Industrial Home Work Becomes Growing Peril
Industrial Home Work Becomes Growing Peril Sweatshop Conditions Set Up in Cities and Rural Communities as Result of Exploitation Policy—Absolut* Ban Called Neceaaary. MANY thousands of workmj ™...
...Samuel Cohen was convention secretary...
...The speakers were William M Feigenbaura, B. C. Vladeck and Charles Solomon, all of whom received the closest attention in then* exposition of the situation before toe party...
...The ¦ituation is further complicated by ,he manufacturers' policy of shifting the responsibility upon eoa> rectors who are hired to give oat he homework...
...They have the real revolutionary spirit...
...Hoffman's tetter goes on to provide even later evidence Of toe Communist views of toe gentlemen supported by the Thomasitee...
...The investigators' preliminary report is but one mere example of the seriousness of dust as an industrial hazard...
...16, at 6:30 p. m.— Supper at the Labor Education Center by the West Philadelphia-Branch...
...8, at 2 p. m., to discuss various problems confronting Socialists in the unions and formulating a plan of action...
...Herman J. HahnHlaat year expelled toe advocacy of armed insurrection, let the eat out of toe beg at a Forum meeting of toe League for Industrial Democracy, held Tuesday, Jan...
...Many of toe industries-already have taken steps toward combating lust on modern scientific lines...
...40 cento to $1.50 for crocheting s dozen berets—are so low that in order to make even the most meager amount the homeworker must work very long hours, often far into the night...
...However, he found tost in toe grinding •industry, wet methods were found teas efficient than dry exhaust methods...
...Alfred Baker Lewis, New England district secretary, spoke...
...Mrs: Leah Neutra, secretary, a»d Dr...
...tte National ?jdscut»ve Cora-¦MJjBB* Jtoftftoaji received a rehwSrr/ttop>i*^ars afSf his paid-ii...
...The convention indorsed the action of toe Eastern States Conference, which condemned the national executive committee for suspending toe charter of toe New York State organization...
...A committee of the Executives Council of the A. F. of L. is now at work on a draft for an amendment, to be presented to the Council at its meeting in May...
...The civil courts have thrown scores of these eases out because some states' rules will not permit the filing of claims more than one year after the workers has left the company's employ...
...Every branch has been asked to canvass ail its trade union members and urge them to attend...
...This is true in spite of the nay recognise toe importance at >aying fair wages to his worker...
...Regular iaopeettB 1 f the homes where industrial op-rations are carried on, which is ssential to law enforcement, la mpossible...
...I Ml llWeeetoVtoe leeTaS iinc mines of Missouri and in the ieep mines of Utah and Nevada., in 1914 Dr...
...Urn ¦ onfusion must be eliminated and •ach community made aware'*, he extent and daagera ef the jfe lustrial homework which hi caxzflf a within Its confines...
...in a survey of what is happening and which is publishec* m t&e Labor Information Bulletin of the Bureatt...
...PROVIDENCE, R„ I.—At the * state convention of the Socialist Party of Rhode Island last Sunday Robert S. Warner and Bernard Seltzer were removed as state organizers because instead of organizing the party they devoted their time to organizing "militant" groups...
...MANY thousands of workmj ™ women are laboringfor jpi dustries in their homes and thes-homes are being transformed in to sweatshops whose standard excercise a demmward pressure on wages...
...Frequently, she must secure the help of children and other members of the family...
...James My erg, fades trial Secretary of the Federal Council of Churches, had deJlOltJXCed xxirticvpcLtion Ttl CLtiy uTtitod front with tKc Commuyiiit Party, Balm rose axel said: 'I dis-iffree with the ejmoaer...
...Eric Stone and Chairman Rottenberg...
...If it were possible for industry to follow their gree, silicosis, absestosis, or any of toe other dust diseases would probably bb sharply curtailed...
...With Julia Primoff in the chair Wednesday night toe meeting got off in a fine spirit of enthusiasm lor the party organization, and gfter the three speakers had considered there was no doubt in the minds even of the few seces sionists present that Bensonhurst is solid for the party they have sought to wreck...
...Step by step they nave examined toe dusty trades...
...It was wholly a working class audience drawn almost exclusively from the immediate neighborhood...
