The daily worker., 1931-05-18
TRYING TO FORCE
PIECE WORK ON
4 CUTTERS
Suspend Man Showing
Enormous Graft

DIlS DCIlNl Af1Nl1 O1AO w IL .
Enormous Graft
NEW YORK.-After a week of in
timidation and by use of the most
outrageous methods of vote count
ing" the Orlofsky clique in Local q
of the Amalgamated was able to get
about so votes out of the 500 pres
ent, in favor of suspending Max
Lesser, an old time member, and for
mer president in the local. The
meeting was Friday night.
And then the clique declared the
vote to suspend him was carried!
Much more will be heard of this
case.
Before the vote was taken, the
clique had to listen to discussion, in
which Lesser and one other rank and
filler only got the floor. This was
Rubin Sklar.
Exposes Graft.
Lesser told of the misuse OF the
more than 100000 collected by the
officials through the 10 per cent tax
for unemployment relief. The Off
cials have been saying that only $7s,-
900 has been taken in, and that $685.
600 has been given out as relief al
ready. In this meeting the Orlof-
sky clique was forced to admit that
the most that could have been paid
out was $25 900, probably less. 1t was
brought out that henchmen of the
CLIQUE who were not even unem-
ployed have got $3.50 to $500 each
from the fund, while long unem-
ployed cutters got only $40, payments
as far apart as four weeks, and
nothing at all unless they would
promise to have nothing to do with
the meetings of the unemployed cut
tiers. These meetings are all that
have forced any relief at all to be
given. 1t was also brought out that
Orlofsky used the unemployment
fund to try and bribe some of the
jobless cutters and to thus break up
the movement Of the unemployed.
Challenge to Real Vote.
Sklar, who is man with family,
told how Orlofsky told him last Tues
day that if he took part in the move
ment he would be taken off his job
Sklar has a family. but that doesn't
bother Orlofsky. Sklar challenged
Orlofsky's gang to take secret vote
on the suspension of Lesser.
But the vote taken by Orlofsky
consisted in a call for all those ir
favor to stand up, by which he
meant to count all standing who
could not get seats. This, even by the
queer count, brought only so votes
for suspension. A previous vote BY
AYE and No." showed an overwhelm-
ing majority against suspension.
Then the clique refused to count
the votes officially, and declared. the
motion to suspend Lesser carried.
Try to Force Piece Work.
Then about midnight, the clique
proposed and tried to put through
with the help of the fake progress
sive Abe Silverman, proposition
for the 36-hour week. but with
standards of production" by which
the cutters do as much in the sc
hours as in a. before.
This trick failed, this time. Now
the executive of Local 4 will put out
ballot which contains only the
questions: "Are you in favor of help
ing the unemployed? Do you want
to continue the 10 per cent assess
ment? Do you want the 36-hour
week-with standards Of production.
There is no other way to vote on
the ballot, and any way you vote the
last two questions, you lose.
To continue the assessment means
to continue the rich graft Of the bu-
reaucracy, and to vote for the 36-
hour week on this ballot means yot-
ing for piece work lin fact).
It is clear that the reign Of terror
and suspension in Local is part of
the plot of the Orlofsky clique and
Hillman to force piece work and
make as big racket Of Local 4 as is
possible.
Cutters are called to attend In
masses the meeting right after work
Wednesday, May 20, where these
propositions will come up Stop piece
work and the scheme to extort more
money from the rank and filel