The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 15, 1934, Page 3

4 DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 1934 Page Three A.F.L. Painters Elect/Birmingham Unity Committee for United Front Action | Members of Sesucuded Local Meet With TUUL| Painters Union | By H. K. | NEW YORK—After a long and} dloody struggle on the part of the| rank and file membership of Local 102, Brotherhood of Painters, they finally succeeded in ousting Jake (jWolner (Jake the Bum) and his gang from Local leadership in the early part of this year. The General Executive Board of the Brotherhood, | seeing the developing militancy of| the rank and file, suspended the Local on some kind of constitutional pretense. The membership of former Local No. 102, in the meantime, or- ganized itself into clubs known as the Ideal Clubs. The rank and file of the clubs are sincerely expecting to organize a clean, honest, rank and file Local in Brooklyn if they get a charter for the GEB. The membership, since the char- ter has been revoked, was led into| believing all sorts of promises made | by many not elss corrupt leaders | than Jake the Bum. They have been | fed on all sorts of illusions. They are asked to believe that once Jake the| Bum is out, there is nobody left! among them who will, as soon as| the new charter is issued, continue | the grafting policies of Jake the| Bum. | In the meantime, the G.E.B. is in no hurry to issue a new charter. ‘The reason for this 1s obvious to gnyone who is acquainted with the doings of the G.E.B. of the Brother- hood. It fs certain that no charter will be issued to the Ideal Clubs, unless the grafting bureaucrats of the G.E.B. are convinced that they wil have their henchmen in con- trol of the new local. The Alteration Painters Union, | seeing these conditions, has time and time again offered its assistance, to improve the conditions in the shops where the painters were help- lessly exposed to the bosses. As a result of these activities of the Al- teration Painters Union, the mem- bership of the Brotherhood is more or less convinced by now of the sincerity of the Alteration Painters Union. Call Joint Conference The Alteration Painters Union is- sued a cali for a Joint Conference to take up the question of a United Front Organizational Drive. The rank and file, against threat of the demagogic leaders, that in case they come into any official conference with the “Communist Union” they endanger the possibility | of their getting a charter, forced the Issue and did elect a delegation of} four to find out what the Altera- tion Painters Union meant by a united front. Elect a Committee The committee met with the United Front Negotiation Commit- tee of the Alteration Painters Union, and seeing the readiness and sincerity of the A.P.U., endorsed its proposals, and went back to their) Club to carry out the first point of the united front proposals of the Alteration Painters Union; ‘‘to elect! 3 broad joint committee of fifteen} from both organizations for the purpose of organizing a joint meet- Ing to discuss and prepare a pro- gram for a united organizational drive to establish a united front committee which is to lead this or- ganizational drive,” etc. The painters of Brooklyn, and even those in Greater New York,| are hopefully waiting for the results of these united front negotiations. The rank and file of these two organizations can be the only ones who can start a drive against the existing miserable conditions in the painting trade: against the unlim- ited working hours, against the NR.A. 40c wage scale, against open shops, for putting into effect the demands of the last general strike, and to prepare for a general strike under rank and file leadership; put- ting aside the treacherous mislead- ers of the A. F. of L. for a living wage and conditions for the patnters in New York. West Side Workers Demand Children Playground NEW YORK—Roused over the death of six children during the last three months while playing on the streets, the workers of Chelsea elected a delegation of 25, includ- ing parents an children, to see Park Commissioner Moses and demand that a playground be built on the lot of 23rd St. between 7th and 8th Aves. The only playground in the Chelsea neighborhood is a small wading pool for the very young children. The delegation of 25 was elected at a mass meeting at P.S. 11, Fri- day, under the auspices of the Chel- sea Unity Club, which initiated the campaign for a playground. About 50 children have been active along with parents in collecting thousands of signatures on a petition demanding this playground. Commissioner Moses’ answer to the workers (through one of his secretaries) was that he was too busy to see them. Meetings are being arranged to spread the playground issue among the residents of Chelsea, to cul- minate in a mass meeting Monday evening, June 18, at P.S, 11. | New York District N wort BEACH Prontc PARK Astoria, Ky. TL. Carpenters Ignore Threats and Remove All Seabs from Jobs WASHINGTON, June 14.