The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 3, 1934, Page 3

RP bia DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 3. 1934 Page Three — NRA Fake Fight On Co. Unions Seen In $50,000 Weirton Gift Ickes Grants PWA Funds | to Steel Co. Which “Violated” N.R.A. NEW YORK. eae the same time shat the federal government brought suit for an injunction against the Weirton Steel Co., which is loudly proclaimed by the N. R. A 4s their great “fight in behalf of the right of the workers to organize freely,” the U. SS. government, through the person of Ickes, Sec- retary of the Interior, apportioned close to $50,000 of P, W. A. funds to the Weirton Steel Co. for rail- road equipment. This action is highly indicative of the whole} sham-battle now being “waged” by the government aaginst the steel} trust's determined campaign to} maintain the company unions in their plants, in the Wilmington, Del., courts. It is evident that Roosevelt and the N. R. A, had no intention of banning company unions in the steel industry but on the contrary, fostered them. As stated by Fly at the trial, “it was not a code jammed down the throats of this industry, but one [the steel code] which the Weirton Steel aided in forming.” The government action following the militant strike of the Weirton workers in September is aimed to cover up the complete agreement of the steel trust and the government on the policy of maintaining and fostering company unions as seen im the Roosevelt government's Wag- | | Union Leads Walkout as | |Harvester Workers Present Demands ner Bill. The Weirton strike, it will be recalled, was broken by Roose- velt’t promise that if the workers returned to the plants, they would be guaranteed utmost freedom and opportunity to choose the organ- ization they wanted in a govern- ment-supervised election. The over- whelming sentiment of the work- ers was for the A. F. of L. In this connection the sell-out policy of the A. F. of L. leaders was brought oue at the trial by the statement of the Weirton Steel counsel Reed that the strike against the company union was “unauthor- zed” by the national officers of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers, the A. F. of L. union concerned. While the present farce is being conducted in the Wilmington, Dela- | ware, courts with the joint consent. of the Weirton Steel Co., the gov- ernment, and the officials of the A. F. of L., and through the many months of sham “determined ac- tion” taken by the government to- wards a “solution” of the Weirton zase, the Weirton Steel Company has combatted the right of the vorkers to organize for militant struggle against rotten conditions. {n all this time the company has aot ceased to attempt to force the workers into the company union, and to seek to prevent any action of the workers aimed to break the domination of the company union system. It is obvious that the present trial will be long-drawn out and used to maintain the company policy of the steel tr: 2,000 Aircraft Men Reject Order of the NRA To End Strike Curtiss Herds Scabs in Many Cities; Strike Continues BUFFALO, N. Y., May 2—Two thohsand aircraft construction strikers of the Curtiss and Consol- idated Aeroplane plants, after a mass meeting of the Aeronautical Union, emphatically rejected the or- der of the Regional Labor Board that they return to work and sub- mit to “arbitration.” The com- panies, in an effort to break the strike, are herding scabs. They have brought cots into the plant to keep the scabs inside. The Regional Labor Board ordered the strikers to return to work on the same conditions that prevailed when the strike started, using as bait in this strikebreaking decision the promise of future arbitration. The union réfused to accept the de- cision, ieee sek Herd Scabs CHICAGO, Ill., May 2.—The Chi- cago papers carry want ads of the Curtiss and Consolidated Aircraft Cos., of Buffalo, advertising for scabs. The ads, signed T 277 Trib- une and Z 155 Tribune, do not state that a strike is on. They advertise for machinists, benchhands, polish- ers, sheet metal workers, carpenters, sheet aluminum alloy workers, tool makers, and other trades. Workers are asked to remain away from these plants, One worker, who answered an ad, told the Daily Worker, “I an- sweréd an advertisement in the Chicago Daily News and Tribune for méchanics and bench hands. I came to the Ritzy Palmer House and spoke to Mr. Vaughn. This scab agent was very polite. He told me ‘the strike is being led by Commu- nists.’ He promised me all sorts of good things—such as, for instance, ctaying at hotels, free transporta- tion, protection against bricks. Closed vans are provided for the scabs to travel in, he said. He did not know that he was talking to a worker who would rather die of starvation than scab. He told me shat the government had a big or- der and they needed men badly. “I want to warn all workers| against this scabherding, I call union | Organize Packinghouse Union in California Plant To Fight Filth LOS ANGELES, Calif. Workers at the Dr. Ross’ Packinghouse are beginning to organize in the Pack- inghous Workers Industrial Union to fight the conditions of speed-up, filthy working conditions and low pay prevalent in the plant. The superintendent, “Humpy,” has been threatening individual workers in the attempt to make them quit the union. The workers, knowing the solidarity of all the workers in the plant, are defying him, Leaflets have been issued in the plant expressing the demand for clean showers, toilets and dressing- rooms in place of the filthy toilets, the one shower and the twisted and| rusty lockers now in the plant. The truck-drivers and other work- ers employed around the plant are! also being drawn into eae ANS Ene union, 400 New Mexico Miners Strike for Higher Pay Scale N. M. National Miners UMW Tries Scabbery MADRID, N. M.. May 2.—Under the leadership of the National Miners Union, 400 coal workers of the Albuquerque & Cerrillos Coal! Co., at Madrid, New Mexico, went| out on strike on April 27 to protest against the cempany’s decision to pay wages lower than the seale set in the new coal code. The waik-out was 100 per cent. with the workers militant in the face of desperate conciliatory efforts by the local N.R.A, administrator and the State Labor Commissioner, to prevent action. Recently conditions at Madrid have grown intolerable, the men working only one day a week. De- ductions for rent, light. coal, lamps, powder, caps, blachsmith, physician, gets a cent of pay. At present, charges for rent alone (exorbitant charges for such foul rotten hovels) exceed a month’s pay for digging coal in the most favorable locations, In poor holes miners can make but 12c per day over the cost of powder and caps. Yet the company flatly refuses to remit any rents during this virtual shutdown. As a result, 50 families are already on the county every week. Two weeks ago a committee, led by the President of the N. M. U. local, Comrade Pallares, went to Santa Fe and forced the Dist. Relief Director to put all of the jobless | families on relief. They also visited the district agent of the N. R, A. and were told that if the company did not live up to the coal code that the N. R. A. would close the pits. As a result of the struggles carried out by the N. M. U. and the Com- munist Party, the United Mine | Workers of America (A. F. L.) as usual is trying to break into the field in order to mislead and to be- tray the Madrid miners. Bill Surich, a company man and former con- tractor for the company, when a vote to strike was taken, got up on the floor and read a letter from the scab-herder Frank Hefferley, district organizer of the U.M.W.A. The let- ter instructed that all of the miners should be let into the U. M. W. A. free from paying initiation, that the government and the N. R. A. was that they were against the N. M. U. But the miners were not fooled by this maneuver. Next Sunday another mass meet- ing is being held. The members of the N. M, U. and the Communist Party unit in Madrid calls on the strikers to keep their rasks solid! To force the company to give in to their demands. At the same time the Party and the N. M. U. will expose the Hefferleys and Suriches and the whole strikebreaking role of the U. M. W. A. officialdom. Journeymen Tailors Vote To Choose Own Union in L. A. Strike LOS ANGELES, © Calif —Journey- men tailors, 500 strong, now in their fifth week of striking, at a mass meeting voted unanimously to ac- cept the challenge of the Regional Labor Board to take a vote to dée- termine to which union they wished to belong. The Journeys Tailors Union, A. F. of L. scab union, has issued leaf- lets calling on the strikers to join their racketeering union. This is the result of a deliberate alliance with the Regional Labor Board and the employers to force the strikers back into the shops. The strikers are determined to re- sist all attempts to herd them back into the shops until their demands are won, upon the Chicago unemployed to refuse to break the strike of our brothers in Buffalo. Instead of scabs, let us give them courage in the fight against the Curtiss Com- pany. I immediately notified the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union, and they will do everything possible to prevent the shipment of scabs to Buffat ~ solidly behind the U. M. W. A. and’ | relief rolls, with more being added| ovation when it was announced he | |District Organizer of the Commu- | etc., étc,, are made before a worker, 20,000 in Chicaas Meet Roar Call for Unity in Struggle Widow of Haymarket Martyr Addresses Workers 20.000 March In Chicago | (Midwest Bureau, Daily Worker) CHICAGO, May 2.