-
OFFICIAL ORGAN
of the
Industrial Workers
o f? t he W o r l d
ONE UNION ONE LABEL ONE EM̂ VIY
VOL."XX!.- No 1 7 — ( W h c l e No. 2 0 * )
125 Freed in Minneapolis WPA Cose
C H I C A G O , ILL. , F E B R U A R Y 10, 1940 Five Cents a
Copy
Cleveland Boss Checkst Off AFL Dues; Slaves Get Ho Union Cjard
or Receipt
; MANUMCnii<S • They Invite ; ARE WELL PAID | \ i / U / .
;
TK.it the more skillful muni;- ' I \ A f l A f 1 * 0 facturcrs
of public opinion get a | • ; • substantia! reward for their
services j • f - / / f t ? : • / ? • ' ft " T " I I I I I is shown
by the «iit- of the persona* I '; I 4 ^ ^ / ^ ' ^ / } I H K P H n I
n
" earnings of the top-notchers in the 1 t | ? / • & * ^ I U
I \ C I I U I U
Unemployment Blamed For Rise of Crime
PROVIDENCE, It. I.—t'tie tuple snent was blamed by :Judge (J.
Fri ,-i ick Frost of the superior court ( the great! wave of crime
an.o
j I. U. 440 Ready ', i To Step in with j j
Real Union Actioa f By BILL PECZKO
CLEVELAND, O . - ( W N S ) — " M y name is Mr. Doe. My address
is so and , Cleveland, Ohio. I work at Mitchell Metal Products.
05th St., arid O d e r Ave." .
Further remarks by Mr..Doe are as follows.*-
•'Too goddamn cheap. It- is a sweat Shop—he,is taking money out
of our pay checks for a uniou (Tl. which does not give book or
stamps. I think
| we're setting made. Theti are many [ of* us fellows which will
jglad^r help to put your union ( I W W j y C . Plea-tc hurry, the
owner has a bmich or mcjn for his stoogi's as stewards." ' I
I And this is the picture of the con-ditions at the Mitchell
Mj-tal pro-: ducts company of Cleveland,X)hio, organized by tho'
Anerican Federa-
j tjtin of Labor a year ago last Novetn-
i I An unemployed member of • the IwW Becking employment at this
plant was to|d by the wbrkcrs in tlta ' victory in tK^ g'reat
economic ai.-r. of organised labor! •Everywhere Uie nrgaiiization
of l.U W i-,' spelling . the doom of |i.u wages, speedup and
insecurity.
"The militant organization of labor • :i a wide scale has
indirectly ^bene-rittell t(je \\
-
. !
INDUSTRIAL WORKER
ABOLITION OF THE W A G E S Y S T E M E D I T O R I A L ONE BIG
UNION OF ALL THE WORKERS
I l l f l l l ^ ^ i« tical philosophy, yesterday, today, and
forever. I « t I I f T h c . i ^ W ia not among those that get sore
at
F e b r u a r y ^ O , 1940
; "An Injury to One is an Injury to AH"
ONfc UNION—ONE LApEL—ONE ENEMY
OFFICIAL ORGAN
SUBSCRIPTION RATES United States, ^ne year , — Si* months Bundle
orders, U. S Canada'"and other Fort Bundles, adcfc Post »ge
mi "> ' • *?:-
• • • 'H.:
I
bltehul every week at.2422 N. Holflted St., Chicago, 111.
C A R L K E L L E R . E d i t o r » " d B u . i n M . M a n a i
e r
... LOVE^EAST
From its inceptionjthc IVVW has held that the interests, of the
employing class are always in conflict with the. Interests of the
working class. Other organizations called lal>or unions do not
.share this 'view. Kill CJreen, speaking for the AFL, of which he
is president, clearly described the stand-of his organization on
this question the oth\i' day at Miami.
* "v\V do not hate employers. We are not hostile - to4 them. We
Vint. to cooperate them. We
want better business'because that means better1
wages. ' Thus thjsjspokesman for the AFL ex-pressed the attitudo
of all those who seek to guide labor along the road of class
collaboration,
Let it be said here that we of the IWW are not particularly
concerned with promoting hatred of the employers though there is a
lot of that among workers, and unqtlestionfbly it is justified.
What we direct our hostility against is the employers system.
We hate the capitalist system atfd we see no way of cooperating
with, capitalists through which we can Improve our lot as workers.
