The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-05-19

FFc9OA4AS-1OuoO ELeCGIlCd1 manu- *
turing Co. Ct
In 1916 there was a strike therS
and it was organized by the A. Z
Of L. OF course, like all of TIL
A. F. of L. organizations, they solo
cut the workers, and the workers, al
result, lost faith in unionism. Al
the present time we have a Stes
and Metal Workers Industrial Union
out there. It rose and it fell back.
and the feeling among the worker
is, how do we know should we buil4
another union up that it mighf9 b
sold out like the A, F. Of L. tkl4
them out. So it is very hard i'll
keep the workers interested lid
unionisrn.
we started out with four or Nv
hundred members, and we have yer.
interesting meetings But ther
were no struggles. We couldn't for
mulate any form of action for the
workers, ard that was due TO tn
fact that we had a very weak Part
nucleus or shop unit there. There
we're no two members in any on
department who could lay out &
plan of work for the workers t
follow. We have gotten togethe
and laid plans for the future. We
have lacked guidance in this matte
due to lack of local leadership.
Workers Ready TO Fight Speed-UI
I want to give you little instanc'
of how the workers will fight. i
work in the tool and die making
department. They have started ar
intensive speed-up system, Wher
ever possible, two machines are
operated by one man. The workers
are arranged in group systems with
a leader at the head. This leadel
is q company man, a capable com
pany man, and he is the driver
The company picks out the men a.
leaders who are good drivers ant
he sets all limits. Wherever he car
he cuts down time and increase.
production. And wherever it is pos
sible, one man runs two machines
We let this opportunity go by. But
there are struggles ahead.
There is one particular struggle
I would like to mention in the tool
making department, when the mer
were told they had to run two ma
chimes. Some workers refused tx
operate them. The leaders usually
picked out the old timers for this
work. Even they put up a fight
About the third or fourth day there
was whole band who wanted tx
sign up with the S. M. w. 1. U
We didn't follow this up with more
agitation and didn't give it leader
ship. 1t set us back. The condiT
ton is still there for struggle, ano
if we work out the proper plans Of
action in that plant, We will have
some action there.
shop Paper Irregular
We also issued shop bulletin
that is, a union paper and We
named it the Live Wire. 1t went
over good the first time. I hearq
very favorable remarks all over t {
plant about this shop paper. a +
other trouble we have is that Il
wait too long between the first is5l
and the next issue, so when it GANG
out, some of the workers didn't wan.
to take it. One worker said to md
that we didn't do anything in be-
tween the first issue and the second
issue of the paper. The worker
themselves tell us what is wrong. I
Now there is a runor in our plan
about 10 per cent wage increase
This follows the increase in thh
steel and coal industries. w
haven't much faith in runlors. He
is where we will get busy. Some II
the members are busy now gettii |
out Party paper, agitating til
a Is per cent wage increase.
That is about all can tell vol.
about my experiences, am dow
at the lower ladder of this struggle
I am not a public speaker and cam
talk like some Of the other comrades
here can.