The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-06-09
The Situation in the Building
Trades and Our Tasks
By A. FISHER.


THE deepening economic crisis has greatly
affected the building trades Although not
an exporting industry, it is closely related to
the export industries, which were the first to
feel the crisis, an outgrowth of the shrinkage
of markets, the speedup and wage cuts, because
of the declining markets and which limits the
consumption of the masses
The Wall Street crash, which is an oucco..--
of the economic crisis intensified it tenfold.
1t was right after the November stock crash
that building declined at an unheard of pace,
until today there is hardly any building going
on except subway construction.
This crisis resulted in great unemployment,
speed-up and wage cuts mot officially in the
building industry. In March, when various Of
ficials of the ALL. unions were interviewed
as to the extend of unemployment, the figure
given out by them was 40 to 80 per cent. The
head of the Building Construction Association,
Mr.. Norman, stated that building declined SO
per cent. According to the N Y. State Labor
Department figures, building declined in the
months of March and April SO per cent of the
same months in 1929 and II per cent of 1928.
We have reasons to believe that none of these
figures given out by these people are exag
gerated the contrary, we believe they are
underestimate. 1t is already fact that the
crisis in the industry is not temporary one,
although it may vary at times Just as many
thousands are walking the streets today in the
"height of the season" as there were in March
and April.
Union Conditions Non Existent.
While this situation is taking place, which
has thrown $4,000 organized workers out Of
employment in New York and probably more
in the unorganized field, speed up and cut ir
wages for the rest, the officials of these union
70 eto fbe oF
the BOSSES Or the contrary, they are working
more hand in hand with the bosses to beat
down the wages of these workers, to speed
up and to prosecute those who raise a voice
of revolt against these conditions. 1t is known
to all that union conditions do not exist in this
industry any more. The Building Trades Coun-
Gil is only an executive committee for the boss
eS.
There are approximately 100000 organized
building trades workers in New York and about
as many unorganzed American capitalism,
due to its strength, has been able to bride these
workers for some time and also use them
against the unorganzed workers. 1t has hoped
to develop sort of an upper strata TO be used
against the sem-skied and urskilled and the
unorganzed in general. To some extent it sue
ceeded, telling them through the mouths of
their officials that if the rest'of the workers
will be organized they will take away the jobs
from them and that the unorganized building
trades workers are inferior in skill to the or
ganized, etc. But this partial success lasted
only as long as their wages were high, steady
work and plenty of overtime. But this is moi
the case now. The bosses have started a war
against these workers too, and in order to meet
this offensive of the bosses and their agents,
the organized workers will have to ally them
selves with the unorganized under the leader
ship OF the Trade Union Unity League.
Workers Discontinued.
These workers are beginning to realize that
they cannot expect anything from their reac-
tionary officials, who are working against
them. In connection with this it must be ad-
mitted that we have not been able as yet to
utilize this discomfort. Our work up till not
long ago consisted in exposing the officials of
given local as grafters, without exposing the
whole leadership and their tactics and putting
forth our own program as the only remedy
We have allowed the expulsion of members and
revoking of charges without organizing mass
protest against it. In addition to this, we
have made united fronts at times with takers
in order to defeat bigger takers. We have
participated in signing agreements with the
bosses, which were to the detriment of the
workers We failed to organize the rank and
file within the union on the basis of militant
program. In addition to this, our work among
the unorganzed was almost negligible with
the exception of organizing the electricians and
painters union and then dissolving it because
we did not succeed in bringing them into the
A. f. of L.
However, our work after the Cleveland Con.
vention of the T.U.U.L. has greatly improved