Tom Bell gives us the T.U.E.L. position for the footwear industry, includes text of a flyer mass-distributed to Massachusetts shoe workers.

‘Shoe Workers Called by T.U.E.L. to Unite’ by Tom Bell from The Daily Worker. Vol. 2 No. 168. July 26, 1925.

BETRAYED SHOE WORKERS CALLED BY T.U.E.L. TO UNITE AGAINST WAGE-CUTS AND LONGER HOURS

BOSTON, Mass., July 24. The wage cutting campaign of the shoe manufacturers continues uninterrupted in this district.

The union leaders are not supplying a program to the workers for fighting the wage slashing. On the contrary the officialdom of the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union are refusing to fight the bosses on this issue.

In Haverhill, where the Shoe Workers’ Protective Union holds sway, an “impartial arbitrator” whose salary of $10,000 a year and expenses is paid half by the union and half by the bosses, has been deciding for some time if the wages of the workers should be cut.

In Lynn the workers have been corralled into the Boot and Shoe and demands for cuts have been submitted to the state board of arbitration by the bosses. In some factories a “graded price list” has been introduced. This means that those workers making the cheaper grades of shoes are paid less than those employed on the high-priced shoes.

The Old Bunk of Steady Work.

The bosses are appealing to the workers to help them run their factories steadily by accepting wage cuts. Unemployment aids the bosses in putting this bunk over, and the union leaders are doing nothing to offset it in this situation the National Committee for Amalgamation in the Shoe and Leather Industry has issued a leaflet calling on the shoe workers to fight militantly against wage cuts.

This campaign, initiated by the Trade Union Educational League National Committee, has the endorsement of the militants in the various shoe centers.

Following up the distribution, of thousands of these leaflets it is planned to hold mass meetings in the shoe centers, and rally the shoe workers for the fight against wage cuts, the organization of shop committees to lead the struggles, and the amalgamation of the many shoe unions.

The leaflet Is as follows:

SHOE WORKERS, FIGHT WAGE CUTSI

Only By Militant Strikes Can You Maintain Your Standard of Living.

To all Boot and Shoe Workers:—

The bosses are getting ready to cut wages. In Brockton, Mass., one of the largest boot and shoe centers In New England, the employers are posting notices and distributing leaflets asking the workers to accept a reduction in wages. The reason given is that the wages of the boot and shoe workers are too high.

In Lynn the manufacturers have succeeded in forcing the workers into the Boot & Shoe as the first step toward wage cuts.

Already the bosses have gone to the State Board of Arbitration seeking wage cuts. A graded price list has been introduced in the Lynn factories by agreement between the bosses and the Boot & Shoe officialdom. The bosses promise the workers “steady work” if they accept wage cuts. This lie is being used merely to reduce the standard of living of the Lynn shoe workers.

In Chelsea the bosses are setting the prices and fire workers who refuse to accept them. The Boot & Shoe officialdom does nothing to help the workers fight these wage cuts and does not even talk of taking the matter to the bosses’ State Board of Arbitration. The Chelsea shoe workers today are unorganized and at the mercy of the bosses.

In Boston where the Boot A Shoe dominates the situation, the bosses are using the existing unemployment to slash wages. The workers are told that when the factories open up $25 a week will be the standard wage. Prices are set by the bosses and the workers are told to accept them or quit the factory.

In Haverhill the bosses are demanding wage cuts. The so-called “neutral arbitrator” is on the job and wage cuts will be put into effect unless the workers struggle militantly against them. To rely upon negotiations with the bosses only is to invite wage cuts.

All over the New England shoe industry the bosses are crushing down the workers’ standard of living. They are determined to squeeze more profits out of the hides of the workers by wage cuts.

Too Low Wages—Too Much Speed-up.

The bosses say that to consent to a wage cut is a guarantee of steady work. This is a lie. The real trouble is that the boot and shoe workers, like all workers under capitalism, get too low wages. In addition to low wages, the workers have been speeded up until the average time taken to make a pair of shoes is only 54 minutes. In 1916 It took one hour and 42 minutes of one man’s time to make a pair of shoes. The bosses get the difference in the labor cost. The bigger profits in the shoe industry that come from the speeding up in the boot and shoe making go Into the pockets of the bosses.

For the workers, the bosses offer wage cuts, although we are working almost twice as fast as we were in 1916.

One pair of shoes, 1916—102 minutes.
One pair of shoes, 1925—54 minutes.

The bosses feel that they are able to make us take wage puts because we are not organized as well as they are. They have powerful and rich companies and combinations. They control, along with their class, the government, and all means of swaying the public mind. They are strong and militant.

Too Many Unions—Not Enough Unionism.

On the other hand, our unions are weak and demoralized. There are too many unions in the same industry, and only a small fraction of the workers are organized. We must amalgamate these unions and we must put on big organization campaigns that will sweep the workers into these unions. These things we must accomplish if we are to maintain and advance our wages and to better our working conditions.

There are 1,542 boot and shoe factories in the United States, but 14 per cent of these factories can produce 65 per cent of all the boots and shoes needed. This shows how the bosses have centralized their power.

It also explains why thousands of shoe workers, willing to work, have to walk the streets unemployed while their families hunger in misery.

Amalgamate or Perish.

If we do not organize the unorganized, amalgamate our unions into one great industrial union, and fight all wage cuts, the bosses will make us work for anything they see fit to give.

They will close half their factories and with cheap labor working at breakneck speed, the rest will make enough boots and shoes for the nation. The less wages we get the more money we make for the boss. The faster we work the larger the bosses’ profit.

Resist Wage Cuts!

We must resist the threatened wage cuts. Wherever the bosses attempt to put them into effect, we must reply with strikes. Organize shop committees to unite the scattered unions and the masses. The longer we fail to make a fight for our wages and working conditions the less we will have left to fight for.

The longer we allow our ranks to be divided, our unions to be weakened by differences of opinion and by ambitions of the officials, the sooner will the iron hand of the boss and the boss’ government clamp around our necks.

Fight all wage cuts!

Instead of wage cuts—higher wages!

Instead of a lot of little unions—one great industrial union!

Instead of longer hours—shorter hours!

Instead of dissension and division—amalgamation!

Instead of isolated action—a united front of all boot and shoe workers!

No wage cuts for the Boot and Shoe Industry!

International Amalgamation Committee for the Shoe and Leather Industry of the Trade Union Educational League.

In December 1921 the above-ground Workers Party of America merged the Toiler with the paper Workers Council to found The Worker, which became The Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924. National and City (New York and environs) editions exist. The Daily Worker began in 1924 and was published in New York City by the Communist Party US and its predecessor organizations. Among the most long-lasting and important left publications in US history, it had a circulation of 35,000 at its peak. The Daily Worker came from The Ohio Socialist, published by the Left Wing-dominated Socialist Party of Ohio in Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919, when it became became The Toiler, paper of the Communist Labor Party.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1925/1925-ny/v02b-n168-NY-jul-26-1925-DW-LOC.pdf