davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
Call Rail UnOn
Merger Meeting
In GlenwOOd, Pa.
By Railroad Worker Corresponde1

By Railroad Worker Correspondent
GLENWOOD, Pa.-The Big Four
Brotherhoods are showing some signs
of life here. They have called a
United Front meeting, to be held in
the I. o. o. F. Hall, at Second and
Flowers Ave, to discuss some form
of merger plan.
Such a merger is very improbable.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive
Firemen and Engineers and the
Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen
are in comparatively strong finan-
cial position, while the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers, after their
crash of 1927, are almost out of the
picture as an organization.
The Grand Chiefs as well as the
other Grand Lodge Officials, do not
care for mergers, as they are now
living high and mighty" and a
merger would put them back to
work. This, of course, applies to all
the salaried officers, even to the
local committee grievance men.
The Glenwood grievers are going
in for politics in a big way. The
trainmen had one in the State Legis-
lature who voted against all pro-
greSsive labor bills. He ended by
committing suicide.
We hope to put forward some con-
structive suggestions at the merger
meeting, and will report them later
to the Daily Worker. The superin-
tendent of motive power, Mr.. A. K.
Galloway of the B. & O., proposed a
four-day week and the return of
1,150 furloughed men over the entire
B. & o. system. He did not propose
any increase in pay. This is a plain
move to put more men to work at
the expense of those already work
ing. The men will vote on the pro-
posal later.
Loss Of faith in the N. r. A. is
continually showing up, and by some
OF its former supporters, though we
now have little squirt here due to
few billion dollars war budget and
of course a corresponding demand
for steel.
Some Of the railroads are getting
rails, to be paid for by the taxpayers
through the R. F. C. Business has
increased about IL per cent, and
employment about 2 per cent.
Larger engines and longer trains
do not put men to work, and the
state law makers voted down the
Full Crew Bill as well as the Car
Limit Bill.
The time is not far away when
the railroad men will have a fight
ing organization against capitalistic
alliances, corruption, strike betray-
ais, and misleaders in the shop
unions and brotherhoods.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
Pre-COnventiOn Discussion

used as a lever in spreading the
strike struggles in some industries
(auto, steel, packing.
The building of an independent
American Federation of Labor
would be a great step in this direc-
ton. 1t will do away with the pres
ent situation, where every time a
new group or union is organized in
any industry, we have to grope in
the dark about utilization as well
as about technical matters such as
charters, membership books, dues,
etc.
The Party In Strike Struggles
In all of the strike struggles now
taking place, the Party made an
attempt to give leadership. The
strikes, however, disclosed certain
weaknesses in our concentration
work. 1t proved that our concen-
tration work is not being carried on
by the section of the Party, whose
task it is. Only a certain group of
comrades working independently
repeatedly do most of the work
To carry on concentration work, 1t
is necessary to involve the Party
organization as such, near this par
ticular factory. Work has to be
carried on from the inside as well
as from the outside. The work is
much more effective when it is
linked up with group inside the
factory. The places where we sold
the Daily Worker regularly, the
Steel and Metal, and other papers,
from time to time, are the places
that were quickest to respond to
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
ParmeleSS Boss
Leaflet Exposes
Company Union

NEW YORK.-When the strike
started in the Parmelee garages on
March 8, the Drivers Brotherhood
Of the Parmelee System or the
Parmelee Systems agents distrib-
uted leaflet to the drivers and
urged them to join the company
union.
In these leaflets the company
made eleven promises through the
Brotherhood of Parmelee system,
and one of the best was No. 6,
where the company promised to
give the right to drivers to call on
higher officials in cases where no
settlement can be reached between
workers and the company. These
leaflets clearly show that the
Brotherhood of Parmelee System
is only the companys tool against
the workers own union.
There probably are some who
would join the company union,
which would be against their own
welfare, but what is funny in these
leaflets is when they say, This is
not a company union"
All these actions by the company
give warning to all workers that
their place is not with their en-
emies. All that we have to do now,
is to build one big union and we
will win the fight.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23

