The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-09-09
CONTRADICTIONS
OF SICMAN SHOWN
Up BY |. HYMAN
Exposes His Reply to
GrOssman

Early this week the president Of
the cloak manufacturers group
known as the Industrial Council, l.
Grossman, made a statement blaming
the international Ladies' Garment
Workers Union for the conditions in
the industry and especially for the
prevalence of non-union shops.
In reply, Morris Sigman, president
Of the international, yesterday issued
spirited denial Of the facts stated
by Grossman and refused to accept
responsibility for, or even acknowl-
edge the existence Of many trade
evils.
Commenting on this published con
troversy, Louis Hyman, manager of
the New York Joint Board of the
Cloak and Dressmakers, said yester-
day:
president Sigmans' answer. to the
statement by l. Grossman, president
Of the Industrial Council, concerning
present conditions in the cloak trade,
is filled with contradictions of his
previous admissions relating to the
evils now rife in the industry.
Many Open Shops.
ITO Mr.. Grossman, Sigman indig-
nantly denies the spread Of non
union shops; yet his own organ Jus
tice' this week contains julius Hoch-
mans report to group of shop
chairmen stating that when he took
over the Joint Board there were
about 1000 non-union shops in the
industry. 1t is well known that this
number has increased since then, yet
HICKMAN has previously acknowl-
edged that his organization drive re-
suited in settling only so or 60 Of
this whole group.
I'm this same issue Of Justice It
is reported that Sigman told I'M
partial Chairman Ingersoll that the
problem of the non-union shop had
reached an alarming stage, and he
condemns the manufacturers for
feeding the scab shops and says that
they need not have agreements if
they intend to violate them.
COntradicts Himself.
of Sigman and HICKMAN make
ClItSC 5teAbCliiCliIo III Ltlt uilltt OERa u.
how can they expect to deny the
facts when issuing statements to the
outside press. If Justice is talking
Of the open shop menace week after
week, how can Sigman pretend there
is no open shop problem when he is
faced with it by the manufacturers?
And in the same way, if Sigman
tnC -
Saturdays and Sundays, and all sorts
of hours, how can he expect to be
listened to seriously when he states
that no such overtime work is going
on? He knows well that this over
time work is being done, and that
at the same time the trade is slow
because just this overtime work helps
to increase unemployment.
But at the present time the nom
union shop is not the sole problem
with which we are confronted, even
though according to Mr.. Hochman's
admission that there are 1000 of
them. To my mind, the greater men
ace is the shop where they have a
union agreement, yet conditions are
% Ddu IIldI pleCeNOtk, overtime ana
all sorts of violations of contract
pass unchallenged and there are alb
solutely no union standards main
tanned. 1t is well known that in most
Of the sub-manufacturing shops they
have no union standards and the only
difference between them and non
union shops is that they compel the
workers to register.
"All the cooperation that the
manufacturers may give to Sigman,
and all the organization drives he
may carry on will do no good be-
cause the workers do not trust him
and have no confidence in him. All
the methods used by the manufac-
turers to force recognition of Sigman
only create more chaos. Not until
the employers take their hands off
and let the workers choose their own
leaders and run their own union will
there be condition that will permit
union standards in the industry"