—Car- | penters and joiners of the District | of Columbia, undaunted by the threat of employers to enforce an outright open-shop policy, yester- day went to a church where the open-shop policy was initiated and removed all scabs. American Federation of Labor officials of the big carpenters’ and joiners’ union—it has a member- ship of 1,800—yielded to the press- ure of the rank and file on Monday and the men placed in charge a rank and file strike committee of 50, headed by Joe Rinis, chairman. The strike has been on since May 1, when the workers demanded $1.37%4 an hour and a 30-hour week. Farm Workers Hail Strike Victory At First Convention Union Affiliates To the T.U.U.L.; Joins Fight for Thaelmann BRIDGETON, N. J—The Agri- cultural and Cannery Workers In- dustrial Union (New Jersey Dis- trict) held its first District Conven- tion in Bridgeton, N. J., May 10, attended by 55 elected delegates from eight locals of the Union. This Convention marks a historic stage in the organization and struggles of militant trade unionism in South Jersey. Initiated only seven weeks ago by the successful strike of 200 farm workers on Seabrook Farm which won a 100 per cent increase in wages, the Union has rapidly spread until it now embraces nine locals with 1,000 dues-paying members among basket, farm, and cannery workers in South Jersey. The Convention adopted a Dis- trict Constitution. and By-laws and affiliated ‘with the Trade Union Unity League. Resolutions asking for the release of the Scottsboro Boys, E. Thaelmann, solidarity with the poor farmers and a united front resolution to the A. F, of L. truck drivers in the agricultural industry were passed. Clifford White, militant Negro Union leader from Seabrook farm was elected District President; Phil Lambert, Secretary of the Vineland Basket Workers and Joe Ritz, Italian leader of the Glass- boro farm workers Local, were elected as vice presidents. Elinor Henderson, Union organizer was elected Secretary-Treasurer and two district organizers, William Ander- son and Vivian Dahl were elected. A District Council of eight Negroes and 13 whites, five of them Italian workers, was elected. Donald Henderson, National Or- ganizer of the Agricultural Workers for the Trade Union Unity League, gave the main report. He described the struggles of the agricultural workers in other parts of the coun- try, especially in California, proved ‘Workers Held; ‘New Bombings | ——- T.GL Buys Newspaper| Space to Choke the Pending Strike BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 14— Four bombings were reported Tues- | day nite in the strike area, and 2 workers, F. O. Kibbey and C, B, | Hardwick, were arrested today by | police and Tennessee Coal and Iron Co. guards. No charges have been made against them as 3} | The Tennessee Coal & Iron Co. | has bought a half-page in three | local newspapers for a letter signed by “Committee of Employees’ Rep- resentatives.” This letter attacks strike sentiment among the workers, unionism and outside organizers, and praises the company, claiming that 95.5 per cent of the workers have voted for the company union. | Though their jobs were threat- | ened, many refused to vote, the | workers reported. The Republic Steel Co. has also bought a half-page in two news- papers for a resolution, supposedly | from the workers, offering a $300 reward for the arrest and convic- | tion of the alleged bombers. This | ad also Praises the company and | claims that the company union gives collective bargaining, that every- body is satisfied and will not go out | on strike. Meanwhile, strike sentiment con- tinues to grow, STRIKERS WOUNDED MALAGA, Spain, June 17—Two strikers were reported wounded yes- terday in the continued fighting between workers out on a general strike in sympathy with the nation- wide farm strike and Assault Guards. Spain's one battleship was ob- served in the harbor here today, that the New Deal has made things worse instead of better for workers in general as well as totally ignor- ing agricultural workers, and amidst rounds of applause declared that the only solution for the work- ers was a class struggle union of all workers based on mass action, ‘Two rank and file members of the A, F. of L. truck drivers Union attended as fraternal .delegates and pledged their support to the A& C.W.L in all its struggles. The Convention then passed a resolution asking for a united front with the rank and file truck drivers working in the agricultural industry in a common fight against the bosses. .. .. .. ., Leif Dahl, State Organizer of the United Farmers League pledged the | support of the organized small farm- ers of South Jersey to the struggles of the agricultural workers and Pointed out how a united front of small farmers and workers against the fich farmers, basket and can- house owners could bring better con- ditions for all. Joe Williams, T. U. U. L. represen- tative from Philadelphia gave frater- nal greetings from Unions in the Philadelphia district and explained the role of the T, U. U. L. in work- ers struggles throughout the coun- try. One of the outstanding features | of the Convention was the solidarity between the Negro and whites. For the first time in the history of South Jersey the Agricultural and Cannery Workers Industrial Union has brought together negroes and whites for common struggle against their exploiters—has exposed the vicious nature of jim crowism and segrega~ tion as merely a device of the bosses Scene of the Crash disemboweled, charred remains of still Intact, The Navy Department LINVINGSTON MANOR, N. Y.