INVESTIGATION OF STRIKE IN STEEL INDUSTRIES, HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, UNITED STATES SENATE, SIXTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE MILLER

Mr. MILLER.  Well, if I got sickness in my home, he want to lay me off, if they can not get a man in my place, and I have sickness in my home, then if I go home, he will lay me off.  When they get a man in my place, they tell me, "Go ahead and stay home." If my family gets sick and I ask my foreman that I want off that day, because my woman is sick at home, he say "All right," and he will go around and get another man if he can, and if he can not he will let me off.  The next day I will come back and there will be a man in my place and I say to him "My woman is better."  He will say "You can go home and stay home."

The CHAIRMAN.  Is that the way the others are treated?

Mr. MILLER.  That is the treatment of every other worker.

The CHAIRMAN.  The complaint is that the bosses do not treat you right.  Is that what you mean?

Mr. MILLER.  Yes, sir.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Do you mean that you do not get off when there is sickness in your family and distress in your family? And when you do have a man take your place, they discharge you?

Mr. MILLER.  They say, "Go home and stay home if you want to."

The CHAIRMAN.  Don't they allow you go come back to work?

Mr. MILLER.  Not if they get another man in your place.

Senator MCKELLAR.  What pay do you think you are entitled to?

Mr. MILLER.  Well, there is not enough money for the workmen.  We work 13 hours at night and 11 hours at day, and we get 42 cents an hour.

Senator MCKELLAR.  And how much is that a day?

Mr. MILLER.  For a 12-hour day it makes $4.20 and for the longer day it makes $5.04.

Senator MCKELLAR.  A day?

Mr. MILLER.  Yes, sir.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Why did you strike?

Mr. MILLER.  Why did we strike?  We did not have enough money so that we could have a standard American living.

The CHAIRMAN.  Have you figured out how much an hour you want.
Mr. MILLER.  It should be more than that.

Senator MCKELLAR.  More than 42 cents an hour?

Mr. MILLER.  Yes; I have a wife and two children ?

Senator MCKELLAR.  Yes.

Mr. MILLER.  And take all I make and I can not put one penny aside, and if my family gets sick and I call a doctor, he won't come down for nothing, and I do not make enough money to pay a doctor and he won't come for nothing.

Senator MCKELLAR.  And your complaint is that the conditions are harsh, in the first place, and the wages are not high enough?

Mr. MILLER.  Well, there is another thing.  If I get in the mill but three quarters of a minute late in the morning, they take off an hour, off of me.  Then if I stay five minutes over the hour I should quit in the mill, they won't give me an hour for the five minutes at all.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Do they allow you anything for the five minutes?

Mr. MILLER.  No sir; they won't allow me anything for the five
minutes.  They won't allow anything. They will take it off of me if I am a minute late, but they won't give me anything if I work five minutes overtime.

The CHAIRMAN.  How long have you worked at the mill?

Mr. MILLER.  Thirteen years.

Senator MCKELLAR.  And what is your nationality?

Mr. MILLER.  I am a Serbian.

Senator MCKELLAR.  And are you a naturalized American citizen?

Mr. MILLER.  I believe I am.

Senator MCKELLAR.  And you have a right to vote in this country, have you?

Mr. MILLER.  Why, yes.

The CHAIRMAN.  I see that there are quite a number of gentlemen around here, and I am going to ask them how many of them are American citizens and those that are American citizens I will ask to hold up their hands, so that we can see how many are here.  How many have got your full naturalization papers, your American citizenship papers?

  (The above was repeated to the crowd through an interpreter, and three of those assembled held up their hands.)

A VOICE.  There are plenty of American citizens out on strike at their homes.

The CHAIRMAN.  Now gentlemen, we want to treat you all exactly alike.  We want to treat the mill owners and the men alike; and we want to find out the exact conditions here.  That is the idea of this committee.

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STATEMENT OF FRANK SMITH

The CHAIRMAN.  What is your nationality?

Mr. SMITH.  I am a Hungarian.

The CHAIRMAN.  You are not naturalized.

Mr. SMITH.  No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN.  How long have you been in this country?

