The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-05-11
STEEL
MILL employees
DRIVEN INSANE
Finger, Hand Is Com
mon Price of Speed-up
(By a Worker Correspondent

by Worker Correspondent
MONESSEN, Pa, (By Mall The
American Sheet and Tin Plate Co. at
Monessen, Pa, has been in full opera
ton for month now. We work five
days a week and they have started
up ten more mills recently, since they
closed down the same company mills
in New Kensington and are trans
fering their orders to other mills in
different towns. They brought some
to this mill here and also their crew
of workers, amounting to one hun
bred and twenty-five men, fifteen
gangs in all. They are to finish their
orders here.
No Union.
1t also seems as though the new
men that were brought here have the
head chances in the mill, and the old
men who have been here in this mill
for the last ten to twenty years have
the second places. 1t is not fair,
but what can we do against the mill
owners orders, as we have no unions
III LIGSS Hills uGIG. nSy
have put the old and steady men to
work as extras and the new men to
the old mems places. But the old
men and workers here wouldn't stand
for it and they raised the dickens
about that so they had to give some
of the fellows their former places
back.
They have all kinds of rules and
regulations which we must go by and,
if we disobey them, we are likely to
be reprimanded for it and also are
most liable to be fired or given few
days rest as they call it.
In the hot-mill there are nine men
in crew, and four of them get paid
pretty good, but of course they work
for it also. The other five don't get
paid quite so good and they work
just as hard for their money as do
the others. ...
They have an insurance in this mill
and every man that enters this mill
as an employee must take out this in
surance or else he doesn't get to work
here.
They sure know how to hand out
their orders when you are at a dis
advantage, and must bow to their
demands and orders or out you go.
The laborers' wages are forty cents
an hour, and the hot-mills are paid
by the tonnage. The hot mills work
only eight hours and three shifts a
day, while the other depts. work from
ten to twelve hours. 1t sure would
be wonderful if they could be organ
lied in these mills here, as this is
quite an important steel town.
They have the speed-up system
| here too; all the newest kind of
machinery, everything up to date and
modern as they have in all the other
mills and other towns.
We have a big plant here, The
Pittsburgh Steel Co. They have the
wire mill, nail mill, tube mill and rod
mill. 1t is nothing new to hear of a
man losing a finger, or hand in the
wire mill. The work in the rod mill
lis also just as dangerous as the hot
rods shoot fast and If the catcher
isn't fast enough in getting it hs. is
liable to get severely burned. The
hours are very long as they work
from thirteen hours at night and ten
hours per day. If they get extra
orders in, they make a man work
two shifts straight through and not
worry one bit whether he is able to
do it or not, as orders are orders and
you must do as you're told and no
back talk either The nail mill is
also very dangerous and the noise is
just deafening. You can't hear your
neighbor say one word. Employees
working there for years often get
deaf or lose their minds. Something
happens to them anyhow.