The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-05-14

speech on any subject, without
preparation, also suddenly discov-
ered that athletic matters were
not their forte and began bat
Ting with each other to get out
of the way. The team thought of
the glory Of beating Georgia. The
game went on without Myers
The next week he had recovered
and was again placed in the
lineup.
THESE are the actors in the
academies. The game of the
rulers, as one goes farther, is
equally evident in their devotion to
athletics in their plants. One Of the
ways of holding the workers in
company union is the thrice blessed
(by the bosses) athletic association.
1t is patronized and nine times out
Of ten completely supported, finan-
cially, by the owners of the COM
panies. It's prominent members
are usually the most avid stool
pigeons. On no issue has a COM
pany athletic association ever taken
a stand against the bosses In the
shirt workers strike in New Haven,
three years ago, every girl in the
factory walked out, save the mem
bers of the company basketball
team. These acted as scabs and did
their best to delnoralize the strike.
They were rewarded, it is said, with
new uniforms.
In Binghamton, N. Y, the En-
dicOtt- johnson Shoe Co. has
erected a huge athletic field. Is
this a token OF the feeling for the
happiness of the employees which
beats day and night in the heart
of the owner? Who can doubt it9
This" said the owner of the
press, "is strike insurance for me-"
How well the press commended
him needs no recOunting. The
magazine Baseball ran an ar
ticle medalling him in the name
Of every sport since Christ baitcd
the fishes, quoting him and using
pictures of his construction.
The Westinghouse Electric Co.,
another philanthropic institution,
has built up a large society called
the Hawthorne A. A. This A. A.
engages in contests with other
A.A.'S, which are also sponsored by
similar philanthropic institutions.
The biggest cheerers are the bosses,
who are regular fellows and follow
every game or meet to the minute.
This A.A. and the other A.A.'s have
thus far engaged in no union ac-
tivity; and every worker who does
not favor them is regarded as a
Bolshevik.
And what did the Pennsylvania
r. R. do, after the trainmens strike
was broken in 1921? It looked
around and saw where it had been
deficient. 1t built up an athletic
association.
WE have. however. reserved the
" juiciest news for last. The New
York newspapers, those venerable
friends Of the working people, re-
ported it Saturday. Nineteen thou
sand men are on strike in the
Fisher Body plant in Detroit; and
a conference was held on Friday at
which were present A. F. of L. Of
ficials, the representatives of the
Mechanics Educational Society and
the officers of the company union.
From the officers of the company
union came the gem and the theory.
They announced-you can see
the quotation in the Times-that
they were forming an athletic
association--but we are also in
terested in wages and working
conditions" We are also inter-
ested in wages and working con-
ditions.
The representatives of the other
unions present described the
characters behind the project in a
terse phrase. They referred to the
company union officials as stool
pigeons"