The Organizer (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 1934-07-20

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DAILY STRIKE BULLETIN
M1N
SOOlfttt-,
UNITED
LABOR
ACTION
SMASH THE
CITIZENS
ALLIANCE
TWO TWENTY-FIVE
SOUTH THIRD STREET
Volume I, No. 8
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, FRIDAY, JULY 20, 1934
Price one cent
Johannes Rolls Onefl) Truck
"Labor Review"
Calls Workers
to Back Strike
Official Union Organ Says
Fight Concerns All
How Minneapolis labor stands on
the question of 574's strike is plainly
evidenced by an editorial in today's
issue of The Minneapolis Labor Review, the only official organ of the
Central Labor Union of Minneapolis
and Hennepin County, of the Minneapolis Building Trades Council, the
United Card and Label Council, and
the Minnesota Pipe Trades Assn. The
Labor Re.iew on its front page gives
voice, to the following views:
"It must be plain to every member
of organized labor and it should be to
every worker that the strike of General Drivers is not a matter that concerns General Drivers alone.
"It is a matter that concerns every
man, woman and child of the workers.
And it concerns those concerns with
which the workers spend their hard
earned money.
"During the present strike, men and
women must be fed and cared for.
"Already the Commissary has been
established at the Drivers' Union headquarters at 225 S. Third St. It is in
charge of the Women's Auxiliary of
the General Drivers and the Hotel and
Restaurant Employees union.
"During the last strike the Hotel and
Restaurant Employees' union and the
Auxiliary did wonderful work in the
operation of the Commissary.
"This is an appeal to those who can
to give and to give as liberally as they
can to the feeding of the Strikers and
their courageous wives at the strike
Commissary.
"If you can give money, give money.
If you can give food of any description,
including fresh vegetables, give that.
Food and money are needed and needed now.
"Make contributions either at the
Union headquarters, 225 Third St. S.,
or at the Picket Headquarters, 215
Eighth St. S.
"It is not for themselves alone but
for all organized labor, for all workers of the city, that the Truck Drivers
are now struggling.
"Workers of Minneapolis cannot afford to permit the Truck Drivers to
be defeated.
"Defeat of the Truck Drivers would
mean for Minneapolis Labor general
wage reductions and increased hours.
"It is not necessary to recite here
the valor and determination of the
Truck Drivers and their wives. The
story of the last strike is the story of
that.
"But they must have food and support during this strike and it is up to
us of the labor movement to see that
they receive sufficient to eat and all
possible  support in  all possible ways.
"Workers are urged also to report
at the Picket Headquarters to render
whatever assistance they can. Those
who will report there will find that
there is plenty for everyone to do.
"Think together, work together, act
together to win this strike, and banish
the spectre of hunger and despair that
the Citizens Alliance has kept over the
workers of Minneapolis for the past
several years.   .   ."
Citizens Alliance Cut-Throats Threaten Violence—
Let Them Try It!
Every contemptible and malicious trick known to union-busting
employers has already been employed to disrupt and smash Drivers
Local 574. The sewers of misr-^/esentation, falsehood and slander
have been opened up and spew id against our organization. Thousands of dollars have been spent in employers' publicity against the
Union in the press they control. Not only in the "respectable" papers, but in the weekly scandal rag which pollutes the atmosphere,
the truckers and their leaders have been subjected to a running fire
from the very beginning of the dispute.
But all these battering rams of the employers have been unavailing against the powerful structure of our Union, held together
by the solidarity of its members, by their contempt for backbiters
and windjammers, by their determination to let nothing stand in the
way of their righteous fight to gain conditions that will permit them
to live like human beings.
The employers said that the Union does not represent the men.
Thereby they provoked the two strikes—in May and the present
one—in which the thousands who responded to the strike call gave
conclusive proof that the Union DID represent the men.
The employers then tried to disrupt the Union from within, by
the efforts of concealed agents or unconscious tools. They claimed
that the majority of the men did not support the policy or leadership of the Union. They organized separate meetings to plan the disruption of the Union. Thereupon, the vast bulk of the membership
rose to demonstrate its unanimity and to reveal that the disrupters
represented an insignificant handful of uninfluential individuals.