Mr. SMITH.  Thirteen years.  The reason that I am not naturalized is that I have never stayed long enough in one place; stayed long enough to get my papers.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Do you expect to be naturalized?

Mr. SMITH.  Yes; I expect to be naturalized, of course, because I've got my family here, my woman, and I have five children; and I have that family, and I would like to know how a man is going to make a living for himself and his wife and five children on $4.73 a day.

The CHAIRMAN.  How many hours do you work?

Mr. SMITH.  I work 10 hours a day and I get paid for straight 10 hours time.

The CHAIRMAN.  And how many days in the week do you work?

Mr. SMITH.  Seven days--sometimes six days and sometimes seven days.

The CHAIRMAN.  Do you work on Sundays?

Mr. SMITH.  Well, not so much.

The CHAIRMAN.  Are there any other causes that led you to strike except the lack of money?

Mr. SMITH.  Well, my conditions are all right.  I can not say nothing about the conditions.  My conditions are all right; and I would gladly keep the work if I could make a living.  The conditions I was satisfied with, because I had never been kicked or abused, or anything like that whatever.  The only thing that I am complaining against is that we are not getting enough money.

The CHAIRMAN.  And that is the only objection that you have got?

Mr. SMITH.  That is the only objection that I have got.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Are there any other gentlemen in the crowd who would like to be heard?

Mr. SMITH.  I say that that is not enough for a family of seven.

Senator PHIPPS.  You seem to be pretty well dressed?

Mr. SMITH.  Yes; I am, because I saved it up before I was married, and I have got to spend now what I saved before I was married.

The CHAIRMAN.  You do not believe that two people can live cheaper than one, do you?

Mr. SMITH.  No.

The CHAIRMAN.  Are there any other complaints?  Do you have your own papers here, printed in your own language?

Mr. MILLER.  Well, we want eight hours' work and we want more pay.

The CHAIRMAN.  Did they treat you in that way because you belonged to the union?

Mr. SMITH.  Oh, they won't allow us there if they know that we are union men.

The CHAIRMAN.  Are you sure about that?

Mr. SMITH.  Yes; I am sure about that.

The CHAIRMAN.  And you want the right to belong to the union, too?

Mr. SMITH.  Yes, sir; we do.  This is the United States and we ought to have the right to belong to the union.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Did all of you boys buy Liberty bonds?

Mr. SMITH.  Yes, sir; everyone of us.

The CHAIRMAN.  All of those present who bought Liberty bonds will raise their hands.

Mr. SMITH.  Yes; we all bought them; every one of us.

(In response to the invitation of the chairman to raise their hands to designate that they had bought Liberty bonds, apparently all assembled raised their hands.)

Mr. SMITH.  We were all for the United States.  We worked day and night for that.

The CHAIRMAN.  And how many of you contributed to the Red Cross and the Y.M.C.A.?

Mr. SMITH.  Every one of us contributed $3 to them.

Mr. MILLER.  We gave three days' work to the Red Cross.  We would not go on strike at all if conditions were not so bad that you can not stand it.

The CHAIRMAN.  You mean the conditions and the plant and the money that you get; you want more money?

Mr. MILLER.  Yes, sir.


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STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN ANDERSON

The CHAIRMAN.  What is your name?

Mr. ANDERSON.  John Anderson. . . .

The CHAIRMAN.  Are you Irish?

Mr. ANDERSON.  No; I am not.

The CHAIRMAN.  What are you?

Mr. ANDERSON.  I am Scotch.

The CHAIRMAN.  What is your business?

Mr. ANDERSON.  I am a helper in the open-hearth furnace.

The CHAIRMAN.  And how long have you been there?

Mr. ANDERSON.  Five years.

The CHAIRMAN.  And what wages do you get?

Mr. ANDERSON.  Well, I am paid about $12 or $14 a day.

The CHAIRMAN.  Are you married?

Mr. ANDERSON.  Sure.

The CHAIRMAN.  Have you any children?

Mr. ANDERSON.  I have five children.

The CHAIRMAN.  And do you own your own home?

Mr. ANDERSON.  Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN.  You do not belong to the union, do you?

Mr. ANDERSON.  No, sir; I do not.

