davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14
PARTY LIFE
District 10 Builds Shop Units
after CO-OrdinGted York
Hold Meeting of Workers in American FederG-
ton of Labor Opposition

we have only one member VIII still
belong to the general unit. How
ever. we will take up with each in
lividual comrade the work in his
department with the view Of eStab-
fishing a department unit in all the
departments.
We expect to have at least three
new department units in the pack
ing plants before our district con-
vention in March.
In order to coordinate the work
of all the units we will call general
meeting of packing-house members
and elect a bureau Of three to be
the leading committee of these
units in The packing plants. For the
time being one representative from
each unit will meet and plan the
work.
One experience that we have had
is not to crowd our members in shop
units with all kinds of meetings and
assignments but to give them some
small task to carry out during the
week. Then they feel good to be able
to come back to the next meeting
and report the results.
At the last general membership
meeting of the comrades working in
the packing plants we decided to is
sue shop paper. The first NUM-
Der Of this paper Will be issued IN
the first part Of March.
The interest for this paper is good
among the comrades. Articles are
being prepared. The leading com
radeS are helping the new comrades
to write these articles.
In October last year we had toNR
members in the packing pAauts.
Since then attention has been paid
by the leading comrades 10 every
phase of the work in the plants
much more than ever before. At the
same time we have given more di-
rect responsibility to the most prom
Using elements. Today we have n
members, and five who made ap-
plications for the Party. These five
will have their membership books in
another week.
Most Of our new members are also
members of the A. F. Of L. union,
and we have been able to hold one
meeting of workers in opposition to
the A. F. of L. Some work was
planned there and is now being car
ried out.
In other packing centers In our
district the comrades are crying that
it is impossible to do anything. In
Omaha last year we were told the
same thing. Today it Is shattered
in Omaha. Today the Party is
growing in the packing plants. The
lesson is: pay attention to each in
dividual member in the plpant, and
to each contact. Guide them. help
them along, be patient and we will
get results.
Another article is being prepared
on struggle against the clause about
arbitration board in the memoran-
dunn of the A. F. Of L.
Carl Rode,
Dist. Org. Sec'y, No. 10.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14

WHY NOT CRECHES HERE, TOO?
Why can't all the spinach cook
in one pot?" asked Comrade Sally
w. in the letter printed yesterday.
Why do we have to be on a "a
hour day?" And she described how
the mothers of her neighborhood,
who meet each other during the
daily morning airing of their ba-
bies, buy and cook separately their
respective pounds of spinach a
great demand on the time and en-
ergy Of all of them. She is banker
ing, plainly, for creche.
We think this creche idea is due
to blossom into a reality in this
country very soon. Under present
conditions, real built-for- the-pur-
pose cooperative nurseries are i'm
possible because the necessary funds
are in the hands Of the big shots
and workers are not extended credit
for bricks, mortar and land to build
community crechesl (Our organiza-
tons would have to be much larger
and stronger before sufficient funds
could be gathered for such pur-
posesD
However, small-scale neighbour
hood nurseries" might be arranged
even within present circumstances,
provided a sufficient number of
women are brought to see the ad-
vantageS. Perhaps Comrade Sally
could be a pioneer in this field by
talking to those other mothers she
meets?
Once a group of women is inter-
ested in the idea, however, it might
not be too hard to arrange a rotat-
ing system Of having each mother
from small group take care of all
the kids for one day or fraction of
day each week. CThe feeding sched-
ules of each kid should be put on
card and the cards kept in an en-
velope and given to the woman in
charge. probably several kids would
have the same schedule, so there
would not be too many groups feed
ing differently
do not know of any such ar
engagements in this country (day
nurseries and socialist schools ex-
istent here being more or less on
payment basis but there were in
Austria and Germany, where work.
ers were strongly organized in GER
tain neighborhoods, creches in op-
grafton.
Here, the biggest difficulty would
be that of space for so many young
sters in individual homes, and the
question of high chairs, etc. It might
be necessary, for the beginning, to
to make arrangements only for kids
big enough to creep. The pamphlet,
The Working Woman in the So
Wet Union, by v. Sibiriak) has a
number of interesting suggestions.
Here are few lines:
"AJ the recent conference held in
Moscow of the working women
among the northern peoples, women
delegates from the Far East told of
the giant strides made by the new
order in the North. A creche was
organized in the nomad camp of
Kargi At first the Colds" the tribe
who inhabited the camp, hated to
part with their children: they were
afraid of the creche. However, after
lengthy arguments, their obstinacy
gave way, and the creches began to
be used.
Everything seemed to be going
rrtlN< IL - -
arose. The children of the Colds
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14
CCC Boys Resent
War Propaganda
BY a Worker Corresuondent