The meetings of the demoralizers were turned into magnificent demonstrations for the Union.
The employers tried to drive a wedge between the rank and file
and the leaders. They wanted these leaders out because they couldn't
bribt them or frighten them. They launched a vicious "red scare"
campaign against the leaders of 574, under the impression that the
union members were four-year-old children who could "be scared with
a bogeyman. Thereupon, the membership replied by giving their
officers a unanimous vote of confidence.
The employers finally tried the claim that the members really
didn't want to strike, that they were really anxious to accept the
miserable terms of the bosses. Thereupon, the membership replied
on two occasions with a rousing, enthusiastic and determined unanimous vote FOR the strike which was launched Monday midnight.
And they did strike. And what is more, they have succeeded in
bottling up the market so firmly that not a single truck has been able
to roll. ,
#   *   #
In their desperation, the employers are now playing their last
card. It is a despicable one, smelling of the swamp out of which it
comes. It raises the "red scare" to a new pitch and calls upon the
"respectable citizens" (How well we know them!) to lynch the leaders of Fighting 574.
The organ of big business and the Wall Street branch banks, the
Minneapolis Journal of July 19, publishes an editorial which says:
"The Communists have overreached themselves in San
Francisco, though they succeeded in dragging organized labor into their conspiracy, and for a brief time in effecting a
nearly complete tie-up. The citizenry, harking back to the
traditions of the Vigilantes of the Fifties, set about stamping
out the Communist hangouts and their equipment for issuing revolutionary literature, and running the Reds themselves out of town.
"The Communists in Minneapolis have thus far succeeded in keeping their control of the Truck Drivers Union,
in preventing a secret ballot on the renewal of the strike,
and in dominating the labor side of the controversy. BUT
LET THEM BEWARE LEST AN AROUSED CITIZENRY HERE TAKE VIGOROUS MEASURES
AGAINST THEM."
So, gentlemen, you propose to take "vigorous measures," as did
the union-smashing, strike-breaking hooligans and thugs in San Francisco! You must be feeling pretty desperate.
Don't imagine that we are fooled. Bitter experience of the labor
movement in the past, and the fresh experience of San Francisco—
all teach a simple lesson: The "red scare" and the attacks upon
leaders by thugs disguised as "patriots" are the first steps in crushing the workers and driving the workers back to their jobs like cattle,
to be treated like cattle.
And don't imagine either that you can bluff us. Just come and
try it! Just send down your paid thugs to our Strike Headquarters
for the purpose of giving our loyal officers "the works." You'll find
them there at almost any hour of the day. And you'll get a reception
that will cool off your enthusiasm.
Or, if you want a quicker showdown, come to the mass meeting
tonight at 7th Street and 4th Avenue S. There you will find the
trade unionists of Minneapolis assembled. The leaders of 574 will be
on the platform.
Try and take them off of it! /
"      Yes, just look like you want to try it!
150 Cops Convoy 150 Pounds
of Freight in a Five-Ton Truck
Provocative Bluff of Police Chief Only Shows
How Completely Truck Traffic Is Tied Up
«^
In an effort to provoke a bloody riot,
Police Chief Johannes pulled a swindling maneuvre yesterday afternoon for
the bosses, which was foiled by the
speedy and disciplined action of Local
574. With a great display of armament,
and in front of a battery of movie cameras and an audience of reporters, Johannes' cops moved a S-ton truck from
Jordan-Stevens Co., wholesale grocers,
to the Eitel Hospital.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, finks
appeared at the Armstrong Transfer
Co., Third Ave. and Seventh St. S. E.,
with three banners marked "Hospital
Supplies." A truck belonging to Armstrong's was decorated with these banners. Shortly after, thirty automobiles
containing about 150 cops and a number of plain clothesmen appeared at
Armstrong's. The cops lined up in front
of the place, displaying both long and
sawed-off shotguns. Movie cameras began to click and reporters began to
take notes. Thus began Johannes' burlesque show as ordered by the bosses.