The CHAIRMAN.  Have you ever belonged to the union?

Mr. ANDERSON.  No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN.  Have they ever tried to have you join the union?

Mr. ANDERSON.  Well, they haven't spoke to me; they thought it was no use.

The CHAIRMAN.  Have they threatened you if you did not join the union?

Mr. ANDERSON.  No, sir; nobody ever said union or anything to me.

The CHAIRMAN.  How many hours a day do you work?

Mr. ANDERSON.  From 7 in the morning until 5.30 in the day time.

The CHAIRMAN.  Ten hours and a half, is that?

Mr. ANDERSON.  Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN.  Do you have any time off?

Mr. ANDERSON.  No; we are busy all the time.

The CHAIRMAN.  Do you think that the men here are dissatisfied with their hours of work?

Mr. ANDERSON.  No; I do not think it.

The CHAIRMAN.  The men seem to be pretty well satisfied.

Mr. ANDERSON.  So far as I understand, they are satisfied.

The CHAIRMAN.  How many men have gone out on strike, out of this plant?

Mr. ANDERSON.  I don't know, sir.  The laborers is mostly all that went out on this strike.  I think that there is one first helper that went out of the plant; they are mostly laborers.

The CHAIRMAN.  What do you mean by laborers?

Mr. ANDERSON.  The general labor all over the plant.

The CHAIRMAN.  And they are getting about how much?

Mr. ANDERSON.  Well, 42 cents an hour for the first eight hours, and after that they get 63 cents an hour.

Senator PHIPPS.  Are there many Americans out on strike?

Mr. ANDERSON.  I do no think there is any Americans that is out on strike. There are none that I know of, English-speaking people.

The CHAIRMAN.  You are a naturalized American, are you, Mr. Anderson?
Mr. Anderson.  Yes, sir.

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STATEMENT OF MR. W. M. MINK

Senator STERLING. What is your name?

Mr. MINK. W. M. Mink.

Senator MCKELLAR. And what is your position?

Mr. MINK. I have charge of these mills here. . . .

The CHAIRMAN. Well, will you give us your view of what this strike is about?

Mr. MINK. We think it is entirely the Bolshevik spirit.

The CHAIRMAN. Why do you think that?

Mr. MINK. Well, because they was gathering up the aliens; they have been practically alien, in my opinion, very few American citizens.

The CHAIRMAN. They worked among the foreigners, do you say?

Mr. MINK. They worked among the foreigners entirely.

The CHAIRMAN. And most of the foreigners are out?

Mr. MINK. Most of the foreigners are out; 99 per cent of the foreigners that are striking here--that is,
the strikers that are out are foreigners.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, does this Bolshevik tendency that you speak of, do they get any literature from any sources?

Mr. MINK. Well, we have not seen any literature, but only stuff like this, they say that if the mills are not running -we do not see this ourselves, but we get it from other sources - that they are going to get a dollar an hour and are going to get the best jobs.

The CHAIRMAN. Are they going to man the mills themselves?

Mr. MINK. Yes, they are going to man the mills themselves.

The CHAIRMAN. And you really believe that there is a great deal of that Bolshevism about, do you?

Mr. MINK. Yes, I think there is. It is not a question of wages. They have never been getting more money than they have got, and the conditions are good.

The CHAIRMAN. How about their living conditions? How are they?

Mr. MINK. The living conditions are just what the men want. A lot of them have good jobs and
they make good money, and they could live a whole lot better.

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THE CHAIRMAN. What is your name?

MR. MARTIN. John J. Martin.

THE CHAIRMAN. Where do you live?

Mr. MARTIN. Youngstown, Ohio.

THE CHAIRMAN. What mill are you connected with?

Mr. MARTIN. The Ohio works.

THE CHAIRMAN. Is that mill closed now?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir.

THE CHAIRMAN. How many men are employed in that mill?

MR. MARTIN. About 5,500 men.

THE CHAIRMAN. And how many men are out on strike?

MR. MARTIN. In that place, Mr. Senator, we might include the other two plants, known as the upper mill and the lower mill, and the whole three plants - and the Mcdonald - have in the neighborhood of 8,000 men.

THE CHAIRMAN. And how many of those men are out on strike?

