The Organizer (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 1934-07-18

              DAILY STRIKE BULLETIN
UNITED
LABOR
ACTION
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SMASH THE
CITIZENS
ALLIANCE
TWO TWENTY-FIVE
SOUTH THIRD STREET
Volume I, No. 6
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 1934
Price one cent
Strike Is 100% Solid!
General Strike
At Fever Pitch
On West Coast
Battle Line Extended Into
New Pacific Areas
Another day—and spirit still runs
high among the strikers. More than
that. The army of labor increases with
every new report. Labor in Oakland,
Berkley and other East-bay cities
Tuesday rallied to the general strike
call to the tune of 42,000 strikers. Like
San Francisco these cities have now
asserted their determination that the
rule or ruin policy of the bosses must
come to an end.
Following in the wake of this magnificent demonstration in the Bay region the Portland labor movement,
roused to its feet, with the intention
of joining their brother unions a thousand miles below, on the coastline.
Portland is marking time, tense and
ready to swing into action. General
strike is the order of the day!
Years of common suffering are dic-
■ tating common action. Rotten conditions and a terrible lowering of the
standard of living is meeting the
mighty answer of united labor.
In the face of the will and the determination of men who have finally listened to the clarion call of struggle—
of the unlimited power of labor with
its forces unleashed in an irresistible
united surge, the coast bosses are frantically seeking to stem the tide. The
time of words, so long used to befud-
'dle the working man, has passed. Naked
and brutal, the real rule of the bosses
is showing itself. The most vicious and
degenerate methods that could possibly
be employed are carried out against
this magnificent body of men who have
dared to stand up for their rights. Resorting to the lowest forms of brute
force, the bosses have garnered to their
side all of the corrupt forces of reaction. "Vigilante" committees, roving
bands of scum dragged from the depths
of the underworld, are trying to institute a reign of terror in the city of
Frisco. Pulling the same miserable gag
of "red scare," these insignificant
groups of hired thugs and gunmen
think to intimidate a mighty mass of
men beside whom they are but pygmies.
Coast labor knows what it is about.
They will not be fooled by phony issues
dragged in by the tail to distract their
attention from the fight which they
have so successfully conducted up till
now: recognition of the union, and decent  living conditions.   The  ranks  of
Jabor but grow and mount to ever
higher summits, with each new attack.
Minneapolis sends its warmest greetings to its brothers on the coast. Our
fight is theirs and their fight is ours.
Together we will win.
LEGAL STAFF EXPANDED
In addition to Fred Ossanua and Albert Goldman, Irving Green, associated
with Mr. Ossanna, has been appointed
attorney by the Strike Committee of
100 to help defend the legal rights of
strikers against any infringement. Goldman hails from Chicago where he has
successfully defended many important
labor cases. Green is a well-known
local attorney.
Troops In Minneapolis —What For?
One battalion of the Minnesota National
Guard has already been mobilized, carrying
regular field equipment, at the Minneapolis
Armory, where, according to yesterday's Tribune, "it will await orders for duty in connection with the strike."
Everybody knows and everybody admits that
the moment the strike call of Local 574 went
into effect, all business activities in the market
w<-ve- -thoroughly paralyzed. Scabs have to be
souj 'it with a microscope, and if there are any,
(hey,don't dare to run the mighty gauntlet of
the pickets.
The employers know from the educational
experience of the last strike that by their own
efforts they cannot pierce through the solid
lines of Fighting 574.
The employers know now, even better than
they did last May, that even city police and the
tough guys and thugs who were deputized, are
not enough to intimidate the strikers and break
the strike.
Mayor Bainbridge, who worked so harmoniously with the employers in an effort to break
the May strike, demanded that state troops be
sent in before this strike had hardly started.
This demand of the bosses was promptly complied with and, to the great surprise of thousands of workers, National Guardsmen were
sent to intervene in the strike by the Farmer-
Labor party Governor of the State of Minnesota, Floyd B. Olson.
The surprise of these workers is increased by
the statement issued to the press by Governor
Olson announcing the calling out of troops.
Governor Olson owes his elevation to the
highest post in the State to the support given
Iiim—not by the bankers and employers but
by the workers and farmers of Minnesota. Their
faith in him, in his party and in its platform,
made possible his election.
These workers and farmers expected that the
Governor, particularly at such crucial moments
as this, when the interests of several thousand
workers are directly involved in a strike battle,
would not forget his obligation to them.
The display and use of armed force can have
but one purpose: intimidation and coercion. Is
it the employers who are to be intimidated and
coerced? Not at all. The employers and their
local administration are the ones who have
clamored for the calling of the Guard—both in
the last strike and in the present one. It '» the
workers who are aimed at.
Governor Olson, in his statement to the
press, said:
"The important question is the preservation
of law and order."
We don't believe that this is the right way to
put the problem. The most important question now is: Has the underdog, the worker, the
exploited and persecuted, the right to organize
into unions and to demand a decent living?
That is the most important question and everybody ought to take a stand on it.
The only threat to public peace comes from
those who try to provoke the strikers by the use
of thugs and scabs and deputized hoodlums.
Every scab truck that rolls, every person who
tries to keep it rolling, is provoking violence.
The workers want no violence, they want peace.
But not the peace of the tombstone to which
miserable living conditions drive them at an
early age. They will fight like hons against anyone who tries to take away their rights to organize, strike and picket and stop them from
gaining their just and modest—all too modest—demands.
