The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-08-24
PAINTING GIRLS
LIE UNAIDED AS
SPEEDUP REICNS
S13 Per Week Is Good
Wages
(By a Worker Correspondent

III JuG GGHGIdl Cigar Company, NdH-
ticoke. Pa, where the white Dwell"
cigars are made. The 1000 or more
young workers, between the ages of
IA and 81, mostly near Ia, and the
majority girls, are worse then
slaves.
Speed Up.
Starting in the morning at Gas,
then three quarters of an hour for
lunch, quitting at night at 600 and
at times, when busy, at $50, the
"banders" receive 80 cents for every
1000 cigars. Working at the fast
est possible rate they can make be-
tween four to five thousand cigars
a day. SLIGO for a twelve-hour dayl
That is if you work fast enough. If
not you get "slow machine" and
you're out of luck. You can't make
so much.
In the folding department the
wor;, starts at 700 a. m. until $50
or at times 600 p. m. Here, the
workers receive go cents for every
1000 cigars made. If you speed up
you can make about 1000 cigars
day.
A card is given to everybody.
There it's marked down how much
work is put out. The foreman
comes around and if you didn't make
enough he tells you to hurry up. By
the end of the day, if the foreman
isn't satisfied, you have to keep on
working, util you make enough to
satisfy him. You stay, regardless
of the hour.
The next day you speed up more,
in order not to stay later than the
rest of the workers.
Especially when they cut your
wages, the way it was done last
year right after Christmas. The
workers received a six--cent cut on
a thousand. Without receiving any
notice, as to the fact that the cut is
coming. When asked why, the only
answer they got was, ooh, the sup
erintendent just felt like it." The
workers did nothing but accept the
cut.
The conditions in the factory are
far from sanitary. The windows and
doors are shut tight. No air. "The
cigars will dry up" the foreman
claims. "But what about the girls
fainting?" ooh, well, the girls can
revive themselves by taking a drink
of water, while the cigars, once they
are dry, they are no good any more"
comes the final answer from the
foreman.
Girls Faint.
Painting is one of the most usual
occurrences in the factory. An every
day accurance.
A girl can faint two or three
times a day. The foreman won't
even bother picking her up, passing
on and leaving the girl lying or sit
ting. To him it's joke to see a
picture like that. He has to laugh
at the tainted girl. At times the
girl will be in this fainting position
for about five minutes before any
body will pick her up and give her
the proper care. The girls next to
her are afraid to pick her up. 1t
might mean losing five or ten min
utes. They can't afford it, on the
low wages they get.
After fainting once or twice the
foreman might approach the girl
and ask her: "How do you feel? ?"
In most cases the answer will be:
81 feel the same way as l did be-
fore" II guess you'll be alright. Go
back to work"
The girl goes back to work. Sit
ting down and if she is a folder
she squeezes in at the table, where
she hardly has enough elbow room
and continues to work, probably to
faint again. Impossible to take off
1t might mean being layed off for
a week or probably fired. AS is
usually the case.
If anybody does stay away for a
day, it means being layed off for a
week, if not fired. Very seldom
does anybody ever take off, no mat
ter how sick she might be. Can't
afford it. Besides another job isn't
so easy to find.
ASPIRIN"
There is the nurse for instance.
She was nicknamed ASPIRIN" Be
cause no matter what happens to
you she'll give you an aspirin tab
let. Whether you faint, hurt your
side, get stomachache, the only
remedy she knows is aspirin. (She
must be an agent for the company
that puts these aspirins out, and
not a nurse.)
There is no place to wash up.
There is just a sink in the toilet
where there is room for two, when
at least 200 work on that floor. II
you do wash there is no towels to
wipe yourself with. And the toilet
itself. Filthy, dirty, very seldom
cleaned. And if you want a drink
Of water, this is the only place. There
is no other faucet on the floor.
Besides using this room for &
toilet, place to get a drink, it i,