...In dustrial homework exists, write* Miss Nienburg, on the one hand, because in many thousands of homes throughout the nation women are desperately anxious to ears money to increase family income...
...Thousands Doomed to Die Annually of Silicosis Murderous Rock-Oust Disease, Retult of Greed, Could Be Eliminated by Safety Devices, Government Experts Show...
...The rates paid—10 tc 30 cents for stringing 1,000 tags...
...G. Kutikoff, chairman of the Political Organization Committee, and B. Beitchman, chairman of the Youth Committee...
...Experience under to) 5tate laws, however, bee stonK^ hat regulatory legadattoa is iaW...
...Labor is warned against this new menace which has emerged (tern the industrial depression...
...Under the NBA toe ooi«f \p proved for 63 industries faasu nded for the abolition of heatov' vork either immediately or after v short period allowed for adjustment...
...A study ef * 'he needle-trade* homeworkers im Vexa* showed that homework wot teing done far firms with headquarters in New York...
...The public mast be much better nformed than it is today, how-¦ver, before such recommendations -an be actually put into effect Great confusion exists in the public nind as to the difference between v-omen who simply use their lei-ure time to mske articles for 'amily nae or for personal saleJW"' he industrial homeworkers...
...When part of the workers to any industry cur be forced to work inhumanly long hours for low wages, they drai down the wages of other Worker...
...X-rays proved it...
...Sayers, "wet methods have been used to prevent toe dust from getting into the air to be breathed, as wet drilling, wetting toe working face and the rock ore before shoveling...
...which have been rendered inadequate by low wages or unemployment...
...On the other hand, there are manufacturers in many industries who seek to stimulate homework in order to eliminate eosti of factory rent and equipment power, heat, and light...
...And for years Uncle Sam's sanitary engineers have struggled iHSJOPw" ~iWpi(l ef eliminating this hazard from^e indastries...
...81, in Buffalo...
...Hard areas formed...
...Homes, ir too many cases already overcrowded, become even more con gested by the use of bedrooms oi living rooms as work places...
...and 20th Ave...
...The dune carried into toe lungs blended together...
...David Braginsky, chairman of the Labor Committee...
...Savoy Mansion at 64th St...
...Over them all hung toe visible mark of death...
...was jammed to the doors, with every available inch of standing room occupied and many turned away for lack of room...
...As long as some unscrupulous manufacturers •an exploit their labor, other maeJH ifaeturers are practically forced o lower wages and to lengthel •ours...
...n order that they, in turn, mag my toe goods that toadstm todni ry can produce...
...An aroused public opinion is tor ential, not only to toe liitsiesjs * the workers, hot to toe ntoto sts of the consuming public itself, lomework laws in the past have >een enacted mainly for the pur->ose of safeguarding the consumer, "hey have aimed at maintaining letnHiwaa, gji^iisli lighting and '•ntSatjtoa, and fxeseeea from to* ectlsepjjtod i iiiilajtoai diseases la tomes where work is being carried -n...
...They take advantage of the low-paid homeworkers whose need ii great and whose bargaining powei is weakened by lack of organisation and of emmunication witl each other...
...Few of the states' workmen's compensation laws take notice of silicosis and other dust diseases...
...Wham s contractor complained' ef the low •ates being paid, he ease told by 'he manufacturer that he "mutt compete with t he cheap Puerto Rico labor or lot* toe contract.'' Moreover, enforcement hi one community drives unairupatoua employers to other localities...
...The working space of toe lungs became sntafler as toe disease took on greater hold...
...The action of the convention on this issue added impetus to the growing movement for a constitutional amendment as is expected to influence profoundly the attitude of the American Federation of Labor on this question...
...Local Philadelphia Branch Activities Saturday, Feb...
...In c one-room shack in Texas the mothei in a family of 1, who is ill, ofter sews in bed, working on infants garments, while the daughter* si> on wooden boxes and benchef smocking dresses which are workec over the cushioned backs of tht only four chairs of the household In a Kentucky home, a mother anc daughter who work on chiffon velvet bed coverings give up the one bedroom of the house to this quilt ing' so that the delicate material...
...Similar instruction and power were given the committee with regard to the proposed Constitutions...
...Claims instituted by workers claiming damages because of silicosis and o th e r duet diseases nave shown a striking increase to recent years...
