satisfaction, and a hint that that there was worse yet to come, that telegrams would be sent to President Roosevelt, Miss Little (in | charge of Fera work in Conner cut) to Mayer McLevy and to the Relief Commission. | That there is no intention of the present leadership of waging a mili- tant struggle was revealed by one of the delegates who announced to | the workers who waited in the rain for their report, that they wanted NEW YORK.—Seven students of | workers from the Bronx, Brooklyn| New York City, under the eyes of | no trouble of any kind. They just j want to express their grievances yesterday. They were rushed to the | ance in the Paterson court, the re- Northwestern Hospital. Police seized | port in the “Hosiery Worker” says: seniors, were suspended yesterday | reporting to the League of Struggle | |from a class needed for graduation, | for Negro Rights for picket duty What is the Mayor doing about|and appeal to the proper author- Williams and Sherwood? Will he| ities. If there was no results, then the mines. Also to hold an- other meeting during the later part of this month. The meeting decided to have nothing to do with the N. R. A. labor board and the W. A. officials in settling their cases. “If we want ases we can do this e N. R.A. . A. officials,” nce the miners ike under the contract, and are subject to a fine of $1.00 a day, the miners decided t when they have grievances they will go into the mines, but will only load one car per man. This conference of the Westmore- land coal miners shows how the miners feel towards the officials and the N. R. A. board. They have just received a new wage agreement. This calls for a $5.00 a day scale and the seven-hour day and five-day week. This means a wage increase of 24 per cent, and sounds very good to one that does not work in the mines or knows nothing about the conditions in the mines. For instance, this increase only covers the day men. They make up about 10 per cent of the miners, The other 90 per cent. only get a few cents more on the ton and work | one hour less, thus they actually get a@ cut in wages. Besides this the rent for the company houses, the cost of powder and house coal has gone up, as has the price for food and clothes. | _ These miners at a conference held in the early part of January, adopted a resolution calling for the $6 a day | wage scale and the six hour-day and the five-day week. Besides this the resolution called for the payment of | dead work, against arbitration, no ‘d or the U. min i > not oO burgh Coal & Iron Co., where he/ their jobs, elect a delegation and | discrimination against the Negro miners and the youth, against the strike penalty clause, ete. This was sent to the 1933 U.M.W.A, conven- tion. Instead of these demands the | miners received the recent scale that was signed for them by Lewis, the coal bosses and the N. R. A. When the coal diggers held their conference there was not one of the officials present. They are afraid to go and face the coal miners. Of course some of their supporters | were present. They defended the present appointed officials, one said, “Show me a better official and I will follow him.” In the meantime the officials tell the miners that they will not be | able to elect their own officials or |to have a convention. They are afraid of a convention or an election because of the bitter feeling of the | miners. The officials give as their reason, “the district is not self sus- | taining and Lewis has to pay the bills out of the International trea- |sury. That is the reason they can- | not elect their own officials.” There is much talk of the rank and file calling a convention and electing | their own officials. This was done | by the miners in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The movement in Westmoreland | is starting out good. The leadership April 20th, at the Magistrates samples of the soda which were; “A sheepish figure in an expen- |for their participation in the na-|and to distribute leaflets. All! continue to allow them to operate? | they will abide by the decision of Court at 161st St. and Washington Ave., at 9 a.m., workers should jam the court and demand their uncon- ditional release. Workers organiza- tions should write and telegraph sent to the city chemist for analysis, | but no action has been taken | against either the makers or sellers | of the drink, thus exposing man} other workers to the danger of ill-{ sive business suit and spats, Mr. Robinson stood mum before the judge and the police. When first arrested, Robinson had brown | both members of the National Stu-|are urged to report for this picket| with Bergoff and Shaw, labor | hair, After a couple of days in | tional anti-war strike last Friday. Among those suspended are San. |for Speiberg and Matthew Amberg, dent League Chapter of De Witt yorkers, Negro and white, who can| |take part in this important fight | | against discrimination and for jobs, | PS, ee. Tomorrow's article will deal the authorities in charge. | i} —$_____ | Down Tools, Demonstrate May Ist to force the adoption of the | Workers’ Unemployment Insur- | is in the hands of good rank and file |miners. They are connecting the | fight of the coal bosses and the fight against the Lewis machine, which is a coal operators machine. They are pautae and to turn out by the thou- spies, who have long been active . | 7 also rating the need of extending sands in Saturday's demonstration.| in the business of breaking strikes. | ance Bill, H. R. 7598! the trial judge, protesting the brutal this movement to the other mines | ness, iF police terror and demanding the | the lock-up, it was noticed he had | Clinton, = Telease of the prisoners. Protest Connection Of School Official With Silver Shirts TOLEDO, Ohio.