—“A power higher than the state of New York has sealed my lips,” was the statement of the coroner in investigating the explosion that sent sevent to their death in the crash of the American Air liner near Liberty, N. ¥. Found on the one of the passengers were secret navy explosive formulae. Nearby were shattered bits of broken bottles, which, it is believed, contained deadly explosives which wrecked the liner, and im a container were found three other bottles of chemicals confiseated the documents, Steel In Monopoly Control, ‘New Labor Fact Book Reveals NEW YORK.—The American Iron and Steel Institute, now trying des- perately to avert the steel strike, is an example of monopoly eontrol by a strong trade association, accord- ing to the Labor Research Associa- tion in the second volume of the Labor Fact Book, issued today by International Publishers. Such trade association control under the “New Deal” is described by the research group in an analysis of monopoly development under N.R.A. and the capitalist program for the crisis. The board of directors of the Iron and Steel Institute not only held the key position of initiating the steel code, but has also had charge of the code administration. It is the Code Authority for the steel indus- try, as the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce is the code authority for the automobile indus- try, the research association points out. The steel institute’s latest proposal for a “neutral” arbitration by the steel workers, is of a piece with the regular activities of N.R.A. arbitration agencies, Similar strike- breaking actions in the Weirton, Ford, Budd and coal miners’ strikes are fully exposed in Labor Fact Book TT; a 224-page book packed with facts and figures about every subject. of interest to workers and farmers. Nearly 1,000,000 On Strike As against the United States Bu- reau of Labor Statistics’ figure of 782,000 workers involved in strikes during 1933, the association esti- to keep the workers separated. board of three, vigorously rejected | million, The group's survey of suc- cessful strikes in the first seven months of the “New Deal” found that over 418,000 strikers had won Wage increases and an additional 70,000 gained concessions other than increases. Two tables list 58 im- portant strikes since 1931, with the Jocation, date and number involved. Fascist trends in the United States are also analyzed in the book. It contains a list of organiza- tions which had adopted fascist principles in one form or another. Fascist rule in Italy and Germany jhas resulted in extensive unem- Ployment, decreased wages, higher cost of living, and suppression of all workers’ organizations and civil liberties, the authors show. In a full discussion of the eco- nomic crisis in the United States, of workers’ conditions under the N.R.A. and of the agricultural sit- uation, the research association finds that “there is little chance under capitalism of a genuine re- vival of production and employ- ment. . . . Production drags along unevenly, above the lowest point of a boom which will set industry again soaring.” Latest figures from the U.S.S.R. contrast to those of capitalist coun- tries. Industrial production in the workers’ state is four times as high as the pre-war level. Labor Fact Book I contains chapters on The Economic Crisis in the United States, Capitalist pro- mates the number at nearer onegram for the Crisis, Workers’ Con- the crisis, but with no prospect. for | are cited as showing a startling} \Call to Stop Ships From West Coast Seamen Win in Chicago Relief Fight; Tugboat Men Solid on Strike of Seamen and Harbor Workers, with headquarters at Copenhagen, Denmark, announced yesterday in a cablegram to its American sec- tion, the Marine Workers Industrial Union, that instructions had been sent out to all sections of the In- ternational to stop all ships loaded by scab labor. “We have received a cable from the International Long- shoremen’s Association in San Francisco,” said the cabiegram received by the M. W. I. U. yes- terday. “At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the I. S. H. we again issued instructions to all sections to stop all ships loaded by scabs. The I. 8. H. again declares its full solidarity with the striking seamen and longshoremen of the west coast.” The question of rallying the sea- men and longshoremen of the North | Atlantie ports to increase their ac- | tivity to support of the west coast | marine strike was the main point jon the agenda of the meeting of the | National Bureau of the Marine | Workers Industrial Union held yes- terday in New York. . . | Chicago Seamen Win | In Relief Fight (Daily Worker Midwest Burean} CHICAGO, June 14. — seamen are carrying on the battle that has