The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-07-12
PEOUOT co. NYOKES CODE
TO FORCE STRETCH OUT
PLAN ON Mill STRIKERS
Threatens to Open Mill Gates to Scabs; Wants
Repeal of State Night Work Law

threatens to open its gates to take {
Iscabs this week
That the textile bosses are going tt
use the starvation Recovery texti.,
code just signed by Roosevelt as q
means of imposing a hitherto unknown
rate of speed-up on the workers is
brought out in the companys state
ment.
4 It declares "the code provides for
minimum wage Of s13 week in the
North for a 40 hour week There Is
nothing in the Act itself or in the Code
which makes any further reference q
wages. 1t is not required that we pay
48 hours wages for 40 hours work. There
is nothing in either the Act or the
Code which in any way limits research
or limits the operation of machinery
This reveals that the textile bosses
will not be halted by the code in i'm
posing greater wage cuts on the work
ers. The workers will be forced to prod
uce more for less money they have
previously.
The Company Wants the Stretch Ou1
The company centers its arguments
on the main issue of the strike, the ques-
ton of increasing the number Of looms
per worker to "a from 20. More looms
are handled by workers in other plants,
they say, a fact which, if true, does not
make it good for the workers. 1t is well
known that in no plant are the looms
kept turning continuously by the work
ers and with such strict patrol as in
the Pequot where the efficiency sys-
TEN has been worked out to the highest
degree.
Admitting that increases in tbs
number of machines to be operated
have been made, the company declares
that this process has not been carried
TO the limit indicated as reasonable by
the research department" The research
department which determines what il
reasonable for the company has not G
single worker on it to determine what
is reasonable for the worker. "Any
check or limitation of research" they
say will halt the march of civilization"
The exploiters who use research to
make more profits invariably try to
get over the idea that they ape doing
it in the name of civilization.
Want Night Work Back
Raising the issue of night work ai
a means of avoiding the proposed lay
off which will follow with the introduc-
ton of the stretchout, the company'5
statement insidiously suggests that the
workers support the company's move
to repeal the Massachusetts night
work law for women. BY this means
they promise to put the married women
to work. But the Pequot workers hay-
ing had many experiences with COM
pany promises, know that in the pass
when the stretchout was introduced,
workers were fired despite company
promises to the contrary.
Hood, treasurer of the mill and
president of the Cotton Manufacturers
Association who helped draft the
Roosevelt starvation code for the
workers is a staunch supporter Of
Rooseyelt's program and among the
most active in pushing night work for
women.
Open Air Meet Exposes Company
Following the publication of the
company's statement an open air meet
ing of textile workers was held hero
on the Salem Common for the first
time. More than 1000 workers and
sympathizers attended. Permission was
granted for the meet only on condi-
ton that Ann Burlak would not be
permitted to speak. But the workers
called for her at the meeting anu
despite police prohibition she spoke.
Exposing the vicious stretch out sys-
tenn at the mill, Burlak said: ut is like
the old wheel used during the days
of the Spanish inquisltion to tear tho
limbs from the criminals It stretches
you and stretches you until It breaks
you and then you are thrown on the
scrap heap"
She exposed the treachery Of the
A. F. of L. and the local politicians,
and called for mass picket lines as
the only effective answer to the cons
pany's latest move. She stressed the
necessity for mass action against evic-
tions of strikers from the company
houses. She again called upon the
strikers to rely only on their own or
ganized strength for settling the strike.
"Al strikers and sympathigers to mass
on the Monday morning picket line,'
was her final call.
The Arbitration Board which was
to start hearings on the strike last
Thursday, cancelled all hearings inde-
finitely, anticipating this latest move
Of the Pequot mills. Ill