The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-10-05
Tells of Setbacks and
Victories, in Fight for
a Real Union

ing scabS to the bosses and using all
his mob on both sides Of the fence
to steal for him. Before the strike
was over, $1,000,000 worth of goods
were stolen in the strike area. On top
of all this the union was compelled to
furnish bail and pay fines for the
gangsters which the officials had
hired.
Strike Lasted 80 Weeks
1.-THE strike lasted 80 weeks and long
before the end the workers were good
and tired of it, because they knew
what the game was, but they weren't
able, at the moment, to rid themselves
of Kaufman and his gang. When
Kaufman called meeting to inform
the workers in the settled. shops that
there would be 40 per cent strike
tax on them, they rebelled. They
shouted that they were tired Of pay
ing tribute to Kaufman and his
gangsters. kaufman shouted back, I
am your Trotsky. You'll pay the tax
whether you like it or not"
The workers didn't like it and they
didn't pay. Nevertheless, the long,
useless struggle depleted the treasury
and practically wrecked the union.
! Almost to man, the frrriers decided
that there was only one way to save
the organization, give the leadership
to the left wing.
Frightened by the rising tide of
left wing sentiment, Kaufman de-
nounced Gold to the Department Of
Justice as Red" That was in 1920
when the reign of postwar terror, the
Palmer and the Burleson raids, were
filling the jails with working class
leaders. Gold had to skip town for a
time to avoid arrest at a time when
his Imprisonment would have been
disastrous to the left wing, but he
continued to play leading part by
proxy.
Jack AIgus
Not all Of the old-time Socialist
members of the Joint Board were
dishonest or irrevocably committed to
incorrect policies. Following the cleo
| ton of Gold and Gross to the Joint
Board, the left wing won an ally in
Jack Algus, president Of the Joint
Board. Algus needed merely to see
the logic and the justice of the left
wing position to become a devout sup
porter of it.. Colds success in win
ming Algus incidentally resulted in
his winning a wife for himself, Jack
.Algus's. daughter
1 According to Gold and other left
wingers, Algus's conversion to the
left wing position cost him his life
three years afterward Algus, says
Gold, was elected as one of the dele
/ gates from Local l to the convention
of the International in May, 1922.
The election of delegates was bitterly
contested by the right wing.
after that meeting Gold de-
] clared, someone handed Jack a
drink. Jack took it and died the same
evening We've never been able to
prove anything, of course, but I'm
convinced and so are others who
were present, that Jack .Algus was
| poisoned"
Expelled From Union
In 1923, the left wing furriers
gained new strength from the organ
| ization of the Trade Union Educa-
| tional League. The league was soon
branded as a Communist organ1za-
ton by the furrier officials. They used
Colds affiliation with the league as
an excuse, long sought, for expelling
him from the union. That, of course,
didn't stop Gold. He continued to
work with those who remained on
the inside.
/ Two years later, the determined eff
| forts of the left wing, backed by
growing numbers of furriers, resulted
in the election of Gold. as manager
Of the Joint Board.
New Victories
Colds eyes sparkle with unsophis-
ticated enthusiasm when he talks of
this period. Our victory in the Joint
Board was followed in 1925 by wave
of strikes strikes. Under
the leadership Of the left wing we
unionized open shops, we organized
the Greek section of the industry in
which there had never been a union
before, we forced Kaufman out of
office. We gained leadership of the
Joint Board and we were going ahead
to. 100 per cent unionization."
The Mineola Frame Ups
But the furriers had the successors
Of kaufman in the International to
deal with. These were as anxious as
Kaufman to keep rank and file hands
off the union controls. The New York
Joint Board, however, went ahead
with the historic strike of $4,000 fur
riers, which established the left wing
not only in the furriers' union but in
the American trade union movement.
The strike resulted. however, in the
expulsion of the entire Joint Board
and the left wing locals from the
International. The treachery of the
Socialist leadership and their anxi-
ETY. to cooperate with the bosses in
crushing the left wing also became
evident in this strike, when the jew
ish Daily Forward and the Socialist
leaders engineered the frame-up Of
Gold and other strike leaders on
charges of felonious assault in Min
cola, l.. I. 80
1t took the workers in the entire
industry two years to recover from
this blow, for the expulsion was fol-
lowed by a weakening of the New
York locals and the International.
The left wing, however, with Gold
still unremittingly active, mustered