Neith-er do we fall for the obvjous falsehood that better business
means better wages. Better business, at best, means more work but
not better wages. •
Green himself probably knows that improve-ment in wages and
working conditions are the result of struggle, on fhe part of
workers against employers, not with' them in a cooperative
en-deavor.But Green is pajnfully anxious to please the employers of
America. He has something to sell them and he is niost anxious to
convince them
the government because it fails to do something for» labor. The
IWW knows that labor has it with-in its power to set up Its own
machinery for re-moving the obstacles that stanjj in the way of
progress toward a more satisfactory life.
To date nobody has attempted; as far as know, to prove that
labor's share of the wealth produced varies according to the party
in power.
N0.7 PROBLEM It seems just aboufeveryone agrees that unem-
ployment Is still the No. 1 problem in America, [trk, however,
as we have before in
these columns, ihat th'ere is a way of abolishing unemployment
that doesn't appeal to us at all.
Iielieve in the Nazi way or the Russian
sure that we are able? to find a way to eryone at reasonable
hours and with an income, and at the same time guarantee
wider and deeper reaching democracy than man has ever enjoyed
beforei It will take a rank and file industrial union movement to'
usher in^
OFFICIAL J •-NOTICES
day. " A f t e r all, t h e r e is l i t t le o r no u n e m p l
o y m e n t
in most pen i t en t i a r i e s a n d work houses . T h a t ' s
t h e fascis t method of p u t t i n g people to work . T h e y
boast abou t it, too. j ' '
A m e r i c a n cap i t a l i s t s a lso p robab ly have s e m
e r CHICAGO such solut ion in mind bu t they' l l neve r pu t it
over i Regular Chicago general mcmber-if l abor shows good j u d g
e m e n t a n d o rgan izes | ship meeting is ^o be held
Friday,
BUFFALO Fellow Worker R. Schriber has
been elected secretary of the Buf-falo MTW branch to succeed
Fellow Worker Sheehan. Address commun-ications to p. O. Box
298.
MAIL TO SPOKANE There is mail at the Spokane hull
tpr the following fellow -workers: ; Osall, Paul Luoto, Paul
Hend-
rick, and Morris Lorensen. Address communications to P. O. Box
1636.— Ed. A. Sturdiv.nd, Br. Sec'y.
WANTED: EVERETT MASSACRE' yone having an extra copy of
Everett Massacre" (cloth-bound) and wishing to sell it, please
get in touch with the Seattle IWW branch, stating price, asked.
Write to Branch Secretary. B».x :1G5, Seattle, Wash.
PUUMANC0. MAKES BETTER BOX
M d » / February 16:' Friends of II Proletario will hold a grand
festi-val for the benefit of the Italian language organ of the IWW
at Irving Plaza hall. IYving Place and 15th St., New York City. The
MTW, IU 310-3.10. the Finnish | and Hungarian groups plan tc
operate. Admission* 4? ceni N e w Y o r k II P r o l e t a r i o G
r o u p
right from now pn.'
FARM WORKDAY The Department- of Agriculture reports hired
hands'in New England, Midale Atlantic, and Mid-western states
worked on an average of about 10 hours a day. A workday of n1t»re
than 10 hours was reported for hired farm workers ii Wisconsin and
Vermont, while in a few southern ahd,far western states the average
workday was loss than 9 hours a day. The survey was for the month
of''November when the sun rises late and sets early. The.
investigators ought to stick around fit cotton chopping time.
SCHOOLS The American public school system is on the
pjftn as never before in recent years; and this time its critics
are bigger businessmen, not work-er | who tired of having their
children filled with distorted history and a phony concept of
economic aptf social questions. Business is on an economy rampage
andyit dogsn't care much what it hits.
MANHATTAN 1U 510 Address all communication!
Manhattan IU 510 branch Ignatz who is the incoming secreti and
acting GOC j chairman pond:
t the IU 510
j /icial membership gives its regular for the j I monthly dance
and entertainment
njj begins
that he has a better proposition for those who hire | Strange
though thai it should pick on schools, for
; ; mm . §g fe fc
JV
labor than has his chief rival in the labor selling
business.
Occasionally one hears a response to this "peace and good will"
spitit of boss-friendly unionism from employers who have accepted
misled labor': olive branch. Hear one of these employers speak-ing
at a. luncheon gi\^n recently by the Ladies' Garment Workers union
at the Hotel P^rk Central in New York. '
"No matter how bad I've been.'f he said, "there's no
use.fighting any more. We can't. I'r glad to see ,vou enjoying a
-luncheon :the bosse cqn no longer afford."
To which a "labor" correspondent of a "labor' paper added as
dressing this remark set in bold face tvpc by a "labor"' editor:
"Of course hp was kidding about the bosses' financial condition.
Tht'v/are more prosperous now than they when\H»ey fought the
unions."