—Protest has been aroused here against the reputed connection between Dr. P. Bruce Brockaway, health officer of the public schools and the Silver Shirts who have begun a membership campaign here. Clarence L. Wright of Columbus, the organizer of the fascist. group spoke at meeting of the local lun- cheon-discussion club at the invita- tion of Dr. Brockaway, it was stated. Protests are centered around the demand that no officer connected with the school system should be connected with a group preaching discrimination against racial and political groups. Open C. P. Meeting in Roxbury, Mass., On 8th Party Convention ROXBURY. Mass.—All members. of working class organizations are invited to an open meeting’ of the Communist Party to be held Satur- day, April 21 at 8 p.m., at the Dud- ley Opera House, 113 Dudley St. Re- ports will be givén by N. Sparks, J. McCarthy, J. Dawson and others on the Eighth National Convention of the Communist Party. COPS ATTACK QUEBEC JOBLESS HULL, Quebec, April 18—Police and firemen attacked a demonstra- tion of nearly 1,000 jobless workers here yesterday and arrested Jean Lafontaine, one of their leaders. The workers were demanding increased relief, declaring that they could not live on the pittance allowed them. Down tools May 1 for the re- lease of the Scottsboro boys, against lynch terror, for equal rights for the Negroes} How Chicago AF. ‘ of Call Conference to Aid jobs, and growing discontent, and) - Roosevelt Hunger New Deal By BILL GEBERT “The Communists will lead the workers, and this we must pre- vent.” That was the dominant idea that led the to calling of a con- ference by the Executive Commit- tee of the Chicago Federation of Labor for April 29th, at 2 p.m., at Ashland Auditorium. The calling of the conference which is specifically designed to counter the growing discontent of the A. F. of L. members and to rally the workers behind the Roose- velt program, followed the presenta- tion of a resolution for the endorse- ment of the Workers Unemployment Insurance Bill, H, R. 7598. Thirty locals of the A. F. of L. endorsed the Bill, The Chicago A. F. of L. Executive feared that when the Bill was presented to the dele- gated body of the Federation it might pass, John Fitzpatrick, pres- ident, moved to refer the resolu- tion to the executive. At this executive meeting the plan to meet the mounting dis- content of the A. F. of L. by mobil- izing it behind the Roosevelt hun- ger program was concocted. In a consultive capacity at this executive committee meeting in ad- dition to. delegates Johnson and Cohn were also invited representa- tives of the Chicago Workers Com- mittee on Unemployment; namely, J. L. Duffy, a Democratic politician who succeeded Karl Borders (now on the payroll of Hopkins’ starva- tion commission), and the Social- ists, Guss Patterson, W. C. Hart, and Simon Frajor. A heart-to-heart talk was had between Duffy, his Socialist friends, and Hart said to Fitzpstrick be- L. Heads Try to Prevent Communists from Leading because the Communists were ac- ‘tive, something must be done to keep them from leading the work- ers. “Nefarious Schemes and Traitors” John Fitzpatrick and Edward | Nockles, secretary of the Chicago | Federation thereupon decided to is- Sue the call. The call openly pro- claims its aims as follows: “The time is now at hand for organized and unorganized labor to rise to the occasion and take immediate action in exposing the nefarious schemes of the traitors to our country and our beloved President, Franklin Delano Roose- velt.” According to the same call, by signing the N. R. A., Roosevelt “freed by millions more men, women and children held in bondage and slavery than did our illustrious, martyred President, Abraham Lin- coin.” After all this praise for the N. R. A. and Roosevelt, the Call quotes from a recent speech of Roosevelt in which he proclaims: “The government cannot forever continue to absorb the whole bur- den of unemployment.” They also speak in the Call that the Conference is to devise ways. and means and: “To take action that will put ten million unemployed people back to work and back up our President, the N. R. A. in their Civil and Pub- lic Works program and to demand from Congress the passage of the Wagner Bills as well as additionally necessary railroad legislation.” From this it is very clear that the Chicago Federation of Labor leader- ship, by calling this conference, is not interested in really putting ten million people back to work, but is precisely and primarily interested in demonstrating to the Roosevelt New Deal administration that it is be- { cause of the closing of C, W. A. hind it. The Chicago Federation of BILL GEBERT Labor defends openly the liquida- tion of C. W. A. jobs in its official organ, “Federation News,” March 17, 1934, when it proclaimed: “There is absolutely no chance of anyone being reinstated. The Cc, W. A. as now constituted will soon be a memory.” And then Nockles, at the meeting of the Chicago Federation of Labor, on April Ist, declared in connection with the conference: “I would stage a march to Wash- ington and Congress demanding that Congress back up the President for the New Deal.” So much as to the purpose of the convention as outlined by the of- ficialdom of the Chicago Federation of Labor. And now, who is invited to this conference? According to the call there are to be delegates elected from the local unions as follows: “From each local union having 50 members or less, 2 delezates. “From each local leped (ean 100 members or less, 3 delegates. “From each local union having 250 members or less, 4 delegates. “From each local union having 500 members or less, 5 delegates. “One additional delegate to be allowed for each additional 500 members or major fraction thereof.” Bureaucratic Packing The Call then demands that all the presidents, and secretaries of each local union, all the members of the District Councils, and all other officials, city and state, should attend—that is, the conference is to be packed to capacity by the official- dom in an attempt to prevent any move on the part of the rank and file delegates. The purpose of this conference is further exposed by the fact that in| spite of unanimous decision of the | delegated body of the Chicago Fed- eration of Labor to participate in the United Front Job March on March 31, this decision was entirely overruled by the Executive Board. Despite this, a number of locals of the A, F. of L., as well as locals of the Chicago Workers’ Committee on Unemployment, did participate in the march of 15,000 workers of Chi- cago for jobs, Unemployment In- surance Bill (H. R. 7598) and for relief, The A. F. of L. Rank and File Committee for Unemployment In- surance and Relief is calling upon the local unions which are sending delegates to this conference to elect them on the program of: 1, For the Workers’ Unemploy- ment and Social Insurance Bill (H, R. 7598). 