already won them reg- ular relief status, gotten them out of the flop house, and forced the federal government to give relief direct. Seventy-five orders that had been delayed two days were hastily rushed through Tuesday when a delegation from the Seamen’s Re- | lief Committee called on the Fed- eral Case Aid office in South Chi- | established only after the S. R. C., |{nitiated by members of the Marine | Workers Industrial Union united the seamen into a fighting organiza- tion. Before that, seamen were “bums,” and herded into filthy “dog houses.” The new office was opened and manned by federal case workers (the state had formerly been in charge of seamen’s relief), signi- ficantiy enough, less than a block from the Marine Workers Hall at 3008 E. 92nd St. Only seamen are given aid at this station, and the 8. R. C., by constant mass actions, practically control it. Landlords who have seamen ten- organizing themselves to put up a rent. The organization, which is in- dependent of the old line real es- tate boards, is supporting the 8. R. C. ditions in the Crisis, Workers’ Or- ganizations and Struggles, The Ne- gro, Farmers in the United States; Fascism, Preparing for Imperialist | War, and The Soviet Union, and rings up to date the facts on |countless subjects discussed in the | i first Labor Fact Book issued in 1931. The book is now on sale at workers’ bookshps or it may be or- dered from International Publish- ers, 381 Fourth Ave. New York City. Price 95 cents in board paper covers. NEW YORK.—The International | cago. This office, by the way, was ants, since the 8. R. C. finished the dog house, are beginning to take a lesson from the workers and are demand for higher relief orders for Masked Thugs Attack Militant Steel Men Appeal to Railroad Workers To Refuse To Move Scab Loads (Daily Worker Midwest Bureau) | CHICAGO, June 13.—Railroad || Unity Committees in San Pran- |] cisco last week issued an appeal to all railroad workers to show their solidarity with striking sea- men and dock workers by refus- ing to move scab freight. This was reported here today by Harry Shaw of the National Rail- road Unity Movement. The leaflet pointed out that truck drivers had stopped hand- || ling loads from struck ships and docks and called upon the rail- road workers to take the same action. Cleveland Steel ‘Workers To Vote ‘On Strike Demands | SMWIU Booths Will Be Open Until Midnight Saturday, June 16 CLEVELAND, Ohio.—The Cleve- land District of the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union has printed 15,000 ballots which were given to the steel workers at the mill gates on Thursday to canvass opinions on the demands of the city. Voting booths will be set up at the Ukrainian Hall, 1051 Au- burn Ave., Workers Hall, 2645 West 25th St., and Workers Center, 7057 Broadway Ave. Other returns will come in through the mails, Satur- day midnight will be the deadline the results will be announced o: Sunday, June 17 at two union meet: ings at Sokol Polski Hall, 7146 Broadway and Tamburro Hall, 3404 Clark Ave. The ballots ask the workers to indicate “Yes” or “No” on whether they favor the following seven de- mands: 1) 6 hour day, 5 day week. 2) $1.00 an hour minimum wage for common labor, proportionate increases in wages for all trades. 8) Abolition of differentials be- tween North and South. 4) For Union recognition, and recognition of Mill and Depart- ment Committees to adjust griev- ances, 5) For equal rights for Negro workers. 6) For Unemployment Insur- ance Bill H.R. 7598. 7) If other mills strike, do you favor strike to win your demands? The only voting conducted thus far has been by the Company Union representatives who do not repre- sent anybody except themselves and the opinions of the company. The voting in Cleveland takes place just. before the national gath- ering of the representatives of the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union from all parts of the country in a national conference in Pitts- burgh, Pa., Sunday, June 17, WASHINGTON.—In a state- ment which even more strongly denounces the Roosevelt N. R. A. as an instrument for the advan- tage of the most powerful Wall Street monopolies, leading to Fas- cism for the grinding of greater Profits out of the masses by driving down their living stand- ards, W. 0. Thompson, Chicago attorney and member of the Dar- row N. R. A. Review Board, Wed- nesday handed in his resignation to President Roosevelt. Denouncing the latest state- ments of the Board on the pro- posed change in the N. R. A. price-fixing policy as a “maneu- ver by which it hopes to establish itself in the good graces of the N. R. A.” Thompson declared that he could no longer serve on the Board when it was so obviously going back on the findings it made as a result of many months of study. Thompson also flayed the whole Roosevelt-Johnson set-up for its treatment of the findings of the Review Board, stating that “the Purpose of their attack was ob- viously to divert attention from the clear content of our findings, which showed the growing en- couragement of monopolistic com- ee and practices by the