00:00:12.410 - 00:00:31.190

And you say why did you retire? And kind of my ability to hear. A member wanted to talk to me and if I'm at a meeting, RM meetings. I couldn't hear the people and I thought it was an injustice to the people I was representing. To

00:00:31.190 - 00:00:55.610

continue and that's physical disability. And I'm sorry I did cause I think that I, I could have overcome it. Because what's happening today, What I built, and I'm bragging maybe, but I, I mean that that I built an organization from. Almost no members Up to a

00:00:55.610 - 00:01:15.600

pretty fair size, not a big size, but a powerful organization. That of all the, all the dealings that I had with the newspapers, I only had 2 strikes with the newspapers, 2 small papers, a magazine company and a small newspaper in San Bruno, California. Outside of

00:01:15.600 - 00:01:35.540

that, there was one newspaper strike in '68 which I was out of town trying to settle the LA examiner strike. So when I got back, the picket lines were already up. But I found an answer how to settle that. Like I got a call from Joe

00:01:35.540 - 00:01:59.440

Aliota. And then of course when he was just elected mayor. I says, Joe, my advice to you keep out of it. This was, um, excuse me, this was the strike between the mailers' union and the newspapers in San Francisco, right? Both newspapers, 4 newspapers then. What

00:01:59.440 - 00:02:28.360

year was that? 68, 1968. And what were the four newspapers? What was the name of the four newspapers? It was then the Examiner, the Chronicle, the news, and the call. OK. So, So the result there is that. I says, Joe, I don't think I'm telling you

00:02:28.360 - 00:02:48.630

what to do, but I have an answer for it. Leave it alone and I'll be in touch with you. Make certain suggestions. If I can get. They're relief from some other people that which I must do. For a reason as they say unions are involved. I

00:02:48.630 - 00:03:05.040

know what I have to do for the people I represent. And I know my people will do what I suggest. So we left it alone, let that go, thank God I made certain suggestions I met with. The guy I put it, uh, let, let me, uh,

00:03:05.270 - 00:03:18.710

just, I don't like to use the, uh, the word I, I, I don't like to use it. Well, that's right. We're going to have to anyway. I'd like you, uh, to tell me in detail. No, I got a hold of Sam Cagle. I said, Sam, how

00:03:18.710 - 00:03:34.480

would you like to be in here as a mediator? And he says, let me clear it away if it's OK with you. He says, yeah, I'll do it. Who is he? Who, what? Sam Kinkle is an arbitrator, mediator. One of the top guys in the country.

00:03:36.120 - 00:03:59.140

And I've known her for since 19. I've known him since 1934. It still is doing that. And uh So I talked, got hold of some of the important employees. I say, what do you want to keep the strike going or shall we find a way to

00:03:59.160 - 00:04:16.060

settle it. Yeah, I said, what do you, uh, he said, well, what do you suggest? I suggest we'll put Sam Cagle in as a mediator. And Lee, he'll be the mediator in between the unions and you people. I think you could, you know, you can trust

00:04:16.060 - 00:04:33.200

them. And we feel we can trust them. So with the mutual feeling of that type. We should be able to find an answer to this. Result is that, They met And they called me back. They said, well, what the hell are you going to do this?

00:04:33.290 - 00:04:48.970

I said, let me talk to you. I got Sam standing right by here. And I did. There's a phone booth on the street. And I called that phone. So I said you can talk the same right now. So that's how it came about we settled it.

00:04:49.020 - 00:05:08.830

I forget the number of days. Uh, I think it was 34 days or something like that. I forgot exactly. But what was the strike, Strikers with the mailers union. What were they striking for? What was the problem? They've had conditions for many years. And the employer

00:05:08.830 - 00:05:31.350

want to take some of the conditions away. Like what, what conditions? Pardon me. I Well, the same old thing they all try to do, they, they try to take everything they possibly could. One is that they had to relieve men, overtime issues, all that stuff. It

00:05:31.350 - 00:05:48.330

was all built in through the life of the agreement for all the years that the mail has dealt with the employers. Both sides agreed to Woodruff went into the final contract. So they tried to remove some. The union wanted some more. So we had to, Get