Governor Olson, in his statement, said he will
not take sides in the strike. But his action in
mobilizing a battalion of the National Guard on
the first day of the strike—is that not taking
sides? Many workers will be keenly disappointed _m»th with the statement and the action of
'Governor^ Olson. They voted for him in tn>
firm conviction that he would side with them
against the bosses. Union men and women have
a right to doubt that anyone can be reaUy neutral in the great struggle between capital and
labor. But in any case they expected something
more than neutrality from the Farmer-Labor
Governor. They expected support of their
struggle, not the threat of military force
against them.
That is the only way the mobilization of the
National Guard can be understood—as a threat
against the strikers. That is why the workers
who are enlisted in this fight for the right to
live, demand and will continue to demand:
WITHDRAW THE NATIONAL GUARD IMMEDIATELY!
We have learned enough, we workers, to say:
Neither policemen nor their clubs can move
a truck.   You need drivers for that.
Neither deputies nor their badges can move
a truck.  You need drivers for that.
And neither Guardsmen, nor their bayonets,
nor their field artillery can move a truck. You
still need drivers for that.
And there aren't going to be any drivers, or
helpers, or inside men until this strike is over.
And it won't be over.until we've won it. Every
man in 574 stands like rock on that. ,
And meanwhile we repeat what we wrote yesterday:
No truck is going to be moved! By nobody!
Big Strike Wave Spreads to New Cities
Steadily, workingmen all over the nation are following the examples set by
Frisco and Minneapolis. The strike—
this is a mighty weapon that labor has
at its disposal to defend itself against
the cheating attacks of the employers.
In Alabama the 22,000 textile workers
stormed the three mills remaining open
and forced them to shut down.
In Baltimore, a thousand members of
the truck drivers' union are on strike,
after all efforts at conciliation failed.
In New York a new strike wave is
threatening. The executive board of
the international Ladies' Garment
Workers has approved the proposed
strike of 18,000 union members. It is
reported that 19,000 maritime workers
will be out soon, in support of the Pacific coast struggle. Radio operators in
the Atlantic have been called to join
the Radio and Telegraphers' Association strike in coastal towns.
8,000 pecan workers are striking for
better conditions in San Antonio.
2,000 woolen workers and hatters are
out in Connecticut, fighting for higher
wages.
The thousand on strike at Kohler,
Wisconsin, yesterday turned back the
indignant Mr. Kohler when he tried
to   enter   the   plant   which   bears   his
G. H. Q.
Strike Headquarters
General Headquarters for all
pickets has been set up at
215 South Eighth St.
All pickets report there to the
Committee in charge.
name.  Scabs are kept bottled up inside
the plant.
And in Butte, Montana, 4,000 striking
miners prevented the bosses from even
making a gesture toward running the
mines.
First Arrests Made
Henry Ness and Barney Barnhardt,
members of Local 574, were arrested,
charged with disorderly conduct and
released in $25 bail yesterday. A couple
of cops stopped the auto in which
these strikers were driving with three
other union members, and demanded
that they turn over fne keys of the car.
When Brothers Ness and Barnhardt
told them where to get off, the cops
pulled them in. The Union, of course,
is standing by and will stand by all
strikers and picketers. It will not let
the cops get away with anything. .
No Scab Trucks
Moving Around
In Minneapolis
Second  Day  of  Walkout
Finds Ranks Firm
The second day of the strike—and
the town is tied up as tight as a drum.
Not a truck has moved, and so effective
is the picket line established by the
striking members of Local 574, that the
employers have not yet even tried to
send out more than a scout or two.
Whatever truck did try to roll was
speedily turned back by vigilant pickets.
The spirit and the confidence of the
men are at a high point. There are no
breaks in the ranks and no sign of any.
Just the contrary. The ranks of the
strike are being swelled by expressions
of sympathy and active support from
other organizations.
Three of the most important farmers'
organizations in the state have already
come to agreements withlhe Strike
Committee of 100, whereby the interests of the former are adequately protected during the strike while, at the
same time, all possibility is eliminated
of the farmers being used in any way
to defeat the goal of the strike.
Meetings of other local unions of the
American Federation of Labor held
last night, gave plentiful proof of the
fact that the strike of 574 has the enthusiastic support of the organized
workingmen in the city. Reports confirming this continue to come into the
office. A meeting of the Dental Mechanics last night heard a report which
was warmly received by the members.
The electrical workers meeting showed
by the discussion of the truckers'
strike in which the members engaged,
that they were behind 574 to a man.
Other locals show a similar solidarity
with the strikers. There is no doubt
that the organized labor movement of
the  city  is  vigorously supporting 574.
Although no serious efforts have yet
been made by the employers to run scab
trucks through the picket lines, the
press reports that a concerted drive is
being planned for Thursday morning
to run trucks manned by strike-breakers. The committees in charge at the
headquarters of the strike, 215 Eighth
Street S., have, however, taken all the
necessary measures to deal with any
attempt, on a large scale or a small
one, to break through the picket blockade. The strikers are well prepared
for any eventuality, as the employers
will learn the minute any new attempts
are made.
Meanwhile it is reported from Washington that the Federal Conciliator,
Mr. Haas, is on his way to Minneapolis for the purpose of bringing the
strike to a conclusion. As they have
demonstrated on numerous occasions,
the strikers are firmly set against any
effort to make them retreat from their
jjust demands. Willing though they are
to call off the strike arid resume their
jobs at a moment's notice, the men will
not even think of taking such action
unless they are assured of the victory
of their fundamental demands: wage
increases and the right of the union to
represent the interests of its members
in disputes or negotiations with the employers. Local 574 will riot budge an
inch from this position.
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