The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-08
BY HELEN KAY

NEW 1ONhv- here Is
certain ma gle in NRA that makes
people want to do the right thing.
The prestige that NRA has built
up for itself convinces employers
as well as employees to do the
sporty thing" These, the words
of Mrs. Gilmore Moorehouse Her
rick, chairman of the local NRA
mediation board, which handles
with silk gloves the complaints of
workers on low wages.
During the few weeks that the
NRA complaint office has been
open in the palatial offices Of the
Pennsylvania Hotel, over 5000
letters have been filed by workers,
coming in at the rate of over 200
day seeking help from long hours
and little pay.
As 1 sat in the office of Mr.. G.
H. Vanderslice, in charge of the
complaint department, where work
ers are first questioned before they
are sent to the Board of Mediation,
a young Spanish worker came in.
He tried to convince Mr.. Van
derslice that he can not work for
$40 or even S12 a week. Mr..
Vanderslice proceeded to phone his
employer. won't you take this
young man back to work. Even if
the wages are low, he can start
from the bottom and work up"
The young man could bear this
no longer. Tears welled into his
eyes. "How can l take care of a
wife and a baby on $12 week.
The baby has to have milk, we've
got to pay rent. / can't do it, l tell
you. can't work for that amount"
And in indignation he walked out
of the office.
"Such appreciation" The office
girl sneered.
An employer walked into the Of
flee. "Mr. Vanderslice, can make
a complaint against union?"
"Why, of course what is the
complaints"
"The A. F. of L. union with
which I deal sent in worker who
is a disrupter and agitator. | can't
seem to be able to get rid of him."
make out the complaint against
the agitator, and We'll see that it is
taken care of. Glad to be able to
help"
Hundreds of letters, from hun
dreds of workers pile into the Of
fees of the MIRA complaint depart
ment every day, telling of LONGER
hours and less wages, while their
employers flaunt the blue buzzard.
eve Do our Part"
One letter from a worker is typi-
cal: my dear Mr.. Whalen, 1t an
employer displays an MIRA sign,
and has signed the code for his in
dustry, must he live up to the code?
Before NRA we were getting SIS
week and now we have been re-
duced to $15 week. I'm family
man with small children. How can
l support them? The shop in which
work is the Metropolitan Metal
Co., at 139th and Morris Avenue"
A worker from the Third Avenue
Railroad writes in that he works
four days a week, nine hours a day,
and gets $12.40 for his labor. When
he and his fellow workers complain
the company informs them, that
they are really not needed at all,
but are being kept on for charity's
sake.
A Foltis Fisher bus boy says that
before NRA they were getting $12
week and now they receive a
wage of $12.12. Previously the
workers were forced to pay So out
of their pay for their meals. Now,
they are not forced to do this but
they gladly give away three dollars
for their meals. A neatly typed
slip is given to each employee by the
company and it reads as follows:
"Please deduct $500 from my pay
envelope to reimburse you for the
cost Of my meals. Signed--."
A worker from Stewards Cafe
terra works six days a week, twelve
hours a day, for eleven dollars.
aren't we supposed to have a code
which says that we are to work only
nine hours day, and get mini
mum of $14 pay?" she asks of the
NRA office.
Further letters state: A National
Unemployment Service, at 124 z.
2Sth Street, worked one of the Of
flee girls so hours week, and
fired her when she left the office
at 1915 on Saturday instead of
at 100.
The udell Printing Co. at 1884