The daily worker., 1933-10-30

lentOWn SILK Workers Union Is the
leader of the strike there and repre-
sents the overwhelming ma sjority. In
EaSton and Philadelphia, Pa, the
National Textile Workers Union leads
the strike of 1000 silk workers. The
shop unions Of Emaus, Pa, are not
affiliated to the A. f. Of L. The
Loomf1Xers Club, the Twisters Club
Of Paterson, are affiliated together
with nine other independent unions
and the NTWU. in the United Ma
tional Silk Strike Committee. This
Committee leads the majority Of the
silk strikers. interruption by the
manufacturers and A. r. of L. lead
ers).
Ballam: 1t seems that these facts
are not palatable to Judge Panken,
the U.T.W, and their friends, the
manufacturers. The A. F. OF L. lead
ers claim to speak in the name of
all the silk workers and I am PROV
ing simply that this is not so.
We protest that in this strike the
representatives of the United States
Department of Labor and NRA off,
cials, local and Federal, have ltg-
rantly interpreted section z Of the
NEcA in the interests of :he bosses
and their agents. Section says that
the workers have the right to belong
to union of their own choice. But
Mr.. Moffit Of the q. s. Department
Of Labor, came to Paterson and re-
fused to deal with the NTW.U maxi
ing slanderous statements about US.
Although we protested to you, Sena-
tor Wagner, to President Roosevelt,
to General johnson, these acts went
unrebuked. OF what value to us are
the words Of this act (NRAl, when
every deed bellies them?
Senator Wagner: am not particu-
larly interested in that. Whatever
mistake some one else made at some
other time will not help us now.
Ballam: I say that these strike
breaking acts against the strikers has
something to do with settlement of
this strike which we are also intsr-
ested in. The representatives Of the
government are quoted In the press
as saying that our strike Is treason
able. For instance, we read In an
A.P. dispatch to the Paterson News
that you, Senator Wagner, viii use
direct action" to settle the strike.
We workers have a right to entertain
a slight suspicion Of your intentions,
Mr.. Wagner.
Manufacturers group: Stop him.
Stop him. Sit down.
Senator Wagner: / must interrupt
you. never saw the paper you re-
ferred to.
Baliam; The Associated Press
quoted you. Most everybody In this
room saw it. I know that what
| say is not complimentary TO you,
Senator Wagner. But I say that 1t
portance to place before this body,
not oniy the important facts of the
strike, but the methods Of the Labor
Advisory Board. In whose interest
is the settlement to be made? OF
how much Importance this question
is, Senator Wagner, let us take the
example of Mcmahon and the U.T.w.
in Washington. On September IL,
IL and 13, there we're hearings on
their delegates to Washington.
Thirtytwo of these delegates repre-
sented the independent unions and
the N.T.WU. The delegates of the
A. F. Of L. were asked to go to the
strikers and tell them to go back to
work on a ''five-weeks' truce" The
National Textile Workers Union and
independent unions 80 delegates re-
fused to accept this condition and
were excluded from the conferences.
The American Federation of Labor
delegation, under the leadership Of
Mcmahon and Schweitzer urged the
strikers to accept these sell-out pro-
posals. The A. F. of L. and all other
st ikers unanimously turned this pro-
| pc1al down. These thirty-two dele
/ gates represented more truly the
! sentiments and the determination Of }
| the strikers than did Mr.. Mcmahon
and Mr.. Schweitzer of the United |,
! Textile Workers Union. Senator
Wagner, you will see that it is of the
utmost Importance that all unions
| and all strikers be taken into con-
! sideration when it comes to a settle
/ ment. We have proposed one settle
1 ment committee and one strike COM
mittee and united front of all strik-
ers. We demand $40 per week for the
! lowest paid workers in the industry
Every craft will present their own
/ demands On this floor. Only uponl
the basis of the strike demands andi
upon the right CT these strikers toI
belong to the union Of their choice
and fair dealing with those unionsI
can this strike be finally settled
We demand to know why theset
! differeatials between North and South
exist in all the codes. There is no
difference in the cost of living be-
tween the North and the South.
There is however, a vast difference
between the standard Of living OF the
workers of the North and the South
These NRA codes are designed toI
perpetuate this difference in theI
standard Of living of the Southern
workers. This is crime against thel
Southern workers. 1t Is our duty to
smash this di7erential and raise the
standard If living Of the South to-
the highest levels Of the North. This
can only be done by calling a gen.
eral textile strike in all Southern Tex
tile Mills for higher wages all along
the line down South. The so-callec
American standard of living is mean
ingless while the Southern textile
workers and the Negro masses are
compelled to live on corn pone and
sow-belly and Negroes are denied all
civil rights.