The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 12, 1935, Page 4

f} os | heed OO me TE Page 4 MARINE MEN FIGHT HOPKINS’ POLICY OF FORCED LABOR Seamen Organize Against Relief Administrator’s St kebreaking ‘De-casualization’ Plan— Walk Out in New Orleans ive it they left Wickenden's of- and went to Hopkins’ office to| he seamen’s demands before | illiams. Williams Defines Relief Policy | Aubrey Williams met the dele- h an outstretched hand ‘oad demagogic smile but ly changed his attitude when ed with four basic demands —No rorcead labor—all work to be paid for at the union StANG-DY rate ot 94.00 per day | | quic prese work we e the i 1¢ réiusal ey do not, With # minimum of three days | © relief work per week. define the sy of forced | least three 25 cent meals a day— ‘ation in the| 35 cents for a bed—thit a mini- mum to vary according to locality. Two carfares a day, plus tobacco money in addition to be furnished with toilet articles, clothing, etc. | Passage of H. R. 2827. 3—Open hearings on relief, | seamen’s occupational status, ete. | —to be held immediately in all | ports, 4.—Immediate reinstatement of | all seamen in Baltimore who nave been denied reitef pecawse of their refusal to work and in New Orleans where they are | striking against work. s means that isolated f obtaining a ship and 1 be classed as “ur seamen Strike Against ed Labor New Orleans F On Dec. 26, the seamen in New| ‘The delegation stated that these | Orleans wer vork assign-| demands constituted an ultimatum, ments of 30 hours a week in Algiers | that the refusal to grant these de- the Mississippi from ’| mands meant that strikes would be | ns. U r the leadership of | instituted against forced labor in| the Wate ont Unemployment | all ports as soon as it was started | Council and the Marine V sers/and that in addition, relief strikes In ial Union, the seamen voted | would be organized in pathy | to e ageinst forced labor and with the striking New Orleans ser- | picket lines were established at the men. Giving the seamen’s definition | feeding and housing proj the of their own status and the neces- Algiers ferry and other places. The| sity of a special occupational sta- relief officials immediateiy stopped relief for the seamen but despite this the strike remained practically 100 per cent effective and the sea- men established their own feeding and housing arrangements for the strikers. The shore wor! in Al- giers and New Orleans are enthu- siastically supporting the strikers nd a number of small restaurants are feeding groups of seamen free of charge during the strike. Mass Deiegation Presents Demands in Washington Seamen delegates from Boston New York, Baltimore, Newport News, Norfolk, New Orleans, Hous- ton, Cleveland and Buffalo, attend- ing the National Congress for Un- employment Insurance in Wash- ington, D. C., presented the de- mands of t nemployed s to the Tra Division F.ER.A. They were met Wickenden, who is temporai Charge of the Transient Div replacing W. J. Plunkert who has been “transferred.” In answer to the delegations’ demand for a spe- cific answer on the question of forced labor, Miss Wickenden Btated: “The or al memorandum which Mr. Wikiams sent out has been descind: [This memo- morandum specifically instructed that seamen be given a spe- cial occupational status with no work and that they be housed and fed convenient to the water- front—W. C. M.] They are not going to make exceptions in the case of seamen. I don’t know of any other occupational group which has been recognized as an occupational group. Hopkins and Williams felt th this hey could not condition, This bulle- equentiy been int: Williams as mean- seamen shall be given basis of their legal and not on the basis cupation. The majority of unattached seamen who do not acquire residence are therefore classed as transients, This in- volves the working policy to which you take exception.” (Note: the quotations are extracts of a complete stenogram of the inter- v.—W. C, M.) ing to obtain a satisfactory @nswer to the demands after a two hour controversy with Miss Wick- enden, the delezation presented two main demands: 1:—Th seamen on_ strike against forced labor in New Or- Jeans and Baltimore be immedi- ately reinstated on relief with- ort being required to worl 2:—That the government im- modiately institute open hearing’ in all ports to determine the sta- tus of seamen, conditions of em- ployment and mismanagement of relie’, —that ruling was Williams and I ttention the other day the fact that the New Or- leans seamen were not accg; ing this arrangement and he says thet ruling will have to stand. I am passing on to you what he . I would be glad to you — he said he The delegation then demanded a copy of the stenogram of the inter- ssured they would ,| The delegation returned at tus on relief, the chairman of the delegation stated: “The seamen have a definite home—there home is the