MR.. MARTIN. Well, I think that that question ought to be qualified, Senator. That is a hard question to answer because we do not understand the foreigners.

THE CHAIRMAN. You do not understand the foreigners?

MR. MARTIN. We do not understand them.

THE CHAIRMAN. And about how many of them are foreigners?

MR. MARTIN. About 70 per cent, I should judge.

THE CHAIRMAN. Well, when they are working in the mills don't you understand them, then?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir.

THE CHAIRMAN. And if you understand them, then, why is it you do not understand them when they are out?

MR. MARTIN. Well, it is so hard to get their sentiments and their intentions in regard to the strike.

THE CHAIRMAN. What different nationalities are there represented in this 70 per cent?

MR. MARTIN. Well, they are chiefly Slavs..

THE CHAIRMAN. And when you say "foreigners" do you mean the unnaturalized or the naturalized American citizens?

MR. MARTIN. I mean the unnaturalized and the naturalized; I mean the non-English-speaking people.

THE CHAIRMAN. You mean the non-English-speaking people?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir....

SENATOR MCKELLAR. How many were at work there yesterday, of the 8,000 men in all the mills?

MR. MARTIN. Well, I could not tell you. I will make a statement, thatthe Americans, day before yesterday, since the strike commenced, we have been talking to the Americans, to the American element, to try to find out where they were at, and they held a meeting day before yesterday, which was the second meeting, and at that time they decided to go back to work. First a vote was taken as to whether or not they would affiliate with the organization, with this new organization, and they voted "no" unanimously. The vote was taken then as to whether or not they should go back to work, and it was carried unanimously with the exception of two votes.... There is one point that I would like to emphasize in my testimony, and it is that question of intimidation, because it has to do with our Americanism. I believe that we ought to be entitled to all the lawful rights that are coming to us, and these men have carried on a system of intimidation that has been thoroughly un-American by the massing of thousands of men at the gate and by the threatening of the burning down of homes and the killing of families.

THE CHAIRMAN. You say that they have threatened to do that?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir; I have been threatened myself. On the first day of the strike the Americans who went to work, they included fully 90 per cent of the Americans or the English-speaking people in the heat plant, and they had nine heats, and the management had not figured that they would be tied up, and they were caught with nine heats in the open-hearth furnaces. The Americans realizing that condition, they were appealed to man the boilers and take care of the power houses; they wanted to get them to keep them up, because to leave them to go down would mean a great expense in the furnaces in the rebuilding them and the loss to the men, etc. The Americans realized this and they stayed there. We fired the boilers--I was one of the men--we fired the boilers and kept the steam up, and in the evening we were threatened as we were going out of the gate--there were nearly a thousand people there, and one fellow hollered "We will get his home; we will burn his home." I only heard one man say that, though....

THE CHAIRMAN. Do you do anything to try to teach those people anything about this Government, its ideals and its institutions and what it stands for, or do you just get what labor you can out of them?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir. For the last couple of years, to my own personal knowledge, and maybe longer than that, but to my personal knowledge for the last couple of years, the Steel Corporation has established and conducted evening schools that these men may attend, where they are instructed in our language and in a knowledge of our institutions.

THE CHAIRMAN. Do they attend?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir. They have quite a class there at the Ohio works, where I work, and some of the officials of the plant sacrifice their evenings in order to teach them the language and teach them a knowledge of our institutions.

THE CHAIRMAN. During the war did these men contribute to the Red Cross and buy Liberty bonds?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir; they did, almost to a man.

THE CHAIRMAN. Some of these same men who are striking?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir.

THE CHAIRMAN. Is there any propaganda among those men you call foreigners along the line of Bolshevism and I. W. W.?

MR. MARTIN. Well, judging from results, that must be all they got.

THE CHAIRMAN. Now, what results?

MR. MARTIN. Why, it is the most un-American condition I ever saw; in my experience with the labor organizations we always appealed to the reason or the sense of justice of a man. In this fight the issue seems to be the saving of their homes, not the question of more money or shorter hours; because it is a known fact around the mills that the very people who are striking now for eight hours are the people who have stood in the way of the people securing eight hours in the past. That is a known fact. You never could talk eight hours to those people; they did not want that; all they could see was the money.