A friend of Local 574 passed by and
saw what was going on. Knowing that
both in the present and last strike,
all Minneapolis hospitals have been receiving supplies in trucks driven by
men provided by the Union and with
Union permits, he smelled a rat. Why
all the fuss? On receiving the tip
over the phone, the Union sent Organizer Grant Dunne and one picket
to Armstrong's.
On arriving, Dunne asked the Lieutenant in charge what was up. The
flatfoot said they were going to move
hospital supplies. Dunne told him they
were making an unnecessary fuss. The
usual practice is for the transfer company to send a man to the Union with
the hospital order and to get a permit
and driver. These have never been refused by the Union. The lieutenant
agreed to call up Johannes and get
further instructions. While he did so,
Dunne called strike headquarters to
send a truckload of pickets.
The Lieutenant returned and stated
that the truck would move under police guard. The empty truck then proceeded to Jordan-Stevens Co. warehouse, corner of 3rd Ave. N. and 2nd
Street,' trailed by Dunne and a picket.
When loading began, Dunne phoned
Johannes to ask what the performance
was about. Johannes stalled at first but
finally admitted that it had never been
necessary to provide escorts for hospital deliveries and on Dunne's in-
sistance agreed to send a messenger
to the warehouse to call off the Lieutenant.
While Dunne was phoning, however,
the truck left the warehouse surrounded by the noble army of cops. Dunne
had expected it would take at least 20
minutes to load a 5-ton truck.' But it
took only 5 minutet because they loaded only half a dozen boxes totalling
about 150 pounds. The whole thing was
a fake I
Dunne followed the swindle convoy
as far as Eitel Hospital, where they
were unloading one box. Desiring to
inform the Lieutenant that a messenger was on the way from Johannes,
Dunne  got out of his  car  and  ap
proach the line of cops "guarding" the
decoy truck. A sergeant ordered him
back-in the car, whereupon Dunne informed him of the reason for his presence. The cop said: "I don't give a
God Damn what you want, get back
in the car." When Dunne repeated his
message, the cop stuck a shotgun in
his ribs and ordered him back in the
car, calling him various insulting names.
The incident was wholly cooked up.
Newspaper extras were on the street
before it was over. This, and the presence of camera men at the starting
point, make it clear that this was a
carefully laid plot. It was hoped in the
first place, to make people think hospital deliveries have been interfered
they moved trucks as they had aimed
been thanked repeatedly by the director of the Hospital Council for making possible full and regular delivery
service to all hospitals. The boss press
has itself admitted the truth of this.
Secondly, the plan was to save the
bosses faces by making people think
they moved trucks as they had aimed
to do yesterday—but did not. They
moved a decoy duck around under the
(Continued on page two)
■
Pres. Wm. Brown Calls Big
Meet of 574 Tonight
In a special statement given to The
Organizer this morning, Wm. S. Brown,
President of Local 574, announced a
monster trade union mass meeting to
be held tonight in a vacant lot at
Fourth Ave. South and Seventh St.,
at 8 p. m. All trade unionists and
friends are invited to attend.
The meeting will be addressed by
members and officials of Local 574 and
its Strike Committee of 100. Other labor leaders from other crafts will also
be present and speak. Important questions will be taken up concerning the
interests and fate of the general union ,
movement in the Twin Cities, as well
as Local 574. Robert Fleming, President of the St. Paul truck drivers local, is expected to be among the speakers.
In announcing this meeting, Brother
Brown informed The Organizer that
picketing continues to work out perfectly. "The bosses failed yesterday
to make good their threat to start
trucks rolling," said Brown, "and they
will fail any time they try. On behalf
of Local 574, I want to say this: We
would rather work than strike any
time, but if we do not get recognition
and decent conditions we will strike
until we get them. Nothing can stop
574. The membership and officers are
solid on this. The bosses are not going
to be able to split us, and as long as
we are solid we are going to win."
Asked to comment on the editorial
in yesterday's Journal, Brother Brown
characterized it as "sniping." "When
we want advice as to how to run our
affairs, we won't ask the Journal. We
workers will decide our own strategy
and our own fate without anybody-
else's interference. The same goes with
respect to our membership books. Nobody is going to look at them but the
union itself. That's final."