lations Of the Center to the various
locals seem to be only that of a
dues agency. Occasionally when
something startling happens here
or there do the national headquar-
tiers of our unions concern them
selves. And in this only in a gen.
eral way. At the Extraordinary
Conference last summer, this prob
lem was raised and it was pointed
out that the national unions work
in an amateurish way. When we
organize workers into revolutionary
unions, they are interested to know
whether they are part of ma
tional movement; what support will
they receive in the event of
strike; what strength have we got
in other parts of the country, etc.
Our organizational tactic must be
very flexible. Maybe it is possible
to learn something even from our
enemies. Let us use as an example
the automobile and steel and metal
industries. Would it not be pos
sible to launch a big national Or
ganizational campaign to mobilize
the chief forces of the union and
divide them in such a way as to be-
gin with the concentration districts
and at the same time strengthen
the local forces in other places with
the help of the national forces. OF
course, the chef task remains with
the local organizations, but there
are periods (strikes, etc. when
help from the Center would help to
cement and strengthen the unions
on a national scale. This could be
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
BY Marine Worker Correspondent

By Marine Worker Correspondent
PIER 9, NORTH RIVER, N. Y
Attention! Seamen of the United
Fruit Company Gust that Mr..
Hume, the port steward, king of
the Blackballs," as seamen call him.
He has blacklisted hundreds of sea-
men of the Stewards Department
on very slight pretexts. The des-
potisrn and other abuses Of the
United Fruit Co. are managed
through their port steward, Mr.,
Hume.
Seven seamen Of the Stewards
Department work 16 hours day
at very low pay and no pay for
overtime. They never have a day
off at all till they quit or get black
listed. They have to serve late
dinners and late suppers when in
foreign ports, thus depriving the
walters, cooks and kitchen help of
their shore leave on the only night
in port. After they finish with the
last meal, it's too late to go any,
where, as these workers have to
wash up, then wash themselves and
change to street clothes, so the
tired slaves prefer to rest on board
on the only night in port, since
these mail and passenger ships sell
dom remain one whole night in
port.
The company's money-grabbing
ideas makes it bad for the tourists,
who are rushed about town in
flash-light sightseeing tours and
brought back on board for meals
Thus, the slaves are kept on watch
all the time to serve these passen-
gers any time they return.
The slaves must stand for every
thing or they are fired and black
listed for many years; in most cases
laid off forever. To make things
worse for the crew, they are COM
PEELED to attend to boat-drills when
they have a little off-duty time in
port.
When pulling out from the docks
in New York, the boss stewards run
nervously to the crews deck tc
shove inside all members of the
Stewards Dept. They say it's the
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
ALL. RObs
Drivers Of
Relief Fund
O'Brien Grabs Dues in
Phila. While Taxi
Strikers Starve
BY Taxi Worker Correspondent

By Taxi Worker Correspondent
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. In refer
ence to relief voted by the member
ship of Taxi Drivers Local No. 156
to Is drivers who were blackliSted in
the recent strike at the P. R. T. re-
sulting from agreement, to which
Socialist Party leaders such as Felix,
Daniels, VanGelter and Jeffrey were
partners, directly and indirectly, and
also the local leaders Galbrath and
Packer, that if striker is found
to be an aggressor the company will
not rehire."
These men were voted the mini
mum Of $40 per week till they find
work. On the basis of the above,
these men went to see Mr.. O'Brien,
an organizer for the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, who is in
Philadelphia examining the locals
books, due to charges resulting from
the incompetence of Packer, the
treasurer, and the inefficiency of
Galbrath, the locals president.
These men asked Mr.. O'Brien if
they could receive their relief. He
said "No moneys could be expended
by the secretary treasurer in regards
to relief while books are being au-
dited, and also, after audit, the In
ternational had first lien on the
treasury of local for per capita tax
owed for previous months" Also
that the matter of relief did not
concern Mr.. O'Brien.
He said, you got yourself into
this through no fault Of mine, and
I will not expend my own money to
help you" And if the local owes a
per capita tax to exceed the treas
ury balance, the outlook for relief
for these men for the next six or
seven weeks will put them in the
starvation class.
O'Brien also stated, Maybe you
have time to argue, but I haven't"
These workers found O'Brien very
antagonistic to their pleas for help,
and his only concern was for the
per capita tax.
His parting remarks were, st am
looking out for Tom OBrien." This
proves to these workers that O'Brien
is more interested in his $4,000 per
year job than the welfare Of the
workers.
Protecting the welfare of such
labor takers as Green, VOL, Lewis
and Tobin, who break strikes, is
Tommy O'Brien's only concern.
O'Brien should be evicted from the
local Immediately, if you workers
want to build a strong union to fight
the bosses for better working condi-
tons. This can be done only by
putting into the leadership those
men who have shown their mill
fancy on the picket line and out on
the street, and on the union floor.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
Letters from,
OurReGders
A BIG TURNOUT FOR MAY DAY