And so everybody, is happy. Everybody, that is,-exceptHh^e
workers who pay the dues and as-sessments to make such liltle .love
feasts wherq union leaders entertain employer representatives
'possible. Also not so happy are those workers who .have been
-crowded out of both ihe uniaji and ine industry because of speedup
and the general
- failure ofthis kind of unionist to function in the . interests
of the working class.
No IWW union entertains the fantastic notion that it can
dispossess the employers while .the great mass of workers remain
unorganized, while most of those organized belong to unions thaf
are dominated by employers or by reactionary -lead*
•. ers. and while the capitalist system still carries .on with
substantial vigor. On the other hand, jro IWW union will ever
accept the error that a worthy industrial peace can be proclaimed
by labor so long as this or any. other system of ex-ploitation
lasts. J •
REASON FOR HATE Alj economic and legal arguments aside, how
can those who lielieve in ail-inherent human good-ness of the
fmploying class account for the fact that theiyf are millions in
want of even proper food, sufficient clothing, and decent homes?
Most people dislike to see a dumb animal suffer. Our capitalists,
having ^he-meana to assuage the suf-fering of millions of their own
kind, refuse to be touched.
Yes, it's thtf system that's all wrong, but let us not waste too
much thought or sympathy on what will happen to the capitalists
when capital-ism finally gives way to the workers common-wealth.
Particularly irinte the worst that can hap-pen to them is that they
will have to go to work at some useful occupation which they are
able to handle.
MERRY-GO-ROUND "The politician? in office didn't deliver,
the
goods. Kick thenvout and get a new set. Appoint a new guardian
Tor labor, make the government a -sort of "commissioner for %the
po*r". but din't do anything about the-fundamental j)rtfblems that
lie at the rpot of our economic evifs. That's poli-
itfytiy have served The system well. I Many cities report a
shortening of the school year and the elimination of certain
"cultural" courses is common practice everywhere. Along with that
there is a reduction in teaching staffs and a cutting of salaries.
Sclfoolhouse building is far behind increased needs (brought about
by pop-ulation growth and th The capitalist class finds it possible
to keep
prices mj in the face of an over supply of goods but it wems
they can't do much about holding them down when there is a
threatened scarcity.
Where industry reaches j)ear-monopoly stages it is possible for
the owners of the good things of life to cut off production on
short .notice and to store away surpluses to such an extent that
even a first class.depression doesn't bring down tihe cost of
living as used to be the case in earlier Oises of economic upset.
When they think it necessary, the employers can even get
govern-ment help in destr9.ving foodstuffs in order to save the.
price structure.
On the other hand, experience in the present war shows that the
job of keeping prices down to Within reach of even an employed
worker is a hard job. Mn spite of all thy workers about workers.
The Industrial Worker, depends largely for its news service on
actual workers in industry, and on those looking for jobs. He. a re
firmly convinced the more we depend on such correspondents the
better
-
February 10, 1940 INDUSTRIAL WORKER
Industrial Mobilization Rlan: Twenty Year Conspiracy Against
Workers
fty fjtbar Anti-War /Council-1 • i I T h e e f f e c t o f o r g
a n i z a t i o n s o f
M a n y p e o p l e r e m e m b e r t h e p o w e r *
v e s t e d in P r e s i d e n t W i l s o n d u r i n g t h
e
, w a r . T*he-«e p o w e r a w e r e mi ld in c o m -
p a r i s o n With" t h e j w w e r s t h a t w i l l b e
v e n t e d In the' P r e s i d e n t if t h e Unite«f
S t a t e s g e t * i n t o w a r t o d a y — t h a t is
i f the w W a r D e p a r t m e n t h a s i t s w a y
a n d t h e A m e r i c a n p e o p l e needpt t h e
I N D U S T R I A L M O B H J Z A T I O N D A Y
P L A N S . I m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r t h e W o r l d W a
r .