sea— | | therefore, any port where a sea- | | man may bé or any ship upon which he works, is his legal resi- dence. Ship schedules vary and & seaman in order to obtain em- ployment, must be on the water- front 24 hours a day. This pre- cludes any form of forced labor r concentration camp existence. We want work but we also want | union wages for our work—any | | other arrangement is not suitable | and will not be accepted by the seamen.” Unable to given an answer with-| out consultation with the brain trust, Aubrey Williams asked the| delegation to return later, saying at the same time: “You seamen give us more trouble and worry than all other persons on relief.” sit: |O’clock and Williams made tho |statement that an agreement could only be reached on the basis of sea- men accepting the work plan. He intimated that the new work| |schedule would mean work in Navy | | Yards and on laid up ships. The |answer of the delegation was to refuse any form of compromise on forced labor and to announce that | |they would fight to the finish for | their demands. | Strike Against Forced Labor | The government New Deal relief | Policy is clear. Through work re- lief their intention 1s to isolate the militants and “unemployables” from the marine industry. To take hun- dreds of young seamen and put |them abroad training ships as they {have already done on the hospital ship, “Mercy,” in Philadelphia, and train these young seamen as | naval reserves and strikebreake; In the past, the seamen ha forced many important and far | Teaching concessions from the re-| lief fakers. In all ports seamen | have won important victor In Baltimore the relief struggles of | the seamen forced the granting for a time of seamen’s control of re-| |lief and the recognition of the sea-| men controlled Centralized Ship- |ping Bureau. Forced labor is no longer a threat. It has now become & part and parcel of the entire relief administration. In every | |port the seamen in the Waterfront | Unemployment Connell, the Inter- national Seamen’s Union and the Marine Workers Industrial Union must forge a mighty united front | |against forced labor and for cash | relief and the passage of the Work- crs Unemployment Insurance Bill, R. 2627. What was accomplised Baltimore last year can be done jin all ports. United action, a/ junited struggle of all seamen’ for | their demands and against forced labor will do this. We tust pre- | pare now to strike against forced | labor as soon as it is initiated. We must support the strike of the un- employed seamen in New Orleans, We must institute actions immedi- j ately in the flop houses, in the Seamen's Institutes, in the projects. We must visit ships and get a flood | |of protest telegrams sent in from | the employed seamen protesting against forced labor. We must mo- bilize the non-seamén transients and all fraternal organizations and | trade unions in our defensé. Ths battle is on. Forward to éash re- lief—for the passage of the Work- /ers Unemploymént Insurance Bill | Tammany | themselves, The | . His By SIMON W. GERSON radio stations, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia gave an account Thurs- | day night of his first year in office. |The newspapers have already car- tied long articles on Fusion’s first year. Mingled with official boasis of ‘accomplishments” were the eulogies of the metropolitan press to a “non-partisan” regime. But militant workers and honest students in general of municipal politics will examine the First Year of Fiorello a little more carefully. sé scrutiny will reveal that under the mask of a non-pariisan muni- cipal government, Mayor LaGuardia has carried out the policies of the bankers, the real dictators of the city; and has been, simultaneousty, building his own machine. He may 2.—Cash relief equivalent to at | have forgotten some of his promises | to the voters, but the Mayor has not for one moment neglected his own political fortunes. What he fondly hopes is political capital on which he may later draw has been carefully deposited. LaGuardia rode to power on the tide of a political reaction that had set in against established political | machines throughout the country. His demagogy was the oar that helped propel him to the shores of City Hall. In New York City in the Summer |of 1933, when the nomination of ex-Congressman LaGuardia was announced, a number of peduliar factors obtained. Basic to the whole situation was the wide-spread un- gles, led by the Unemployment Councils and the Communist Party, against the callous refusal of the Tammany administration to give relief to the jobless that was any- | where near adequate. Broad actions teeth of the bitterest police terror had a@ great deal to do with bring- ing the Tiger into disrepute in sec- tions ordinarily many strongholds. The Metropolitan Moses business shrinking, and real éstate values middle-class taxpayers | began to how! to the high heavens | for