The Organizer (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 1934-10-10

              UNITED
f LABOR
*" ACTION
^°W^
SMASH THE
CITIZENS
ALLIANCE
TWO TWENTY-FIVE
SOUTH THIRD STREET
VOLUME 1, NO. 47
MINNEAPOLIS,, MINNESOTA, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 10, 1934
PRICE TWO CENTS
Arbitration Boosts Wages
A, F. L. Asks
30 Hr. Week
Unions Must Fight to
Win This Demand
The American Federation of
Labor in convention at San Francisco Monday pledged all of its
power to establish the five day
30 hour week in American industry. Without a dissenting vote
and with great cheers and enthusiasm the convention endorsed the
•resolution which places the entire
organization on record for the accomplishment of that task. The
resolution calls for a five day 30
hour week with no pay reductions.
It calls for legislation which will
establish this desirable condition
of labor.
The trade unions of America
, can gain this demand in only one
way and that is by adopting a
policy which militantly presses the
employers on every front. The
unions must be consolidated and
built into mass organizations including all the workers employed
in a given industry. To petition
or lobby for legislation without
the backing of powerfully organized unions ready for action
means to fritter away valuable
time chasing a will-o-the-wisp.
The cause is a worthy one and
well may the workers in all unions
redouble their efforts, strengthening the movement for the five day
30 hour week.
Labor Unions Move
To Be Rid of Parasite
Progressive   Cleaners   Have
No Right in Business
*>
Many chiselers have been uncovered through the activities of
organized labor in seeking to improve working conditions, but it
remained for the Progressive
Launderers and Cleaners, located
at 228 East Hennepin, to provide
the acme in chiseling, cheating,
and downright sweating of blood
out of the workers. The owner
of this swindle-shop has discovered
and put into practice every known
tactic in the art of cheating grossly and deliberately under pretense
of fair dealing.
In the first place it is impossible
to determine legally who is the
owner. The business has been
signed back and forth among the
members of the family so many
times to avoid payment of lawsuits and judgments that it is impossible to find a legal owner. The
boss refuses to pay even the NRA
minimum wage of 14 cents per
hour and has resisted'all attempts
of the NRA to force compliance.
He holds back the workers' pay
(such as it is) as much as three
and four weeks and fires them if
they have the temerity to ask for
it. The Progressive (what a sacrilege to progress) employs no
union help. If a worker joins the
union he is fired at once and without ceremony.
The delivery trucks are operated under several different names
as a precaution against lawsuits
and public indignation. The principal names used besides the Progressive are Economy, Snow
White, and North Side" Cleaners.
All unions are directing their
attention toward a finish fight
against this sweat shop. All purchasers of laundry and dry cleaning service are urgently requested
(Continued on page 2)
Toward a Bigger and Better Union
The bosses, who never tire of propagandizing the workers to prevent their
uniting, are still seizing every available opportunity to sow dissension in the ranks of
the union. They watch with hawklike vigilance for signs of discontent among the
workers and raise a great hue and cry on
the slightest pretext. They even go so far
as to manufacture grievances which they
spread among the men through the medium of their stoolpigeons. These tactics
must be defeated. Every thinking worker
will see through them and speak out
against them.
Several months ago, the bosses went to
Washington by the trainload and wrote up
a batch of codes. Among other things,
these codes pretended to establish a fair
wage for the workers, but the workers had
nothing to say about what it should be
Unorganized, the workers found themselves subject to every whim and fancy of
the boss. They received varying rates of
pay, all of them low, and most of them
very,"very low. The boss had all the privilege and the workers had insecurity. They
were judged by the infamous merit system.
To furnish evidence of these deplorable
job conditions, it is only necessary to point
to the hundreds of workers who joined the
union when Local 574 opened its organization campaign. The workers in the different companies and in the different industries were surprised to learn that they were
all enjoying the same miseries. They began
to realize how much they had in common.
After a complete examination of existing
conditions, they drew up demands for better wages, better working conditions, and
job security. -The workers wanted a more
healthful life for themselves and their families. They wanted better food and adequate clothing. They wanted to correct
those conditions which made their jobs unnecessarily unpleasant. They demanded
that the "best" minds, who rule over their
destinies, guarantee them some security.
