The Organizer (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 1934-08-17

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UNITED
LABOR
ACTION
DAILY STRIKE BULLET!
\#r&**'
SMASH THE
CITIZENS
ALLIANCE
TWO TWENTY-FIVE
SOUTH THIRD STREET
VOLUME 1
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 1934
NUMBER 33
The 'Elections' are a Fake!
Bosses1 Scheme to Outlaw Unionism by Scab Votes and Padded Lists
Secret Circular of Employers Advisory Committee Reveals Vile Plot
*-
The fake "election" scheme of the Citizens
Alliance was clearly exposed today as a move
to outlaw trade unionism py padding payroll
lists with scabs and imported strike-breakers,
lining them up at the places of employment under coercion, "explaining" what it required of
them and how to vote, and then conveying them
to the polling place in company vehicles in a
style reminiscent of the worst days of corrupt
politics in 'America. The endorsement of the
U. S. Government, through its NRA boards, is
sought for this strike-breaking scheme.
The details of the conspiracy came to light
in reports made to the union of "straw votes"
and coercive electioneering being carried on in
several of the affected plants, and in the discovery of a secret circular of the Employers'
Advisory Committee giving detailed instructions to the individual firms as to how to prepare and put over the frame-up.
A copy of this secret circular was put into
the hands of Union officials by a member of one
of the affiliated firms which has been prevented from dealing with the union by the dictation and threats of the Citizens Alliance. The
circular is dated August 15, 1934, and consists
of eleven separate points. Despite the cautious
formulations, the intent of the instructions
stands out clearly, and the coercive supervision
of the Employers Advisory Committee over the
individual firms in the preparation of the fake
election is no less manifest than the instructions
to line up the scabs and imported strike-breakers and vote them as a block.
Point 1 of the circular instructs the individual
firms to prepare a list of employes in duplicate and "deliver to Committee at the earliest
possible moment." Point 2 provides for "identification cards" to be furnished to each employer to be distributed to employes "just before election." These "identification cards" are
to be checked by election officials against the
payroll list. Nothing is said about any provision
to check against "ringers" and imported strikebreakers "pinch-hitting" for bona fide employes
as of July 16. Nor is there any provision for
the union to check the payroll list as such.
Point 3 says: Sample ballots will be furnish
ed and full instructions to each employer concerning these ballots."
Having disposed of these preliminary details,
the secret circular of the Employers Advisory
Committee gets down to the real business and
instructs the individual firms haw to get hold
of the employes and rig the election. Just to
show that the bosses take a real interest in the
welfare of the workers and don't want them to
make any mistakes, the employes are not to be
left to their own resources. The boss is instructed to help them out and tell them what to do.
Point 4 says: "Each employer should immediately call all of his eligible employes together"
and have them elect a list of candidates to run
against the union. Then: "The names of those
selected by the employes must be sent to this
Committee at once, in duplicate." The Employers Advisory Committee, you see, hasn't the
slightest intention of interfering with the secrecy of the election or coercing anybody. They
merely want to know the names of all the company union dummy "candidates" in advance.
Points 5 and 6 of the secret circular give detailed instructions as to the number of "candidates" to be selected according to the size of
the firm—they apparently know in advance
what the rules of the fake election are to be.
Then the circular talks of the highly important
matter of "explaining" to the employes what
the election is all about—they wouldn't understand it otherwise—and instructs the employer
how to handle this delicate problem.
Section 7 says: "Each employer should explain in detail the sample ballot so each employe will understand that in voting he should
mark ballot in place provided, and not elsewhere, or otherwise vote will not be counted."
They only neglected to add: God help the poor
devil whose pencil slips and makes a mark in
the place not "provided" by the employer.
From this point on the secret circular gets
better and better, until the fake election they
are engineering begins to look like a "free referendum" in Hitler's Germany. The individual
employers are not merely told to "explain" to
the slaves how they shall vote, they are also
instructed to see to it that they do not stay away
from the polls and go fishing.
Section 7 lays down this instruction as follows : "A definite responsibility rests upon each
employer to see that every one of his LOYAL
employes goes to the polls and votes. A majority rule will probably govern the election.
Failure to vote may be detrimental to the interests of the employes and the employer."
Such laxity would certainly be "detrimental"
to somebody. And to make sure this calamity
does not occur in a single case, the Employers
Advisory Committee tells how to prevent it in
Point 7 of the secret circular, as follows:
"WHEREVER POSSIBLE, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT EMPLOYER PROVIDE
TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM THE
POLLS."
That just about takes care of everything necessary to insure that the great fake election to
declare the strike non-existent, and establish
company unionism with the blessing of the
NRA boards and the Federal mediators, will go
off smoothly. But in the event that some dumb
employer doesn't understand it yet, or if by any
chance the strikers should want to know where
they get off in this private affair of the bosses,
the Employers Advisory Committee, always
ready to oblige, tells how to get ^nore dope.