A BIG TURNOUT FOR MAY DAY
Brooklyn, N. Y. City.
May Day is approaching AS a
result of the deepening crises, many
thousands of workers have become
disillusioned with capitalism. AS a
result Of the campaign led by the
Communist Party, many of these
workers will march under our BAN
ners on May Day. Since last year
there have occurred many things
indicating the decay of capitalism
and the role of the Communist
Party as leader of the proletariat
for the overthrow of capitalism.
This May First must be tremen-
dous turnout. The C. w. A. will be
ended, and many will be out look
ing for work.
wish to make some suggestions
for making this May Day better
one than usual. Firstly: slogans.
There must be an organized corps
Of slogan leaders. These comrades
must have large number Of slo-
gans ready. These leaders must use
megaphones (Which can be made
up). know that we usually leave
the matter of slogans to comrades
who resort to inventing them as they
go along. Hence, such foolish slo-
gans as: We demand a Revolution!
Even good slogans do not receive
solid mass yells. Often, the result
is Disappointing. Our bands, espe-
cially the leading band, must be
good, and have good repertoire Of
revolutionary songs. Here the
Pierre Degeyter Club can be of
great help.
I hope that these suggestions
meet with a response from others
with suggestions to make this a sue
cessful May Day.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
the demands of the Party.


Some Sections fail to act as indie
pendent bodies when the occasion
arises. Even when the seamen's
strike was already on, Section l OF
Milwaukee failed to respond and
did not even put it on the agenda
until prompted by the District. The
Racine Section, instead of concen-
trating on the Nash and Case
Strikes, factories which we're sup
posed to be the original points of
concentration, dissipated their en-
ergy on some small demonstrations
in places of far lesser Importance.
The question of visiting contacts.
organizing opposition groups inside
the A. F. of L. and the Workers
Committee, putting forward de-
mands for rank and file strike COM
mittees, etc., was neglected for a
time. In some strikes, the Section
Committees in our District did not
even respond enough in modifying
the membership, assigning each one
to certain task during the strike.
The strikes have brought out an
other thing, that is, the lack of
preparedness on our part to COM
bat the attacks of the Social Fas-
cists, including physical attacks. In
most strikes, the leadership CO.
operated with the police in terror
izing the militant workers and the
Communists. The Party has GER
tain habit in distributing leaflets,
but in a period of strikes-certain
precautionary measures must be
taken. Our leaflets must reach the
rank and file regardless of the po-
lice and bureaucrats. We must
guard against casualties, the fewer
arrests the hetter-this can be done
if organized,
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23

