The Organizer (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 1934-07-23

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*Pon't   Fail   Me   How   Boys!   ~ SawftfSi
Blood   by   Order   of  Michael   Johannes   the   Murderer.    Died   July   21st,   1934
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UNITED
LABOR
ACTION
DAILY STRIKE BULLETIN
SMASH THE
CITIZENS
ALLIANCE
TWO TWENTY-FIVE
SOUTH THIRD STREET
Volume I, No. 10
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, MONDAY, JULY 23, 1934
Price one cent
The Fight Has Just Begun
Laundry Men to
Strike Tuesday;
Solid with 574
Drop Parley With Bosses;
Condemn Johannes
The Laundry Workers and Dry Cleaners Local 18005 has broken off negotiations with the bosses and voted a strike
to begin at 7 A. M. tomorrow morning.
The bosses stalled these workers for several weeks, offering them one rotten
proposition after another, and using
Rabbi Albert Gordon, arbitrator, to induce the workers not to strike. Finally
the workers saw that the weapon of the
strike had to be used.
Local 574 is with the Laundry Workers in their fight for decent living conditions. Our struggles are one; let us
fight shoulder to shoulder. Militancy and
solidarity alone will win for us what is
our right. Greetings to our brothers!
We invite them to utilize the columns of
The Organizer for their strike announcements.
The Laundry Workers strike resolution
included a demand calling for the removal of Mayor Bainbridge and Chief
Johannes from office. It says that, "not
a wheel shall be turned, not a shirt shall
be ironed, not a garment shall be
cleaned," until this is accomplished.
At 8 P. M. tonight a mass meeting
of all laundry and dry cleaning workers
will be held at 225 South 3rd St.
The laundry workers have accepted
the offer of Drivers Union 574 to use
their headquarters at 225 So. 3rd St. as
laundry picket headquarters.
Petition to Go to Council
The petition to which thousands of
signatures have already been signed will
be turned in to the City Council today.
It blasts the Bainbridge-Johannes "Hit-
lerized reign of terror/* and the bloody
murders of Black Friday. It demands
the impeachment of the Mayor and his
Chief of Police or the resignation of the
Council.
This follows on the refusal of Bainbridge to fire his favorite, Mike Johannes
the Bloody. A request was laid before
the Mayor Saturday by a committee of
the Central Labor Union and the Building Trades Council. The Committee included Robley Cramer, Emery Nelson,
George Guider, Miles Dunne, Wm. S.
Brown, George Simcoe and others. The
last named is an official of the Fire
Fighters, A. F. of L. firemen's Union.
Well, City Council men, what will you
do? Will you make yourselves accessories after the fact or will you heed the
voice of the masses of Minneapolis?
Mark Where Ness Fell
At the spot near the corner of 6th
Ave. N. and Third St., where Henry Ness
fell on Bloody Friday, Local 574 is erecting a temporary monument to his memory. A flag at half mast and a laurel
wreath will decorate the historic point
until' after the funeral ceremonies tomorrow. All workers will bare heads as
they pass this corner out of respect to a
brother and fellow-worker who died that
all might live.
The First Martyr of 574
Courtesy Minneapolis "Star"
HENRY NESS
Henry B. Ness, martyr of labor's struggle, was
born March 18, 1894, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He
served overseas in the World War. He is survived
by Mrs. Freda Ness and four children: Olive, age 9;
Henry, Jr., age 7; William, age 5, John, age lyi,
living at 2812 Tenth Ave. South.
For 16 years Brother Ness was an active and loyal
trade unionist, for the last few years in the General
Drivers Union, Local 574. His fellow Unionists respected his opinions and his courage, and found his
genial disposition a source of constant pleasure.
Ordered to the picket line in the wholesale grocery district Friday morning, he went forth with a
determination to fight to the end for the rights of
labor. When the police opened fire on the peaceful
picketers, Brother Ness received a charge of shot full
in the chest. As he turned to seek shelter, a cowardly enemy buried another charge in his back.
Thirty-eight slugs in all parts of his body were more
than doctors could fight against. Union brothers
gave liberally of their blood to save him but the sacrifices did not avail.
The Testament of Henry Ness
Henry Ness is dead, and tomorrow thousands of
fellow unionists will lower him into his grave.
Henry Ness is the first martyr of Local 574. Henry
Ness is the first man to die at the hands of Michael
J. Johannes, the Murderer, shot down in cold blood
by the Minneapolis police at the order of the Citizens Alliance.
Henry Ness was a simple worker who toiled for
a scanty living for his family. And because the first
consideration of his bosses was the piling up of the
greatest possible profits, regardless of the sufferings and misery it entailed, his was the common lot
of every worker. He was never able to accumulate
any wealth.
Yet, Henry Ness left behind him a rich testament.
There was no picket line, no fight, in which Henry
Ness was not to be found in the vanguard.
He was not a man you could intimidate or deceive. He knew what the Union meant to the workers and he was resolved to preserve its solidarity and
fighting spirit at all costs. He was not fooled by the
efforts of the employers to bring division and disruption into the ranks of the organization. He stood
firmly with the Union and its chosen leaders. He
was not deceived or frightened by the malicious "red
scare" by means of which the Citizens Alliance
sought to break down the militancy of the workers.
