Home, language and legal ties are used by Greek bosses to run semi-feudal operations in their restaurants and lunchrooms around the country. The regime was met by efforts of its workers to unionize, struggles which were regularly covered by the Daily Worker. Here is a look at organizing by those super-exploited workers in South Chicago, Newark, and Wilmington.

‘Greek Food Workers Are Organizing!’ by a Food Worker from The Daily Worker. Vol. 3 No. 160. July 20, 1926.

Long Hours—Lung and Kidney Diseases Prevalent—Low Pay—Seven Days Per Week—Health Inspectors Work with Bosses—The Struggle in Newark—Twenty Injunctions—South Chicago—The Bosses’ Association—Need for Union to Fight Huge Chain Restaurant Companies

IT is well known that the most exploited group, struggling under the worst conditions, are the food workers in America today, and especially the Greek food workers working in the Greek restaurants and lunch rooms.

They work 12 and 14 hours a day in tile-floored dining rooms, and stuffy kitchens without a day off. Their pay amounts to from $12 to $24 a week on the average and most of them get paid by the month.

Most of them are flat-footed from the long hours that they stand on their feet. Others are suffering from kidney trouble which is a common sickness among the restaurant, hotel and cafeteria workers.

CONSUMPTION also Is one of the foremost diseases that thrives among the weak-bodied food workers throughout the country. It is a written law in the statute books that all food workers carry a health card to be shown to the health inspectors and these inspectors are supposed to inspect the public eating places. But the bosses see to it that no place is inspected and if it is inspected the inspector does not work against the Interests of the bosses in any way whatsoever.

The unorganized Greek food workers are revolting against these horrible conditions and a big fermentation is going on right now among the lunch room and cafeteria workers throughout the country.

THE Newark (N.J.) Lunch Room and Cafeteria workers are among the first to revolt against these conditions. They organized themselves into what is known as A Greek Workers Restaurant Club, without any assistance from any union. This club’s membership amounts to 350 workers, members In good standing. Soon after they were organized they were forced by the bosses to go on strike.

The bosses were ready for the fight and that is why they provoked the strike by firing all workers who were suspected of belonging to the newly formed union. As soon as the union pulled out Its men and picketed the places, the bosses obtained injunctions almost as quick as you could get a cup of coffee from the counter.

MORE than twenty injunctions already have been issued by the Judges of Newark against the striking Greek food workers.

Notwithstanding these immense difficulties, without any financial support from any source whatsoever, these food workers without any union experience have fought valiantly for the last four months and their ranks are getting stronger and stronger every day.

They expect, with the new law which goes into effect this month, and which allows lawful picketing, to again picket and this will mean sure victory for the picketing was very effective because this lunch room and cafeteria is patronized by the organized workers of Newark who showed splendid solidarity by boycotting the picketed place.

The union issued a call to organized labor for financial aid for they have many pending cases in the courts of Newark and their treasury is very lean.

Every worker should help financially these workers for their victor will mean the beginning of organizing the unorganized food industry throughout New Jersey.

THE Amalgamated Food Workers have started a campaign to organize lunch room and cafeteria workers to in New York and they are very successful so far. Hundreds of workers are flocking into the union and they will have a strong organization very soon.

The Greek workers In Wilmington, Delaware, are already organized in the A. F. of L. union and are working out schemes to organize the candy store workers.

The food workers here in the South Chicago district, are already organized almost 100 per cent. The fighting local of South Chicago put fear into the very heart of the Greek bosses.

The following letter was sent out by the Greek bosses’ association which calls Itself the American Restaurant Association:

“DEAR BROTHER:

The struggle has begun against certain persona that have no relation whatsoever with the Interests of ours or of our workers, but their enslavement and ours, (This refers the local of South Chicago, A.F. of L.) They started a struggle against our brothers on the West Side of our city. This will not stop there, but will reach us sooner or later. Therefore, you are invited to come to discuss and to find ways and means of how to repulse this danger and save ourselves from it, next Friday, May 28, 1926, at 8 p.m. at the Sherman Hotel.

Your presence Is very urgent.

From the office.

P.S. The strike has already begun at the restaurant at 1438 Racine Ave. For the room of the meeting see the blackboard of the Sherman Hotel.”

AT this meeting various judges and lawyers were present and advised the Greek Restaurant owners how to obtain injunctions against the A. F. of L. union before the picketing of the places began, even though there is a law on the statute books of Illinois permitting lawful and peaceful picketing.

This was to force their workers to sign a contract repudiating the A. F. of L. or any labor union, that during their employment they would have nothing to do with any labor union. Many of the workers do not want to sign such contracts and are quitting their Jobs rather than sign them.

THE feeling among the Greek food workers for organization runs high. The local of the Chicago Cooks and Waiters’ Union, A. F. of L., must seize this opportunity and start a campaign to organize not only the Greek food workers but all food workers throughout Chicago.

They must take up the challenge of the Greek owners who, while they call themselves AMERICAN Restaurant Association officially when they write to their own members in Greek, they refer to the labor union as FOREIGN intruders.

AS the food Industry develops and evolves, big capital centralizes the Industry Into big lunch rooms and cafeterias, companies are formed worth millions of dollars of capital, employing thousands of workers with chain restaurants all over the United States. The exploitation of the workers in these big companies has reached its climax.

The workers are clamoring for an organization to protect their interests and fight their battles.

What is the A. F. of L. going to do in this matter?

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. 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.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1926/1926-ny/v03-n160-NY-jul-20-1926-DW-LOC.pdf