The following is an account of
recent experiences in distributing
leaflets in front of the Aluminium
Company of America factory here
in Cleveland. This factory is the
concentration plant of Section /,
District g.
We distributed a leaflet Of the
Steel and Metal Workers Industrial
Union before this plant, which car
ried the heading, 5000 Aluminium
Workers on Strikel" telling the
story of the strike on the aluminium
workers in the Pittsburgh District.
The leaflet called upon the workers
to cooperate with their fellow
workers in Pittsburgh, and to or
ganize.
The workers at the plant received
these leaflets well and some of them
are getting bold enough to come for
ward and give us important infor-
nation. Several workers called
upon me to take steps to expose a
fake company union that is being
organized by the bosses.
A meeting is being called of these
workers, at which the first organi-
rational steps will be taken. This
will be held very soon.
The workers are very much in
sympathy with the striking ALUMNI
mum workers of Kensington and
there is much talk among them of
unionism.
The bosses, seeing that we are
about to consolidate our agitational
gains have, granted" a SC hourly
increase in wages. This has been
done as a desperate attempt to keep
the strike in the aluminium in
dustry from spreading.
This attempt on the part Of the
bosses here to bride the workers into
scabbing on the workers in Ken
sington must be exposed! We will
do this through leaflets, in our gen.
eral agitation, as well as in the
meeting which we have called.
L. A. B., Organizer Unit II,
Section l, Dist. 6.
Plan of Work of Chicago Unit-A
Challenge to Socialist Competition
Unit No. 1908, Chicago, presented
the following plan Of work at the
meeting of section functionaries:
Unit No. 1903 goes on record with
the following pledges:
/. To recruit six new members
into the Party by April l.
2. To recruit ten new members
into the S. M. w. I. U. in go days.
8. To recruit ten new members
into the I. L. D. in so days.
4. To recruit five new members
into the I. W. o. in go days.
S. To recruit IS new members
into the Unemployed Council in
so days.
In addition to recruiting we
pledge ourselves:
(a) To increase the Daily
Worker bundle order from Is to
80 copies daily.
CD To secure three daily new
subs and four Saturday subs in so
days.
(c) To sell 80 copies Of the
Metal Worker each month.
(d) To sell $40 worth of litera-
ture in 60 days.
(e) To assign two comrades to
build Mexican Workers Club, If
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
THE SEAMEN'S CODE
By B. N. BENDER
Ito be sung to the tun

10 DC sung w the tune VI
The Workers Flag.)
The Seamen's Code is going through,
In spite of all the I Sold U;
From just one port, 200 strong
The seamen rushed on Washington!
With Union flag and banners high
They all set out to do or diel
No fink sell-out can bear the brunt
Of the Workers united 'front.'
Keep up the fight for this, Our Code,
We cannot fail to win our goal!
The I. S. U. and Bosses fight;
They can't withstand the Workers
might
Tho they may say, You shant be
free,
Well keep you in Wage Slavery"
Well show the Boss that he is
wrong,
United, Workers are too strongl
So fling the banners to the breeze
We've started on big victories;
SMASH I. S. U. and N. R. A.,
The Workers Union leads the way!
(Finis)
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
WHAT is NRA TO THE MASSES?
BY a Worker CorresnOndent

LEWISBURG, Ala. - What does
he New Deal mean for the good of
the masses of the people, when the
5hf masses are driven to the working
places like oxen through the fear Of
The boss class.
Now if we don't call this boss class
master" they will call up an officer
and say to him, This Negro so-and-
so is a--Negro. I want you to
remember him. He doesn't know how
to put a handle to white mans
name" Through this, some of us get
shot down. The coroner comes. "a
iustifable verdict"
BY the laws, men are made so rich
hat they hire the Lawmakers to
protect their interests against the
workers rights. And they are lead
ng to the graveyard with starvation,
with war, with weapons carried
around in scabbards to make men
stand in fear of the gunman who is
raging outside.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
Article X.

THERE were six Great Powers" in
the world: the United States,
Great Britain, France, Germany,
ITALY, and Japan; while the o. S.
S. r.. where individual peasants still
cultivated with wooden plows, was
incomparably below all of these in
productive forces.
But today, after five years of the
Program of Great Works" after
the first Five-Year Plan, what is
the picture as to relation of forces
among the States Of the world?
Is it not inescapable now that
among the three most powerful
states of the world, in the beginning
of the new round of wars and
revolutions" must be included the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics?
Taken, as it must be, in conjunc-
ton with the growth Of the revolu-
tionary forces of all countries Of
the world, the maturing and
strengthening of the Communist
Parties and the development of the
struggles for national liberation
against imperialism, we can hardly
fail to regard this "armoring" Of
the citadel of world revolution as
decisive.
What if the policy of the Right
opportunists had been adopted?
What if the policy of the Trotzky
renegades C''You cannot build So
cialism in one country'D had been
adopted?
The Communist Party of the So
Wet Union under the leadership of
Stain proceeded boldly with the
collectivization of agriculture. Sue
cess beyond even the brightest ex-
pectations has resulted. This means
decisive action in bringing about
the most profound change that
modern society can possibly con-
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
Repair Worker Baked"