relief. Bankers and other large capitalists who had not been too A certain species of employment and the sharp strug-! led by the Communist Party in the | considered Tam- | Witin the bottom dropping out of | disturbed about the antics of the | crew began to bestir | DAILY WORKER, NEW Y VER a network of twenty-six, Demagogic Promises Helped Bring Fusion Mayor to Office—Built Machine of Pseudo- Liberals and Socialists “liberal” infested crawled out of his Park Avenue retreat and began to shout that “Tammany must go.” The stage was set. Only a leader was needed. LaGuardia, smarting under the defeat handed him by the Tam- many Lanzetta in his Congressional fight, was “available.” Overnight he became the Moses who was to lead the city’s masses out of the Tammany wilderness. Samuel Seabury, the wealthy lawyer who had conducted his fam- ous investigation of Tammany’s misdeeds so skilfully, dictated the choice, General O'’Ryan, Robert Moses and Fiorello LaGuardia were the leading contenders, that the other two were to be “placed.” The campaign is now history. Mud-slinging and shady blocs, |featured the fight waged by the “progressive” Fiorello. Queens was an important element. Hence—an alliance with the shady George U. Harvey, and John J. Halleran, real estate operator and Queens Public Works Commissioner. The Italian vote was garnered by quite frank appeals to racial pride, Jerome G. Ambro, gangster lawyer and Brook- lyn politician, “delivered” 100,009 votes in the Italian section of that borough to Fusion, Anti-semitism was made an issue, with the famous LaGuardia tele- | gram to McKee, recalling thet wortthy’s article attacking the Jew- ish race, written in M¢Kee's youth. mother was Jewish kept a secret | from Jewish voters.) |. Large promises were made to | labor. The man who had helped to draft the Norris-LaGuardia Anti- Injunction Act in Congress would | not forget the workers. No, no! He would champion civil liberties, too. He would reduce water rates, cut out political jobs and introduce “cheaper” government, a “hon-par- tisan” administration. He would re- construct the shattered credit of the | city. with which New York is; Seabury | chose LaGuardia to be the stand: | | ard-bearer, with the understanding | promises to all and sundry — this | (Nor was the fact that LaGuardia’ | ORK, SAT IRDAY, JANUARY ‘Achievements’ of Mr. LaGuardia; ‘Non-Partisan’ Regime Examined It was the last pledge that was taken quite seriously. The towi was astonished by the Fusion sweep. Close observers | blinked a little at the fact that while Fusion stormed the Tammany barricades everywhere else, the | Tiger forces were left practically in- |tact in Manhattan, reteining the important District Attorney’s office as well as that of the Borough President. Vile people whispered that there had been an old-fash- }ioned last minute trade executed between the Hall and the knightly | gentlemen of Fusion, but by that time it didn’t matter. Fiorello rode into City Hall on Jan. 2, the plume of victory waving in the new winds. | “Non-Political” Appointments | No sooner had the election fig- ures been certified when LaGuardia began to make “non-political” ap- pointments. Before he could do that, | however, there were some debts to| pay. General John O’Ryan, who| had gracefully withdrawn from the fight for Mayor, was appointed Po- lice Commissioner. Maurice D. Davidson, whose knowledge of water | |and electricity, it is reported, can be safely tucked under the eyelid of a medium-sized mosquito, was made Commissioner of Water Suvply, Gas |and Electricity. Langdon W. Post, | formerly a Tammany Assemblyman, | |@ personal friend of Roosevelt, and a gentleman with national voliti- cal ambitions, was appointed Tene- }ment House Commissioner. Fred- eric J, H. Kracke, formerly Repub- | |liean leader in Brooklyn, was taken | jeare of in the post of Commis- | sioner of Plants and Structures, Then began a series of alleged | real “non-political” appointments. | William Fellowes Morgen, a rich | fish dealer, president of the Middle Atlantic Fisheries Association, had been at daggers-ends with Tam- many racketeers in the food indus- | | try, particularly with a gentleman | by the picturesaue name of Joe (Socks) Lanza, who controlled the Fulton Market through a few so- called unions. Langa had been! | bleeding Morgan and the other big | | and little dealers under the benevo- \lent protection of Tammany. Mor- |saw to it that a number of worthy | workers were given jobs in the ap- | himself much broader than that of 12, 1935 forts the possibility of breaking the Lanza crowd and saving himself a lot of money, supported LaGuardia liberally and loyally. P. S—He got the job as Commissioner of Markets | as a “non-political” avpointment. But LaGuardia and Seabury, his Political master, had no small ideas on this matter of “non-political” | appointments. They placed in their cabinet the erstwhile “militant” So- cialist, Paul Blanshard. as Commis- sioner of Accounts. This, it must be explained, is a sort of city sleuth service. He and his staff investigate reports of graft and, in generat, see to it that the process of plundering the city’s masses goes on in a clean way, consistent with the highest ethies of capitalism. Blanshard “Piaced” To the uninitiated the Blanshard appointment came as a shock. But Samuel and Fiorello knew what they were up to. Not only did they ap- point Blanshard to office, but they “Socialists” got into office. B. C. Viadeck, for instance, the high- priced business manager of the mil- | lion-dollar Socialist daily, the Jew- ish Daily Forward, was appointed to the Municipal Housing Author- | ity under Post. (Later in the year, | Jacob Panken wes appointed to the | bench.) A slew of liberals and social baratus. Chief among these was William Hodson, appointed Welfare Commissioner on the basis of Wel- fare Council work and social ser- vice connections. Mrs, Justine Wise Tulin, who had only recently re- turned from an extended visit to the Soviet Union, was appointed as an Assistant Corporation Counsel. The new day had dawned, ac- cording to manv liberals. A “pro- labor” Mayor, who had “so¢ial vi- sion,” was in office. LaGuardia’s “non-political appointments” had their effect—he built a base for Tammany, extending his influence in the labor movement, among so- clal workers and among certain pro- gressive intellectuals The Nation was in costasi¢s, (To Be Continued.) Tomorrow the writer wiil dis- cuss the work of the Fusion ad- | ministration, its broken pledges, | anti-labor actions and attacks on |gan, who saw in the Fusion ef- Shows Possibility of Defeaiing Attacks of Reaction (Daily Worker Midwest Bureau) CHICAGO, Ill, Jan. 11—The re- |lease of the fourteen Hillsboro de- fendants is an outstanding victory for the working-class, and a con- firmation of the correctness of the policies pursued by the Communist Party and the International Labor Defense in mobilizing broad masses of workers in their defense and against the Illinois criminal syn- dicalist law. The release of these fourteen leaders of Montgomery unemployed workers is particularly a victory for the coal miners of Illinois, who fully reallzed the importance of the Hills- boro cases. Scores of local unions of the Progressive Miners of Amer- ica and of the United Mine Work- ers of America had backed the de- fense, passing resolutions demand- ing the quashing of the indictment and for repeal of the criminal syn- dicalist law, The trial, which opened on Mon- day in Hillsboro, saw an unprece- dented mobilization of workers in the little town. The cqurt room was packéd, with many workers standnig in the aisles, and another crowd of workers outside the court. There were present members of the Progressive Miners of America, of the Unemployment Councils, of the ;Communist Party, of thé Socialist Party, of the Women’s Auxiliary of the P. M. A. and of the United Mine Workers of America, They had all come to demonstrate their solidarity with their beloved lead- ers in many relief struggles. An impromptu meeting inside the court room is addressed by Frank Mucci, baseball hero of Montgom- ery County, manager of the Red Birds baseball team, chairman of the Montgomery County Unem- ployment Council and Communist Herndon Urges Mass Struggle For H. R. 2827 The National Committee of the H.R, 2907 | Congress for Unemployment Insur- Boston Store Strike Bill Prepared by CTG Concludes as Leaders To Raise School Funds Confer With Employer In order to make more possible MILWAUKEE, Wis, Jan, 11.—The| ‘he appointment of teachers and Beston Dezartment Store sirike has| the restoration of those services toms to an end following confer-| Which have been eliminated from erecs between leaders of the three| the schools to save money, the A. P. of L. unions involved, the com- | Classroom Teacher Groups has pre- Pany, and of the Regional Labor | pared a bill for the State Legisla- Board cf the N.R.A.,, it is reported, | ture which would force the city to > agreement as reported, is allocate a larger sum for education f2ciory to the strikers, pro-|in the budget. * compulsory arbitration of The bill would raise the nal Labor Board and al-| present 4.9 mills per dollar of as- mination against thos? | amount to be appropriated from the | meleetatag Ve ase _| sessed valuation to 5.1 mills. At the | ‘sprain condi carding BOBS | resent assessed value of property | ‘ed to have beea made to the) in the city, this would amount to | ance yesterday received the follow- | ing letter from Angelo Herndon: “T) the National Congress for Un- employment and Social Insurance, Washington Auditorium, Washington, D. C. | “Dear Comrades: “I regret very much that I was not able to attend the sessions of the National Congress for Unem- ployment Insurance, but may I be allowed to extend my sincere greet- ings and my pledge of