2. No discrimination against Negro and foreign-born workers in distribution of jobs and relief. 3. For the demands adopted by Local No. 637 of the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paper Hangers. )File Committee demands democracy | in the local unions and calls upon! |the members to fight against gang- | sterism and racketeering for which Chicago is famous, It demands ex- | emption of dues for all unemployed | members and calls for united action | on the part of the organized and} unorganized workers, employed and | unemployed, in common struggle | for the above enumerated demands. | Further, the Rank and File Com-| mittee demands increase of wages, | shortening of the working day for the workers in the city. Expose Wagner Measure It is upon these demands that in a number of local unions elec‘ion of delegates is taking place and to, propose this to the Conference and rally members of the Chicago Fed- eration of Labor and Railroad Brotherhoods for these demands. The Rank and File Committee also exposes the fake unemployment in- surance bill of Wagner, which in reality is not only not unemploy- ment insurance, but, if it would have been adopted, it would in the city of Chicago cut the present ratio of unemployment relief given. The Communist Party fully sup- ports the demands as formulated by the Rank and File Committee and further brings the whole ques- tion of this conference before the workers, organized and unorganized, and especially in the shops to show the real and true character of the leadership of the Chicago Federa- tion of Labor. The Role of the A. F. of L. Leaders At the recent District Conven-|staunch supporters. The workers| Fear GrowingDiscontent of Rank and File in A. F. of L. Locals took full advantage of their posi- tion as an openly supported gov- | ernment trade union organiza- tion, to intensify agitation and propaganda for the support of the capitalist system; arbitration boards—agreements with the | bosses against the workers. The A. F. of L. has become the main force that is stifling the militant | moods, dissatisfaction and radi- | calization of the Chicago work- ing class, through the suppression | of the growing discontent within the A. F, of L. unions; through | open attack against the revolu- | tionary and independent unions. | By intensively injecting patriot- | ism, white chauvinism and na- tionalism in the A. F. of L., is helping the war machinery of the government.” It is in the light of this correct characterization of the role and character of the Chicago Federation | of Labor that the Communist Party mobilizes its forces to expose the Chicago Federation of Labor and rallies the workers first of all in struggle for the Workers’ Unem- ployment Insurance Bill, H. R. 7598, for public works, for jobs and re- jlief for the unemployed, and ex- | poses the Wagner Bills and the Roosevelt New Deal, of which Fitzpatrick, Nockles and Nelson are in the same district, and already at | the April 8 meeting their were some | miners present from some of the other mines. The Westmoreland coal miners, with long traditions of struggle against the coal bosses and the | Lewis machine will set the pace for the other mners to follow, Ths fight will be connected by the rank and file Coal Digger, the organ of the Rank and File Committee of the U. M. W. A. that will come out this | week. Arrests Fail to _ Halt Phila. Strike Distillery Workers Vote | for FU. U.4. PHILADELPHIA, April 18.—In an | attempt to break the strike of the | Continental Distillery workers the |eity government has stepped in | with a reign of police terror. A squad of cops is constantly on | gauard in front of the Washington jAve. plant. A motorcycle squad meets each trolley stopping at the plant. This squad escorts the scabs | inside. In spite of this very few workers attempted to enter the plant yester- day. Vote for T. U. U, L. At a mass meeting held Sunday the strikers voted unanimously to affiliate their union, Distillery Workers Union, Local 1, with the elected a rank and file committee Trade Union Unity League, and of strikers representing every na- tionality in the union, Saturday a striker was arrested tion of the Communist Party, in/of Chicago shall see clearly the real| when he tried to speak to a scab, the adopted resolution the role of|role of the capitalist agents in the|and two others were pulled into a the Federation of Labor has been) ranks of the working class and in| patrol wagon when they objected characterized as follows: “Especially in Chicago, the cor- rupt and racketeering leadership of the A. F. of L., which has be- come an integral pari of the gov- In addition to this, the Rank aud, exnmens machinery, the N, R. Ay | the course of daily struggles in the jlocal unions to eliminate them |from the ranks of the organized | workers and place the leadership |in the hands of the militant, revo- \lutionary workers. to this procedure. At a hearing | Sunday all but one were discharged, | Down tools May Ist! Show your. will for the overthrow of capital- \ ism, for a Soviet United Statest