THE CHAIRMAN. Do most of these people you speak of as foreigners own their own homes?

MR. MARTIN. A great many of them, and right there, in our town, Youngstown, the Steel Corporation has built them homes, a cement house, that they are selling for $5,000, to these foreigners, well worth the money, based on present values of real estate in Youngstown. They have instituted this home-building plan, and many Americans complain that they always give it to the foreigner first. Now, they started this home building with the foreigners first, but I will also state that we have word from the Steel Corporation, from their officials there, that they are now considering a plan to put this opportunity within the reach of all their employees; that if a man owns a lot anywhere in the city, he does not have to build his home on company ground or buy his ground from the company, if he owns a lot anywhere in the city the corporation will put him up a home and guarantee--I mean charge him 5 per cent interest, and guarantee him a saving of $500 on the cost of the building; that is their guaranty. They have not got any further yet among us, more than to just feel the men out, how they stand toward the proposition.

THE CHAIRMAN. If conditions were so favorable there, how do you account for 85 per cent of the men going out?

MR. MARTIN. I account for it by the un-American methods used by the organizers....

SENATOR MCKELLAR. How are living conditions there? Are they good or bad?

MR. MARTIN. The sentiment of the Americans - and I believe we are backed up by the foreign element there - is that we do not want more wages.

SENATOR MCKELLAR.. Your wages are fair?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. Do most of you own your homes?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, it is a good town for people owning their homes.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. Are the houses pretty good, are they comfortable?

MR. MARTIN. Yes; you will find as fine homes in Youngstown as anywhere owned by workingmen.. You would be surprised to see them.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. The workingmen own good homes?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. They are comfortable and the men are apparently happy?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir; in fact, a good many of them approach what you might designate as a mansion.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. And some of these homes are owned by workingmen?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. And there has been no complaint in regard to pay or in regard to working hours?

MR. MARTIN. NO, sir; I never heard any--that is, just recent to this trouble.

SENATOR MCKELLAR.. What about recreations for the men? Does the company take any steps toward looking after the welfare and recreation of the men?

MR. MARTIN. Yes; they maintain a hospital at the plant.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. They do maintain a hospital?

MR. MARTIN. Yes; not only for accidents, but a man is free to go there any time if he has any physical complaint and have it attended to whether he receives an injury in the plant or out, they will attend to it.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. If he works for the company?

MR. MARTIN. If he works for the company; and the treatment is gratis.

MR. LINDABURY. You were asked about recreation.

SIR. MARTIN. Oh. As to the recreation part of it, they have established a playground for the children and the young people of the neighborhood, chiefly for the foreign element.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. What about the schools?

MR. MARTIN. They have a mechanical school there; any young man working at the plant is eligible for the school; they receive all the benefits of it; they have men in the different departments to teach the school.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. Is that school maintained by the employees or employers?

MR. MARTIN. By the employers.

SENATOR MCKELLAR. They have a qualified teacher or teachers to look after that school?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir. They teach a man right up from the very fundamentals; teach him his A B C'S....

THE CHAIRMAN. We hear a good deal about the strike being brought about by foreigners; that is one of the things we are looking into. Now, it seems a large proportion of the men employed, at least as far as the concern you are connected with is concerned, are foreigners, so we have the situation of the present steel company employing these foreigners in large numbers, more than Americans, then the foreigners bringing on the strike.

MR. MARTIN. The reason the foreigners brought the strike on, Senator, was because they were the only people asked into the organization.

THE CHAIRMAN. Were not Americans asked to join the organization?

MR. MARTIN. I have yet to meet the first American that has been approached by these organizers.

THE CHAIRMAN. Do you really mean that the American Federation of Labor is not asking the Americans to join, and is asking the foreign workers to join?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir.

THE CHAIRMAN. You were a member of the Federation of Labor once, were you not?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir.

THE CHAIRMAN. Was that true at that time?

MR. MARTIN. No, sir.

THE CHAIRMAN. Do you think then that the American Federation of Labor has changed and has become foreignized as to some of these industries?