full support to the fight for the enforcement of. the Workers’ Unemp:oyment Insur- ance Bill. “The misery, poverty and destitus tion of the masses of workers throughout the country is increas- ing at a rapid pare, and the Roose- volt-Wall. Street government are using overy conctivable means of bloody fascist terror to entrench the woeritets even mote désper into star- vation, hunger, ete. But in spite of ‘kovs in the agreement, lan increase of about $4,000,000. \ ths detptrste attempts of the cap- RELEASE OF 14 HILL member of the Village Board of Taylor Springs. One of the de- fendants, Mucci speaks from the ring through the courtroom. He Steets the solidarity of his fellow | workers, and tells of the heroic | Struggles of thé unemployed of | Montgomery County against hunger land starvation, agains official cor- jtuption and pilfering of relief | funds. He hails the National Con- | gress for Unemployment and So cial Insurance, meeting in Wash- ington, D. C., at the same hour that these fourteen defendants were facing prosecution for fighting against hunger. The workers en- thusiastically adopt the following resolution to be sent to President Roosevelt: “Spectators in trial of fourteen Montgomery County workers charged with treason for militant unemployed activity endorse the de- mands of the National Congress for Social and Unemployment Insur- ance. Protest against use of court to frame militant workers and | Tecommend Federal legislation for the rights of worke: Among those who yote for this resolution are workers and farmers, and small business men, some of them called on the jury panel for the trial. Even the County Sheriff not only did not dare to interfere with this ‘unhéard of action” in the court, but did not dare to vote “no,” in face of the assembled Minérs and their wives, The defendants then dispatched a telegram of solidarity to the worker-defendants in Sacramento, facing trial on similar charges of treason to thé bosses’ hunger pro- gram, specifically, of violation of Ws California criminal syndicalist aw. Meantime in the judge's chamber, consternation and commotion. As- sistant State's Attorney Dennis Screaming, “Judge, they are taking Dosseasion of the court room! Judge, do you know that it is abso- defendants bench. His defiant words | civil liberties, SBORO DEFENDANTS IS VICTORY FOR WHOLE WORKING CLASS 4 lute contempt of court!” | Judge Paul MeWilliams, from | Litchfield, had been called in to| preside at the trial because the other judges were afraid to go through with the fob in the face |of their knowledge of the deep re- | | Sentment of Montgomery County | | Workers, The judge feels that he has been made the goat, and mut- | | ters, “I've never sten such a thing in_any court.” Before the determination of the workers, the prosecution is forced to retreat. It resorts to “hargain- ing.” The defense rejects the first two offers. Finally, the State's At- torney and the Judge sign a state- ment that they are willing to drop the charges of criminal syndicalism, and to content themselves with giv- ing the defendants a nine month suspended sentence each, on a minor charge, as a face saving measure. | The defendants agree, and seek the approval of the assembled workers, The workers, realizing their victory, approve, and the judge okays what | is already agreed upon by the work- | ers, These events mark a new page in the fight against fascist reaction in this country. Once again it has been demonstrated that only mass pres- sure can snatch the workers from the clutches of capitalist justice, that the united front of the work- ing class can beat back fascist-like attacks, It is true that the defense | counsel, D. J. Bentall and Hart E, | Becker of Chicago, and Edward FE. Kaburick of Hillsboro, International Labor Defense attorneys, made a brilliant defense. But without mass pressure this defense would not have availed anything before the deter- mination of the bossés to crush the ieee of the unemployed for re- ef. State Senator James G. Monroe, of Collinsville, attended the trial, and once more pledged to introduce @ bill for the repeal of the Tllinois criminal syndicalist law at the Opening of the State legislature. The Hillsvoro victory will stimulate the ® Unity of Socialist 8, Communists Widened the Defense mass fight for the repeal of the anti-working class law, Efforts to securs the endorsement of the Socialist Party and other groups f broad mass united front conference aré now being madé by the I. L., D. The conference will be held under the joint auspices of the endorsing organizations. It will serve to further mobilize the toilers of Illinois to bring about the re of the criminal syndicalist Aw. The Socialist Party organizations in Montgomery County, as well as throughout the entire down State sections, were very active in the siruggle for the Hillsboro defend- ants. It is necessary to record, however, that the State Committee