The daily worker., 1932-08-19
BY DAVE DORAN

DECENTLY 300 workers walked
N out of the boarding depart
ment of the Guilford Hosiery Mills
of High Point, N. c., in resistance
to wage cut and thus started a
struggle involving 10000 workers,
and almost paralyzing all industry
in region embracing five indus
trial towns. Leaving their depart
ment, the workers were joined by
all hands of the mill, who began
an organized march upon every
mill in the city. They soon closed
down every furniture and textile
mill there.
Unemployed workers showed
complete solidarity with the strik-
ers. Thrown out of jobs by the
ruthless stretch-out and speed-up
system of the furniture and tex
tile barons, who were now forcing
the employed to exist on a starv-
alton wage, the unemployed hurled
themselves into this fight for bread.
STRUGGLE SPREADS
This was on Monday, July 18.
By sun down, $50 mills employing
10000 workers of textile, furniture
and hosiery industries in High
Point, Thomasville, Vernersville,
Jamestown and Lexington we're
closed down. The large number
of these were young workers.
For two days the strike embraced
these five towns. Then the no.
siery workers of High Point, COM
ing from "a mills, united together
under one strike committee. They
raised the demand of $2.25 per
hundred pair of half hose, a sum
they were receiving before wage
cut on April 1. Since then two
cuts had taken place, one on July 1
and the last on July IL, against
which these workers came out on
strike. At the time of the strike
some mills we're only paying S150.
REIGN OF TERROR
STARTS
Simultaneously, the authorities
began attacking and prosecuting
the unemployed, arresting 25, hold
ing them incommunicado, and
thru treror succeeded in isolating
the unemployed from the strikers.
The police and the local news
papers raised the cry of "hood-
lur1s" and "rioting agitators" a.
gainst the unemployed and to the
delight of the manufacturers, this
propaganda seeped through the
strikers and was echoed by D. v.
Bradley, the elected chairman of
the hosiery strikers committee.
With the unemployed terrorized
and thus temporarily out Of the
picture, the strike in the sections
outside of High Point began to
disintegrate.
Meanwhile, in High Point, Brad
ley was busy building a narrow
craft theology in the hosiery strik-
ers. He made statements openly,
urging the furniture workers, the
main industry of High Point, to
go back to work as "this is a no.
siery strike" Also inexperienced
and lacking leadership, the furni-
ture workers became quickly de-
moralized and returned to work.
During 1929 and the early part
Of 1880 witnessed the development
Of the hosiery industry in High
Point. This was during and after
the historic labor struggles of Gas
tonia and Marion, N. c. A large
number of the strikers from these
places secured employment in the
High Point hosiery mills. With
them they brought the valuable
experience they accumulated in
these strikes. This bore fruit in
the excellent strike apparatus they
built during the High Point stamp
EIDE. Department committees of
rank and file workers we're elected
at mass meetings, then mill COM
mittees were formed at a mass
meeting Of these, who In turn
formed broad Central Strike
Committee. The mill committees
had the task of drawing up the de-
mands for each mill. The Cen
tral Strike Committee had the task
Of mapping out the plans and con-
duct of the strike and was given
the authority to decide the condi-
tions upon which any one mill
would return to work. This strike
apparatus was set up entirely upon
the initiative of the strikers. Brad
ley, the chairman, was vested with
the power Of dolpg all the nego-