The daily worker., 1925-04-02
By A. SIMON

tho AdbJ agreement was Ln6 HrSC act
Of treachery on the part Of our union
officials during the past year. Not
even a single one Of them had the
courage to say that the agreement
was a miserable compromise, but was
the best that could be obtained under
the circumstances.
Without a single exception, every
one of these unscrupulous office hold
ers Joined in a chorus Of praise pro-
claiming this unheard of defeat as
a great victory for the furriers, tho
they were fully aware that it was a
triumph of the bosses over the work
ers.
All of them, "the famous" Pres
ident Kaufman, his errand boy Man
ager Braunstein, the hired scribbler Of
the Fur Worker, the treacherous For.
ward, and the whole clique of paid hire
lings, with shameless responsibility
Of men who had long lost their con-
Germ for the workers cheered this de-
feat as great victory for the fur work.
ers. The class conscious workers were
burning with indignation and pain.
The manufacturers gloated with vic
tory. Labor circles were astounded at
this unprecedent confusion. Nothing
mattered, our officials signed their
names to this disreputable document.
Democratic Pretense
This was the most damnable act
of treachery ever committed by the
officials of our union. This treachery
was coupled with swindle The milit-
ants in our union feerlessly exposed
this fake. In order to evade the full
responsibility for their acts, the Off
cials called to their aid the fake de-
mocracy (Which is often the best wea-
pom of deceit in the hands of the cap
italist class). Under the pretense of
democracy, they gave over the agree
ment to a referendum vote to the
membership. The Forward criminally
misrepresented the terms of the
agreement, and the officials appointed
trained hands" to fill the ballot
boxes.
The fur workers regarded this
maneuver with utter contempt, and
ignored the referendum in mass.
Nevertheless, the officials declared
the agreement ratified by large
majority.
Deceit, swindle and perjury. The
first act was one of treachery. This
was followed by falsifying the terms
of the agreement in the yellow For
ward. Then, came the swindle at the
ballot box, it was thus that the Off
cials of the furriers' union distinguish
ed themselves as traitors, takers and
perjurors. Such are called working
class representatives. What a ira
gedy!
The Reign Of Terror
This occurred in the month of Feb
ruary. The workers were unemployed
Month after month, the army of un-
employed increased, thousands of
workers were driven to the market in
search of jobs. The contractors, who
operated their little sweat-shops with
unorganized cheap labor were busy,
while the union workers starved. The
officials, however, sat calmly in their
Offices receiving their weekly pay.
Local meetings were not called
Meetingl What for? The workers
came to the Office to protest against
this abominable state of affairs. The
answer was terrorism.
The leading militants were expell-
ell from the union under trumped up
charges produced by Manager Braun
stein. The bureaucrats took no ac-
count of the workers misery and
made no effort to unionize the scab
shops. Their chief concern was their
jobs, and they made preparations for
the elections.
No Aid to Unemployed
The lefts demanded financial as
sistance for the unemployed out Of
the union treasury. The officials
sneered at this proposition. Union
funds must not be used to assist the
workers, was their reply. The funds
Of the union must go to pay the fat
salaries of the union officials and
their hirelings, but not for the work
ers, no matter how great their misery
At the approach of the elections,
however, a few thousand dollars were
distributed as unemployment doles
The largest part, naturally fell
into the hands Of the machine sup
porters, who generally delivered the
votes for the same job holders. The
question of mass unemployment, the
unorganized shops, the decentralization
in the rank OF the workers, the con-
tinuously reduced wages and ruthless
exploitation OF the workers and other
urgent union problems were placed on
ice. Elections was the one problem
uppermost in the minds OF the off,
and the entire machinery Of
the union was generously at work TO
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