The daily worker., 1924-05-19
Pullman Heads Tell Slavery Plans

| Impossible TO get men trained In a
short time to take the place of the
strikers. During the month ending
April /, the company turned out 144
passenger cars-a record production.
1t was in fair way to break that
record up to April IA, when some of
the riveters quit. From that day to
this, not single car was manufac-
tured. There were plenty of scabs to
do the work, but none that could be
trained to make rivets that would get
past the inspectors. The operation of
riveting was too highly skilled for
mere novices to handle
Unions Get His Goat.
mo, can't believe in unions" said
McLaren. "They are force for dis
content, fostered by the foreign ele-
ment that is so hard to handle. We
are perfectly fair to our men. For
instance, we have an olo-age pension
system. If a man has worked for us
continuously for twenty years, and is
seventy years old, or is totally dis
abled, we give him pension Of 10
per cent of his salary" McLaren did
not mention the fact that if man has
been guilty of murmuring against the
company during these twenty years
he finds his pension" mysteriously
withdrawn
Nothing is gained by unions" Nc
Laren went on. "In 1922 John Holm
gren, vice-president of the Brother
hood Of Railway Carmen, had tag
day for the benefit of the Chicago
shopmen, then on strike. Most of
what he got he kept for himself and
the union treasury"
A Regular Pullman Lie.
That this is a deliberate lie can be
proved by documents now on file at
the local headquarters of the union.
Every cent collected went into locked
boxes. which were taken to headquar-
ters and counted several times by diff
ferent officials. Every striker who got
a benefit signed papers naming the
amount he received. The two accounts
tally exactly.
"The workers don't realize that the
social activity they get under the
auspices of the company is much bet
ter for them" There is certainly no
doubt that it is better Ior the COM
pany The Pullman News, gotten out
by the publicity department, is fawn-
ing, smirking little magazine, con-
tanning publicity for those men who
are the most willing among the slaves.
James Keeley, publicity manger and
editor of the paper, admitted to me
that he knows nothing about the
strike "My job is to keep in touch
with the activities of the workers"
was his statement. AS far as Keeley
is concerned, fights for decent condi-
tions and better wages are not things
that matter to the workers. Courtesy
to passengers on the cars is more i'm
nnrtanf KeeIev is right. 1t is more
important-for the company.
$50 McLaren doesn't mind working
all day for thirteen and half cents
an hour?" said one of the men who
had heard the statement. well, some
Of us have been here longer than he
has, and we do mind it and we propose
to do something about it,"
The DAILY WORKER makes Nc
Laren nervous. He claims that it help
ed to foster discomfort and that it
prolonged the strike. He squirmed un-
comfortably when the name of the
paper was mentioned.
The Cardinal and the Knight.
"Why did Cardinal Mundelein make
Carry Knight of st. Gregory" Nc
Laren was asked. WAS it for his
services to the workers?"
The watery blue eyes widened.
"Why, Carry wouldn't get anything
out of Mundelein for doing things for
the workers. It's understood that that
honor was for something he did for
the Church"