00:05:48.330 - 00:06:08.270

the union to back a little bit away, make the employers back away a little bit. So anyway, What the incidentals were would come back to me later, but right now. I know that was some of the problems. So the. Because then, Then the other thing of

00:06:08.270 - 00:06:32.860

course was money. So I had to find an answer that could satisfy all the unions. And I found the answer. I gave the suggestion the same. And in turn he went in and talked to the employers. Do you remember the suggestion you gave? I gave to

00:06:32.860 - 00:06:56.430

Sam, Kegel. Do you remember what the suggestions were? Wages. What were the wages at that time? And mentor my people. Roughly $16 a week increase. Meant to them meant the same to everybody. Except it meant a little bit more for the union I represented and the

00:06:56.430 - 00:07:19.880

newspaper girl. Because the mailers' union, pressmen, typos were all on 35 hours a week. My group was on a 40 hour week and I reduced it from a 30, uh, 40 on the night side. Uh, which we call the night side, which the daily side actually

00:07:20.380 - 00:07:35.290

that the more a night side and the morning side became 37.5 hours. Now that the guild was able to get the same thing that I had, so it meant a little bit more money to us, but the fact they got it on the verge of 35

00:07:35.290 - 00:07:58.590

hours while we were on the 37 and 40, so it meant a little bit more money for the people I represented. Mhm. So I fire number right with roughly $16. Increase Which is a good increase. Very good. So, They did very good. I can't complain about

00:07:58.610 - 00:08:22.140

a bunch of. Guys at the Newspapers used to hire for their ability to use their fist to fight each other. They used to fight each other back and forth. And anybody knows the newspaper business. Knew anything about circulation it was always a fight. So that was

00:08:22.140 - 00:08:53.910

the basis they hired people. So I would say that, And 19. 39. I got a dollar 1939 1949 I got a $1 a week increase. 1949. You got a dollar a week increase? And, uh, it was just a case that the contract was open. Made some

00:08:53.910 - 00:09:16.420

other changes in the conditions of the contract as far as money was concerned, that's what it was. Now when the war was ended though. As I say in 1945. Our contract was open. So we were on a 6 day week overtime. We had the 5 day

00:09:16.420 - 00:09:37.860

week in 1939. But by the fact that we needed the people in 1940, you know, during the war. A lot of people work the 6th day and a lot of them work the 7th day at time and a half. So when they in 1946. And the

00:09:37.860 - 00:09:53.060

war was over. I established the wages, established the wages for our people. That for work on 5 days, they got the same as if they worked the 6 day with the time and a half. Which in turn set the pattern for all the rest of the

00:09:53.060 - 00:10:14.130

evenings. We always are union. Set the pattern pretty much all the way through for all those years. Set the pattern for whom? For all the yes to the unions in the newspaper industry. How many unions were there in the industry? Uh, you had the Newspaper Guild.

00:10:15.170 - 00:10:49.660

Typographical web pressman mailers. And you had the, uh, stereotypist. Those were the principal unions. Then of course you had the electricians, mechanics, total of about 14 unions. And each was separate. Which Separate contracts. So you had, uh, each one of those unions had a president. Each

00:10:49.660 - 00:11:09.080

one was independent of the other. That's right. But I brought them together. I had my arguments. But I did what I thought because we were the underdogs when we first started to work there. Those people were making more money than our people, and I had to

00:11:09.080 - 00:11:27.460

bring our people up. So every time we brought our people up, we brought them up. Now nobody got an equal, equal wage as such, but close to each other. But I established the conditions which they never had. Like what? I established vacations in 1938 which they

00:11:27.460 - 00:11:51.240

never had. I established a five day week in 1939 which nobody ever had. Mind you, mine was on a weekly guarantee. Theirs were not. Meaning. So, I established a weekly guarantee. Of work. That's right. I established that any man, Who had to lay off for sickness,

00:11:51.760 - 00:12:08.740

There's a replacement to take its place. If the man was off on a vacation, uh, somebody had to be in there to replace him while he was on a fire. Never allowed a job to get doubled. So to continue out of the work. Would be carried