MR. MARTIN. My personal opinion is this: Somebody got in and scuttled the American Federation of Labor....

SENATOR PHIPPS. I want to know whether when you purchased it [company stock] you were promised anything in addition to the regular dividend that might be declared on the stock?

MR. MARTIN. Yes; you got a special bonus from the company as an incentive to hold your stock. There is a special bonus paid by the company on the stock.

MR. GARY. A rebate of $5 a share for 5 years.

THE CHAIRMAN. One hundred dollar shares?

MR. GARY. Yes, sir; and they get a 25 per cent discount at the end of 5 years. If, in the meantime, an employee voluntarily leaves he can get his cash. He can give up his stock and get his cash.

SENATOR WALSH. The common stock has paid 16 per cent in dividends and earnings to the stockholders during the last few years, has it not?

MR. MARTIN. There were times when it ran up in that neighborhood; yes....

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INVESTIGATION OF STRIKE IN STELL INDUSTRY. HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR. UNITED STATES SENATE. SIXTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. FIRST SESSION. PURSUANT TO S. RES. 188 AND S. RES. 202., PART II.: 589-603  

TESTIMONY OF MR. ANDREW PIDO

ANDREW PIDO was thereupon called as a witness and, after being duly sworn, testified as follows:

Mr. RUBIN.  How old are you?

Mr. PIDO.  I am 23 years old.

Mr. RUBIN.  Are you a striker?

Mr. PIDO.  Yes, sir.

Mr. RUBIN.  Where do you live?

Mr. PIDO.  101 First Street, Clairton.

Mr. RUBIN.  Did you have any trouble?

Mr. PIDO.  Yes; I did have trouble.  I have been arrested.

Mr. RUBIN.  Tell what happened after you were arrested.

Mr. PIDO.  On the 23d of September I was in a show and the other two guys with me---

The CHAIRMAN.  Who were the other two guys?

Mr. PIDO.  They were my friends, the best friends of mine, and the third one is a good friend of mine, and he was one of the borough officer's sons.

Senator PHIPPS.  Was this in McKeesport?

Mr. PIDO.  No; it was at Clairton. When we got out off the show, we started to walk down the street, and we stopped at the corner once, and the officer's son said that he was going to work.  Well, when he said he was going to work, we told him "You do not have to tell us about it, that you go to work.  If you are going to work, you can hurry along and go about it.  You do not need to tell us about it. Some one is likely to jump you with a brick, and one might turn up."  He said "You had better watch out and keep your clam shut."  I said "did I tell you anything wrong?"  I just told him what might happen.  He went away for four or five minutes; and later he came around with a deputy sheriff and one state trooper; and they came around here under corner and they took me in and they took me into the jail and they locked me in there, and they went out and in about 10 minutes later, Mr. Cunningham, the officer of Clairton, he comes back with his son, and he asks him, "Who is the fellow that told you that somebody might knock you in the head with the brick?" and he pointed me out in the cell.  He said "Are you the one that is going to kill my son?"  I said "No; I never killed anybody and I never want to."  He said "I will show you right over here.  Don't you try to make any noise."  I did not say anything, and he told his son "You take your coat off and get ready and I will go in and get the key, and I will open that door, and we will knock the hell out of the son of a bitch"; and he did, too.  And he opened that cell, and he told him, he says "Now, you go in there and beat him up good." And he says "I will."  Then he says "If he touches you, I will knock him with that club I have got," and he had a little club there, a blackjack or whatever it is called.  I did not move and I did not try to do anything, and I stand still and he stand around and punch me with the fist.  I did not want to fight; if he hit me with a club, he would make me bleed then; and I was standing there and he punched me in the face, and my face was all punched up.

Senator STERLING.  Where was this?

Mr. PIDO.  Clairton

The CHAIRMAN.  You were under arrest?

Mr. PIDO.  I was under arrest.

The CHAIRMAN.  And he opened up the cell?  Who opened up the cell?

Mr. PIDO.  George Cunningham.  He is an officer of Clairton.

The CHAIRMAN.  He is a jailer?  He had charge of the jail?

Mr. PIDO.  I don't know.  He ain't got no charge of the jail.

