Montana labor news., 1936-05-07
STRUGGLE IN STEEL
By ROSE M. STEIN
Socialist News Bureau)

union leaders. In a few instances a N
and file leaders have been bought oil
with foreman Jobs. In most instances
they have been summary fired.
In the United States Steel Corpora
ton plants the union has been effec-
lively smashed. The few Amalgamated
Association Of Iron, Steel and Tin
Workers lodges which still exist in the
U. S. Steel strongholds have been
driven to underground retreats. The
chief aim OF these lodges for the pres
ent is to hold on tenaciously to their
charters by keeping a minimum OF III
dues-paying members; this in the hope
that the lodges may serve as nuclei II
and when John l.. Lewis launches his
promised campaign to organize the
mass production industries.
The purge is carried on with p%articu-
lar fierceness in the Aliquippa, Penn
sylvania plant of the Jones & Laugh
lin Steel Corporation. The union was
slow in raising its head in Aliquippa
and is now among the last to be
smashed. 1t was not until late in
1884 that the steel workers of Ali
quippa, through the aid of the then
existing Steel Labor Relations Board,
the Pennsylvania State Department Of
Labor, the state police and their own
undaunted courage, won the right to
rent union headquarters and hold
meetings in this town where every
nerve is controlled and directed by the
steel corporations.
& l. owns the railroad which CON
meets Ahquippa with the New York
Central System. It owns the towns
street cars, motor coaches and water
supply. Through the outright owner-
ship of a real estate concern, and its
control over the community's bank and
building and loan association, the COM
pany has under its thumb all Of Ali
quippa's real property. If a worker is
fired at the mill, it becomes next to
impossible for him to find a place to
live in. The company dominates the
borough government and its police
force. In addition it has a large police
and spy force Of its own. The latter
especially terrified the workers during
the early organization efforts in 1884,
Workers who were active in building
the union had their homes watched by
company police "a hours a day and the
workers themselves were openly fol
lowed everywhere they went.
When in October, 1884, the federal
and state government interviewed, and
when at the request Of the workers
Pennsylvania very efficient state po-
lice came to Aliquippa company ter
rorism subsidized. The union then
grew by leaps and bounds. By the
summer Of 1885 more than 5000 Of
Aliquippa's 5000 steel workers signed
up in the Amalgamated.
In July, 1885, the president and vice
president Of the union were fired. The
workers were indignant and there was
talk Of a strike. Fear that work from
Aliquippa would be transferred to the
company's Pittsburgh plant, where
there was practically no union organi-
cation, and hope that the two fired
men would be reinstated through the
efforts OF the National Labor Rela-
tons Board turned sentiment finally
against a strike, The men have never
been reinstated.
After several postponements at the
request Of the company, the board fl
nally held a hearing on the petition of
these and ten other Aliquippa workers
on March i. Earl F. Reed, counsel for
the corporation, and we'll known Lib
erty Lacquer, stated that the company
reserves the sole right to hire and fire
and that the board had no jurisdiction
over the case, When the board ex-
pressed its intention to proceed with
the case, Mr.. Reed withdrew and the
hearings then continued ex parte. If
the board should rule that the dis
charged men be reinstated, as no doubt
it will, the company will undoubtedly
get out an injunction, and stop further
proceedings.
Between August and November, 1885,
there were no dismissals. The county
sheriff and four out Of the borough's
seven councilmen were up for election
last fall and it promised to be a stiff
fight. In former years borough and
county elections were so firmly under
the company's heel that some .offices
had only one candidate. There was
no point in running counter to the
wishes of the company. In 1855 the
steel workers became politically minded
and the company found it expedient
not to cause to much discussion among
the ranks. But when Dominic
Brandy persisted in his union activi-
ties after election, and continued %
recruit members for the union, he was
given his discharge slip.
Dominic Brandy worked for the
Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation
steadily since 1910, save for Is months
during 1917-1o1S when he was in
France fighting ito make the world
safe for democracy"
Mdlllh NClsllcI Was luS uh4OAi AH''
financial secretary. In the last cleo
ton he ran for the office Of county
sheriff against the %company's choice.
The latter won, but Gerstner's sin was
not forgiven. On December IA, 1885,
he was fired. He worked for the COM
pany since 1880.
More than thirty men have been fired
since last November. First came the
officers and charter members. Now
they are wedding out dues-paying
members. The result of these firings is
keenly felt in the union organization
Members are afraid to attend meet