...Even when Jnapectora isit these homes they cannot peat ively determine whst.jhoun^ are >eing employed, or amsSsr con-agious disease is present...
...nutrial homework lave amg ben yyognised^^^san^^totos^^to^ wMihigen, Miseoerv Mew JRMptoe \'ew York, Ohio, Oregon...
...J. J. BlLmfield a^d*J*M...
...Tickets for both affairs available at Party Office, 415 South 19th St...
...Sayers points est...
...In that same year an examination made in NeW ?e*k CkydfM* men exposed to reek dost to subway or tunnel construction showed silicosis to be present to 118, or ^Congressional committee will also seek to toeeatigate silicosis deaths in toe eto* fields...
...1, at 8:30 p. m. —Informal party by the Strawberry Mansion Branch at 1719 N. 33rd St...
...A major factor n making enforcement diMoak is he shipment of homework from >ne State to snothee...
...The prevalence of antoraee sJnccsis (miners' asthma) foundKto be 23 per cent...
...f. J. liaise* ef tof1 Haaia Bmmtem found that 433 safest* at mJpaqetosdjhr jg Be*ab» found that 432 of L018 rraminod in Butte, Men ton «j were » affected...
...Needed Legislation The only reel solution to tof iroblem of homework is to esae ' >letely prohibit all homework i| •very-State...
...of group...
...Hahn, Raitt, Brickner and Clark...
...In toe jjjbaneawi period, after the speaker, the Bee...
...Many skilled crafts-vomen have expressed an interest n such centers and a willingness to work in them...
...This arrangement leaver them only the kitchen for living purposes...
...Skfi insurrectionists are the Rev...
...RHODE ISLAND PARTY CONDEMNS THE NIX...
...Many ef toe men's lungs resembled over-eized black rubber heels...
...And in 1929 a Public Health Service study of granite eertceta in Vermont revealed the universal occurrence of silicosis among the workers...
...More fre quently homework supplements fee tory production, as, for example when factory-made clothes are sent to homeworkers to be buttonholed...
...Packed Hall at Bensonhurst Party Rally A PACKED hall greeted the speakers at a Socialist Party rally Wednesday night in Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, called to state tite party's position on the matters agitating the membership and to rally enrolled voters 10 the support of the organisation...
...The executive committee, which will organize soon, was instructed to consider the formation of a State labor party and was given full power to act on the result of its study...
...She problem is further complicated by toe feet that Health Service officials recognise that it may be difficult even for physicians, "especially those inexperienced in pnewmonoconiosia, to diagnose silicosis in toe early stages, when toe person affected has few, If any, symptoms of the disease.'' Miners Demand Amendment To Federal Const!turion WASHINGTON.—Legislation to curb the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional or interfere in the social legislation of vital interest to the life of the nation was approved on Wednesday by unanimous vote of the more than 1,700 delegates to the convention of the United Mine Workers, now in session here...
...Hhltoft b nto CtwrgggfchltovUcd i Jfrttdaf to fie Men...
...iifciMW my card was sufficient for him...
...This method has materially reduced toe number of eases of silicosis produced...
...Droqalnq Waqes Dewn The conditions ander -which the homeworkers end their familie...
...had raled that this made one ineligible for party membership...
...As Dr...
...The meeting followed one in the same ball the evening before called by the secessionists and at which Norman Taeniae was the featured attraction...
...PiiiasaT j rania, Tennessee, and Wistoaato) 1 lave considered the situation aef>| iciently serious to pees laws abnatj it prohibiting or xegulattog netoe* J vork...
...In the mining industry, according to Dr...
...must live is, however, only the beginning of the story...
...The Hone Sweatshop Instead of doing such homework only when free from household duties, woman houseworkers are forced to neglect their home and family responsibilities...
...Kutikoff, treasurer...
...Industrial Home Work Becomes Growing Peril Sweatshop Conditions Set Up in Cities and Rural Communities as Result of Exploitation Policy—Absolut* Ban Called Neceaaary...
...This is the conclusion of Bertha N ienburg...
...Some times, as in the case of knitted berets, the entire article is produced by homeworkers...
...is conducting an investigation into . die hazards confronting glref...
...The inadequsdes and difncul-ies of inspection are so great that he consuming public, Hke tog iomeworker and the factory worker, can be fully protected only by -he complete abolition of toil type >f work...