NEW YORK.-An ash pit IL
inches high and eight feet long I'M
der a bakers oven was the 45-min-
ute prison of a repair worker who
became wedged in the narrow space
yesterday. The bricks were heated
to $50 degrees Fahrenheit. Beekmar
st. Hospital, where he is being
treated, reports that he is in fan
condition and may recover.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
NOTE

We publish letters every Fri
day from workers in the trans
} pOrtation and communications
industries-railroad, marine, sur
face lines, subway, elevated lines,
express companies, truck drivers,
taxi drivers, etc.-and from the
communications industries-post
office, telephone, telegraph, etc.
We urge workers from these
industries to write us of their
struggles to organize. Please get
these letters to us by Tuesday of
each week.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23

Ask your friend, your fellow
worker to subscribe to the Daily
Worker.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23

for its original purpose only the or
ganization of the unemployed.
Seeing, however, that thousands of
workers are dissatisfied with the A.
F. Of L., this Workers Committee
came forward with a plan of Or
ganizing the workers in the fac
tories into what they called "paral-
lei unions" a form of industrial
union. Within a short period of
time, this Workers Committee en-
braced thousands of workers in
some very important factories.
The workers, taking the dema-
gogy of the leadership of the Work
ers' Committee seriously, organized
strikes. In the struggle they began
to see that the only difference be-
tween this Workers Committee and
the A. F. of L. is in its ptraseology
The Workers Committee, Just as
the A. F. of L., co-operates with the
capitalist class, discourages strikes,
is not in favor of mass picketing.
places the workers at the mercy of
the N. r. A. labor board, and car
ries on struggle against the Com
munistS. But why should the
workers have gone to the Workers
Committee? Because our Party in
the city of Racine failed to under
stand that the chief link in our
work today is work within the
shops and trade unions-the neces-
sity to lead the economic struggles
of the workers.
Must Build National Unions
While discussing the problem of
strike struggles and the building of
the revolutionary unions, it would
not be out of place to mention the
fact that there is no national guild
ance by our union bodies. The re-
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
Los ANGELES POSTAL CLERK

Editorial note: We suggest that
this worker organize the clerks
and substitutes into the existing
unions and force action there for
an end of these conditions, and
if they cannot do so, that they
organize militant unions for &C
ton. We warn them against the
legalistic trap that government
employees cannot strike. Any
worker can and must strike
against such conditions Of work
and underpayment as these.
Through such militant action you
can also mobilize public SYM
pathy and support.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-23
Postal Subs
Forced To
Get Charity
Los Angeles Clerk Tells
of 81 to So Payments
for TwOW eeksW Ork
CBy a Post Office Correspondent

by a Post Office Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Cal. - I know
several cases of hard working men
employed as substitutes in the post
Office who are actually in want and
have to accept charity from the
county. Their average pay runs
from IS cents to a possible 81 or
So for two weeks work. These men
are required to report every day
for work, but are not paid one cent
for the time that they have to
hang around the Office.
Playing checkers is their favorite
diversion.
These men have my heartfelt
sympathy, but I am helpless to do
anything for them except to ad-
vertise their deplorable condition
and pray that something may be
done to remedy them.
Two hundred sub-clerks we're
laid off indefinitely at the Arcade
station two days ago.
We have been notified OF four
day frlough without pay between
now and the first of July. Also no
more vacation until further notice.
My pay has been so reduced that
I am no longer able to meet my
payments on the furniture, the
bank, and so on, and yet these
people have the nerve to ask us
to lay off for a day to help the
poor substitutes!
The government is well able to
guarantee the subs a minimum
wage of SIS a week. Why don't
they do it2
Good luck and more power to
you! May these few lines cause
the people to wake up and do some
thing!