The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-08-20
NATIONAL Mill
union DRIVE is
ON IN PENNA,
Workers Betrayed by
u. T. w. Takers
(Bu q Worker Correspondent

! (DU o. w OIhbI CO'FNoF'''NS'S/
ALLENTOWN, Pa, Aug. IS
With the sending of Martin Russak,
former Paterson organizer, into
Pennsylvania as District Organizer
of the Lehigh Valley district, the
National Textile Workers Union has
begun campaign to organize the
textile workers of the entire region
running from Phillipsburg and Eaton
to Allentown, and to launch strug-
gle for better conditions for the bit
terly exploited textile workers OF
Pennsylvania. In the Lehigh Valley
are located the largest silk weaving
mills in the country, many throw
ing plants, and a number of big
rayon mills, employing majority
of women and girl workers, running
on two and three shifts and produc-
ing over 60 per cent of the total
silk production in the country.
with conditions considerably
lower than in New Jersey mills, the
prosperous Pennsylvania silk capt.
talists have been frightening the
work day, increasing the speed-up,
and forcing wages still further
down. The result has been wave
of spontaneous strikes. Within the
last six months there have been
dozens of sporadic strikes in the Le-
high Valley mills. But without or
ganization, betrayed by the As
ISOLATED and the U. T. W., the work.
ers have had no method of combin-
ing these struggles so as to make
them really effective. The latest
mill that struck in Allentown, the
SINS, resulted in a defeat when the
officials of the Associated, Quinlan
and Matthews, abandoned the work
ers in the midst of their struggle.
This strike also ended in smash
ing defeat of the Associated takers
when Organizer Russak of the Mt
WI captured the strike meeting and
exposed the role of the Associated
to the crowd of workers who were
present. Many workers left the AS
ISOLATED and Joined the NTWU.
The NTWU has already organized
functioning mill committees in over
20 mills throughout the Valley. In
Easton, a UTW stronghold, the Mt
WI has set up mill committees in
six mills, including the great Stan
dard mill which has over $500
looms. In Allentown, the NTWU is
gaining new members every day and
has organized mill groups in many
big mills, such as the Adelaide,
mill of 1000 looms.
In the Arcadia, large rayon mill
in Allentown where hundreds of
young boys and girls slave 10 to II
hours day for an average weekly
wage of SIS, the NTWU has an ac-
tive mill local with members from
every department. Two successful
mass meetings have been held by
the NTWU in Allentown within the
last 3 weeks. On Aug. Is, a spirited
protest meeting against the Gas
tonia frame-up, was held with Amy
Shechter and Martin Russak as the
speakers, and the workers contrib
uted $17.10 to the Defense Fund and
pledged themselves to fight until
the Gastonia strikers are freed.
Thousands of copies of the call
to the first National Conference of
Silk Workers, which will be held in
Paterson on August 25, have been
distributed at mill gates up and
down the Valley. The Pennsylvania
workers are looking forward with
the greatest interest to the confer
ence and are taking steps to send
large delegations to Paterson. Dele
gates will come from the anthracite
region as well as the Lehigh Valley
to participate in the preparatory
work for a great national movement
of the silk workers. The silk work
ers are also mobilizing, together
with the Bethlehem steel workers Of
Bethlehem and the auto workers of
Allentown, for the TUEL Conven-
ton at Cleveland.