The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-02-12
BY SOL HERTZ

BY SOL HERTZ
THE manufacture of hats and the preparation
j of the various raw materials necessary for
their production, constitutes the only industry
in Danbury Danbury Incorporated, chapter
in the history OF the American Labor movement
through its famous matters strike. That strike
was defeated by the manufacturers, who are
also the bosses OF the city administration,
through a vicious injunction. Later, the manu-
facturers were granted decision by the u S.
Supreme Court, according to which every mem
Der of the matters union might be held reSpon-
sible for the losses sustained by the bosses dur
ing the strike. The DanbuTy hat n--hufacturerS
took the houses away from the matters, and all
their personal belongings, on which they could
lay their bloody hands. AS a result OF this, the
matters union was smashed. The bosses intro
duced a spy system as well as blacklist. The
city administration always under the sway Of
the bosses, became still more aggressive. The
bosses reigned supreme.
Developments in the A. +. Of L. since then,
taught the bosses that this organization was no
longer a menace to them On the contrary,
the bosses began to feel that the A. F. of L.
is a wall of defense against the ever increasing
spontaneous strikes and stoppageS by the work
ers who refused to heed the good lesson" given
to item by the btsses The Danbury bosses
(like the cloak bosses in New York who or
&d1I-t 4 IL uIIIOu III DS4llSolllSS1Js nave CO-
operated heartily with the A. F. of L. bureau
Gratis to organize the more skilled workers,
leaving the bulk of the unskilled and poorly paid
workers to the mercy of the bosses. The present
matters union functions as a company union. 1t
serves the interests of the hat manufacturers
openly and unashamed.
The Industrial Union Steps Into the Situation
The conditions of the unskilled workers. es-
pecially those who are engaged in preparing the
fur for the felt, grew from bad to worse. The
unsanitary conditions in the factories were I'M
bearabIe. On New Years Eve, the bosses an
nounced 20 per cent reduction from the meagre
wages the workers had been receiving The In
dustrial Union at once issued a leaflet, calling
the workers to a meeting and urging them to
organize themselves for struggle against reduc-
tons and against their miserable conditions. The
workers, impatient to wait till evening when the
meeting was scheduled to take place, abandoned
work early in the morning and came to the
hall which was announced in the leaflet. More
than 500 workers from large factories were in
yolyed in the struggle against reductions right
from the first day. The struggle assumed an
unusually militant aspect right from the outset.
The sympathy of the working population was
the side of the strikers. The reductions which
were planned in all the other factories in Dan
bury, were suddenly" as if by magic, stopped
OCSoSo
pay back the reduced wages, on the second week
Of the strike.
The victory thus achieved in the first two
shops, instilled new courage in the ranks of the
strikers, and elevated the spirit Of the entire
working population. Each meeting called by the
Industrial Union was invariably filled with hun
dreds Of enthusiastic strikers. The workers of
other factories started a campaign for relief
for the strikers The various national clubs, to
which the workers belonged, and in which fore
men, bosses and spies were dominant were as a
result of the struggle split up. The workers I'M
der guidance Of the industrial union, began to
organize workers clubs of their own. There
upon, the bosses and their city administration
adopted new methods of oppression against the
workers They organized Citizens committee"
to break the strike
The Unsantary Conditions of the Shops and the
Shameful Challenge of the Citizens Committee
Danbury workers suffer most from the I'M
sanitary conditions in the factories. The situa-
ton in this respect is simply appalling. Fleeing
the skins is very dirty and harmful work. The
chemicals used in the process of this work. cause
the workers much suffering and oftentimes the
workers pay with their lives The inhaling of
the various gases, especially the one under the