—While §ocial- ist Party leaders and renegades from Communism confined the ob- servance of May Day to a night meeting in the Masonic Temple, where at most 2,000 could find space, 20,000 workers under the leadership of the Communist Party and the United Front May Day Committee roared a call for unity in struggle against Hunger, Fas- cism and War in historic Union Park, scene of the Haymarket mas-| sacre. Nina Spies, widow of August Spies, one of the Haymarket Mar- tyrs, evoked a thunderous cheer as she called on the workers to | “turn out those who murdered my husband and other revolutionary workers.” The parade of 20,000 workers through the Loop, Chicago's busi- | ness section, was in itself an expres- | |sion of the organized might of Chi- cago workers, who defeated the at-| tempts of the business men and| their police watchdogs to ban the | march. Over 50.000 workers lined | the sidewalks, cheering lustily as the marchers passed by. At Union Park, the central dem-| onstration was joined by 1.500 other workers, who marched from the Northside. This division was headed | by 75 tannery workers, who downed | their tools when the march passed their plant. At the time of the demonstration, exactly 48 years after the first May | Day strike in which their plant con- | tributed many fighters. a committee | of McCormick Harvester Company | workers presented demands for wage increases and betterment of condi- |tions to the management. The disciplined march through the Loop, financial heart of the! Midwest, was marked by one arrest. that of a march captain who re- sisted attempts of hoodlums to dis- tt the march. Cheer Announcement of New Bonus March The parade wound up in Grant Park where, at a brief mass mect- ing, announcement by Moss of the Workers Ex-Servicemen’s League of the new bonus march received a tremendous ovation. Bill Gebert, nist Party, and Joe Weber headed} a list of speakers. Chicago veterans are leaving today to join the other marchers in Washington, D. C. | Bob Minor Receives Thunderous Ovation | In the evening, 2,000 workers | poured into Ashland Auditorium to | hear Bob Minor, member of the Central Committee of the Commu- | nist Party, who received a standing was going to stay in Chicago perma- | nently. Minor’s speech was con- stantly interrupted by applause which reached thunderous propor- tions when he declared: “Let us fulfill the aim of the Haymarket heroes by building a workers’ society—a Soviet Amer- ica.” $5 Donated for Chinese Red Army In the coliection a five dollar gold piece was donated for the | war chest of the heroic Chinese Red Army. This act of interna- tional solidarity evoked a thun- @erous cheer from the audience, Hundreds were turned away from! a scheduled meétirig on the South- side by police, who blocked the en- trance to a school although per- mission for the meeting had been secured from the Board of Educa- tion, The meeting was held in a nearby workers’ hall, where action was planned to answer this latest attack by the police on the right of Negro and white workers to as- semble on the South Side. Fire Mexican Berr Pickers; Hire City Workers for Less! EL MONTE, Calif. Mexican workers in the berry fields here arc being fired and workers from Los Angeles aré being imported to take their place at less wages. The El Monte workers being fired belong to 2 Mexican reformist union to whom the growers promised 22c an hour. The new workers are b2- ing paid_only 17c¢ an hour. The officials of the Mexican union| are keeping militant workers out of the union meetings. This is arous- ing disgust among the rank and file. Plans are under way to or- ganizé these workers into the Can- nery and Agricultural Workers In- dustrial Union. Urge Workers to Pack | Court at Chicago Trial) CHICAGO, Ill, May 2.—Workers are urged to pack Judge Brook's Court at the 11th St. Station here on May 10, when eight workers. jailed by the Standford Park Relief Station come up for triel. The eight jobless workers were jailed after they had refused to leave the relief station until the cases they had présénted had been granted relief. TORNADO KILLS 20 CALCUTTA, India, May 2.