The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-03-24


" and the burning lessons Of the
unprecedented treachery of the A,
2. Of L. leaders soaring into the
minds Of the auto workers, the most
decisive days in the auto industry
are yet ahead. The auto workers,
still anxious to fight, must clear
the road Of the debris piled up by
the Roosevelt government IN d
MeSsrs. Green and Collins. The
lessons Of the past week should open
the eyes of the workers and weld
their ranks for the struggle.
The NR.A. and the Roosevelt
government have performed yeo-
man service for the automobile
bosses. At the first signal of strike
sentiment, the government stepped
N as strikebreaker. What better
instrument could the automobile
manufacturers have used than the
Roosevelt government, and the A.,
T. Of l.. leaders in their battle
against the workers.
It was the Roosevelt government,
acting through General johnson,
and the A, F. Of L. officialdom that
first put over the automobile slave
code. General johnson personally
visited the automobile manufsc-
turers In Detroit last August. At
that time Business Week, organ Of
Wall Street, declared that the auto
bosses got what they wanted from
General johnson because he was a
close friend OF theirs. They also
got what they wanted from the A.
F. Of l.. leaders. The auto code
originally openly declared for the
company union. This was to be
achieved by the merit clause"
William Green, John L. Lewis, Sid
ney Hillman, and the other A. r.
Of L. members Of the National La
Dor Board approved the merit
clause" as an exception" for the
auto industry. This brought the
company union.
In the present strike situation,
Bill Green and William Collins were
merely continuing the good work
they had begun in the historical
battle Of the auto workers against
the powerful automobile trusts.
What a Strike Threatens
Bill Green and william Collins
met with President Roosevelt with
the firm determination, already ar
rived at by the automobile bosses
that there must be no strike in the
automobile industry. They knew
that once the workers went on
strike at the height of the season.
every element for victory was IA
vorsble for them. On the ground
that the NR-A. recovery" program
the program that is costing the
workers lower wages and the most
miserable conditions ever imposed
on them-must go through. A strike
would threaten this program by in
creasing the wages of the workers
and winning union conditions for
them. The Roosevelt government
saw in the pending automobile
strike the beginning of new wave
CT strikes in auto, steel and rail-
roads that threatened to throw into
the dust heap the whole chain of
slave codes riveted on the workers.
Never before in the history of the
United States have strikes become
so clearly political issues, in which
the government, working with the
A. F. of L. leaders, works so openly
with the bosses to stave off strug-
giles by the workers.
Every trick known to a capitalist
government was used against the
auto workers.
On Wednesday March 81, the
auto workers were geared up for
strike. Over 100000 workers would
have been involved in the walkout
that would have brought the auto
mobile bosses to their knees, be-
cause the strike was timed through
the pressure Of the men themselves
to take place at the height of the
season.
The auto bosses were adamant.
They knew everything was coming
their way. The government was
their government. The A. r. of l..
leaders, who had the confidence of
the men, who were placed in stra-
tegic positions, were working for
the automobile manufacturers.
On the eve of the calling of the
great strike that would have had a
sympathetic response from the
whole working class suffering from
the same conditions the auto work
ers are undergoing, the great be-
trayal was laid by the A. F. of L.
leaders. President Roosevelt wired
them to come to Washington. On
Thursday, after Roosevelt had first
met with the leaders of the Ma
tional Automobile Chamber of Com
merce and laid down the strategy
OF the automobile trusts, the A. F.
Of L. leaders were called in-not to
negotiate for the workers, not to
present the workers demands-but
to work out the most despicable
methods of keeping the strike back
at all costs.
Preparing the Ground
Both Collins and Green had
prepared the ground previous to the
Washington conferences. On the day
the strike was supposed to have
begun, the auto bosses speeded- up
production. They had gained the
first encounter. Strike sentiment was
spreading from Atlanta to Detroit.
Strike votes we're in the ratio of
1000 to l. But automobiles we're
rolling out faster than ever. Stocks
we're being piled up. The stool
pigeons and scabs we're being mob
ilized.
At meeting in Detroit, Collins
declared: This would not be a
strike for wages. but rather strike
for the benefits of the New Deal"
This was laying the basis for every
treacherous proposal that President
Roosevelt would make This is an
effort to stir up the dwindling illu-
sions Of the workers in the Roosevelt