The CHAIRMAN.  He had the key?

Mr. PIDO.  He find the key in the desk some place and he opened it up.

The CHAIRMAN.  I s the boy bigger than you are?

Mr. PIDO.  He is bigger than you are?

Mr. PIDO.  He is bigger than I am; 20 years old.  If I was outside I would not let him beat me up; but I said I could not do nothing.  The old man was there.

Senator MCKELLAR.  You were at a slight disadvantage, weren't you?

Mr. RUBIN.  How badly were you beaten up?

Mr. PIDO.  I couldn't open my mouth for three days.

The CHAIRMAN.  You were pretty badly beaten up.

Mr. PIDO.  And he beat me over here (indicating the face).

Mr. RUBIN.  How long were you in jail?

Mr. PIDO.  Eleven hours, from 11 in the evening until 10 in the morning.  The next morning I called my cousins, two of them, and they come in and got me out and when they tried to bail me out, he asked how much the bail would be, and they told them $2,000 and it would not be any less. I says "I will stay here; I have not got that much money."  Then he says, "You have got to go to Pittsburgh." And I says, "I will go down there."  When I said that he called the burgess over, and the burgess said "Sixteen dollars will do," but the chief, Fred Young, said that would not do, and he got two charges against him; he said assault and battery and disorderly conduct, and $30 will do therefore.

Senator WALSH.  How much?

Mr. PIDO.  $30.  And he took the $30 and he told me to come back on the 6th of October in the evening. I come in there and I thought I was going to have a case and they postponed it until the 13th.

Mr. RUBIN.  What happened to those that came to bail you out.  Were they arrested, too?

Mr. PIDO.  No.

Senator STERLING.  Did you pay $30?

Mr. PIDO.  I put up a forfeit of $30.

Senator MCKELLAR.  What nationality are you?

Mr. PIDO.  Slavish.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Are you naturalized?

Mr. PIDO.  I have got my first papers; that is all.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Are you going to finish those and become an American citizen?

Mr. PIDO.  Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN.  When did you get the first papers?

 Mr. PIDO.  In February, I think, the 25th.

Mr. RUBIN.  This year?

Mr. PIDO.  This year; yes.

Mr. RUBIN.  Have you bought any Liberty bonds, to $500?

The CHAIRMAN.  You were not in the war?

Mr. PIDO.  I was in the war.  I tried to enlist in the Army this year, but they would not take me on account of an operation.

Senator STERLING.  What wages do you get?

Mr. PIDO.  I have been getting 50 cents for the last 16 months, and when they heard the strike was coming out they raised me to 55 cents and told me to work.  I said to the boss, "If you did not raise me when I asked you a couple of times I can not work now.  It is too late to give me a raise. I will do what the rest of the people do."  I like it better if I get eight hours a day.  I don't go much after hours.

The CHAIRMAN.  And you got 50 cents an hour----

Mr. PIDO.  I got $7 a day.

The CHAIRMAN.  Did you strike because----

Mr. PIDO.  I never did.  It is the first strike.

The CHAIRMAN.  What is the reason you struck this time?

Mr. PIDO.  I strike on eight hours a day and better conditions.

Senator MCKELLAR. What sort of conditions do you want better?

Mr. PIDO.  This better: I think that a man ought to work eight hours to-day and have eight hours sleep and eight hours that he can go to school and learn something; and I think that an education is much better than money.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Are there any other matters that move you to strike except the eight hours a day?

Mr. PIDO.  Well, when  was working I had a partner; he was on one shift and was on the other, and I was doing all the job, and he was getting the pay.  I was getting 50 cents an hour and he got 61.

Senator MCKELLAR.  How did that happen?

Mr. PIDO.  Because he was a better friend of the boss than I was.

Senator MCKELLAR.  What are your relationships with the boss? Are they white to you?

Mr. PIDO.  Well, I do not have much kick; but I was not very satisfied with them either.  The first thing that was wrong, they would call me a Hunky.  "If you don't think that is right you know what you can do."

Senator STERLING.  You got 50 cents and your partner----

Mr. PIDO.  Sixty-one.

Senator STERLING.  Did you do exactly the same work?

Mr. PIDO.  The same work.