— Twenty were killed and many were reported missing when a tornado struck the town of Sylhet in the province of Assam. FIANCE DEAD, GIRL KILLS SELF NEW YORK.—Despondent over her fiance's death of pneumonia, Dorothy Lloyd, 26, turned on 5 gas jets in her home at 107 E. 34th St. and committed suicide. Hicn ores Milevaukk pe Wisin Give allio Huge Oi At Big May Day Meetin Worker) (Special to the Dai MILWAUKEE, Wis., May 2 i v7; | waukee workers began their Ma ae Arle bh ne ° | Pioneers and a ker from’ th Day celebration on April 30, when a] »,,. Fase * ecan ,3|large Kenosh shop recently on Red flag was raised on the Old} sic, Courthouse, where it flew for 24)°° "~~ hours, the authorities finally being} Browder received a long, enthu- forced to saw down the fiag-pole| siastic ovation. He gave a penetrat-| before they cold lower the Red fia ing anal, of the fascist character) Three red flags were also in West| of the “New Deal,” and dealt with |e Allis, one over the Allis Chalmers} large farm machinery and war ma- terial plant. Columns of workers marched from all sections of the city to Red Arrow Park where a mighty May First demonstration was held. Ten thou- {sand workers actively participated while tens of thousands lined ad- joining streets cheering the mands raised by the demonstration against Hunger, Fascism and War, for Unemployment Insurance Bill de- H. R. 7598 and the defense of the; Soviet Union. Through amplifiers, from the Communist Party, the League of Struggle for Negro Rights} and the Trade Union Unity League, spoke to thousands of workers. 70 Groups in Parade In the parade were 70 organiza-) tions of the United Front May Committee, colorful banners and signs and manning dozens of beautiful floats. The line of march was 14 blocks long, with over 6,000 workers march- ing. Hundreds of women, Nogro workers, children, Party members were in the march. Thousands of office workers lined Wisconsin Avenue, the main street of Milwaukee, as the parade passed. Workers Give Tremendous Ovation to Browder Over 3,500 workers the Auditorium in the evening cele- bration to hear Earle Browder, Secretary of the Communist Party, U. 8. A. The. hall was beautifully decorated, the main feature being a| huge 30-foot painting of a worker smashing the chains of capitalism. M. Childs, District Organizer of the speakers | Day| carrying hundreds of} and Socialist jammed into n to B. awder unist Party neluded _ resided Speak- fhe fight of the toiling masses for| their immediate demands and for | the conquest of power, contrasting | the achievements of the toilers of | the Soviet Union with the misery | confronting the workers in every | corner of the capitalist world. He explained the role of the Commu- nist Party of the U. S. A., as the} | organizer and leader of the sti | gle for a Soviet America and showed | that only a workers and farmers) | government can solve the proolems | facing the masses. Browder Urges Struggle for Soviet Power When Browder asked how many present had had their wages raised under N. R. A., only 8 raised their hands out of 3.500, Thousands of | hands were raised, however, when he asked how many had received wage cuts, Among the many features on the program was the new Daily Worker chorus of 30 Negro and white work- ers singing in English. The collec- tion was eee Cc. C, C. BOYS BATTLE FIRES LANSING, Mich.—Over one hun- dred forest fires raging in the Lower Peninsula were being fought by Rangers and C. C. C. youth tod The largest fire was near Pruden- ville. A warning was issued by Ray Cotton, sectetary of the Conserva- tion Commission, who warned that the fires would increase if the pres- ent dry weather continued and if the wind, which has had a great velocity, did not diminish. from | Above — PHILADELPHIA: A section of the 30,000 workers who massed into Reyburn Plaza, Tues- day, in the largest revolutionary demonstration ever held in Phil- adephia, Left — BOSTON: Part of the 20,000 workers who ignored police provocation and annoyances of patriotic societies and held a mighty May Day parade and meeting. 37 Arrested (.W.A. ‘Workers Head Big « Minneapolis March ! 1,000 Steel Workers in May 1 Demonstration in Youngstown (Special to the Daily Worker) MINNEAPOLIS, May 2.— thousand workers demon: yesterday at Block No, 20, while over 7,000 marched in the May Day parede through streets lined with tens of thousands of workers cheering the fighting slogans of the parade. Thirty-seven C. W. A. workers, trested on “Tear Gas Friday, en a demonstration of 7,000 | Minneapolis. A counter-parade, Social-Fascists, Labor leaders, with the aid of So- | clalist Party leaders and Trotsky- ites, numbered only 34 persons. organized by | Government.” 