The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-08-26

$4,000 people gathered for an
overflow meeting in Union
Square.
Secret Opposition.
Bryant Hall had been engaged for
the uptown workers, but by order of
the building department it was closed
at p. m. as unsafe for any meeting,
and these workers had to go to other
halls.
The workers paraded with banners
bearing cartoons of Sigman and his
clique; denouncing the union machine,
its gangsters, its corrupt methods, and
pledging loyalty to the Joint Action
Committee. The masses of workers
were perfectly orderly and there was
little interference from the police and
no arrests. A file of workers passing
the Office of the Joint Board we're or
dered by the police to dispense, but
there was no disorder.
Ready for General Strike.
At the halls the widest enthusiasm
prevailed, and all mention of gen.
eral stoppage was loudly cheered. The
following resolution was adopted unan-
imously at all meetings:
Adopted Unanimously at All the
Meetings by at Least $4,000
Workers.
I'VE, the Cloak and Dress Makers of
New York, assembled at the call of
the Joint Action Committee in twelve
halls on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 20,
1925. adopt the following resolution:
"The Cloak and Dress Makers Of
New York have suffered and struggled
many years to build our union and
have won at least partial recognition
of our rights as human beings. We
have starved and bled on the picket
line to gain better conditions for our
selves and families For the past few
years, however, the employers have
sgu various schemes reduced to
taught all our gains.
1.-THE large shops in our industry
have practicaI~ disappeared and the
trade has been transferred into the
hands of small seab and corporation
nests, where the work is being made
while the workers Of the union shops
are compelled to walk the streets in
search of employment for the greater
part of the year. The scab shop sys-
tenn against which we revolted many
years ago has again intrenched itself
in our industry, bringing with it long
periods of unemployment, starvation
and misery for the workers.
No Longer Tolerated.
"The conditions to which the cloak
and dress makers have been reduced
have become such that they cannot
be tolerated any longer. The jobbers
who have become the practical en-
ployers in the industry refuse to take
upon themselves any responsibility
for assuring a decent livelihood to the
workers at whose expense they have
amassed great fortunes. The condi-
tons Of our industry have become
such that it is practically impossible
for worker to earn living.
"To remedy this deplorable situa-
ton in our industry, our union pre-
scented a number of vital demands to
the employers a year and half ago,
and when the employers refused to
give any consideration to our demands
we decided to call general strike to
fight for these demands. The leaders
of our union, without our consent,
gave over these demands into the
hands Of the governors commission,
which, as is already known, gave us
no concessions whatsoever.
IAN agreement was concluded with
the employers for another year under
the old conditions which means that
the work will continue to be made in
scab shops under the most miserable
conditions.
Financial skuIdugaery.
I'm spite Of the fact that our man
date for a strike for our demands was
ignored by our leaders, they called
out fake stoppage in 1924 and spent
the two million dollar fund which was
collected for a strike; after they had
emptied our treasury in most scan
dalous and criminal way, they wanted
10 force another wv tax on us ana a
raise in the dues.
1.-THE executive boards and mana
gers Of our three locals, 2, o and %,
have strenuously opposed this policy
and warned the officials of the Joint
Board that they could not expect that
a commission would concede to us
even the most important demands OF
the workers. We demanded that the
union prepare for general strike
should the employers refuse to grant
our demands.
"The three locals demanded that tho
agreement in the dress industry, which
has until this day been a dead letter,
should be enforced. The three locals
opposed the increase in dues and taxes
and demanded an accounting for the