N. Just a few lines to
let you know that in the C. C. G.
camp where am, the workers are
having a tough time. We hope YOU
can help us by putting an article
about our troubles in your paper,
the Daily Worker.
We have credit cards here which
we get on our pay. For a three
cent stamp We have to pay four
cents in credit. The food is not
only cooked badly but it is often
not enough. We have our coffee
made in galvanized cans. These
get black in a short time and the
coffee tastes lousy. We sleep in
double -deckers in a small cramped
quarters. There is also a lot of
propaganda about war here, and
we wish to state we are not in favor
with it.
The company store sold sample
packages of tobacco which were
supposed to be given to the boys.
We have a lousy system of showers
The sewage system is not sufficient
for the large number of men we
have here, so we can only take a
shower twice a week and then it is
free for all to get under before
the water goes off.
We have many of the boys in SYM
pathy with the Communist cause.
flcient attention in our Party.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14

ers who think that the bosses of I.
Miller & Sons have to make some
profits, as some claim, let me and
the rest who know the truth, ex-
plain to you how the bosses make
up these profits.
First Of all, they own the res
taurant on the It'll floor. Then, if
you cut your finger or apply for
medical aid from the nurse, you are
asked your name and payroll num-
Der, and at the end Of the day, the
nurse sends in her report, also the
list of names and the payroll num-
Der. If they didn't deduct anything
for medical aid why do they ask
for your payroll number? The
bosses figure that if they deduct
Is cents from your pay, you would
be afraid to say anything for fear
of losing your JOB.
You see, fellow workers, if it's not
in one way, it's in another that I.
Miller makes his profits from our
blood. The only thing for Us to do
is to unite and fight these dirty
ways Of theirs. For Unity means
Strength and Strength means Vic
tory over ALL
"A Group of 1. Miller Shoe Fac
tory Workers.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14
Dye Workers
Unity Able to
Stop LayOffS
By a Textile Worker Correspondent

By a Textile Worker Correspondent
PATTERSON, N. 1.-THE workers
in the silk dye shops in Paterson
gave all kinds of complaints about
the conditions in the dye shops.
Some workers say they only get a
few hours a week, others say there
is too much speed-up in the shop
where they work.
The bosses lay off the workers
when they can get away with it,
that is in the shops where the
workers are divided.
The workers have to run two
machines or more and have to do
the work for two or three men and
get one mans pay.
Some of the workers say that the
work is so hard in the shops that
when they come home they eat
what little there is to eat and go
to bed so that they will be able to
work the next day.
There are some shop chairmen
who take UP the grievances of the
workers and fight the bosses for
the workers right to organize and
to have better working conditions.
But most of the shop chairmen do
not care about the workers as long
as they get their cut from the dues,
and do not take up any grievances
Of the workers with the bosses. That
Is why you hear the workers talk
ing the way they do.
The most class-conscious workers
are working hard to get a united
front, to get all the workers to
stick together on grievances.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14
Buffalo Steel
Workers Strike
Struggle Growing
BY a Worker Correspondent

BUFFALO, N. Y.-The striking
workers of the North Buffalo Hard :.
ware and Standard Foundries now
IN the fourth week of their strike
nave recruited mass picket lines of
from 1000 to 5000 workers and
smashed up seven cabs bringing
scabS into the plant.
Not very long ago many of these
very militant workers were saving
mat we shouldn't speak of
struggle" or use the word fight"
10 the workers because such terms
sound too radical. Now thew are
proud to admit they are radical"
AS a result of the strikes of last
summer and fall, six strong locals
OF the S. M. w. I. U. stand out as
a grand example to workers all over
the country of the successes an in
dustrial union based on rank and
file control can win for the work.
ers, in glaring contrast to the MANY
betrayals put over through the N.
Il. A. and the A. F. Of L. Official
dom.
Delegations from plants in and
around Buffalo have come to the
office of the Steel and Metal Work.
ers' Industrial Union requesting Or
ganization, and our ranks are grow
ing daily.
A stiff battle is ahead; the en-
ployers have the police, the press,
church and civic institutions on
their side, with the A. F. of L. al
ways on hand to play the yellow
dog role in freezing out strikes led
by the S. M. w. I. o., as in the
recent struggle of the Atlas Steel
Casting workers. Buffalo workers,
help the Daily Worker to help you
In spreading the message of organ
ization and broaden your struggles.
Send in reports on conditions and
experiences where you work, your
questions and experiences. Help
spread the Daily" among your
fellow workers.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14
S. to So a Week
In Textile Mills
OF Durham, n. c.
lBy a WOrker Correspondentl