These demands were presented to the
bosses—the same bosses who now pretend
to be so solicitous over the welfare of the
workers—and the bosses turned them
down completely, turned them down without even a hearing. The workers called
the bosses' bluff With the only effective
weapon they possess—the strike.  After a
bitter struggle, the bosses signed an agreement only to begin violating it before the
ink was dry on their signatures. A second
and even more bitter struggle was fought
before the bosses came to the realization
that they were dealing with a determined
force and that they must make an agreement and live up to it. The outcome of the
struggle brought only a partial achieve-
ment'of the original objective^ but this dnes
not mean that the entire objective is impossible of attainment. It proves conclusively to the workers that the bosses will
yield only after a vicious struggle but they
can be made to yield. A partial victory
today heralds a more complete victory tomorrow.
The workers have won a more adequate
guarantee of security through the provisions for seniority rights and the protection
against discrimination. The minimum wage
scale has been increased to a point which
provides an actual leveling of the rate of
pay in all the industries involved with the
minimum wage much higher than the NRA
code minimum in all cases. A guarantee
has been written in to prevent any attempt
to make the minimum wage serve as the
maximum wage also as the bosses do under
the NRA. Those workers who have been
fortunate enough to receive more than the
newly specified minimums are protected
from pay cuts. There are very few who
fall in this class but it is important that
those who do are fully nrotected.
What the union has "actually done is to
make it possible for the wtorkers to write
their own code to replace the ridiculous
labor provisions in the NRA codes. Every
member of the union has gained—some
more than others—but all have gained.
The circumstances of the large majority
of the members have been improved greatly. A closer bond has been welded between
the men who produce for the profit of
those who exploit them. As this bond
grows closer, the degree of exploitation
will lessen.
The immediate task of the union is to
consolidate its positions, gain new strength,
and prepare for the next step. Stay in the
union. Bring in those who remain outside.
Do your part in helping . to enforce the
agreement.
BUILD A BIGGER AND , BETTER
UNION! !
Transfer Men
Get More Pay
New Wage Rate Retroactive to Sept, 15
The arbitration committee will
meet the market employers Friday, October 12, to arrange the
wage schedule for the market
workers. The steering committee
elected from the market section
of the union meets with the arbitration committee Tuesday to discuss   the  demands.
. The completion of arbitration
with the employers in the transfer
industry has brought an agreement from all companies involved
to increase the minimum rates of
pay.
The drivers are to receive not
less than 52% cents per hour
from Sept. 15, 1934, to May 31,
1935, and not less than 55 cents
per houi from June 1, 1935, to
May 31, 1936.
Helpers, platform workers, and
inside workers are to receive not
less than 42% cents per hour
from Sept. 15, 1934, to May 31,
1935, and not less than 45 cents
per hour from June 1, 1935, to
May 33, J 936.
All members of Local 574 work-
(Continued on page 3)
Tool and Die Makers
Strike for Overtime
Auto    Mechanics    Continue
Strike   Preparation
Tool and die makers at the Continental Machine and Tool Co.,
located at 13th and Washington
South, are on strike for the reinstatement of a worker who was
discharged for refusing to work
overtime without receiving the
time and one-half pay differential
provided by the code. The strikers, members of the Machinists
Union, are led by Herman Huss-
man.
These militant workers are to
be commended for their courage
and determination in refusing to
submit to the unfair practices of
the boss. They are deserving of
solid support from all union workers. . .
Meantime, the auto mechanics,
who are also members of the Machinists Union, continue their efforts to negotiate an agreement
with the garage owners. The executive committee has held one
meeting with a group of owners
and there appears to be some hope
of peaceful settlement. Like, all
other employer groups, the garage
bosses have practically no organization due to the wanton campaign of cut-throat competition
which has been carried on constantly in an effort to garner profits in a sluggish market. Once
again we find the workers taking
the initiative in restoring some
semblance of order in a chaotic
industrial setup.
The auto mechanics are making
a sincere attempt to arrive at
some workable agreement with the
employers, but just to be protected in the event that negotiations
break down, the preparations for
a strike go forward with great
efficiency.
An arrangement has been worked out to provide 30 to 40 special
service garages, manned by union
workers, and operating without
profit, to serve the public of the
twin cities in the event that a
strike becomes necessary.
Make Minneapolis a Union Town