Montana labor news., 1936-02-20
Strikebreaking Black
mails Latest Offspring
A. DISCUSSION BY
c


sion and expose of that new menace to
labor generally known as strikebreak-
ing. now conducted throughout the
country in organized commercial and
legitimate form with the primary pur-
pose OF netting a profit to the strike
breaking promoters and, incidentally
to settle labor disputes OF violence. The
material here dealt with is based pri-
marily on an article entitled Strike
breaking incorporated" by Edward
Levinson condensed in the December
issue of Readers Digest from the orig
inal article which appeared in the No
vember number of Harpers Magazine,
1t is urgently recommended that union
members and other interested persons
study the article in view OF becoming
acquainted with a subject which is fast
forcing itself upon labor's attention.
Perhaps the most notorious, though
not, most prominent, character in the
strikebreaking game is the famous
Pearl L. Bergoff, the RED Demon"
whose activities of organized terrorism
have been featured in many publica-
tons and in one chapter OF the news
reel, March of Time" which was
shown recently at the Rialto, Butte.
The Red Demon has his set-up di-
vided into three departments, the first
being the Undercover Department
male and female mechanics and work.
ing people, whose duty it is to spy
upon their fellow workers and report
accordingly; the second unit, the Open
shop Department has the duty of keep
ing industry going during a strike, and
the third, Protection Department, COM
posed Of h~ard-boiled boys Of doubt
full character, is supposed to protect
life and property" Within the whole
organization there pervades a stencil
of gangdom crudeness and c%riminality.
The men hired to keep the wheels OF
industry moving are 'finks-an under
world term denoting one who betrays
his fellow workers for money. those
who guard the afflicted area are
mobiles" or captains" and the spies
or stool pigeons" are known as
Boots"
Desire for Profit Breeds Criminality.
Throughout the entire organization a
predominance of criminal types are to
be found varying from ordinary thieves
and ~murderers to professional gangsters
and i~nforners, all sensing in labor con-
flicts the rich odor of easy pickings
and loot. "Finks have stolen every
thing from plumbing fixtures to $4,000
worth of furs-made off with in a
Transfers strike" Other instances
such as that in which the hired rowdies
plundered a streetcar fare box and
shortchanged the passengers are only
more illustrative of the base calibre and
utter villianous nature of these deni-
zens of current industrial combat met
hods.
However, the "finks" cannot keep all
the cream because the mobiles" collect
their tribute in turn, typical gangster
procedure. We should be thankful to
reside in a wholesome community in
that n respect, no gangsl
Within the organization itself is to
be found every sort Of dishonesty, cor
ruption and bad intentions they gam
bic crookedly on the premises, bully
their weaker fellows and charge out
rageous prices within their own war
barracks for such little luxuries as
smokes, drinks and candy. In many
cases a man plays the game" with the
gang because of dire need, disappear
ing altogether after the strike. Then
there are thousands of professional
toughs all over the country officially
listed as available at any time. Many
are held in line simply because of their
own evil records which would not
withstand the consequences Of dis
favor from an a%ntogonized boss.
List of Strikebreaking Murderers.
A brief record Of fatalities in nine
major strikes which Bergoff tried to
break would appear as follows Strik-
ers killed by strikebreakers, II; strike
breakers killed by strikers, g.; men, wo-
men, and children killed by strike
breaker-driven cars, 81; bystanders
killed by strikebreakers /; strikebreak-
ers killed at work, 8; strikebreakers
killed by strikebreakers in barracks, 4;
an interesting bit of statisticsl
Space permits only a vague descrip-
ton of the other agencies engaged in
this sort of rotten warfare. There are
IS licensed detective agencies in New
York, that make urgent solicitation
for strikebreaking work, and half a
dozen of them had violent careers"
Outstanding are the sherman Cor
poration" which specialzes in Strike
Prevention" the "Pinkertons' National
Detective Agency, Inc" with offices in
all large cities and with a jealousy
guarded claim to being the most eff
ficient spy bureau in the whole land.
1.-THE William j. Burns international
Detective Agency" is in 81 cities, with
special industrial and radical depart
ments, "The Railway Audit and In
spection Company" is said to hold the
future Of strikebreaking in its hand
and is held in awe by all in the game.
These agencies use methods of re-
dictionary propaganda, fear psychology
and all the tricks Of spydom; nothing
is too low or requires too little sports
manship or honor for these renagades,
traitors or whatnot. They label their
activities human engineering" and
educational work" and they are diff
cult for the unsuspecting workers to
detect. Some of the agencies deal in
ammunition in one case $4,000 worth
of tear gas was sold and used in the