t h e W a r " a n d N a v y D e p a r t m e n t s e t t
d e f r a u d t h e a m e i i c a n p e o p l e o f - t h e i r
^
ci \ /( l l i b e r t i e s In t h e e v e n t o f a n o t h e r
|
R e c e n t l y S e n a t o r P a t M c C a r r o n .«
D a y p l a n s a n d h a d it m a d e a P u b l i c ! t , ; r m
. , l f W I ? 0 S j s n r c | V t , l t t h a t c a m e j
D o c u m e n t . N o r m a l l y a l l P u b l i c D o c u - '
, n r e c e n t l y f l o r a N e w E n g l a n d . A : m e n t s c
a n b e s e c u r e d b y s i m p l y w r i t - I m t . m | u . r
„'f u N V w F . n g l a n d D e m 6 - j
i n g t o ( h e U n i t e d S t a t e * P r i n t i n g I>7-
, . I u l V S u i t , . , , - p o r t e d that p a r t m e n t a n
d p a y i n g t h e c o s t o f p r i n t - t | n . v h ; ( ( , b c
t . ^ t o u m k . r , U n d
I n t h y c a s e o f t h e " M " l > a j p l a n s , j t h a
t #aKC ^ . a U . „ a r t , a i 1 C a d y w o r k e d
i d e t a i l . E x a m p l e : . A papejr b o x
l i e * it c l e a r . A c t u a l l y t h e j B o a r d
wi l l t a k e o v e r t h e s e a c t i v t i e s
w h i c h h a v e , b e e n p e r f o r m e d b y
t h e t r a d e u n i o n * . T h e u n i o n
p o w e r t o r e p r e s e n t w o r k e r i in
b a r g a h i y i g w i t h e m p l o y e r * . T h e i r
o u t ' t h e o r d e r s o f t h e m i l i t a r y
o f w h a t t h e p l a n s - t i
p o l i t i c i a n s j u s t
' s u b j e c t c l a s s .
thfnsrs o f l i f e ,
f h t " t o d e r i d e j
- w e a p o n is t o j
" B r o t h e r J o h n , '
, C i v i c C e n t e r , c a u s e d a n e a r - r i o t w h e
n h e
j 1 , 0 0 0 q u a r t e r s t o h u n g r y m e n a n d w o m e
n ,
j i s s o u n u s u a l a p a s t i m e t h e s e d a y s t h a
t t h e
t f o r q u e s t i o n i n g .
'You Can't Stnke;
i t s e l f b e t h e p a w n o f s o l o n g wi l l l a b o r b
e
T h e s t r i k e is labor's
a n d n a t u r a l w e a p o n - i foi» m o r e o f t h e
goo'd
w h o , t h e n h a s t h e
w h e n a m i w h e r e t h a i b e i u s e d ? T h e cap: ta l
i : t o f i g u r e o u t t h e
o f e x p l o i t a t i o n . * A nd
i snj t n s k i n ^ _ f i > r a n y t h i n g t h a t be
-
l o n g s t o s o m e o n e e l s e ; in s t r i k i n g
l a b o r is j u s t d e m a n d i n g a l i t t l e m o r e j o
f w h a t it r i g h t f u l l y ! i . w n s . - — X 1 8 8 -i 6 7 1
.
UPHOLDS UNION b a r e f o o t e d h a b i t u e o f t h e L o s
A n g e l e s "J"Q P I C K E T
s t a r t e d d i s t r i b u t i n g j
government—the government,,
' S i g n i f i c a n t a n d t r a g i c w a s
w a y t t h e W P A - s t r i k e r * j l e t t h e
o n o f f i c i a l s g u i d e t h e p r o t e c t m o v e
-
m e n t l a s t s u n y n e r . W i t h t h e i joss i -b l e "
e x c e p t i o n df M i n n e a p o l i s w h v r e
t h e w o r k e r s f o u g h t n i i l i tant ly ,* t h e
WPA-work s h o w e d l i t t l e Ini t ia-
t i v e . T h e y a i ^ p l a u d e d j w i l d l y tvnen
W o r k e r s A l l i a h v e s t o b g o s , s h o u t e d t h
a t P r e s i d e n t R o o s e y ^ l t i s b e h i n d
t h e m o n e h u n d r e d p e r c e n t a n d , a l -t h o u g
h t e m p o r a r i l y s t u n n e d a c c e p t e d w i t h o u t
a m u r m u r q s p r o t e s t t h e
Oil Cofripany Greases Pa m It's Old American Custom
But City Officials Now Fear They \ • "Tore Their Pants" When
They Foiled To Cover Up Deals With Employers
M o s t P o t e n t W e a p o n
i l o n g u s labpi
F e e d i n g t h e h u n g r y | C A N N E D M U S I C
p o l i c e p u l l e d h i m " "
T U L S A , O k l a . — I n v e s t i g a t o r s . o f
" u n - A m e r i c a n " " " a c , l i v t l e s w o u l d f i
n d
a : i^h f i e l d * f o r t h e i r d i g g i n g s In O k l u h
o u u i .
