The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-08-12
GO TO JAIL OR
WASH Dishes"
JOBLESS TOLD
Cleveland Boss Pays
Only a Meal

SLII v EAAANbs OiiAO Wy ~hC'iAI'
Directly opposite the newly built
Union Depot is restaurant which
bears the name of Emporium"
Here, there exists an example par
excellence of bossism. There one
can readily see that no difference
exists between the big boss ard his
small fry brother. In that place I
went to work as cook.
My pay for "a hours week is
the munificent sum of $40 per week
with an additional reward of a few
hours off once in a while, providing
do not ask for a leave of absence
too often.
Conditions such as this are general
here in Cleveland, with the workers
in the food industry entirely unor-
ganized as yet into strong union
such as exists in New York. But
wait, the main part of my story
only begins now.
Shortly after midnight there en-
tiers into that establishment an Of
ficer, eats to his hearts content,
has cigar on the house, and then
! q most surprising question is asked
by the boss: GLOW does the park
look tonight?"
20. X" answers the minion of
the law with a grin. What? Said
I to myself, is it possible that a
slave driver such as my boss is a
lover of nature. And I listened fur
Their but could get no more of their
conversation, as work took me out
of ear-shot. But what the little ma
ture talk meant, we shall soon find
out.
About ten or fifteen minutes later
in comes man, asks for the boss
and then tells him that the police
man told him that he might get
something to eat and little change
if he would help clean up the place.
After an exceedingly strict investi-
cation as to Willingness and abil-
ity," he is told that he will do. Well
so he does. For about five hours
he does nothing but clean and scrub
the place from the front door to the
kitchen, not to forget the cellar. In
the meanwhile the dishes and pots
have piled up and he must do that
too. Then there are couple of cans
Of garbage to take out, and just be-
fore he is considered finished he
washes with lye the icebox. Not
knowing, he is told nothing of the
harmful effects of the lye on the
hands.
Finished at last, he is granted per-
mission to eat. Food that has been
left over is piled by the boss on
plate and given to him. The boss
told me that even that unstable
food is much too good for the "likes
Of that" Done with his regal feast
he is given % cents and because he
was quite satisfactory he is told that
he may return on the following day,
at the same time, and damned if he
don't.
Later I learned how the boss got
his help, from the walking delegate
himself. Yes, it is no other than the
cop, better known in our circles as
a strike breaker. This is how he
does the trick. He enters the park
where the poor unfortunate down.
and-outers, forced by the system of
speed-up into unemployment, picks
on the most shabbily dressed work.
er, threatens him with a vagrancy
charge, doles out lecture, wants to
know why he does not go to work
like every good American citizen
should and winds up with the fol-
lowing remarks: "Now, if I were to
tell you where you could get food
and few cents would you go to
work or shall I run you in"
The tool of the bosses then told
me he does that to about three or
four in order to be sure that one
shows up. In fact, he does not bar
even women from his list. For the
other day a woman about forty did
the same work, for the same food
and pay as the men got.
The moral Of this tale (not fairy
tale) is workers in the food indus
try as well as every industry must
unite under the red banner of the
workers (The Communist Party)
and stay organized.