of the 8. P., which belatedly agreed to join the united front defense, did not even send a lawyer to the trial on Jan. 7. The State Commit- tee also failed to support the pro- test activities. The workers, includ- ing those who ate members of the Socialist Party, will draw their own conclusions from these facts. The fourteen Hillsboro defend- ants, wrested by the mass defense from long prison sentences for their activities in the fight for unem- ployment relief, are: Frank, Sric- kett, Communist president of the Village Board of Taylor Springs; Frank Mucci, Communist member of the board and chairman of the Montgomery County Unemployment Committee; John Panscik, Commu- hist member of the Taylor Springs Village Board; John Jurkenin, or- ganizer of the Young Peoples So- cieliss League; Gordon Hutchins, Victor Renner, Carl Gertlla, John Holland, George Reid, John Lap- shansky, Robin Staples, all of Hills- bore, John Adams and Jan Wit- tender of Chicago. italist robbers to violently suppress the rights of the working class, the workers are resisting their oppres- sion militantly. “The forcing of my release from the death clutches of the fascist slave rulers of Georgia, and the heroic fight to save the Scottsboro boys from a legal lynching by the lynch-slave lords of Alabama is liv- ing evidence of the growing mili- tancy and the courageousness of the American working class. With the intensification of the militant strug- gles that we hav) been able to carry on thus far, we not only will force the bosses and their government to Dass the Workers’ Unemployment Insuarnze Bill, but will emerge from the struggle with our enemies as the victors, as the ones who will exter- minate the capitalist murderers and their whole vile system of oppres- sion. “To achieve this, we must never forget the Octcbcr Revolution of our working class brothers in the Soviet Union. Let us make this Congress one the bosses will never forget. “Demand the enactment of the | Workers’ Unemployment Insurance Bill! Demand that all funds for war and graft he tutned over to the unemployed! “With profound und sincere revo- lutionary greétings. (Sign¢d) ANGELO HERNDON” Pawns is Meet Next Month on Fugitive Shops NEWARK, N. 4., Jan. 11—Al- though the call to all trade unions for délegates to the interstate con- ference to fight the runaway shop menace to take place at Newark, on Feb. 10, has not yet been iseued officially, unions are already elsct- ing delogates, The latest is the Fur Flocr Workers local of the Interna- tional Fur Workers Union, A. F. of L. here, which has elected two delegates, | When a committee approached the International Ladies Garment Workers Union Local 144 here, it was told by officials that first the matter has to be taken up with their international office, and “they are not empowered to take up such matters.” The call will be in tife | mails within a few days, the ar- rangements committee reports. The importance of the aims of the conference will be popularized ; Workers, and reactionaries will not | find it so easy to oppose the send- ling of delegates, the committee states, Commenting on the aim of the conferencs, Abraham J. Isserman, Newark attorney, who has been chiefly engaged as representative of unions in the fight against ems ployers running away to New Jer- Sey towns, stated that thé increased moving of shops from regions where workers are organised, is a move to escave union conditions and es- tablised wage scales. In each case it is found that the practice is closely tied up with the local Chambers of Commerce which offer inducements to the opening of plante. Mayors of these small towns also are often found to be engaged in businesses which re- ceive advantages from the opening of new planis. In return, the runaway employers are offered police protection against strikes, cheap labor, and often those on relief are given the alter- native of either working in these plants or to go off the relief rolls. Ieserman declared that if the menace is not checked, it will spread and have a serious effect upon the conditions of the wofters. Your name will be on the Honor Rajl in the Special Edition of the SPECIAL PROBLEMS RAISED FOR 6,000 NEGROES IN ILGWU Six-Point Program Adopted by Insurance Congress at Washington to Broaden Fight for 2827—Decide to Issue Magazine By Ben Gerjcy There are approximately six thousand Negro dress. makers, members of the International Ledies Garm Workers Union, in New York City. A number of them pressers, belonging to Local 60, and some work in the mis laneous trades, controlled by the I. L. G. W. U., but the ma« jority of the Negro needle workers, * ——— - about five thousand, are dressmak-| Board of ers and belong to Local 22, of whieh | tions Charles Zimmerman, the Lovestone- ite, is manager. This number is about 20 ner cent of the total mem- the local. When elec- for local officers took place |last March, the rank and file