The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-08

IN the weeks following the PreSl-
dents appeal to the workers to Gay
aside the weapons Of industrial war
fare" the A. F. of L. officieldom
accepted the no-strike proposal If
Roosevelt. William Green, the fol-
lowing day, in his speech at the
San Francisco A. F. of L. conven-
ton, endorsed the propose Of
Roosevelt. The entire Green bureau
crazy fell in line with the program
of cooperation with the employers
to end strikes.
The employers have shown in no
uncertain terms that the truce"
means surrender by the workers of
their elementary right to strike and
organize, means surrender to wage
cuts, increased terror against strik
srs and increased fascist measures
against the workers.
The ''Truce" in Steel
First came the steel companies,
headed by the United States Steel
Corporation, with their announce
nlents that they intended to cut
wages in the near future. Mike
Tighe, president of the Amalgam-
ated Association of Iron, Steel and
Tin Workers "a. F. of L9accepted
the Roosevelt truce" which was a
cover for the wage cutting drive.
Tighe secured reelection as union
president by the eXpedient of dis
franchising the new members and
unemployed on the grounds of non
payment of dues.
The steel companies watched this
reelection closely. The Tighe ma
chine meant strengthening the no
strike truce" The Oct. % issue
Of Steel" trade weekly, declared,
'Emissaries for the Administration
have informed steel producers that
organized labor has overplayed its
hand, and the industry need not be
alarmed on this score. 1t was re-
assuring Ito the steel employers
C. RI that Michael Tighe, con-
sentative, was reelected head of the
Amalgamated Association" (page
IT..
Tighe, made similar re-assuring
statement to the employers when
his reelection was announced.
Labor should erase the fear en-
ployers have that they will have to
surrender their rights If labor is
organized" Tighe said.
Thus, in the steel industry Roose-
velt's no-strike truce means
wage cutting drive, supported by
Tighe. The company unions in the
steel industry are flourishing and
all the demands which the steel
workers put up last year, for wage
increases, recognition, against the
speedup, are being brushed aside.
The Textile Employers Program
The industrial peace" program
OF the textile employers was stated
ct the october meeting of the
America Cotton Manufacturers
Association in Greenville, S. G. This
meeting endorsed George Sloan's
inurderous methods in breaking the
general textile strike. Its resolu-
tions gave assurances to Southern
manufacturers of a united front
against the trade unions; declared
that the textile manufacturers will
stand firm against any change "in
the present provisions Of the code
covering the maximum hours and
the machine hours limitations; and
attacked flying squadrons and mass
picketing.
The "truce" program Of the tex
tile manufacturers was made even
clearer in the joint statement of the
National Association of Cot t n
Manufacturers Association, tw o
weeks ago. This ten point program
demanded that strikes or lockouts
should be illegal when they are de-
signed to coerce the government,
either directly or indirectly, by
inflicting hardship on the COM
munity"
A whole series of proposals is
then made against the unions and
In favor of company unions, against
picketing, or any form Of Co
ercion";; "the right to work without
interference; the right Of minority
groups to negotiate with employers,
and demanding financial state
ments of union leaders to tn e
government.
How did the German leadership
of the United Textile Workers re-
spond to these anti-union truce"
proposals. German, who had i'm
mediately pledged to Roosevelt that
the textile workers would not strike
for six months, issued a statement
saying not a word regarding the
union smashing proposals of the
textile manufacturers, Instead he
proposed joint union and employer
councils to increase the sales Of the
employers He accepted the wage
CUT Campaign of the textile
-.pIoyers. He suppressed the right
Of scores OF locals to strike by re-
fusing or postponing their demand
for strike sanction and referring all
their grievances to the Roosevelt
Textile Relations Board, which has
carried out the wage cutting drive
of the textile employers.
The Roosevelt truce" has been
carried out similarly in the auto
industry. The General M rotor S
Company, on October Is, issued a
statement to its 10000 employees
regarding the company union plan
which is already in effect. The
General Motors, in this truce
statement, bases its union smashing
drive on section Ia of the NR-A.
and on the automobile settlement of
last Spring which was signed by
william Green and Collins, A. F. of
L. lee dsrs.
The E. eral Nc 5 & res,
COLLECTIVE bargaining does not