Montana labor news., 1933-04-27
CHICAGO LETTER
(By CARL H~AEssLER.)

tent instead of less seethes through
Chicago since Pres. Roosevelt dis
placed Herbert Hoover at Washing
ton. The past week holds a record
of insurgency that for the first time
has swept teachers, students and So
cial workers into organized demon
STATIONS. Several unions chalked up
wage gains. Substitute ~postoffice
workers organized. The unemployed
began a march on the state capital.
Even the prisoners in the bridewell
became vocal.
Sudden blazing up of a strike Of
high school and elementary students
in the Chicago schools involving over
$4,000 pupils in different schools on
different days threw Supt. Began in
to such a panic that he began to yell
Communism when he saw he could
not control the outbreaks. The stu
dents had no grievances of their own
but struck because their teachers have
had no pay since early last June-al-
most a year ago. The bankers are
willing to lend the city money on tax
warrants but they won't lend for
only 4 per cent; what they want is
6 per cent and the city will have TO
come across. Students are still walk
ing out.
The student strike was preceded by
a mass invasion of the city hall of
over a thousand teachers with ban
ners demanding their pay. Men and
women voiced aggressive sentiments
and city officials took the precaution
of having extra police guards within
call. The following day about a thou
sand students circled the city hall
whistling and shouting during the
noon hour. Social workers had also
come downtown one day, demanding
vacations with pay. They got moth
ing.
*#@
Wage gains after strikes are an
nounced by the leftwing shoe work
ers' union and the leftwing needle
trades union. The shoeworkers des-
pite %injunctions got a 81 a week min
imum for unskilled girls, adjustments
on piece rates for other workers and
recognition of the unions shop com
mittees in the shops of Meyer-Ru-
dolph, Margolin, Metropolitan, Adj
n and Irving Shoe Co. The Fash
ionbilt found the picket lines so ef-
fective that this shop skipped town
to Pontiac, Mich.
The needle victory was in the en-
broidery shops where the Quality and
the Paris Embroidery houses granted
a minimum wage of SOC an hour af-
ter two days of picketing and nego-
tiation. Five other shops are about
to surrender. Over 100 needle work
ers were out. Wages had been down
to 15c an hour in some of the shops
while weekly pay checks Of 81 or IS
for full-time were not uncommon.
@##
The Is per cent wage cut by which
Pres. Roosevelt expected in part to
bring back prosperity at the expense
of government workers has hit the
substitute postal employees in Chicago
particularly hard. The 1900 substi-
tutes average under $500 a year and
with the cut that went in effect April
1 their average will be only $425 a
year. More than 200 of the substi-
tutes have organized and will send a
delegation to protest to congress IN
Washington.
Hunger marchers began %converging
Springfield Wednesday from all
over the state to tell Gov. Horner
that relief was inadequate, that farm
foreclosures must stop and that I'M
employment insurance should be set
up. Then the sheriffs, highway po-
lice, gunner deputies and local police
got busy, turning back trucks and
hurting gas bombs where march
ers would not retreat, and arresting
two dozen leaders. Gov. Horner,
elected as a liberal, said he was aware
Of this unconstitutional procedure but
would not stop it. Finally he con-
sented to see a committee Of 20, pro-
vided none of them had been on a pre-
yious delegation that had upset his
Close to 5000 hunger march
ers had been under way, including $50
machines from Chicago, but very few
got through.
##&
Unrest has penetrated the walls {
and bars of the Chicago bridewell
where prisoners, many of them SEN
5enced because they would not sub '
to police tyranny, became aroused t