The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-07-29
ALUMINIUM TRUST
WORKERS STRIKE
AGAINST SPEEDUP
Cheer Communist Plea
For Organization

| NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y, July %.
When the management of the local
plant of the American Aluminium Co.
Mellon corporation, announced that
it would require the pot-men to work
nine instead of five pots per shift in
the future, all three shifts walked
out on strike and assembled at
nearby hall where plans for deter
mined struggle against the speed
up system were drawn up and en-
Enthusiastically approved.
Urged To Organize.
The previously unorganized work
ers cheered Justify the remarks of
Herbert Benjamin, district organizer
of the Workers Party, who was
called in from Buffalo, when he
urged them to for ma permanent or
ganization that would not only de-
| feat the present attack of the COM
pany but redress the many wrongs
that had been imposed upo nthem
! during the past several years. An
executive committee of nine mem
! bers was elected to conduct the strike
and arrangements made for daily
meetings of the strikers, for effective
picketing and to call out the 700
workers who are employed in other
departments.
In a statement issued by the strike
committee, the workers effectively
urged them to form permanent or
c.. S. Thayer, superintendent of the
local plant and expose the horrible
conditions under which they have
been forced to work. This statement
shows that the rich Mellon corpora
ton has been following consistently
a policy of reducing the working
force and adding to the labors of the
remaining workers, while the earn
! ings of these workers were con-
that had been imposed upon them
new equipment was introduced that
made for substantial savings for the
company and added misery for the
workers.
| Terrible Heat.
The work of the pot-men consists
of attending the hot-metal. The heat
around the pots is so terrific that
| the workers are forced to run to
neutral area where the temperature
is "only" 120 degrees for gasp of
breath. Recently the company under
the direction of a couple of college
graduated efficiency experts" re-
duced the lining in the pots, thus
depriving the worker of what little
protection they had from the heat.
Then they discharged the sweeping
gang and compelled the pot-men to
sweep in the periods when they pre-
viously We're free to leave the i'm
mediate proximity of the red-hot pots
for the comparative cool temperature
/ of the neutral area"
Not content with this, the "effi-
cheney men" were responsible for the
elimination of a gang of men that
previously prepared the carbon for
use and introduced new type of car
bon twice as heavy as that previously
used and of a shape more difficult
to handle and compelled the pot-men
to do this additional work also. At
the same time new process was in
troduced which resulted in bringing
the same pots out on the line twice
the previous number of times which
in effect meant doubling of the
number Of pots handled.
Wages Same.
While the labors of the workers
were thus increased their wages con-
tinued stationary at 81 day and a
bonus which they had been receiv-
ing was in some unexplained way
constantly reduced The workers de-
clare that it would be humanity i'm
possible under these conditions to
work nine pots instead of five per
shift. They have decided to strike
to retain the five pot basis; for a
dollar per day increase; for elimina-
ton of extra work and for recogni-
ton of their elected representatives.
The workers in the other departments
have suffered in a similar manner
from the inhuman policy Of the COM
pany and many of them have declared
that they but await the call of the
strike committee to join in the strug-