The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-10-05
OFFICIALS WINK
AT VIOLATION or
O-HOUn DAY LAW
Collie Knocks Girls Out,
Cash Talks
(Bu q Worker Correspondent

IIlIDAOELTf 1lA, IA, (BY Mail
Hell bent on breaking production
record, the Philadelphia Storage
Battery Co., is breaking the health
of its women workers and breaking
the law into the bargain. But who
cares? In war and other business
enterprises everything goes.
The Philco's miscellaneous depart
ment is browbeaten into working a
twelve hour shift several days a
week, with no time out for supper,
so that the slaves, mostly girls,
often drudge away for eight or nine
hours at stretch to drag them
selves home at last work-worn and
wrung by hunger. Thus a boss can
thumb his nose in the face of the
state statute fixing an eight-hour
day for working women, for justice
with banknote plastered over each
eye is blind.
The Philco radio set has just been
placed on the market and in order
to fill advance sales at call and
stop the ferry-slip mouths of the
stockholders bawling for dividends,
the entire plant is being run full
blast. When any of the numerous
radio gags finds itself swamped
despite the back breaking speed-up
system with more work than it can
handle, the overflow is turned over
to the miscellaneous department. a
sort of emergency crew. AS a re-
suit the workers of this group are
always up to their chins in rush
jobs, pulled from before and prodded
from behind. A full work day taken
at the clip they are forced to main
tain is destruction enough, but when
young women must keep to the
treadmill from 7.15 a. m. until s or
p. m. without break except for
three-quarters of an hour at noon,
the thing is simply capitalistic muir
der, slow and brutal.
To try begging off an occasional
evening is practically the same as
asking for your walking papers.
The shop warden reminds you that
plenty of girls would jump at the
chance to fill your shoes and maybe
for less money. He trots out the
big fist philosophy: "Work never
killed nobody" It's not his fault if
it hasn't. He hints that when the
company, in its goodness of heart,
doles out jobs, it expects them to
be appreciated by the favored serfs.
Your choice is between losing your
health or losing your job.
Toward seven o'clock of a recent
night, a new recruit to the mis-
cellaneous department, not yet
broken to compulsory fasting, asked
her keeper whether she might step
outside for a sandwich. The main
squelch was dumbfounded and when
he had caught his breath and her
drift, refused the wilful workers
request pointblank, murmuring
something about cooling the heels
on the sidewalks.
"When we have work to be done.
you get it and plenty, and when
you've worked yourself out of job,
you get tin the neck" was the
gist of his remarks.
This came under the head of food
for thought, but not easily buffaloed,
the girl mentioned the tastefully
framed excerpt from certain state
statute hanging in the employment
office. Wasn't it unlawful to make
her put in more than eight hours in
one day?
"You're supposed to keep that
under your hat, the slave-herder
growled out.
The women workers continue to go
hungry and slave up to bedtime two
and three nights weekly. A break
down means labor turnover to these
-guzzIing dollar devils, nothing
else. A girl carried out with paint
ers' collie is an everyday sight in
the spraying department. The hard
cash hounds know that women work
ers are not strong enough to endure
such labor long, but penny saved
Ia penny more for dividends. Wom-
en- will work for almost half mans
wages and, while they last, make
Just as good painters.