The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-02-24

eminent as a strike-breaker, have the
battles and are coming to the poltica
been supplemented by the daily mass
meetings where the strikers gather in
many halls to listen to the reports Of
the progress of the strike, the inter-
probation of the propaganda of the
bourgeois press, what is the next step.
and what is expected of them in the
way of picketing and the strengthen
ing of the battle front in general.
Mass Meetings Daily.
At these meetings the strikers daily
listen to speakers from the different
unions and trades and the topics vary
from day to day altho always they
are connected up with the strike. Thru
these meetings the workers become
acquainted with the life, conditions
and problems Of the workers of. other
industries and learn to know the
value of building up a powerful union
in their industry. The strikers also
learn not only that they have interests
in common with the workers of the
rest of the country but with the work
ers of the entire world as well.
The following is an example of how
the workers receive their education
thru the meetings. The conditions of
the workers in the textile mills of
China are compared with the condi-
tons in Passaic and this is brot to-
gether with the competition Of the
American textiles with the textiles
produced in China on the world mar
ket. Then the conclusion that the
wage cut that the Passaic workers
suffered in October 1925 was only the
beginning of campaign to reduce the
standard of living of the Passaic tex
tile workers to the level of the Chin
csc textile workers. And it is only
the militancy and organization of the
workers that can stop this tendency
to reduce the standard of living. The
struggle for the maintenance of the
present standard of the textile work
ers of Passaic inevitably leads to a
revolutionary struggle because It is
directed against the foundations Of
capitalism, for under the present
period of world imperialism with its
colonial investments, capitalism must
not only exploit the workers in the
colonial countries but must lower the
standard Of living in the home country
in order to maintain itself.
Revolutionary Singing.
Another very important aspect Of
these meetings is the mass singing of
revolutionary songs, such as Hold
the Fort For We Are Coming and
others with the words composed by
some of the strikers dealing with diff
ferent phases Of the strike. This
mass singing is a daily feature. At
the meetings the workers learn the
new songs and then they sing them
the next morning on the picket line.
The bosses are filled with fear every
time the strikers march by the factory
gates singing Hold the Fort For We
Are Coming"
Particularly worthy of mention is
the militancy Of the women strikers.
They are in the forefront of the picket
line and they learn the songs faster
than the men. Special mention must
also be made of the miIitancy of the
young workers. In fact almost all Of
the leaders of the mill councils are
under 30, many of them 25 and
younger.
The Passaic textile strike is the be-
ginning of the revolt of the million
textile workers in the United States.
The strikers by their militancy, their
splendid discipline and enthusiasm,
their determination not only to resist
the wage cuts of last October but to
fight for an increase have taken the
leaderhip in the organization of the
textile workers in the United States.
The strikers are being schooled in
this strike by starvation and police
mems clubs.
They learn to know by experience