The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-03
WHAT THE DANBURY WORK
Frs LEARNED AND WON

time wen be organized and can prepare better,
and win more"
Next time it's got to be all fur-workers and
matters together too" a carroter spoke up.
group of us were talking together sitting around
&C. the union hall I'VE find the bosses all stick by
each other, and we gotta do the same Before
this strike, now, were divided up-Syrian
workers, italian, Portuguese, Irish French, AM
erican,-each in our ow nclub, and the foremen
and small bosses were members too. We thought
they were our clubs but we found out different,
when they threw us out of the halls. Now we're
going to organize our own-an International
Workers Club"
YES" this time it was woman striker speak
ing, We've learned who're our friends and who
are our enemies, to-" Incidentally the women
and young girls we're among the most militant
elements throughout the strike. Besides Lee
and Hickey and the other bosses, we found the
foremen weren't our friends as they'd pretended,
but spied on us, and the Danbury Times was
against us, and wouldn't give any of the real
facts about why we struck, conditions in the
plants, or nothing. Mr.. Lee owns the paper and
tells the editor what he can say and what he
can't. Only the Daily Worker tells the truth
about us. It's real working peoples paper"
The feeling among this newly organized group
for the Daily, the great confidence they have in
their paper is shown by the way they pass copies
from hand to hand, quote it, write for it, and the
intent interest with which they read it. They
placed the paper on six newSstands, and sent out
their young boy strikers to sell it on the streets.
In the restaurants and shops in working class
neighborhoods one frequently sees the friendly
face of the Daily looking up from tables or tops
of counters.
1--WE found the cops, lawyers and city govern
ment we're against u.s. Mr.. Lee owns this town.
We always knew it. But we never realized all it
meant, before this strike And the Federal Gov
eminent down at Washington, why did they send
that Weinstock woman in to try and break our
strike? Looks like the Federal Government is
for Mr. Lee and his kind and against our kind
But that certainly amt right
Nov when we tried to get the City Hall for
meeting they wouldn't give it to us, but when
this Miss Weinstock come to town, they let her
have it. to try and get the workers to go back
and take the cut And all the things she said
Only twenty-nine were weakened enough to
give in. And she said they were the only real
Americans, and the rest of us were awful Boil
sheviks to hold out for little more decent
livingr
I'VE learned who our friends were too, the
Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union, the
Daily, and the working people Throughout the
strike strike relief amounting to about dollar
per worker each week contributed by fur
workers and matters, in the LemIne Hat Shop,
where there is an A. F. of L. hatters' local, the
German shop, and the D. & B. and Holt Mes
singer shops (Which settled within the first five
days. Also many small merchants were SYM
pathetic with the strike and gave aid, but when
asked to sign petition in favor Of the strikers,
openly admitted Mr.. Lee owns the bank where
I must get my loans If I signed, all credit
would be cut Off"
The value Of organization, of solidarity and
militant struggle-that is a great deal to have
learned in four weeks, and the Danbury workers
right in placing these as their main gains.
Now with their union, sober confidence in their
collective power, and pretty clear idea of what
and how they must fight, the Danbury fur
workers and hatters will move forward with the
entire American and international working class
in battling for better conditions and a new world
In their drive forward, one of the fur workers
and matters biggest tasks is the elimination of
the murderous conditions which surround them
as they work and which leads to chronic illnesses
and high death rates from mercury and acid
poisoning
tTomorrows article will tell how the strikers
showed up the Danbury Times and other
papers. Following articles will describe the
terrific conditions in the shops. and how the
Connecticut and Danbury local governments
wink at the employers illegal and murderous
practices in the pIants