DURHAM, n. C.-The southern
textile industry is cantankerous
one, soured by the bile of inhumsn
oppression of the Negro worker and
the consequent lowering of the iv-
ing standards of all workers. Even
the NR.A. slave codes are openly
and fiagrantly violated in this city
of $4,000, whose main source Of in
come is the textile and tobacco
manufacturing enterprises located
here.
Local textile workers tell me of
pay envelopes containing only So
or SO fro full weeks work. One
worker in the Erwin cotton mills
told me that he has never received
as much as $40 for full weeks
work since he has been here, and
this in spite Of the dastardly $12
minimum (really basic) wage set by
the N.R.A. codes, in an endeavor to
bring down to starvation level the
wages of the few skilled laborers
who do receive Cor rather did re-
ceive) slightly more than this
amount.
With coke selling for 90 a ton;
meat for 30 cents to so cents a h.;
clothing prices up 40 per cent in
the last six months, and retail prices
in general rising out Of all reason
able bounds, it is not hard to pic
ture the poverty and starvation to
which workers are subjected here
1t is impossible for them to main
tain sufficient heat in their houses
sufficient food on the table or any,
thing but rags for their bodies. Ever
then their debts pile up to drown
them.
This condition is the result OF
brutal jim-crowing and actual open
oppression Of the Negro workers who
have been forced to underbid the
white workers, thus bringing to pass
the enslavement of both races of the
Southern proletariat to the bour-
geois masters, who are rolling in
luxury.
In 1888. the Erwin Cotton Mills
cleared 100000 profit; the Purham
Hosiery Mills cleared $4,000, 900. and
the tobacco companies prof1ted to
the extent of 100000, 900.
In the midst of all this misery.
poverty, disease and general oppres-
sion, there is one hopeful sign.
namely, that great numbers of the
workers are coming to hope for a
revolutionary release from their
captivity. While this number Is
relatively small, it is increasing
There are, also, great numbers of
the most solid workers who are
completely disillusioned with the A
F. OF L. unions and are ready for
real revolutionary organizations
provided they are sure no stool
pigeons" are sufficiently cognizant of
their activities to cause them to lose
thelr Jobs. Comrades! Here is a
task for us. ="
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14
Continued From Page s.

eminent" Robert Minor, who made
the criticism to which Johnson re-
ferred, extended no such offer.
Rather he hurled back into john
sons face an invitation from the
General that Minor, as the Comnu-
mist Party representative, "get to-
gether" with the MIRA! Curiously
enough, this was left out of the off,
cial N-R.A. publicity release.
1t was johnson who gave one of
the frankest statements concerning
the coming drive to make company
unionism legal under the MIRA. He
said, There is no law prohibiting
company union as such if there
is no interposition whatever by ent-
ployers and if the men freely choose
it," Forecasting, then, the primary
contingency the Business Congress
met to head off-"the worst epidemic
OF strikes in our history johnson
counseled, Let us obey the law.
Call in Senator Wagner's Board.
Let your men express their choice
under those public auspices from
which no question can arise. Let's
get this troublesome question settled
promptly and for all time"
What johnson naturally didn't
say is that the way of industry's
doing this painless has been fairly
clearly worked out already!
During the first week of last
month a conference of U. S. Steel
officials and others of their ilk met
in New York City to discuss lust
that question-how to make their
company unions legal under the N.
RIA. Robert Dunn, of the Labor
Research Association, reported this
meeting.
And the specific measure by
winch this may be accomplished is
clear also. The company unions are
to be divorced, technically, legally
from the companies. William H.
Davis, Director of Compliance in the
N.R.A., in fact let the cat out of the
bag in a public session this week.
He pointed out that many printed
plans" most of them already ex-
ecuteO in the auto and steel in
dustry, contain provisions which are
continuing violations of the spirit
of Section Ia" This statement was
the basis for the capitalist press
launching a powerful story about
the N. R. AS cracking down" on
company unionism.
But Davis happened to give "an
example" Of just what he meant by
company union provisions which
are violations" He cited the pro-
vision that there shall be no change
in the self-organization of the
workers without the approval of the
plant managers" Think of It'll Only
the provision for formal approval of
plant managers makes company
unionism violation of MIRA! Now
what could be more simple than
to watt away the violation" in COM
pany-unionism by the mere expe-
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14
Chicago A. F. L.
Leader BegS to
CutMiIIineryPay
BY a Millinery Worker Core
Spondent

Spondent
CHICAGO, I'LL. Roberts, vice
president of the millinery union
and in charge of the Chicago dis
trict of the union, has joined with
L. Shirley Tark, secretary of the
Midwestern Millinery (employersO
Association in requesting the MIRA
to grant a special dispensation
urally generate in us the kind of
permitting slower workers who can
not make the code" to be en-
ployed for as little as the en-
ployers choose to pay,
The Millinery Code requires work
ers classified as milliners to be paid
at the rate of 471a cents an hour.
AT this rate, a millinery worker,
working the maximum number of
hours permitted by the code, 371a a
week, is supposed to receive at least
$18 per weeks hard work. The
code already allows Is per cent OF
the milliners in plant to be paid
as little as 81 1-3 cents an hour, or
$14 for full, 371a hour week.
Chicago employers are complain
ing that they cannot afford to pay
their slower workers as much as
$14 week. Mr.. Roberts, A. F. of
L. union official, agrees with them
So does Carolyn Wolf, organizer of
the union in Chicago.
What are the millinery workers
of Chicago going to do about the
sell-out by their officials to the
employers group?
Incidentally Mr.. Tark recently
has been named On the code auth
GRITTY for the Chicago district.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14

