The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-05-17
BY P. FRANKFELD
Excerpts from Speech at 9Th
Convention of G. P. u. S. A.



at Cleveland)
During 1893 we had in the Pitts
burgh district a registered member
ship of some $4,000 unemployed
workers in Allegheny County alone.
For 1884, these first three months,
we can already report a registration
of close to $4,000 unemployed in the
same county. We have 100 locals
in Allegheny County, five locals in
Westmoreland, three in Washing
ton and three in Beaver Counties
making a total of Ill locals. These
locals are located in steel and
mining towns in Western Pennsyl-
vania. Through our Unemployed
Councils we have been able to
penetrate towns like Duquesne and
Homestead, towns that have been
closed to us and to all labor or
CARNATIONS since the 1919 steel
strike led by Foster. In Home
stead, where Burgess Cavanaugh did
not even permit Miss Perkins Of
the Department of Labor to speak,
we have held both open and some
times illegal meetings under various
guises-right under the very nose
of Burgess Cavanaugh. We have
some fifteen Womens Leagues Or
ganiZed and affiliated to the I'm
employed Councils, II youth clubs,
and only six pioneer groups. OF
course, this is not much to speak
about, not much to show as an
achievement but shows that we are
at least conscious of the problem
and some consideration being given
to organizing the women, youth
and children. We have led some
important struggles to win the
women, youth and children-not
only to mobilize them for struggles
but also to win and organize them
under the leadership of our Party.
So far as Pittsburgh is con-
cerned, we have 40 to so locals and
close to 1000 Negro workers Or
ganized in the Unemployed Coun-
ellis of Pittsburgh. This is due to
the fact that we have led serious
struggles around the special de-
mands of the Negro workers. In
Clarion, Pa, where recently big
strike took place, we had no or
ganization. Now we can report a
local Of 900. The leadership of our
Unemployed Council has not been
limited to Party functionaries, but
we have succeeded to a degree in
bringing forward non-Party work
ers. But as yet this leadership is
by far too narrow and must be
broadened. At the very head of
the Unemployed Councils of Pitts
burgh we have a Negro comrade
elected as chairman of the organi-
cation.
Only yesterday, we received re-
ports of struggles being conducted
against evictions throughout Pitts
burgh. In Hazelwood, the workers
modified and drove the deputy
sheriffs clear out. Our many locals
in various blocks and neighbor-
hoods modified and stopped doz-
ems of evictions that were taking
place. Rent payments have been
stopped, and this explains the
growth of eviction struggles. One
of the basic reasons for our Sue
cesSes In building our movement has
been our choosing of one single
issue, affecting and agitating broad
masses of workers at given
moment, and correctly picking this
issue, utilizing it, and developing
real struggles around this one single
issue as sort of main concen-
tration-while linking it up with
more basic demands-and then
fighting out this issue to sue
cessful conclusion.
For instance, in the fight for in
creased relief, in the past six
months we succeeded as result of
our main mass delegations, COM