The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-08-07
CONDITIONS FAR
WORSE Seen FOR
EXP RESS NE N
Unorganized, They Are
Helpless

ment OF tine letter from
worker correspondent of the Daily
Worker who works at the Chicago
depots of the American Railway
Express Co. Other members of
the American Express Com
pany and other express COM
panies are urged to write to the
Daily Worker of their conditions.
In this way express workers may
start the ball rolling toward the
formation of a militant, powerful,
industrial union, to fight their
miserable conditions,)
No accommodations are made for
the men, even in winter, while they
are waiting to be hired, except a
small cloak room, where standing
room is available for perhaps fif-
teen persons, sawdust bin under
the floor of the shed and an i'll
smelling basement toilet.
Abusive Foremen.
At the Kinzie-Or shed of the
Northwestern r. r. gangs are hired
every hour of the forenoon, from
Z until II, at 4:40, $40 p. m. and
at 2 a. m. Those hired from Z until
II a. m. work from 1 to hours.
The afternoon shifts get hours,
the 2 a. m. shift hours. This is
one of the hardest depots of all to
work at. The foremen are very
abusive and can easily be heard a
block away shouting at the men.
Must Sleep in Shack.
Yet there is always an abundance
of men. At this depot the company
has provided 2 shanty to serve as
a waiting room. 1t is also used by
some for eating and sleeping quar-
tiers, for many, even those who do
get on, work such short hours and
get so little pay that they cannot
secure room or patronize a res
taurant. This place has become so
filthy that the foremen who do the
hiring never go inside it for fear of
the vermin. But it serves its pur>
pose well of inducing men to hang
around waiting to be hired. The
day agent, who suggested the cree
ton of this shack, considers it a
great stroke.
Crooked in Paying.
The Pennsylvania puts on four
shifts during the "a hours. The
average time for these men is about
two and one half hours. AS stated
before, they are crooked in paying
for even this small amount Of time
This is a very bad place to work;
the agents and foremen are hard
drivers. The men stand in toilet
while waiting to be hired. But
there are always plenty of men.
Another Deduction.
At SIT Wells st. they work 12C
men in several shifts from 2:30 to
p. m. The amount earned usually
runs from 45 cents to $1.2O, and, as
mentioned before, they dock the
men for the time used going from
the clock to work and back again
when they are laid off. Ir THEN
efforts to get more speed the fore
men actually push men about. Yet
there are always plenty Of men left
standing when the hiring is finished
The other sheds are much the
same and all present conditions that
might open the eyes of some who
love to prattle about the wonderful
standard of living of the American
producers.
Who are these men and where dc
they come from? First of all they
are broke and forced to take any
kind Of work in order to eat. The
majority have lived a long time in
Chicago. Many have been out OF
steady work for a long time. They
look daily for steady work and come
to the express sheds to try to earn
enough to eat while they continue
the search. Some of the recent ar
rivals are from far places, north
south, east and west, who have
heard SO much about the enormous
building operations here, including
the Century of Progress Fair. When
they arrive and find these things
mostly on narar or r,oro1,y hot ,;,.