N. Showing that the N. R. A. has fattened the profits of the Wall Street monopolies through speed- up, wage-cuts, and higher cost of living, Thompson stated that only “A CHANGE IN THE CLASS RELATIONSHIPS ., . ONLY A GOVERNMENT BY THE WORKERS AND FARMERS CAN PLAN PRODUCTION, PRODUCE GOODS FOR USE AND NOT FOR PROFIT, ELIMINATE POV- ERTY, AND RAISE THE LIv- ING STANDARDS OF THE EN- TIRE POPULATION.” All emphasis in the following full text of Thompson’s statement is by the Daily Worker, oo ele ® My dear Mr. President: ¥ T hand you herewith my resigna- NRA Moves To W. 0. THOMP: ® Fascism, Says Member Leaving Darrow Board SON FLAYS ROOSEVELT DEMAGOGY; ONLY WORKER-FARMER GOVERNMENT CAN END MONOPOLY RULE | tion as a member of the National Recovery Review Board. In this connection I wish to point out that I alone am responsible for the preparation and the conclusion of the special supplementary report filed with you together with the first report of the Review Board. Mr. Clarence S. Darrow aiso signed this supplementary report. How- ever, I shall leave to his judicious explanation his reasons for doing so since Mr. Mason, counsel to the Board, has stated that Mr. Darrow “was forced” to sign this document. The Naional Recovery Review Board was established to ascertain and report to you whether “any code, or codes of fair competiion ... are designed to promote monopolies, or to eliminate or oppress small enter- prises.” The report of the Review Board submitted to you clearly indi- cated that small business is being eliminated and oppressed by monop- Olistic trade practices written into the codes. It revealed also the dom- ination of code authorities by the largest producers in each industry which we investigated. The publication of our report was the occasion for an unjustified at- tack by General Johnson, the La- bor Advisory Board, and other agents and supporters of monopoly capital. They assailed us bitterly for doing the very thing we had been appointed to do, namely, to head, investigate and report on the complaints of small business men. The purpose of their attack was obviously to divert public attenion from the clear content of our find- ings which showed the growing en- couragement of monopolistic com- binations and practices by the Na- tional Recovery Administration. Without my knowledge and with- out my signature, the Recovery Re- view Board has recently (June 9, 1934) issued a statement hailing the newly announced N. R. A. price-fix- ing policy. It declares that the N. R. A. thus acknowledges the truth of our findings and has provided a means by which “the monopolistic practices we revealed and protested are now to be curbed and abolished.” Maneuver to Hide N.R.A. Monopoly That this statement of the Re- view Board is merely a maneuver by which it hopes to re-establish itself in the good graces of the National Recovery Administration is patent from a careful examination of the real character of the announced | Price-fixing policy. For this policy represents no change in administra- tive procedure that will in any way “abolish” the monopolistic practices and their consequences revealed in our report. According to Mr. Johnson's state- ment, the new policy “does not af- fect codes already approved.” Prac- tically all major industries are now operating under approved codes. Ac- cording to Division of Research and Planning figures, 68 per cent of 325 codes studies contained price-fixing provisions of one kind or another. The industries still to be codified are in the main small industrial groups. Just how, then, does the newly an- nounced policy eliminate monop- Olisite practices if it does not apply to approved codes? The announcement of a “new” price-fixing policy is merely a de- vice to calm an aroused public real- ization of the extent of monopolistic practices. That it does not represent any change but rather the continua- tion of the old policy is evidenced by the statement that the Code Au- thorities of approved codes will “amend” the price-fixing provisions. In other words, as the supplement- ary report stated, “monopolistic combinations are expected to” en- force against themselves a law to prevent monopoly.” In view of this and as a result of my contact with the workings of the National Recovery Administra- tion through membership on the Recovery Review Board, I have been forced to the following conclusions: The trend of the National Re- covery Administration has been and continues to be toward the encouragement and development of monopoly capitalism im the United States, The N. R. A. handed over to trade est corporations in the various in- dustries, the formulation of codes of fair competition without repre- sentation of the consumers or | Workers. Wherever A. F. of L. unions have been representedfi as in the clothing industries, for ex- ample, the labor leaders have shown by their acts that their chief con- cern is in the interest of big busi- ness. The administration of the codes has been left to code author- ities composed primarily of trade association executives. Through their dominating position in various industries, these