1,000 Negro, W hite ‘Steel | Workers Out In Youngstown (Special to the Daily Worker) YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, May 2.— May Day witnessed a militant dem- onstration of Negro and white steel workers, estimated at 1,000. The demonstrators adopted resolutions for the passage of Unemployment Insurance Bill, H. R. of the Scottsboro boys, Tom Mooney and Ernst Thaelmann. Police Disrupt Meet In Helper, Utah Day demonstration here was rupted by extreme police terror. One hundred and fifty state police, sheriffs and American Legion thugs hired by the Mayor searched homes of workers and hotels for Rae and Charles Guynn, leaders of the unemployed, who were ordered rested for distributing leaflets. workers off the streets, In sending ir new subs to the “Daily” please write the name and address of the new sub- seriber clearly. Five mothers of the Scottsboro Boys seated with Ruby Bates, Southern white girl who defied death in an attempt to free their innocent sons, Leading the Parade—A Symbol of Unity shown in the car that headed the huge May Day Parade in New York. | | | ed C. W. A. wo: forced the city to grant additional relief funds, |led the parade. Block No. 20, Par | was officially named by thé demon- | strators as the Red Square of including Farmer-| The} |main slogans of this counter-revo- |lutionary counter parade were “America First,” “Loyalty to the} 7598, release | HELPER, Utah, May 2—The May | dis-| May Day Meetings Held For First Time In Many Cities 1 ET Only - Real \Leaders of Workers, S.P. "ga nizer Fascists Fire Hall iss E.. St; to Prevent May 1 Meet Louis EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill De Luxe Hall, where a Front May Day meeting was to have been held last night, was fired by fascists during the day Ur ‘Socialist Gov't of Bridgeport Orders Red Flag Burned : 400 Negro and White! Workers in Militant May 1 Demonstration BRIDGEPORT, Conn., May Bridgeport workers made history for this boss-ridden city, starting their May First with the rai red flag, with hammer and sickle symbol, at the top of the City Hall flagpole, and following up with a militant demonstration at Washing- ton Park and a fine indoor meeting in the evening. 2. The red flag flew for over four| hours before the enraged Socialist city clerk, Fred Schwartzkopf. man- | aged to take it down. According to the local boss press, the Socialist | leader ordered the red flag burned The Socialist Mayor evidently en- dorsed the action of his city clerk. for he declared the raising of the) red flag “was a disgraceful incident | and was only done to embarrass my administration.” In the afternoon, over 400 workers, Negro and white, united in an en- istic demo; jon, vledging| ht against the “New Deal” of hunger, fascism and war, against their worsening conditions and for Unemployment Insurance Bill, H. RJ ‘7598. At the evening celebration | eral workers filed applications the Communist Party. Portland eV srkers Force Nazi Consul to Haul Down Swastika PORTLAND, Ore., | thousand workers and chijdren dem- onstrating here on May Day forced | the German Consulate to remove | the swastika flag and to accept a sev- | for | May 2.—Four | Ernst Thaelmann, Torgler and ot German revolutionaries in the Nazi prisons. A red flag, hoisted over City Hall by some workers during the dem- onstration, flew for two hours before | firemen were able to remove Resolutions were adopted demand- | ing the release of Theodore Jordan, young Negro worker framed up by the Oregon lynch courts and rail- road bosses, freedom for th Scotts- br bys and fr the passage f Unem- plyment Insurance Bill, H. R. 7598. | Over 800 marched in the parade The police engaged in varius pr- vocations despite a permit for the parade. 250 Workers, Farmers Out |In Beacon Demonstration |dred and fifty Negro and white | workers and small farmers demon- | strated here on May Day. The May Day meetings of the past two years were smashed by the police. This year, the police were forced by the | militancy of the workers to give a to leave town. Six workers were ar- | permit for the street meeting. Bad | ther also helped to keep the} The demonstrators beat off an at- tack by local hoodlums who came | to the Square with rotten tomatoes. | Speakers included Jack Ross, of the |Young Communist League and | member of the Daily Worker | with Nat Kaplan as chairman, \ Police Break Up Grand Island Meet (Special to the Daily Worker) GRAND ISLAND, Neb., May 2.