The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-20

remains paralyzed. The dye house
owners on the other hand. are
bringing up all their strikebreaking
artillery-a more open use of the
police, government, press and armed
thugs.
At this time it is interesting to
review the strategy of the employ
ers and of the workers.
The employers have placed their
case in the hands Of the Labor Re-
lations Board which is really an
instrument in the present drive of
the Manufacturers Association for
settling strikes in a manner which
will paralyze unions. The workers,
on the other hand, have followed a
policy which is very similar to that
OF the recent strike of longshore-
men on the West Coast.
What the Bosses Want
just what the employers want
was made quite clear last Friday in
an editorial of the Paterson Evening
News, g. spokesman for the dye
bosses, The editorial, apparently
written before it became known
that the strikers booed the recent
settlement plan out, was very opti-
mistic on the prospect of having
the settlement modelled after the
Cleveland Atlantic & Pacific stores
agreement.
In the dyers' strike we see how
the Textile Labor Relations Board
is following out every detail of the
A. and P. settlement. The dye
house owners. too, are shouting that
they are moving out of Paterson to
a place where they could have
''peace." The only way they could
think of getting a lasting peace"
is by disarming the workers. two
year no-strike agreement, all dis
putes go to an impartial commit
tee, mere promise to permit the
union TO organize the workers. The
paid officials in the union who in
the early stages of the strike
shouted that there will be no Cor
man settlements" greeted this as
the best that could be obtained and
pleaded with the workers to accept
il. This is why they were booed
off the platform.
The workers in taking such action
have thereby shown that they refuse
to follow the road marked out for
them by MacMahon and German,
but rather follow the line Of mill
tant struggle with rank and file
leadership. For that reason the
prospects of making substantial
gains are brighter now than ever.
The dyers' strike thus far is a
close parallel to the way the West
Coast longshoremens strike devel-
oped. There too workers from the
very outset understood the reac-
tionary role of their officials, and
therefore placed their strike under
the leadership of large rank and
file strike committee. This cor
responds to the shop delegates and
chairmen who conduct the strike Of
the dyers and are elected by the
workers
No Secret Negotiations
In the case of the marine workers
strike the leaders too started with
secret negotiations, planned to close
an agreement and imply impose it
on the workers. But the workers
soon made it clear that there will
be no return to work before they
approve the settlement. In fact
49,. +I.a;,- TY,+oroof; 0yoI ,,roc;da,af
Joseph Ryan. took the liberty to
sign an agreement which they didn't
like. they threw him out with the
agreement and rank and file
committee was elected to conduct
the negotiations from then on. So
with the dyers. 1t was made very
emphatic that an agreement must
be bruoght before the rank and
file. and in addition workers were
elected from the locals to make up
the settlement committee along
with the officials.
In the West Coast marine strike
the officials tried the red scare.
They labeled the most active work.
ers in the strike as reds" hoping
to incite the workers against them.
But the workers soon saw through
this scheme to destroy confidence
in their real leaders. and create a
split. In the dyers situation
Anthony Ammirato, president of the
Paterson local, hardly got to first
base, when he tried it through
slappins a young Communist who
was distributing leaflets, and tried
to drive Daily Worker sellers and
Communists, with police aid, out of
the picket line.
In the marine strike mass pick
citing was the rule from the start
and so it is in the dyers situation.
The West Coast longshoremen from
the first day of their strike made
it clear that the capitalist press is
their enemy and rather used the
Communist weekly, the Western
Worker as their paper In the
Divers situation, despite the very
close relations between the Off
Gals and the two scab capitalist
papers. the workers are increasingly
using the Daily Worker as their
source of information and guidance.
Stevedores Show How To Win
But what the striking dyers are
most interested in, is the fact that
the West Coast longshoremen
emerged out of their struggle with
relatively greater gains than were
won in any of the recent big
strikes. They won an increase from
IS cents per hour to 95 cents and
s1.45 for overtime; the 30-hour
week, and partial control in the
hiring halls. They have not per-
mitted themselves to be hamstrung
by no-strike agreements, and since
have already on several occasions
,voiIed themselves of the right to