Nor was he frightened by the display of force
made by the Mayor, the Chief of Police, his uniformed assassins, and their masters of the Citizens
Alliance. On the crucial day of the strike, when the
police announced that they would move a scab truck
and shoot to kill any strikers who tried to stop it,
Henry Ness was among the first to rim to the scene
of action.
He leaped into the fight with a vigor and determination that belied his forty years of age and toil.
And he was cut down, cut down in the prime of his
life. He was killed, not facing the enemy, but shot
in the back by cowards.
Tormented with pain and realizing, as he lay on
the hospital cot, that life was ebbing fast, Henry
Ness did not break down or repent. His last words
were those of a fighter. His last words were a command to his brothers in the struggle.
"Tell the boys not to fail me now!"
And we who are alive and on the battlefront, solemnly receive the testament of Henry Ness and
pledge ourselves by all we hold sacred that we shall
not fail the martyr who was ready to give his life so
that we might live like men.
By the side of his early grave, we lower our battle-
banners and bow our heads in grief-stricken tribute
to the modest hero who goes to join those thousands
of martyrs who gave their lives for the working class
and its cause. As the tears roll down the cheeks of
men unaccustomed to weeping, they will place their
hands in his and take an oath:
To avenge Henry Ness—by holding the ranks of
the Union as firm as iron against every attack of its
enemies;
To avenge Henry Ness—by an unrelenting
struggle for the cause of labor in which he fell;
To avenge Henry Ness—by fighting to the bitter
end to gain those ends for which he was so ready
to give his whole life.
Farewell, Henry Ness, our brother-in-arms! Farewell, immortal warrior, brave comrade, man among
men!
Hail, shining, unforgettable memory of a hero!
We swear: We shall not fail you!
All Out to the Funeral!
All Minneapolis workers are called upon to attend
the funeral of Brother Henry B. Ness, member of
Local 574, killed by the police on Bloody Friday.
The call issued by the Strike Committee of 100 has
been endorsed by many labor organizations and
thousands of workers are expected to join in the
funeral procession.
Workers are asked to assemble at the Welander-
Quist Funeral Parlors at Chicago Ave. and 19th St.
at 3 p. m. There services will be held in which the
Veterans of Foreign Wars will participate. On the
completion of services, the workers will begin the
procession which will follow this route:
Down Chicago Ave. to Eighth St.
Left turn into Eighth St.
Along Eighth St. to Strike Headquarters.
Here the procession will halt. Albert Goldman,
member of the Union's legal staff, will deliver a
funeral oration. The procession will then resume,
taking the following route:
Along Eighth St. to Second Ave.
Left turn into Second Ave.
Along Second Ave. to Twelfth St.
Right turn into Twelfth St.
Along Twelfth St. to First Ave. N.
Here the procession will disband. All strikers, will
return immediately to Strike Headquarters for the
resumption of picketing.
Owing to the immense numbers expected, it will
be impractical for all to view the body tomorrow
afternoon. Friends are urged to go to Welander and
Quist Funeral Parlors tonight and tomorrow morning. Brother Ness's body will lie in state until the
procession sets out.
Bosses' Threats
Fail to Worry
574's Picketers
More Men Out Than Ever;
Town Still Tied Up
A massing of pickets and picket cars
at Strike Headquarters almost four times
as great as on any morning of the strike
thus far—that is the answer given by
the striking drivers, helpers and inside
men of Minneapolis today to the bosses'
letters threatening them with loss of jobs.
Well aware that to lose a job is no
worse than to keep one when it is a
slave's job, and that only a victory in
the strike will pave the way to decent
living conditions, the workers have consolidated their ranks in the face of the
bosses' latest threat as they did in the
face of Bloody Johannes' gunmen.
The answer of the ERA workers to
the call of the Strike Committee of 100
is very close to 100 per cent at the time
of going to press. By the end of the
day, it is expected, all ERA workers will
be out. City and Sanitary drivers have
given the same expression of solidarity;
they have walked out to a man, some
sweepers and sanitary drivers even anticipating the strike call by several hours.
The bosses, failing in their plan to
frighten the strikers back to work, are
frantic. They had hoped that enough
strikers would come back so that they
could try convoying on a large scale.
Up until the time of going to press,
however, they made only two or three
attempts. Of these, only one succeeded;
a 1 'A -ton truck was rolled up to Salis
and Salisbury. Otherwise the city is still
tied up tight as a bullseye in flytime.
The National Guard is said to be
stranded at the fair grounds due to the
refusal of drivers of the Twin Cities Bus
Co. to move soldiers.
The laundry workers and dry cleaners
—all inside men—are preparing to go
out tomorrow morning to fight for their
own demands and also in support of 574
and for the removal of Bainbridge and
Bloody Johannes.
Several unions are preparing to assess
their members a day's pay in support of
the strikers.
A number of picketers wounded by
Bloody Johannes' "men" returned to
picket duty today, their arms in slings
and bearing marks of wounds. As they
entered Headquarters they were loudly
cheered by the great crowd gathered
there.
Hundreds of workers, both strikers and
sympathizers, crowded the sidewalk in
front of headquarters to gaze respectfully at the placard over the door out
of which Henry Ness went forth to his
glorious death. On every man's lips were
the words: "Tell the boys not to fail me
now!"
In the face of red scares, threatening
letters, honeyed words, tricks and traps
and gunfire, the strikers' ranks remain
solid. THE FIGHT HAS JUST BEGUN!