Ne- gto nominets were rejected on the |grounds that they tere not two bership of the local. |yeers in the Union. Th local hasn't There are approximately sixja single Negro business agent, thousand Negro dressmakers, mem- | There are ptactically no Negro shop bers of the International Ladies|chairmen. This is also true of the Garment Workers Union, in New | clerical help in the local. York City. A number of them are) The manner in which the Harlem pressers, belonging to Local 60, and | section meetings are orfanized and some work in the miscellaneous |conducted is another outstanding trodes, controlled by the 1.L.G.W.U.,/example. The Harlem section mest- but the majority of the Negro ings are organized in & “Jim-Crow” neetile workers, about five thousand, ! manner, mostly Negro dressmakers are dressmakers and belong to Local attend those meetings. The few 28, ot which Chas. Ziinmermen, the | white dressmakers, mostly adher- Lovestonite, is manager. This num-|ents of the Left Wing rank and ber is about 20 per cent of the total ! file who attend these meetings are membership of the local. made unwelcome by the officials who As far as the Negro pressers, it are assigned to the Harlem section is @ practice in shops to employ | 4Md the couple of Negro women who them as helpers to white pressers| ate Closely aligned with the ruling at starvation wages. Thus, while | Clique of the local. The manner are members of the Union,| if which the meetings are con paying the same amount of dues|Gucted is purely white chauvinist. and taxes as the white pressers,; Th administration knows well they are doubly exploited—by the |ehough that the Negro dressmaxers boss and by another presser who happens to be an adherent of the ruling clique of the local adminis- tration. But we wish to deal pri- marily with thé position of the Negro dressmakers who aré mem- bers of Local 22. Scale of Wages Lower Most of the Negroes in this local work in the so-called minority ¢rafts in the dress shops—finishers, clean- ers, pinkers, floor girls, ete. These | crafts are the lesser skilled, and their scale of wages is much lower than the more skilled crafts such as the operators. It must be pointed out that the pinkers and floor girls have no scale at all. These crafts havs been excluded from the agree- ment which leaves it to the boss to determine their wages, hours of work of their right to the job, The result of this is that many of the Negro pinkers, floor girls and er- rand boys work for as low as $10 @ week, are kept in the shops till late hours and are fired at the bosses’ will, This miserable posi+ tion of the Negro dressmakers in the trade is no accitent. It is a result of a conscious discrimination on the part of the bosses to keep the Negroes in an inferior position by preventing them from Aa the more skilled and better pai crafts, Because of the fact that the Ne- groes are restricted to the unskilled crafts the unemployment amongst | them is greater than amengst the white drossmakers. The Union not having a labor bureau to control and regulate the jobs, these dress- makers are ¢asy prey to all sorts of racketeer employment agencies, which charge heavily for giving | them jobs only to be fired after @ couple of days. Many of them hang around the garment buildings for days watching for signs to be hung up that a finisher, pinker or cleaner is wanted. In mos) cases these jobs turn out to be only tem- porary to rush out 4 special lot, and so on. While it is true, as | the apologists of the administration, which calls itself “progressive,” will claim that in the minority crafts there are also white workers, these people cannot deny thal: (1) the majority of the minority crafts dressmakers, especially Local members are Negroes; (2) that the Negroes are consciously prevented from learning the more skilled crafts; (3) that the bosses do dis- eriminate against the Negroes; and (4) this being the case, there cer- | tainly exists a Negro question in the dress trade which so fat is being ignored by the “progressive” Administration. How the Union Meets the Negro Preblem The administration of the various locals in thé dress trade start from the proposition that there does not exist a “Megro question.” The ad- ministration of Loval 22, whieh is controlled by the Lovestonites, have adopted on this question the white chauvinist ideology of the old time reactionaries in the IL.G.Ww.U. Their line is to utilise the Negro dressmiakers demegogically to ad- vances the interests of the ruling bu- reaucracy in the local. Thus, while the administration wiil organize some social and educational activi- ties in Harlem, the records will not disclose 2 single instance where any of the official bodies of the local have taken up and tried to solve some of the econemic grievances of the Negro members. Nor, has the administration of Local 22 taken the initiative to do away with some of the evil practices