W h%n* ' the , v i c e - p r e s i d e n t o f ' a
$ 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 c o r p o r a t i o n s ( M i d - C o n
-
t i n e n t P e t r o l e u m ' C o r p . ) c a n c o r r u p
t
a n d t a p e t h e v i r t u e s o f a w h o l e s t a t e b y
h a n d i n g o u t l u m p s u m s o f $ 3 0 , -
0 0 0 t o p o l i t i c a l p a n t s j t e s a n d j a c k a l
s
in a n n u d e a v o r t o d e n y a g r o u p o f
m e n t h e i r rifijhts, t h e n s u r l y d e m o c r a -
c y is p r e t t y . . w e l l a l o n g t h e r o a d t o w -a
r d d i c t a t o r s h i p ,
A f i n e e x a m p l e o f t h e o ld t r a d i -
t i o n a l A m e r i c a n w a y o f h a n d l i n g s t r i k
e s i* f u r n i s h e d by t h e c i t y o f f i -
c i a l * o f T u l s a w o r k i n g in p e r f e c t
h a r m o n y w i t h a n d u n d e r p a y o f t h e
s t i u c k co»»r>any. S u y s t h e T u l s a o i l '
a t r u c e r s ' b u l l e t i n o f J a n u a r y 2 2 :
" A c c o r d i n g t o t e s t i m o n y g i v e n t o
N I . R B in T u l s a by f o r m e r p o l i c e c o m -
m i s s i o n e r . F l o y d R h e a m s j Mr. J.- C .
D e n t o n h a d b e e n v e r y k i n d
d u r i n g t h e p a s t t h r e e w e e k s h a s f a l -
len* t h r o u g h , t h e s t r i k e r s r e p o r t , he*
.
caus«> b i g b u s i n e s s , arfjl m a n u f a c t u r e r
s
o f tJfc e n t i r e s o u t h w e s t a r e teicUiHtr
t h e c o m p a n y a n d t h e }
m i n e d n o t ' t o a l l o w t o IjVfc. .
IT'S A GREAT SYSTEM -By JOHN u'lXF.
rSTEM I CF. - J
P U R E L O G I C
W r le N e i v R e p u b l i c , S i tu -
ar t C h a s e u s e s , t h e m e t h o d s o f t h e i
D i e s C o m m i t t e e - t o p r o v e t h a t I):»ttfnius, J
r . o f the^
U n i t e d S t a t e s S t e e l C o r p . , is a t r a i n
-
i n g s c h o o l f o r v i e W . R. A .
F e d e r a l L a b o r B o x
" W a r T r a d e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , w h i c h
wi l l c o n t r o l a l l e x p o r t s a n d i m p o r t s
,
" a n d d o e v e r y t h i n g ; n e c e s s a r y t o
" f u r t h e r t h e e c o n o m i c i s o l a t i o n o f
t h e ' e n e m y . "
~ " W a r L a b o r A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , w h i c h
wi l l c o n t r o l l a b o r r e l a t i o n a n d . t a k
e
m e a s u r e s t o p r o v i d e t h e e s a e n t i u l w a
r
I n d u s t r i e s w i l h a d e q u a t e a n d p e a c e
-
f u l , l a b o r s u p p l i e s .
" P u b l i c R e l a t i o n s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n
,
( i n o t h e r w o r d s - c e n s o r s h i p ) w i l l " e o
-
o r d i n a l a n d d i r e c t t h e n a t i o n a l p u b
-
l i c i t y o c t i v t i e s s o a s t o i n s u r e t h a
t
t h e p u r p o s e s , v i e w s a n d p r o g r e s s o f
t h e g o y e r ' p m e n t in p r o s e c u t i o n o f t h
e
w a r u r e pri>pcrly a n d a d e q u a t e l y p r e -
s t f h t e d t o t h e p e o p j e . "
" S e l e c t i v e S e r v i c e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n
,
wi l ) d i r e c t c o n s c r i p t i o n o f m a n . p o w e
r
f o r t h e a r m y f o r c e r f .
" P r i c e ' C o n t r o l /Coinmisunon. w i l l 1H? a
qua,-
-
T cbruary 1 Q, 1 9 4 0 I N D U S T R I A L W O R K E R
" W e ' r e t h e p e o p l e t h a t l ive . Can't n o b o d y
w i p e us o u t , " say* M a J o a d a s t h e J o a d f a m i l y
t r u d g e s its w e a r y w a y o n w a r d in s e a r c h of f o
o d a n d a h o m e a t t h e c lo se of w h a t c r i t i c s ca l
l t h e g r e a t e s t f i l m e v e r m a d e in H o l l y w o o
d .
CLEVELAND BOSS COLLECTS DUES fORAFU MEN WANT IWW
RENO HUGHES DIES AS/RESULT OF j4f6CIDENT thje Industrial
Worker
'the.columns of r will carry the
BALTIMORE — Fepow Worker Reno Hu$rh