The daily worker., 1931-01-05
lRr a Worker Correspondent


{ N December "a the Chicago and North West
F" ern Railroad Company closed its Chicago
ops for the second time in three months
/ rowing over three thousand workers into the
,unger army" The announcement issued by
management states the shops will reopen on
! nuary 5, but these workers have learned to
/ ke such statements with grain of salt" hav
i-g experienced bitter disilluSionment in this
i spect many items since the crisis began.
The three thousand workers affected by the
osing of the shops had only been back at
3 .lrk since November 3rd. They were employed
/ iree days per week at a wage barely sufficient
{ keep them from actually starving to death.
Under tne infamous Hoover "Stagger system
g ,stituted by the North Western bosses, laborers
! I'VE been paid S912 per week, mechanics help
, S S13.20-S13,68 and mecnanics 1920 for the
rec days work.
Many cases OF. distress have come to the no
; e of foremen and company officials, but no.
/ ing has been done to remedy conditions. The
2mpany has devised a fake charity plan by
g lich workers are mulcted of one-half of one
n cent of their monthly wages ostensibly for
e relief of needy cases, but so far no account
; g mas been made of expenditures, although the
an was announced on November 3rd the date
, | which the shops resumed operations ON a
mporary schedule
In several instances "snooping squads" COM
)sed of bosses and wives of company officials,
I'VE invaded the homes # destitute workers,
led into personal affairs enquired as to why
?e families had not put away something for
Z rainy uay, why cheaper quarters were not OBJ
ined, etc, etc, but an investigation by the
Top nucleus Of the Communist Party has re-
2aled that in none of these cases was sub
antial relief furnished.
The mechanics and helpers employed by the
0rth Western railroad are organized into the
riouS shop crafts of the Railway Employees
apartment of the American Federation Of La
T. The takers who head the System Fedora
On here, as well as the International official
on, have gone along with the company in its
cry attempt to crush the workers
The business agents of the unions have actual
assisted in putting over the "stagger system"
nd in carrying through plans of the bosses
n a more intensive Speed-Ip program. They
ave openly endorsed the lake relief drive with
he full knowledge that no worker has any say
to tae directing of the campaign and spend
lg of money collected from the workers pay
1velopes. This condition is fast bringing about
revolt in the ranks of the union membership
hich threatens the control of the takers.
Early, in December two important local unions
,eld elections and in both these the reaction
ries, stool pigeons and takers were swept from
lffice. The machinists handed terrific lam
FASTING to the Lukas gang of STOOL pigeons when
Otto Lukas, who controlled the lodge for seven
ears went down to defeat in the contest for
inancial secretary
His cronies suffered like treatment in the race
or other important offices. Only one Lukas
ickspittle, Sid Bloom candidate for shop stew
lrd, survived the onslaught. The latter. elected
With the assistance of company bosses and bust
ness agents, has an unsavory record and at the
asst district convention failed TO take the floor
IN behalf of progressive measures, contenting
himself with an aye" vote on a resolution sub
nittcd by district rcactionaries depriving the
rank and file of the right to elect their own dis
,rict financial secretary. Bloom can be depended
upon to take the side of the bosses in all griev-
ance cases, ..-
The maehinsts helpers in their elections de-
feated every reactionary who, dared to announce
MS candidacy for important office. Carter who
has consistently trained with the Lukas gang,
led the reactionary stool-pigeon group of can
didates down to defeat in one of the most SEN