The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-21


mands."
One member of the AFL on strike
put it like this, I'VE should have one
union and not two. We know Mac
Mahon. We know his sell outs in
Virginia, In Salem, in North Carolina,
etc. You can bet, no matter what
our leaders say, we're not going back
to work. We're not going to allow
any sell out" This rank and file
AFL worker said this as il he meant
it, bearing witness to deep seated
flame of rebellion against starvation
and against traitors.
The rank and file workers of the
AF'L have been greatly affected by
the militant conduct of the general
dye strike by the National Textile
Workers Union. The closing down
of the Lodi plant of the United Piece
Dye Works by the NTWU after one
of the most militant picket demon
strations in years, was turning
point in the strike. Two thousand
picketS, in the face of tear gas bombs,
machine guns, fire hose, and several
hundred well armed police, stormed
the mill, were repulsed by tear gas,
reformed the ranks, and continued
picketing. The picketing started at
four in the morning and at five
o'clock in the afternoon, the mill was
shut down, having already lost more
than one half of its 1900 workers.
Schweitzer, Keller and the other
U.T.W. leaders had refused to call
the dye workers on strike at all, al
though their conditions are going
from bad to worse. They did not
consider the dye houses as essential
to the plans of the silk manufacture
ers of Paterson in their competition
with the large rayon manufacturers
and the consequent iockeying be-
tween these competing interests re-
garding the rayon and silk codes.
These U.T.W. misleaders did not de-
/ clare real silk strike, but ''holi-
day" Time and again they told the
workers not to picket but to stay
home. 1t was the general dye strike
called by the NTWU, and the mass
| picket lines which followed, which
forced the silk strike into militant
and effective channels.
The National Struggle
The National Strike Committee set
up by the united front conference
in Allentown is becoming an increas
ingly strong factor in the national
silk strike. Representing at it's first
meeting, 27,578 silk and dye strikers
| from Paterson, Allentown, Phila.,
Easton, Stroudsburg, Phillippsburgh.
Emaus and many other towns, its
influence has increased The National
strike committee set up in Allentown
at the initiative Of the National Tex
tile Workers Union and a number
of independent unions demands,
"One National Strike"-"One Strike
CommAee." Such independent
unions as the Allentown Silk Work
ers Union, the Wrappers League and
! the Loomfixers Club of Paterson sent
/ delegates. Delegates were present
who were members of the UT.W.
locals. But the U.T.W. officials again
refused the rank and file demand
for unity and set up separate ma
| tional committee at Scranton.
What N. r. A. Means
The manufacturers are now man
! euvering for the next step in the
sell out. This step points to further
strikebreaking activity of the Roose-
! welt government.
Since the beginning of the strike
U S. Labor ConciIiator Moffitt has
been meeting with U. t. w. officials
and manufacturers as the represen-
tative of the Roosevelt government.
Now the New Jersey state N. r. A.
steps in and announces its willing
ness" to try to send the strikers
back to work. The bosses press is
| in the midst of an intensive cam
paign for more drastic strikebreak-
ing activities in Washington. The
Paterson News of Sept. 10 titles its
leading editorial, thine for the New
Deal to Take Hold in the Disastrous
Silk Situation" and the editorial
concludes, Something must be done
to end this serious deadlock in the
silk industry. We look to Wash
ington for guidance and action.
What say you, Senator Wagner and
General Johnson" Meanwhile, every
day Police Chief Murphy adds to his
forces in preparation for further
strikebreaking activity.
But the ranks of the strikers and
their mass picket lines are soldier
and stronger than ever. A member
of the National Strike Committee, in
its first meeting in Allentown, issued
this warning, Maybe it's true, what
some have said. that Roosevelt and
the N. r. A. want to better our con-
ditions. But If the N. r. A. means
that we have to go back to work at
$13 wage srale. then to hell with
the N. r. A.