The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-08-13
Painters Hit
Zausner Rule
in NY. Union
Continued from Page ~

tually registered more votes by noon
Of the day of the voting than there
were members Of the local! And
this with about three hundred
members not allowed to vote.
One who knows New York's
courts-or any capitalist court, for
that matter-will recognize at once
that the Zausner crew must be an
awtully clumsy bunch of pirates to
be so crude that not even Tam
many judge could see his way clear
to letting them go.
While there are certain Illusions
among tine rank and file of the
painters concerning the capitalist
courts, they have by no means left
matters to the black gowned pur-
veyors of what is known as Justice.
Immediately after the election rank
and file groups, under the splen-
did leadership Of Local 499. chaI-
lenged the fraudulent elections and
declared that they would not paw
dues to Zausner and that they
would not recognize him. That
gentleman answered with renewed
terror and, recently, with a declara-
ton OF a general strike in the
trade
"Zausner Needs "War Chest"
Rank and file leaders, however.
point out that this is to a large
extent a counters attack by Zaus-
ner. His general strike call is an
attempt to put over a work tax on
the members and solidify his woe
fully weak position in the union.
For gangster, you must know, the
main road to strength is big treas
ury. Without a war chest Zaus-
ner'S muscular friends" would
leave him very, very quickly. Hence
the desperate necessity for the work
tax
Rank and filers, therefore, had to
wage the fight on two fronts:
against the zausner machine, the
agents of the employers within the
union. zausner has lined up with
him, besides the Master Painters
Association and the independent
bosses, the Socialist Party leaders.
the Jewish Daily Forward, the New
Leader and the usual gangsters.
The capitalist press, lest we forget,
is also very tender with Gar Philip.
The rank and file has been put
ting up brilliant fight. Zausner
and his gangsterS are receiving de-
Feat after defeat. They cannot
shove the work tax down the
Threats of the members. The
painters are sick and tired of
zausner and zausnerism and are
nghting mad. Local meeting after
local meeting finds not the cid
docile membership but one which
will fight = physically whenever
necessary-against the gangsters
and racketeers who infest the union.
Rank and File Control
Most important OF all, the paint
ers set up their own rank and file
strike committees in the locals.
These strike committees carried on
the actual work of the strike. re-
fusing to recognize Zausner's strike
SUPERVISION" 1t is this indepen-
dence of local strike committees,
above all, that raises Herr Zaus-
ner's ire. The formation of local
strike committee in Local 400 and
It's leadership of all other locals
was the cause for the attempt by
the international officials to re-
woke the charter of Local 400.
1t is not our purpose here to list
again the daily occurrences in the
present situation. The Daily Work
er has recorded these events faith
fully from the beginning of the
strike.
We merely wish to bring to the
attention Of workers some of the
important lessons of the develop
ments in the painters union. There
were those who said it was hope
less to conduct struggle within
the A. F. of L. unions. The situa-
ton among the painters shows that
this is not true. A correct policy
and a courageous struggle to carry
it out will rally the workers.
The rank and file in the painters
union have not yet won. The out
come Of this r,a rtic,ilar etrika citII