The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-01-12
General Electric Co.
Prepares Way For a
Big Wage Reduction
Police Arrest Workers
Giving Out a Shop
Paper at the G.E.

SCHENECTADY, N. Y.-Fearing
the growing organization Of the
workers, and the exposure Of the
wage cut and lay-off schemes OF the
General Electric bosses, the police
here arrested two workers distribu-
ting the Give Current" a shop pap
er issued by the Communist Party
nucleus In the General Electric
plants, late in December. The two
workers, Block and Salonen, we're
held two days incommunicado des-
pite the fact that they are residents
Of the city.
After grilling and threatening the
two workers, the police ordered Block
to leave town on pain Of a long
prison sentence. Salonen was Of
fered $12500 If he would tell who
issued the shop paper, and what
workers composed the Communist
Party shop nucleus. Both workers
were released after police made fran
tic but futile efforts to pin sonthing
on them.
Bosses Demand Pageants.
The first issues of the shop paper
Live Current" aroused wide spread
interest among the G. e. workers,
exposing as it does the latest at
tempts of the bosses to put over a
new wage cut through the medium
of the company union in the plants.
Writing on this the Live Current"
says:
"The Works Council Is being
used by the bosses to help slash
our wages. The Work Council had
meeting December ~ where they
were given the choice OF a ten
per cent wage cut or more, a lay
90 Of 1850 men, a cut on all bonus
payments, vacations and extra pay
for overtime
The Communist Party nucleus or
gan points out that the threat Of a
mass lay-od is being used as a club
to force through wage cut and the
supine Works Council, 6, plant COM
pany union tool of the bosses, will
be used to carry it through.
Expose Swope's Scheme.
The Live Current" also exposed
the widely heralded Swope unem-
ployment and pension scheme as a
deliberate means of getting money
from the workers which Is not used
for workers pensions. The live
Current" writes:
''When Mr.. Swope announced
his unemployment pension plan,
he told the world that last he had
found the cure for us workers
against the fear and worry Of I'M
employment. AL We have to do
Is to give two per cent of our
wages for the unemployment
fund.-
Instead Of paying insurance to
those laid off, the company is
building 100000 power house on
River Road, painting shops, chip
boxes, cleaning up the yards, etc,
with our two per cent?
"And of course Mr. Swope,
cashes in on the free advertising
he gets for his generosity"
Telling Of one OF the many tricks
to cut wages indirectly a worker
correspondent wries In the Live
Current:
Carpenters who we're making
s1.o0 an hour were Unanswered to
the power house and their wages
are cut to so cents an hour, just
enough to make $500 a week"
Another worker who wrote in tc
the Live Current" tells of the prs6-
tice OF forcing workers to buy>G E.
retrigerators and the layoR OF men
workers and re-hire of women work
ers at lower wages:
mfr. Delack notified every en-
pIoyee TO buy refriger.to-s to help
in keeping Unemployment away.
The refrigerators cost the company
LESS than $50 each. Mr.. Delaeh
says that now Is the time to buy
because they sell II to employees
for only $4,000"
~At the same time the G.. z. laid
of men in Schenectady who were
making S1.00 an hour In the re-
frigerator department as they
moved part of this department
(refrigerator) Dept. So, to Erie, Pa
where they employ women at 80
to IS cents an hour"
"Such fakery, wage cuts and rob-
berry are more and more being
forced on the workers. We will only
be able to stop 1t when we organ
ige."
Interest in organization and the
role Of the Communist Party In
leading all workers struggles Is
spreading to wider sections Of the
General Electric workers snd many
interpret the action OF the police II,
arresting and threatening the two
workers, Block and Salonen, as indi-
eating the fear OF the Swope and
Young and other big bosses in the
resistance Of the workers against
their wage-cutting, layoff program
Workers hers are determined to