The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-23

tNDN llNIBll FHDh PAGE ONEl
etlng which will start tomorrow will
provide 3 method through which the
dressmakers still working will be in
spired to Join those fighting for the
elimination of slavery in the in
dustry.
Not many workers realize just how
much these dressmakers are ex-
plotted by the parasites who employ
them. Forty and fifty dollars a
week was the average wage paid to
dressmalSers only few years. ago.
Dressmakers were then considered
the "aristocrats" of the New York
workers. Today the misery of these
same dressmakers is almost unbe
lieyable, especially when it is COM
pared with their previous condition.
$3.50 for Days Work
There are thousands of dress
makers today who are paid Sc, So,
$40 and sl2 week for fifty and
sixty hours of work under the most
forocious speed up system. A salary
&C So is considered high. In the
outlying sections of the city condi-
rs ere even worse. A check printed
il the Daily Worker Saturday
showed what one woman dress
major wss paid for four days work
$50. There are shops in Harlem
which force dressnlakers to work one
week without pay before they pay
t''e dresgmakers the starting wage,
which is So a week. There are shops
and they are not exceptions-in
which dressmakers start work at 3
in the morning and finish at eight
at night, all for IS week. Every
week sees a new wage cut or speed
up system introduced, and it is for
this reason that the dresSmakers are
displaying such eagerness when the
members Of the Industrial Union ask
them to join the strike.
Strike Stops Wage Cut.
Aside from the employers who
have applied for settlement OF the
strike. the stopping of all wage cuts
since the strike began can also be
counted as a tremendous gain Tor
the dressmakers. These dressmakers'
however. are not satisfied with the
gains so far made: they say that
thew will win the strike. and all they
ask of their fellow workers in other
industries is that they join in the
mass picketing which starts today,
The Strike Committee of the nj.
VIII. will issue call today to all
dressnakers to Join the strike. Part
OF the call will read:
sDressmakers, join the strike. Go
10 the Strike Halls, to the picket
lines. Sec the valiant spirit OF the
strikers. Their fight is your fight
The misery under which they slave
is the one you are subjected to. the
enemy they are fighting is your
enemy. The bosses and the IL'G'W'
company union) are against you.
They will reduce your standard OF
living still more if you don't fight.
The very fact that the present strlke
has already succeeded in putting a
stop to the contemplated wage cuts
in the shops where you are en-
ploycd. should be proof enough to
persua6e you that only by manifest
ing your strength can you enforce
your just demands"
At a meeting Of the Strike Com
mittee Saturday, the settlements al
ready made with the needle trades
employers we're approved. Louis Hy-
man, chairman of the committee, re-
ported on the activities of the strike,
snu plans we're made to organize
the mass picketing which starts to-
morrow
Mass Meetings Tomorrow.
Mass meetings of strikers will be
held tomorrow and Thursday at Bry-
ant Hail. Sixth Ave, near And St.
and at irving Plaza, 18th st. and
Irving Place. Well known labor lead
ers will address the dressmakers.
john Reed Club artists will draw on
the stage. and short concert will
b. given.
A. Lotker and S. Lifshitz are now
tourinsfhe country addressing work.