Senator STERLING. And there was no difference in the work at all?

Mr. PIDO.  There was no difference in the work at all.

Senator STERLING.  Had he been working for the company longer than you?

Mr. PIDO.  It may be--no; I do not think he did.

Senator STERLING.  When did you begin to work for the company?

Mr. PIDO.  I began--when I started in Clairton it was July 1, 1918.

Senator STERLING.  1918.  And you do not know what time he started?

 Mr. PIDO.  He started in August, sometime.

Senator STERLING. In August, 1918.

Mr. PIDO.  In August, 1918.

Senator STERLING.  And you have been working longer than he had?

Mr. PIDO. One month.

Senator STERLING.  And you do not know of any reason why he got more?

Mr. PIDO.  The reason was that he was American born and I was not.

Senator STERLING.  What was his name?

Mr. PIDO.  Mickey Jones.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you been going to school?

Mr. PIDO.  I have been going to night school in Clairton for a while.

The CHAIRMAN.  Have they a night school out there?

Mr. PIDO.  They had in 1914.

The CHAIRMAN.  Did a good many of the men go to night school?

Mr. PIDO.  They don't have any chance.  They work 12 hours a day, and they do not have any chance.

The CHAIRMAN.  How long did you go to night school?

Mr. PIDO. I went about 20 nights altogether.

The CHAIRMAN.  Is that all of the schooling that you ever had?

Mr. PIDO.  I did not have any chance.

The CHAIRMAN.  Is that all of the schooling that you have had in your life?

Mr. PIDO.  That is all the schooling I have had in my life.

The CHAIRMAN.  Do you want to go to school?

Mr. PIDO.  Do I want to go to school? Certainly I want to go to school.

The CHAIRMAN.  Did you learn anything at the night school of the Constitution of the United States?

Mr. PIDO.  I read the first grade of the book, because I did not know how to sign my name.

The CHAIRMAN.  Is the school free?  Do you have to pay?

Mr. PIDO.  We pay a dollar for three months; that is all.

The CHAIRMAN.  How many men went to the night school?

Mr. PIDO.  Not very much.  There were about 28 altogether.

The CHAIRMAN.  Do you think they would go to night school if they had an opportunity?

Mr. PIDO.  I think they would if they had a chance to go, but the way they are now there have no chance to go to school.

Senator MCKELLAR.  Not with the 12 or the 14-hour shifts?

Mr. PIDO.  They work 10 hours a day and 14 a night, and they work a week about, and some of them work for two weeks, too.

The CHAIRMAN.  What country are you from?

Mr. PIDO.  I am from Galicia, Austria.

The CHAIRMAN.  Under what government is that?

Mr. PIDO.  I do not know where it now is.  They are still fighting over there.

The CHAIRMAN.  Your answer is a very good one.  When it last had a government, what kind of government was it?

Mr. PIDO.  Francis Joseph, Austria.

The CHAIRMAN.  How does that government differ from this one?

Mr. PIDO.  Well, it is so different.  Out there they have a king and here we have a superintendent.

Mr. RUBIN.  A superintendent?

Mr. PIDO.  A superintendent or president.

The CHAIRMAN.  Here they have what?

Mr. PIDO.  A president.

Senator PHIPPS.  Which plant were you working in at Clairton?

Mr. PIDO.  At the coke works, Clairton Steel.

Senator WALSH. You say that you would like to have or that you are on strike because you want an eight-hour work day?

Mr. PIDO.  Yes, sir.

Senator WALSH.   Do you think that your fellow workers prefer an eight-hour day, with less pay, than a 10 or 12 hour day with more pay?  Do you think that they would want that?

Mr. PIDO.  Well, I think the eight hours and more money.

Senator WALSH.  Yes; you would want the eight hours with a little more money than you are getting now for the eight hours?

Mr. PIDO.  Yes, sir.

Senator WALSH.  But you would not expect 8 hours with the same pay that you would get for 12 hours?

Mr. PIDO.  Of course; no.

Senator WALSH.  Is that your feeling and is that the feeling generally among the men with whom you work, that they would like to have an eight-hour day?

Mr. PIDO.  Yes; it is.