...The resulting exploitation of the women who do the wbrk and the dangers to their health and famil> life are best realised by looking into homes where such labor u performed...
...workers will be protected only: (1) if bo dust is formed, (2) if, when formed, the dust is prevented from getting into the air, (8) if once hi the air, the dust is removed from toe air, and (4) if the dusty afar is replaced by clean air...
...In this way they shift onto homeworkers some of the burden of production coats...
...remely difficult to enforce, chiefly )e?ause homework is as scattered ' ind hard to trace...
...Industrial homework is scattered all over the United States—or farms, in rural communities, and in cities...
...Dalla-valle, sanitary engineers ef toe United States Public Health Service, ore two Of tee unsung pioneers of industrial dust control...
...and generaUy lower the tabot standards ef the entire industry Homeworker* are unconscioush competing with factory workert who are trying to maintain fair working condition...
...Menfes"LocaJ Buffalo, and four |s/pto eoatmittee set up to accomplish this Job, Hoffman points out, wen expelled for advocating armed insurrection although the N.T3.C...
...convention...
...me noose Labor CotrmutThe majority of dust-infected niSliAjry TiA^^ljit\n both 1 un ?s, pSto^jATlai\ii»jJT"hf betorwd |Jtjajjtow oUid^ industries " S^^iS^b^tt^ dreadHealth Service have been aware of workers resulting in the ton of dtw jMeeses fee almost a generation...
...favor full cooperation with the Communists...
...Lender BUFFALO, N. Y.—Robert A. Walton, secretary of Local jBuffalo of the Socialist Party, ¦OH an am ifJUrtoj letter to the bogus "state organization" set up by...
...It exists in every State The work ranges from unskilled carding of snaps, buttons, or safety pins t* such skilled craftwork as appliqueing bedspreads and em broidering infants' dresses...
...Louis L. Rottenberg was elected convention chairman, and the following were elected members of the executive committee: Joseph M. Col dwell, Samuel Cohen, Jacob Pavlow, J. B. Rottenberg, Peretz Fine, Dr...
...Thus the story <f the industrial homeworker haVl smes s story of wage cutting ejjm • "exploitation of factory wteJkaii^Kj The problems arising from in...
...I would like to see a couple of Communists as every mm...
...assistant di rector of toe Women's Unreal in the U. S. Department of -La-bor...
...jjaajja^agro^ held in Chicago, calling toe na...
...The previous night, it wee reported, the audience that greeted Thomas consisted of youngsters, "militants" from all over toe City and toe entire Communist outfit from Bensonhurst and other Brooklyn sections...
...The convention gave approval to a proposal that an amend-to the Constitution be drafted to accomplish this purpose...
...of the Women's Bureau while making a study of industrial homework, which was recently published under the title of "The Commercialisation of the Home Through Industrial Homework...
...Hoffman reports toe following in"The Rev...
...Hahn thus expressed the idea of the Thomasites fee an "all-inclusive party" of Socialists, Stalinites, Lovestoneites, Trotskyites, pink liiexsls and sick "radicals" n genHoffman renejndas bis letter by saying that "the Socialist Party of Buffalo and Erie County will continue with its nearly 10,000 supporting Socialist voters to function for j^^^^m, the c°mmunistSpecial to The New Leader PHILADELPHIA.—At the last meeting of the County Central Committee the following officers were elected: Harry Berger, chairman...
...Simon Libros, chairman of the Finance Committee ; Dr...
...t-pa) herns erowd wants to "re...
...These families were among those visited by field agent...
...A meeting of all trade union members is to be held Saturday, Feb...
...wowsers" m the dusty trades —their lungs slowly filling with Ifa^Pwatoa^toe^^Mted^^tos JSleaw...
...In order to safeguard toe inter-sts of women, skilled in some raft, who want to sell products hich they make in their span ime, the Women's Bureau has resin mended that handicraft predee ion centers be set up in oomma-ities where such women live, v-hether they be rural, small-town, >r city-neighborhood iscticsM, At uch centers, rates of pay and lours of labor would be regulated o as to insure the women ade* iuate pay...
...Sunday, Feb...
...can be kept spotless on their huge frames...
Vol. 19 • February 1936 • No. 5