00:12:08.740 - 00:12:37.310

out by the replacement. So I think that It meant employment. Create an employment. Which to me was more important than money. By creating the vacations, it meant more jobs. By creating a 5 day week, it meant more jobs. Money, in my opinion, was 3rd consideration. First

00:12:37.310 - 00:12:56.500

was jobs. Second was conditions. And the third actually was money. Of course, what's the use of having money if you've got nobody working? What's the use of having money if the condition's not good? So I was very fortunate. That the membership of the union listened to

00:12:56.500 - 00:13:17.060

me. So, I had a recent arbitration. They did. They called me in. They said, you never read the proposal from the employer? I said, nope. Why? You would have had a strike the next morning what you proposed. So I said, what is better, sit down and

00:13:17.060 - 00:13:35.580

negotiate a contract or try to negotiate after you're out in the street. So, that's why I never told them exactly. I told them it's a bad one. Take my word for it. They accepted my word. So we're able to settle contracts. Mind you, 40 some odd

00:13:35.580 - 00:13:57.830

8 years on a newspaper, I never had a strike that I created. And I will not allow them to create it. It's a wonderful testimonial. So now I don't know how many in those years after the war, how many in those years after the war, how

00:13:57.830 - 00:14:28.750

many men did you have in your union? Well Well, when I got through. After the Second World War. I wound up with Better than mine had a members. Triple the membership. Or what it was before the war. Ah, now your unions began when you, you organized

00:14:28.770 - 00:14:49.420

that union. I originally organized it in 1934. They broke my back. Who broke your back? Well, that was the NRA. It was, they didn't have what you got today. And the NRA didn't give you the strength. So finally it came about. And I was out of

00:14:49.420 - 00:15:14.840

work. I wound up as I was still a year ago. As a bouncer in a gambling house. Keep peace in a gambling house card room. And uh So finally I was the last guy to go to work, came about by a peculiar circumstance. There's a man

00:15:14.840 - 00:15:35.930

by the name of Arthur Sinclair, which you're aware of, ran for governor in 1934. And the building trades and the Ravenmo was supporting Upton Saint Clair. Ray Howard from the Scripps Howard Papers. Was a roving reporter. At that time, and he was in the audience at

00:15:35.930 - 00:15:53.410

the building trades, and he was spotted by a man by the name of George Kidwell. Who was with the bakery wagon drivers union. And out of that came a meeting. That there was about 32 other guys besides me who are not back to work yet. I

00:15:53.410 - 00:16:19.230

got most of them all back to work except me and 2 others. And so finally we got them all back. Now we reorganized at 37. That's how it came. But Uh, at the very beginning when you were first organizing, who was helping you organize the union?

00:16:19.450 - 00:16:40.690

Nobody. You did it on your own. Can you remember some of the things that you had to contend with in the. Oh, yeah. I had to contend with a, The newspapers had what they call them days. They had a goon squad. But it happened now Some

00:16:40.690 - 00:17:07.580

of the guys that were my friends were also pretty good physically. Um So when the time came of the. I have friends Nobody these friends are not gonna leave anything happen to Jack. And they had some tough guys. Because circulation was all over the United States.

00:17:09.100 - 00:17:39.590

We're, uh, And let me say this. Not if Newspapers are talk about their honesty, their integrity, their what great public service they do. Didn't hesitate to kill somebody. And I know that. So, when they talk about it, They hired guys that could use a gun or

00:17:39.590 - 00:18:05.870

a knife. I was an ex-pugilist. So I helped the news Venice Union get organized. Those are the people who saw papers on the corner. They they were called the news vendors. Were these mostly kids? Well, no, not the downtown area, no. Yeah, mostly kids in the

00:18:05.870 - 00:18:28.120

outlying area. So it was worked out by different zones. That's how it goes finally worked out for the news vendors. So there isn't a union. In the newspaper industry that I was not involved in. And I will say that there isn't a, There can't be no

00:18:28.120 - 00:18:58.290

more. 10% of the labor movement that I was not involved in, I would say I was involved in 90%. Strikes, negotiations, disputes, whatever. But I did build one thing. I build a reputation. And my word was my bond. And I learned it from My opinion from

00:18:58.290 - 00:19:22.640

all my Casey. Oh John P. McLaughlin. And Jack, uh, Jack O'Connell, John O'Connell. Cause the leaders of labor them days. Well, not the so-called leaders you got today. Cause they went through wars they know what it was. And they use what I still call street smart.

