Packing House Councils.—"Industrial Democracy" in the Jungle.
Since 1920–21, the workers in the packing houses of Armour, Swift, Wilson, and Cudahy—the big quartette of meat preparers—have been working under company committees and councils. These councils and conference boards were installed to engineer wage cuts and put the trade union out of commission. A wage cut of 10 per cent was effected in November, 1921, thanks to the docility of the Armour "representatives" and their fellow-dupes in the plants of the other firms. When some of the militants struck against this sell-out, and all the stock yards were crippled by the strike, the judges, police, and other agents of the capitalist state, put to rout the recalcitrant workers. The "representatives" were bullied into getting the workers back to the plants, and the strike fizzled in two months. The publicity men of Swift and Company thereupon announced that "the whole episode was a justification of our taking our employees into our confidence." The company union had scored!
All these highly advertised packers' plans are presented to the public as new ventures in "industrial government." They are said to inspire in the worker "an interest in the business," and to give him an opportunity to "learn the point of view of the employer." But the control over the lives of the workers remains exclusively in the hands of the management. The Swift plan, for example, leaves the final veto power with the chief executive of the company. The Armour conference board plan also permits the worker to appeal to the Big Boss—the General Superintendent. From his decision there is no higher appeal unless the worker—cares to carry his case to God—or his story to the Daily Worker!
Under the "new democracy" bearing the Armour
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