The Open Letter points out the
Importance of roofing our Party in
the basic industries. The nearness
of another imperialist war makes
this task even more important.
For some time we have had a
general packing house unit of the
Party in Omaha. This unit con-
sisted of five members for quite a
while, and has been meeting once
a week.
It was very hard to recruit new
members, because it was impossible
to take up the work concretely as
to how to carry out the work of the
Party in the specific departments.
The packing house workers live so
far apart that it is very hard to
get them to come to meetings.
Most of the members in the gen.
eral group lived on the South Side,
but we had some very good contacts
on the North Side, but they would
not travel the six or seven miles to
meetings. We decided then to
establish a unit on the North Side,
and once a month have a general
meeting. After this was done we
did get a couple of new members,
btu still it was very hard to plan
the work concretely.
We had two members working in
the same department, and one of
them in the North Side and one in
the South Side group. When some
work was to be taken up, each one
Of these wanted to speak to the
other comrade before he could de-
eide.
We discussed and we tried to find
way Of overcoming this handicap
for weeks. Finally we decided that
we would try to establish depart
ment units even if we didn't have
more than two members in each
department. Because of the fact
that the members live so far apart,
we decided to hold the meetings
right after work.
We decided that the beef kill in
..... should be the first depart
ment that we would establish unit
in. We had two members and one
applicant in this department. We
took up with these comrades the
question of recruiting from their
own department. At the first meet
ing that was held right after work.
ing hours we had four new workers
who made application for member
ship to the Party.
We decided to hold regular meet
ings once a week right after working
hours. We took up the work con-
cretely in this department and it
was better discussion than at any
time before. The comrades felt that
they would be able to do some effec-
tive work right in their own de-
partment. The members also feel
more protected from stools and
speak more openly in meetings.
Next week we will pick out the
sheep kill in ......, and establish
a unit there. The general group will
still be holding meetings. Those
who work in the departments where
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14
|. Miller Boss
In Erie Cheats
On His Promise
(By Shoe Worker Correspondent

by Shoe Worker Correspondent
ERIE, Pa.-The Miller workers
had voted on which union they
would choose. Before the election
took place, I Miller and his stool
pigeons made a speech to the work
ers stating that if they will vote
for the United Shoe and Leather
Workers Union he would close the
shop. He also promised them to
improve their conditions if they
would vote Of the B. and S. U.
The young workers not having
any experience with BIS. (scab)
union, voted for BIS. (scab) union,
thinking that the boss would keep
his promise.
This is how he improved their
conditions. He gave them an in
crease and demanded much better
work, therefore the workers can't
produce as many shoes as they did
before, and the salary is SO little
that the lasters wanted to 60 out on
strike. Samuels, the laster foreman,
is very cruel to the workers. Their
work is never good enough for him.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-14
AL. Helps to
Cut Wages at
1. Miller Shop
Rank and File Unity
Can Stop Speedily
Tricks of Boss

(By a Shoe Worker Correspondent
LONG ISLAND CITY, N. Yet
us for a moment summarize the
work of the Boot and Shoe (scab
union officials in the I. Miller shoe
factory. First Of all, the collector
demands that you pay IS cents
week, and if you don't. well, it just
means that you can no longer work
in a B. and S. scab shop.
Secondly, if you are making from
Sc to $40 week, you must also pay
the IS cents. If you should say it's
impossible for you to make more
than the amount mentioned above,
they tell you that you don't work
fast enough. AS far as prices are
concerned, you'll get an answer to
this effect, Wen have to do some
thing, leave it to me, III speak to
so-and so, and We'll see what we
can DO"
Have they done anything for us?
The answer is no! And they will
keep on putting it off from one week
to another. The way things are go
ing on, something is bound to hap
pen, that is, if there will be more
loyalty and unity amongst the
workers.
Here is an incident that occurred
in the fitting department. The fore
man Skunk Abe, came over to a
group of filters, French binders, etc.,
and stated that he wanted to know
why the workers couldn't make at
least $50 a week. One worker looked
at the other, until finally one who
was a very good striker told the
foreman that the prices were very
small and that the work was hard.
His answer was an immediate
switch to another subject.
Now if the rest Of the workers
would have said a few words about
the low prices, there would have
been a chance to raise it a little
In case there are still a few work