Point 11 of the secret circular is tacked on
for the special benefit of those still groping in
darkness. Point 11 refers you to the source of
all knowledge and light about the fake election.
It says: "If any further information is necessary, call: Bridgeport 1646, 1722, 1723, Atlantic 8185, or Hotel Radisson, Rooms 305 to 315."
(The latter is the office of the Citizens Alliance.)
*      *      *
There's your election, friends, Romans and
countrymen and free-born American citizens.
Isn't that just about the rawest stunt that has
ever been attempted in an industrial struggle
in these United States?
As a matter of fact, this is the very first time
in the history of the American labor movement
that any kind of an election has been undertaken, with the participation of scabs and strike
breakers, during a strike.
Local 574 says: You're not going to get away
with this kind of stuff in Minneapolis!
Check Given
at Convention
Moving Ceremony as
Strike Gets $1,000 Gift
The $1,000 donation from the
International Convention of the
Hotel and Restaurant Employes
and Beverage Dispensers International Alliance was formally presented yesterday afternoon at
Eagle's hall, Fourth avenue and
Eighth street. Officers of the convention and of the Strike Committee of 100 participated in a
moving ceremony while the convention paused in its business to
receive a delegation of 250 strikers.
The strikers marched in military formation from Strike Headquarters to Convention hall. On
their entrance, the delegates rose
and cheered.   Sister S. Loewe of
Chicago who played a big role in
interesting the convention in the
needs of the striking drivers, was
then introduced. With a few brief
remarks she described the nature
of the strike struggle and the
needs of the drivers in this long-
drawn-out test of strength.
When she concluded many of
the delegates eyes' were wet with
tears, not tears of pity but almost
of joy as a feeling of solidarity
swept through everyone in the
hall, delegates and strikers both.
The check was then presented
and several members of the Strike
Committee spoke. Thereafter the
strikers marched out, again to the
accompaniment of cheers and applause from the  convention.
Last night the open house was
devoted largely to hearing speakers from the convention. Among
those who addressed the usual
large audience were J. Seward
Kerlen, President, Local 44, Chicago; President Kasman of Local
2, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Max Lehman,
Business Agent, Local 325, Brooklyn,  N.   Y.;   Carl  T.   Frederick,
First International Vice President,
of Portland, Ore.; M. Adelman,
Business Agent, Local 88, Chicago.
The Cooks and Waiters convention adjourns today and many
delegates will immediately depart
for their home towns. A number, however, will remain for a
day longer and are expected at
the Hard-Times Dance tonight.
574 Members Will Meet
The Strike Committee of 100
ysterday voted to call a closed
membership meeting of Local
574. The purpose of the meeting will be to hear reports from
the Strike Committee and the
Organizing; Committee on the
present strike situation. The
meeting was at first planned
for tonight, but it proved to be
impossible to get a hall large
enough so that it has been postponed until Monday. The exact
place and hour will be announced in tomorrow's Organizer.
Circle Rally Enthusiastic
About 400 workers gathered at
the Labor Lyceum last night to
hear addresses by leaders of Local
574. The meeting was arranged
under the auspices of the District
Committee of the Workmen's Circle, an organization of Jewish
workers which has actively supported Local 574 both in the pres
ent strike and the May strike.
Among the speakers of the evening were President Bill Brown of
Local 574, Miles Dunne and Carl
Skoglund of the Organizing Committee, and Albert Goldman,
noted labor attorney who has
served as one of the union's legal
staff since the beginning of the
strike. After the union speakers
finished, Si Barach, a member of
the Minneapolis Central Council
of Workers, who was wounded on
Bloody Friday,; addressed the audience on the question of organizing unemployed workers.
All the speakers were enthusiastically received. The chairman
stated that the Circle would stand
by until the strikers win.
Dance Will
Start at Eight
While the Minneapolis Central
Council of Workers holds a rally
in Strike Headquarters at 215
South 8th street, strikers and
friends will gather at a Hard
Times Dance at Union Headquarters, 225 South Third street tonight. The dance will begin at
8 p. m.
The committee in charge has announced that admission will be 25
cents or up, payable either in cash
or in merchandise useful to the
Strike Commisary. Food, cigarettes, tobacco, razor blades and
the like will be accepted 'for admission.
Sorenson's six-piece amateur
Local 574 orchestra will provide
the music. This group has been
very well received at the Saturday
night gatherings in Strike Headquarters.
TONIGHT
Hard Times Dance, 225 S. 3rd St. 8 ©'Clock.
Admission, 25 cents or more in merchandise.
For the benefit of the Strike Commissary Fund