The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-01-28


this conference and the contri-
button of the conference that we
are not standing still We are
making certain small moves for
ward in shop work, or we are at
least creating some Of the pre-
conditions for a move forward. You
see I am not boasting very much
about. what we have accomplished.
However, when we examine some of
the composition Of this conference;
we can say that out of rs or so
registered for this conference, about
two-thirds are directly connected
with the work of some particular
factory, and about one-third are
working in factories, or are only
recently unemployed, still are very
close to the inside work of their
particular factory. This already
gave us the foundation which pro-
vided us with a better discussion
of shop problems than I have
heard before. When I say better,
it has to be taken in relation with
very bad discussions that we have
always had on shop work.
CONDITIONS EXIST FOR RAPID
DEVELOPMENT OF MASS STRUG-
GILES IN SHOPS
However, when we examine the
improvement of the work in con-
nection with the shop, one thing
stands out clearly in almost every
report, that the increased activities
Of the workers In the shops is to
. great extent spontaneous, not the
result of our organized stimulation
and leadership. That the up-swing
of the activity of the workers in
the shop is greater flan the i'm
provement Of our work, and that
really we are tagging behind in re-
latiOn to the workers In the shop
even more than before. When we
hear all Of the reports that are
made about the conditions Of the
part-time workers, the stagger sys-
tenn workers who constitute a very
large proportion Of the so-caIled
employed working class, it becomes
clear that in the shop there are
rapidly developing condition for
a mass strike movement, mass
struggles. We have been moving
in that direction since the begin
ming of the crisis. We never fell
under that right-wing Trotskyite
theory that workers will not strike
during times of crises. We knew
it was not SO and we orientated
ourselves to strikes, and the strike
struggles have grown with the
deepening of the crisis.
Today we must say the develop
ment of these conditions which
drive workers into strike struggles
are intensifying so rapidly, that
during the year 1888, we must ex-
pect to have great mass strike
struggles far SURPRISING any that
took place in 1882. There are
thousands of issues of struggle ac-
cumulating in the shops, and the
combination of all these causes for
struggle together with that great
outstanding cause, that the work
ers in the shops are actually facing
conditions of eviction, the loss of
all of the ordinary means of life,
and starvation of themselves and
their families, even while they are
on the job.
PERSPECTIVE FOR DEVELOPING
STRIKE MOVEMENT FOR UNEM-
PLOYMENT INSURANCE
These conditions are not only
preparing the masses for economic
struggles in the usual sense and on
larger scale, they are giving a
necessary political character to
these mass strike struggles. And 1t
is no longer a fantastic utopian
idea for us to begin to speak about
the possibilities of the development
of a strike movement of the work
ers in the bankrupt industry for
the demand of unemployment in
surance. We are having now mat
uring the objective conditions for
real joint struggle of employed and
unemployed, for unemployment in
surance, in which we will have not
only the actions of the unemployed
on the streets, but around that the
strike action of the employed from
the shops. In my opinion we
should be thinking about this pos
sible development and without any
undue haste, we should be prepar-
ing in our minds, discussing among
ourselves, in just what form we
can hasten the maturing, OF such
a movement and bring 1t to real
ization
Certainly our work in the shops