The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-09-14
PARTY LIFE
Conducted by the Org. Dept. Central Com
mittee, Communist Party, U. s. A.
Our Shop Papers
By E. s.

we will have the exact figures on this point
These papers are located in the most basic Inc
dustries in the country, such as metal (steel,
etc), automobile mines, stock yards, ships rail~
roads, and only small percentage of them In
less important industries such as needle trades,
etc.
This number Of shop papers must be greatly
increased in order to really make the fmda-
mental turn to factory work. as decided upon
by the 18th Plenurn of our Party. Furthermore,
the small number of shop papers reflect our
weakness in shop work generally. The 18th
Plenum has stressed the need of this work in
our day to day activity of the Party. 1t has
pointed out that speeches and articles no mat
ter how good these are, will not accomplish this
work. Only persistent day to day detailed ac-
tvity in the shops mines, and railroads, etc.
will entrench our Party and root it in the
depths of the working class of the U. S. A.
Our shop papers play an important role Ia
building our Party in the places of work-where
the worker spends the best part of his life:
comes in actual contact with the rule OF the
money bags; learns by his own experiences what
it means to be bitterly exploited for the profits
of the boss; comes in conflict with the employer
on this basis and takes up the struggle against
this exploitation, for better conditions.
The issuing of shop papers not only is es-
sential to the developing of our Party as mass
Party by roofing it in the shops and factories.
but also to the work Of the nucleus and COM
rades engaged in shop work In this work the
central office of our Party gives, and is in
position to give, detailed instruction and help
to the nucleus engaged in shop activities and
in issuing of shop papers.
In shop activities the need for ground work.
the need for detailed work is most essential
General" directives, circular letters are Of no
place has its own thousand-fold complex prob
lems-how to start and how to continue carry
ing on this work.
In shop paper work, therefore, the central
office of our Party has entirely done away with
these general" directives and instruction. Every
single paper, as soon as it reaches the central
office (unless some special reason prevents IT'D.
is being reviewed and copy sent to the nucleus
issuing this paper and the district agitprop de-
partment. In this review" we take up with
the nucleus issuing the paper the most detailed
problems dealt with in the shop paper, and
those that the paper fails to take Up We tackle
the question Of the so-called "art of writing in
so far as to help the comrades express them
selves in an understandable manner, so thas
the writing brings the desired results. But this
is the least we take up in these reviews"
What we tackle most in these reviews are just
these "httle" things that comrades usually for
get when they deal with "big" problems How
to utilize little" grievances and complaints OF
the workers to gain better working and living
conditions in the shop OF department and how
to build organization in the shop; how to
develop these struggles right in the given shop,
the methods to be used-the building of grew
ance committees in given department or in
the shop; slogans to be issued, and how to de-
velop struggles around these slogans-putting
erar' problems (such unemployment, war,
defense of the Soviet Union, foreign born, etc)
with immediate shop problems and demands
and how to get these workers to fight for these
general" demands on the basis of their own
shop needs and demands, thus furthering both
the general" problem campaign, and the work.
ers own shop needs; the question of distribute
ton of the paper; the building of the nucleus;
the popularizng and selling of our literature, all
these 'little' details are dealt with in our "re-
views to the individual shop papers and dis
tricts.
Experience has shown that those shop papers
coming out regularly every month have, thanks
to this detailed guidance and help on the part
of our Party's central office greatly improved
in their quality. We have some shop papers
that have already raised a good many shop
issues; some of them who have even succeeded
in organizing department grievance committees
and presented their demands before the man.
agement some papers which have really estab-
Hshed themselves in those workplaces where
they appear, organs of the workers
OF course our greatest shortconling in this
work still remains: our comrades in the shops
do not as yet understand how to do organiza-
tionaI work there. We can even tell of cases
where grievance committees we're elected by the
workers. these committees presented their de-
mands to the employers, but our comrades in
the shop did not know how to continue this
work-and the whole thing went to pieces To
overcome this weakness is one of our greatest
tasks
We can develop good shop work and shop or
pay special attention to the minutest details in
this work. That the number of shop papers
and must be greatly increased if we mean
to build our Party where it must be but-in
the Shops mines, railroads, ETC. That those
nuclei issuing shop papers have enabled the CEN
trail office to give them concrete detailed guid-
ance and leadership in their shop work; that
this help on the part of the central office has
greatly helped these nuclei in their shop &C
tivity and shop paper work; and that each and
every unit of our Party must Immediately start
shop work-build nucleus, issue shop paper
and get the help in this work on the part OF
the central offce-this help that many units
already got
Of course the units must not wait till they
issue the shop papers and then first start to
get this help Every nucleus should write to
the central office, present concrete shop prob