— The May Day meéting was broken up by the police who arrested the chairman, Henry Horstman, an old resident, and drove the workers out jof the park. Floyd Booth, a colored worker, was arrested, taken around town by the police and turned loose in the vicin- ity of a gang of Ku Kluxers with whom the police had evidently had &@ previous agreement. A protest meeting was held later in a garage and steps taken to or- ganize protests among the workers jand farmers. Salt Lake Workers Defy Bad Weather SALT LAKE CITY. Utah, May 2. —Several hundred workers partici- pated here in the May Day demon- stration, despite the bad weather. Denionstrations also occurred in nearby towns, including Murray, Midvale, Sandy and Ogden. MAN KILLS WIFE, COMMITS SUICIDE MILBURN, N. Y., May 2—Percy } Layman, 57, killed his wife, called the police to inform them of the murder, and then committed suicide before the police arrived. Layman had been in poor health. He resigned his posts as overséer of the poor and emergency relief di- {rector last winter, sing of the| resolution demanding the release of t i'|In Portchester Meet BEACON, N. Y., May 2.—Two hun- | staff, | Tells Meet Shapiro at Los Angeles | United Front Meeting Defies Expulsion uge turnout of workers oc- curred despite 12 press provo- cation, and nders of bomb speakers in- of the Central 1 of the A. F. of L. i nce Ross, for he Communis with Harold Ashe as chairman The demonstrators elected & to go to the German to demand the release of n and other anti-fascist n Nazi prisons and eon- centration camps. At the Consul- ate they found a sign on the door ‘Out for the da Twenty-two hundred workers tended the evening celebration a the Mason Opera House, whet Sam Darcy was the main spea Big May Day Meets Answer Calif. Terror SAN FRANCISCO, —Industrial and a) ers of this state gave a mighty an- swer to the mounting terror of the | capitalists and landlords in the reatest M onstrations ever held in this State. Ten thousand workers demon- strated in t fo! ing an impressive pa: rough the main streets, 3,000 in Oakland, 15,000 in Los Angeles, 2.009 in Sacramento. Reports of other demonstrations are still expected The meeting here was an emphatic answer by the workers to the violent ducted by the t two weeks, bomb plot at Commu- | 1,100 In May Day | Meets In W. Virginia FAIRMONT, W. Va | Over 1,100 West Virginia Negro and white workers Lehre pamtien in May Day dem | follows: Fairmont. |town, 400; Clark: |Ernst Thaelmann, and for p jof the Workers’ mployment |surance Bill, H. R. 7598. Clothing, C.W.A. Workers In- PORTCHESTER, N. hundred and fifty shirt | Amalgamated Clothing Workers and C. W. A. employees demonstrated here for two hours yesterday in the first May Day demonstration for several years. Fifty per cent of the demonstrators were young workers | 1,000 In New Orleans Defy Police Threats (Special to the Daily Worker) NEW ORLEANS, La., May 2.— More than 1,000 Negro and white workers demonstrated here May Day, despite police threats of vio- lence and the tricks of the capi- talist press in attempting at the last minute to confuse the workers as to the place of the demonstration. marching workers pressed through a cordon of 75 policemen, which surrounded the corner of Canal and Chadburne streets in an attempt to keep the ‘Kers away. It was the first May Day dem- onstration ever held in this South jern seaport. | 3,000 In Newark Demonstration NEWARK, N. J., May 2.—Three thousand workers demonstrated yesterdey at Military Park. A pas rade of 300 preceded the demon- Stration. Permit for the parade, | originally refused by the police, was | reecived by the Commitize one hour before the parade. At the Park, the workers were |addressed by Rebecca Grecht, District Organizer of the Commu- nist Party; R. Fisher of the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union; Frank Carson of the Young Communist League; Frankin of the American League Against War and Fascism, Harris of the Unemployed Council. Jack Rose, Newark Sec- tion Organizer of the Communist Party, acted as chaitman, Springfield Police Attempt Intimidation SPRINGFIELD, Ill, May 2. Despite a heavy police mobilization and provocations, over 250 workers demonstrated here yesterday under the leadership of the Unemployéd Councils andthe Communist Party, The Musteites, I. W. W. and So cialist Party leaders held a state- wide May Day meeting separately, rejecting Tnited Front appeal, with 150 present, The Ansvury-Allard gang attacked revolutionary workers distributing leaflets exposing the Mustéites and Socialist leaders as splitters of the working class. One thousand demonstrated under the United Front Banner in the city park of Decatur. ‘ es ee