on this question pee in by the Pressers Local On the other hand we will give examples to prove that the ad- ministration of Local 22 has & white chauvinist position on the Negro question in our trade. To beyin with, we will cite the fect that while, as has been pointed out, the Negro members in Local 22 are ® substantial minority they have only two representatives with voting power, on the Executive 22 | | | | | | | have many gtievances that they would like to bring up at the meet- inge. Economic grievances in the shops and complaints against the manner the Union officials take up their just complaints. To prevent such ® discussion the administra- tion usually arrangés some lecturer to come to the section mecting, The business phase of the meeting is quickly rushed over in order to leave time for the lecturer. No one can be opposed to educate the mem- bers of the Union, but why isn’t it Possible to arrange these lectures Again, if it is preesdure to arrange these lectures on evenings when rogular business meetings are boing held, why then isn’t the same pro- cedtire followed at the section meet- ings attended mainly by the white dressmakers? The ansiwer lies in the white chauvinist and discrimi- natory approach of the administra- tion towards our Negro sisters and brothers. How Do the Left Wing Rank and Filer: Approach the Question The Negro question exists in every phase of the social, economio and political life of this country. The special exploitation of the Nes gro toilers is deoply imbedded in the very structure of American capi- talist society. The dress trade is no exception to the rule, The dress bossés, following the footsteps of the Southern slave plantetion own- ere, aré doing everything to squeése extra profits from the Negro dres:- makers. In addition every effort is made by ths bosses to keep them in a group by themselvés, thus ¢r- ating antagonism between the Ne- gto and white dressmakers for the purpose of undermining the condi- tions of both. Once this question ig recognized there logically follow concreté steps to be taken to ds- feat the purposé of the bosses. Some of the steps to be taken are as follows: 1, — Ah ideological campaign amongst the white members of the Union in order to mobilize them in defense of the Negroes in the shops. 2.—Negro paid officers, Execu- tive Board members and shop of- cers to be drawn in, which wouid recognize their rights as a strong minority in the Local. : 3.—The Union to establish a labor bureau, administered by a rank and file committee, for the purpose of preventing the employ- ment agéncies from racketeering upon the Negro dressmakers, and the bosses from discriminating against them, 4.—Pinkers, floorgirls and ship- ping boys to bé included in the agreement; a living wage to be established for them and the Union to give them full protection, 5.—Lower dues payment for the minority crafts. The above are only some of the practical proposals for a starting Point. If a campaign to solve this problem were started, the Nesro dressmakers themselves would brin; out many more suggestions based their grievances in the shops. But, to seriously begin solving th! Negro problem in the dress trad would require an administration which reslizes the problem. Un- fortunately the presont administra- tion, Zimmerman end his friends, are not the ones that the Nezro dressmakers can rely upon. This will be done only when this adc- ministration is replaced by a lead- ership which recognizes and under- stands the problems of the Negroes in the dress trads. But regardless of who controlé thé administration of the Local, the Left Wing rank and filers stand upon the analysis of the Negro attction as contained in this article and we will continue agitating and mobiliging beth Me- y aro and whits drossmiakers benind |® program which calls for firm ac- (tion in defess of the interests of the Negro members of our Union and to establish complete solidarity upon thé basis of fullest equality between the Negro and white dress- makers. We consides this as one of out most important daily tasks. anes Dutch Communists Win Fight to Save Paper AMSTERDAM, Jan. 11—The Col- Jin government has suffered a de- feat in its stfuggle against the Com- munist daily paper, the Tribune. It was thé intention of the gov- ernment to have the papér declared bankrupt, and thus to put a stop Daily Worker if you send your among large numbers of trade union grecting today! to its publication. Now, after 4 five-month struggle in which the Communists utilized all possible Icgal aids and mobilized the masscf | jin support of the papez, the S: preme Court of Apptal has declare that there is no bankruptcy, With this decision the Commu- nist Parity hag regained possession of the confiscated printing machin- _ ery. The government still refuses to give up the machinery, however, and is attempting to force a déce Jaration of bankruptey by private persons,