larger corporations through inter-company relation- ships, and by control of markets and raw materials, have been able to dictate prices, wage scales, trade practices and other vital matters. As Donald R. Richberg, General Counsel to N. R. A., promised in his address at the Babson Institute, September 8, 1933: “Trade associa- tions can police the members of an industry so as to make sure that recalcitrant minorities will not en- gage in unfair competition and de- stroy & cooperative program of stable, profitable operations” for the Jargest producers. As a result of these conditions, small business is being oppressed to the point of ex- tinction or is forced to meet the in- tensified competition by further re- duction in the cost of production at its most vulnerable point—the wage scale, N, R. A. Cuts Food Consumption For the broad consuming masses of the population, this government of industry by monopolistic combi- nations has already resulted in a marked increase in prices. This, in turn, has caused a drop in consump- tion of goods. Contrary to the sea- sonal trend, grocery chain store sales for the month’ of April dropped 3 per cent from the March level. According to the wholesale grocery trade demand “has slumped since May 1 until sales are below the levels of early May a year ago.” The New York Evening Post (May 22, 1984), commenting editorially on a news item that “Total food tonnages for the first quarter of associations dominated by the larg- this year were below the same period in 1933” stated: “In other words, despite the talk of expanding mass purchasing power, despite re- covery in business, people consumed Jess food during the first quarter of this year than in the first quarter of last year, the bottom of the de- pression.” Also as a result of high prices and decreased purchasing power, the textile industry has been forced to resort to a 25 per cent curtailment of production. In other words, the amount of goods that can be bought by workers with declining real earn- ings has dropped as a result of price advances created by monop- olistic practices, N. R. A. Increases Speed-Up Monopoly, with its elimination of smaller, less profitable plants and concentration in larger, more effi- cient units has been able to en- force greater speed-up and stretch- out on the workers who are em- ployed. A desire for the maximum production during the shorter work- ing hours of the codes has added to this speed-up. Although hourly rates in certain industries have been raised under the codes, reduction in hours has meant that weekly earnings have in no measure kept pace with the rise in hourly rates. Nor have weekly earnings increased anywhere nearly as fast as produc- tion and prices. The actual result of the N. R. A. codes has been merely a contin- uation of the stagger system under which more workers are earnings. The minimum wages es- tablished under the codes have tended to become the maximum, thus dragging down the general average of all wages. Even these minimum wages have given no re- lief to Negroes or to many other categories of lower-paid workers, Presumably as a guarantee against such results of industrial combination labor was given in Section 7 (a) of the National In- dustrial Recovery Act, the right to collective bargaining through rep- resentatives of its own choosing. Step by step that section has been transformed into its opposite — a vehicle for employers to force through compulsory arbitration and company unionism. The inclusion of the notorious “merit” clause in the automobile code together with later official interpretations of Sec- tion 7 (a) legalized the open shop. Collective bargaining through rep- resentatives of workers’ own choos- ing” was further nullified by N. R. A. interpretation of Section 7 (a) as not precluding company unions. Compulsory arbitration under vari- ous forms of “labor boards,” the National Labor Board, industrial re- Jations boards, the Automobile Labor Board, etc., have deprived labor of its only effective weapon in enforcing collective bargaining — the strike. In Gallup, N. Mex.; Imperial Valley, Cal.; Birmingham, Ala., and Toledo, Ohio, when work- ers struck to enforce collective bar- gaining their civil rights as Amer- ican workers have been violated by martial law, sweeping injunctions, arrests, and the most brutal sup- pression, including murder, by em- ployers’ and government forces. No less than a dozen workers have been killed in recent strikes of longshore- men, miners, and auto workers. Thus the N. I. R. A. olearly reflects its class character as an attempt of the capitalists to find a “way out of the crisis” by pass- ing the burdens onto the shoul- ders of the masses of workers and farmers. The N. R. A. reflects the inability of so-called “enlight- ened capitalism” to operate a “planned economy” to improve the living standards of the masses. ITS DEVELOPMENT DAY BY DAY REVEALS MORE CLEARLY A MARKED TREND TOWARD FASCISM IN THE UNITED STATES. The only solution involves a @ government by the workers and farmers can plan production, pro- duce goods for use and not for profit, eliminate