The daily worker., 1930-11-24
The Offensive on the Building
Trades Workers.
Ry A. FISHER

What is the situation in the building industry?
OF the 250000 building trades workers in the
city of New York and vicinity about 100000 be-
long to the various craft unions of the A. F. of
L. and the rest of them are unorganized. Dur
ing the years of so-caled prosperity the build
ing industry was in the first ranks of develop
ment. The workers gaining the 8-hour, 5-day
week and $500 a day on construction jobs But
with the general crisis the building trades was
one of the first industries to be severely effected
The official figures of the A. F. of L. for the
month of August for unemployment was Sc per
cent. Of course it is to be remembered that, a.
these figures are not to be trusted coming from
the A. F. of L. b. that this percentage only ap-
plies to the members of the A F. OF L., the num-
ber of unorganized being greater, c. that even
this percentage of unemployment is taking
place during the height of the season 1t is gen.
orally believed that there 60 per cent OF the
workers unemployed at this time and much
larger percentage will be unemployed a month
from now While the A. F. Of L. is giving So
called figures on unemployment they completely
cover the wage cuts and speed-up taking place
in this industry Officially the wages of the Or
ganized workers is $500 per day but this should
not nlislead anybody, the majority of the workers
are forced to work for $6-8 per day at a neck
breaking speed-up. The restriction on the num-
ber of rooms to be painted or the number OF
electrical outlets to be installed is a matter OF
the past only. The conditions are even worse
among the unorganized The number OF unem-
ployed among the unorganized is greater their
wages range from $4-6 per day while the speed
up is intolerable In brief this is the situation
in the building industry.
What are the officials of the A. F. of L. unions
doing to prevent the attack upon these workers?
The same answer holds true in this industry as
to all others where the A. F. of L. succeeded to
misead small section of the workers. 1t helps
the employers put through their program against
the workers. They have agreed not to strike
against wage cuts, speed-up, etc. they have
adopted Hoovers stagger system Cthe Painters
District Council No. 81 they fight against the
unity of the employed and unemployed, against
social insurance etc, In short they are doing
everything the bosses want them to do. AS a
result of this disgust with the betrayals of their
leaders" thousands of workers are leaving the
A. F. of L. unions, refusing to pay dues and the
high assessments. But do these discontented
workers willing to fight if leadership were pro-
vided, come in to our League in justifiabe big
numbers2 No they do not, and this is due to the
weakness of our League. Our League although
an improvement is noticeable did not yet reach
the great masses Of discontented organized and
especially the unorganized workers The main
weakness of the Building and Construction
Workers Industrial League lies in the fact that
1t does not pay sufficient attention to the un-
organized and unemployed workers.
The Building and Construction Workers In
dustrial League is confronted with the important
tasks of organizing the unorganized as well as
those still following the leadership of the fascsts
of the A. F. of L. for counter attack against the
employers and the fascist leadership, to tighten
the independent leadership of the economic
struggles, to build up genuine united fronts from
below in the shops and on the buildings as the
issues may come up with organized well as
unorganized workers 1t is up to our League to
bring the fight of the unemployed into the A.
F. of L. unions and having them endorse their
demands. And finally it is our task to win those
rank and file workers, who still follow the
treacherous leadership of the A. F. Of L. to our
program and into our League which alone will
lead the workers into the struggle against the
bosses and will build an industrial union
workers. The poisonous venom of race hatred
injected into the ranks Of the white workers
becomes converted into an instrument for the
&c ,Io