The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-01-11
7O-HOUR WEEK,
STAGGER SYSTEM
ON GIBSON JOBS
Needle Trades Jobless
in Hot Struggles Over
Outrageous Swindle

NEW YORK.-The Gibson Com
mittee, by a conspiracy with the
garment bosses in which the corrupt
officials of the Amalgamated Cloth
ing Workers and International Ladies
Garment Workers played part, is
putting through the stagger system,
the 70-hour week and starvation pay,
and discrimination against Negroes
on its Red Cross cloth jobs.
The Gibson outfit secured $780,
600 yards of cloth to be worked on
as part Of its emergency work pro-
gram.
1t Immediately began secret nego-
tiations (Which, however, were par
TALLY exposed with President Du-
binsky of the International, and Po-
toffsky of the Amalgamated. A gar
ment boss named Katoff was ap-
pointed to officially manage the cut
ting Of the cloth.
Dubins6y and Potoffsky proposed
that they make the contract to pro-
vide the cloth, and run everything.
Jobless Fake a Hand
There the Needle Trades Unem-
ployed Council stepped in, defending
the interests of vast numbers of I'M
| employed needle workers that the
clique was leaving out in the cold
while Dubinsky and Potoffsky used
Gibson cloth to build their union
machines.
BY repeated delegations and DEM
onstrations, by mass pressure, the
unemployed council forced granting
of Jobs to about $50 workers.
Then it discovered the discrimina-
ton against Negro workers, and by
another mass demonstration forced
the next jobs to Negroes. However,
1t was reported yesterday by the un-
employed council that there is evil
dence OF only one Negro worker get
ting job so far!
POtoffsky Grabs His
Meanwhile delegations of workers
from Amalgamated controlled shops
at 1916 East New York Avenue and
other places working on jobs for the
Gibson committee reported on slave
conditions to the Needle Trades Un-
employed Council. Workers in those
shops are paid 81 to SO a week for
48 to 10 hours work. In addition,
Potoffsky takes out of their pay en-
velopes each week 81 for an assess
ments and 40 ments more for dues.
Staggering
Furthermore, four weeks after
these jobs started, the shops began to
fire five workers day, saying it was
ito make room for others"
1t is clear that the bosses (and
the Amalgamated) are getting the
cream of the Gibson funds. The
bosses are getting thousands Of dol
lars of relief money" for the rent of
the shops And the exploitation of
the workers is terrific. At one of
the seventeen Gibson shops, 285
Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, the
work is done in basement, If a
worker com Is in one minute late, she
is locked half days pay. Workers
are not allowed to talk to each other
| in the shop.
Yesterday General Organizer Hoff-
man of the Needle Trades Unem-
ployed Council went to the Gibson
committee assistant manager, Apple
ton, at 209 Sullivan Street, and pro-
tested the stagger system, the dis
elimination against Negroes, and the
exploitation of the workers on this
emergency work
Hoffman was told the Gibson COM
mittee knew all about the exploits-
ton but couldn't do a thing
As for the stagger system, Apple
ton bluntly stated that the Gibson
committee was going to put it
through on the workers.
Hoffman laid before the Gibson
agent the demands of the unem-
ployed council, for the workers now
at work to stay on their jobs, and
for the Gibson Committee to pro-
vide relief for the cf"e-S. ~'',om it
now proposes to "stagger."
Tomorrow, Thurs1as, needle
workers will demonstrate in masses
against the Gibson stagger system,
for cash relief to single workers,
for jobs for Negro workers, and
for jobs for family men-without
red tape or discrimination. The
demonstration starts with two mass
meetings, at 2 pm. One meeting
will be at 13I West 28th Street, and
the other at 10 West 36th Street.
From the mass meetings the G~ni-
Onstrators will march to the Office
Of the Gibson committee at 23rd