poverty, and raise the standards of living of the en- tire population. (Signed) W. ©, THOMPSON. the | union and the strike sentiment in| for the returns of the ballotting and | Tn Weirton, West Va. Ohio Valley Workers Are Ready for Strike Despite A.A. Heads | STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (By Mail) |—A vicious campaign of terror | been launched against the | union members of Weirton, W. Va. | Every day some member of the |union is beaten up by a gang of | men wearing masks. The first man | to get this treatment was taken for |@ ride, beaten up and then left 15 | miles out of town, where his assaile | ants left him for dead. He recoge | mized one of the men by his voice, | but when he reported to the police | they told him that he must have | more proof and refused to do any- | thing further about the matter. | To date there have been five men | Seriously beaten, the last one @ | president of one of the Amalga- mated Association lodges. These outrages, together with the firing of over 100 men, have aroused the workers to a fighting pitch, but the A. A. still does nothing about it. The Steel and Metal Workers’ In- dustrial Union has sent protests to the police of Weirton and to the Weirton Steel Co. In addition plans are being made for mass pro- test meetings in Steubenville and Weirton. The strike is the main topic that the steel workers of the Ohio Valley are talking about wherever they gather. The overwhelming major- ity are willing to come out, but at the seme time doubt whether the | Amalgamated Association will lead them to a victorious strike. “We'll wait: till the 16th, and then if the-A, A. does not do any- thing we will: join the Industrial | Union,” they say. | The 8S. M. W. I. U. is telling the men not to wait for June 16th, but | to organize now into the SM.W.LU., | and form rank and file committees | inside of the A. A. so that the | strike will be an organized strike, A. A. Leaders’ Demagogy As an example of how the A. A, | organizers speak of the strike, I will quote Bill Gray, of Pittsburgh, | speaking at an A. A. mass meeting |in Weirton a short time ago: “If | you men are afraid that you will |go hungry when you come out on strike, get that out of your heads |now. "We have a man in the White | House who is behind us and who will see to it that we will not go |hungry. All you have to do is to let him know that you are on strike and you haven't anything to eat |and he will have the government | send relief.” Yes, he'll send relief |—relief in the form of tear gas and bullets, just as the workers of Toledo and Alabama got. The thousands of leaflets issued by the S. M. W. I. U., both in Weir- ton and Steubenville, have had a great effect on the workers. The workers are for militant united ac- tion of all the workers, regardless of what union they belong to, For this reason the leaders here, such | as Bill Long and Mel Moore, speak about unity, but they refuse to take any concrete steps to build up a united front. They have refused the floor to 8. M. W. I. U. speakers |at their meetings and are afraid to come to the 5S. M. W. I. U. mass meetings to which they have been invited. This has opened the eyes of many of the members of the A. A. Rave Against Communists The clear-cut program of the S, M. W. I. U. against the hesitant, planless maneuvering of the A. A, has raised the prestige of the In- dustrial Union. For this reason the A. A. has brought Harold Henry | as an organizer to rave and rant lagainst the Communis Every speech made by him so far has been nothing but the vilest kind of slander against the S. M. W. I. U. and the Communists. In his speech he tries to provoke the militants into fights. Despite his frenzied efforts he has not succeeded in lessening the 8. M. W. I. U. in= fluence. Socialist Rieve Defeats Call for Hosiery Strike | Pushes Resolution Thru Leaving ‘“‘Negotiations” Up To Board READING. Pa., June 14. — Afte two days of heated controversy, | Emil Rieve, the Socialist, president lof the American Federation of | Hosiery Workers, succeeded in pass- | ing through a resolution, at the last | day of the union’s convention here, which omits all mention of the general hosiery strike asked for by the delegates to win a thirty-three and a third per cent wage increase and a 30-hour week. The Rieve résolution provides only | for “negotiations,” and leaves the settlement terms up to the same officials that have in the past helped to put over wage reductions. It was | passed by a vote of 94 to 39. Rieve was also able to quash & move to give the manufacturers notice of 60 days before Aug. 31, when the present pact expires, that the union would ask for a wage in- crease and shorter hours. i Manufacturers in this area openly expressed their relief that Rieva was able to stop a call for a general acti change in class relationships. Only | hosiery strike at the convention. A question by one delegate yes- terday as to what aid was to expected from the A. F, of L. the United Textile Workers in case of a strike proved so em! to the officials that the answer was deferred until today, #