The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-10-28
WHAT IT'S LIKE
TO WORK IN ONE
OF GARY'S MILLS
Handling Hot Steel No
Soft Job
Hy Worker cOrrespondent

BY Worker correspondent
GARY, Ind--Waiting in line for a
job at the Gary works of the United
States Steel corporation reminds one
of the slave markets in the old days.
The workers are lined up against the
wall to wait for Mr.. Egeberg, the en-
ploying agent for the u. s. Steel cor
poration here. A company thug with
a mouth full Of tobacco sees that they
stand close to the wall.
Finally the agent comes out of the
office and starts to walk around and
look at the workers. After he has
looked them over carefully he goes
up to one Of them and asks him where
he worked last. If the worker gives
him a satisfactory answer he is sent
into the employment office where he
again has to tell where he worked
last and If he was ever employed TOR
the U. s. Steel corporation before.
Blacklist Strikers.
If he answers that he has worked
in the mills before, they look up his
record where they have card filed
away telling everything that you did
when you worked there before. II
they have you down as one of those
who went out on strike in 1919, they
suddenly find out that they have ma
Jobs open Just now"
There is always work for a ~chfp.
per" but when the agent calls out
"chipper wanted" nobody answers.
One worker told me that cit was a
hell of Job" and that the clipper had
to hold an air pressure hammer in
his hands, bending down all the TINA.
for ten hours day. The 'chipper"
has to wear goggles all OF the time
If he doesn't want TO lose an eye, and
the strain of the work Is so great
that at the end of the ten hours -Ehs
clippers can hardly stand up.
Not Exactly Soft Job,
Sometimes after waiting In line tor
long time a worker viii take th4s
job, but the next day you see him
back in line again. waited for two
weeks before l got a Job, and finally
was given one as a catcher in the
billet mill. The shearman's Job con-
sists of standing by the big electric
Shears" and cutting the $50 foot
long steel bars into pieces while they
are still red hot as they come out
from under the rollers.
The bars are cut into pieces eight
feet long. and then the ahearman cuts
sample about one foot long which
it is the job Of the catcher TO take
| out with a pair of tongs. The peice
weighs about 100 pounds and ls red
hot when the catcher has 30 handle
it, which makes the work very danger
Gus. If you should drop one Of the
sample peices once it would mean
goodbye TO your foot.
Judge Gary Don't Work at This.
After the catcher has taken this
peace out he has to stand there with
handbar and watch that the bars
don't get mixed up. Sometimes when
they get mixed you have to climb the
steel belt which takes the bars away
and separates them. If you make a
false step when doing this, down YOU
go with the red hot bars on top of
you.
After the last piece is cut there is
sometimes a piece left three feet
long, weighing more than 300 pounds
which also has to be taken out with
the tongs. When you stand there
close to the red hot steel you sweat
so much that there are no dry places
left on your clothes. You have TO
work like this for eight hours with
no time for luch, since you are
supposed to eat your lunch while
waiting for more bars to come.
Changing Goes on All Nlaht.
When started to work here l was
put on the shift from o'clock in
the afternoon straight thru until
twelve at night. AS soon as got home
would eat my supper and try to go
to sleep, but fellow can't sleep well
for the noise keeps on ringing in your
ears no matter what you do, and you
always hear the shears cutting and
the rollers going
asked one Of the fellows what To
do to stop this, and he told me there's
only one thing to do, and that was to
go and get drunk. which / find is
the thing lots of workers here do in
order to try and forget the noise.
But the better thing would be 10
work only a six-hour day and have
time to listen to some good music.
ot course, the six-hour day will never
De giyen-the' workers will have to
organize and fight for it, because as
long as capitalism is allowed to exist.
the management will wiring the last
ounce of energy out of the steel work
ers for the profits Of stockholders.
ing OF unofficial strike committees
agreed TO recommend TO seamen the