00:19:24.690 - 00:19:45.720

Best of my knowledge, not one of them was a college graduate. So, they have to use common sense. And I say using common sense can do an awful lot of things. Cause in education, I had a secretary of our union, He was a graduate of Stanford

00:19:45.720 - 00:20:10.920

University, graduate of UC. He was a professor of teaching. He traveled the world over. His family was very high in education. And he was pretty much on a. I would say in a socialistic mind which. To me it's a lot of name socially cause mine he

00:20:10.920 - 00:20:36.140

thought was right. But he was a little bit wrong too. A result of the 1947, you had the Taft Heartland law was passed. I didn't agree with the Taft-Hatley law. Neither did he But my obligation was big, bigger. But my personal feeling was I couldn't sacrifice

00:20:36.140 - 00:21:02.070

all those people. So, I had to sign. That I was not a communist. Act was one of the requirements. He refused to do. I had to remove them from office. Because I don't think any individual has a right his own individual thinking. To hurt other people.

00:21:03.020 - 00:21:23.110

And that's the trouble of the world today. It ain't what they think is right. It's because they want to be big. Wasn't that Hitler? Wasn't it some other people like that? Do you want to be God? That's been the trouble with all our all our years

00:21:23.110 - 00:21:42.430

with all these trouble we have whether it's religion, whether it's politics. That's been our main trouble. And that's our main trouble in the in the unfortunately in the Latin countries that's our problem. I talk with these, some of these people and I know what I'm talking

00:21:42.430 - 00:22:01.290

about. I'm not an expert, believe me, I'm not. But I know this much they used. And nobody could tell me they're not being used right now. So when they tell me about the, I forget that when they come to this country they either become Americans or

00:22:01.290 - 00:22:19.730

they gonna remain in El Salvador. Yeah, they got no right to be here. That's the way they feel about it. I came here as foreign born. I was born in Hungaria. But Hungar America is my country, not Hungaria. I can't help what they do to Hungary.

00:22:19.910 - 00:22:39.440

My control is here. But you can't tell us the same way the Italians. I remember I was in the in the Toronto War. I was what they call an air raid warden. And I remember That the biggest people who never took out a citizenship paper in

00:22:39.440 - 00:22:57.850

this country were 3 groups. Number 1 is the British. Number 2 was the Italian, and number 3 was the German. Now the reason that the Italian didn't do it because they couldn't speak English. They couldn't take it. I'm not saying that they were not wrong. But

00:22:57.850 - 00:23:17.520

that was a problem. And I have to even take people who are ex-convicts. And create a certain situation so they can act during the war so that the neighbors would not say he's an ex-convict. Maybe I was wrong. I don't think so. Cause they, they might

00:23:17.520 - 00:23:40.460

have been ex-convicts, but they also had a feeling for this country. I want to see all of them. That's why you get criminals I guess. So Um I did everything I could. I'd like to go back a few years when you, you came to this country

00:23:40.740 - 00:24:00.630

when you were what, 10 years old. How old were you? I wasn't quite 60. I sold papers when I was 6 years old. All right, so how you came with your mother came here with my mother. My father was already here. In San Francisco. And he

00:24:00.630 - 00:24:17.360

came to find work and send for the family. That's right. What kind of work did he find? He was in a, what they call, he knew something about liquor, wines. He became a rectifier worker for the name of the company was Wolf. They had a couple

00:24:17.360 - 00:24:34.600

of liquor stores on Market Street and they had their used to mix their own liquors. I was pretty good of an expert on making cordials and stuff like that. I went out and sold papers. Now, uh, he wasn't earning enough so that you had to go

00:24:34.600 - 00:24:51.680

out to? You had. And he was subject to rheumatism a lot too. Uh, where did you live? Illness. Yeah. Where did you live in San Francisco? South of Market. Do you remember the address? Well, I gave you the street but not the number. What was Tejmeh.

00:24:51.910 - 00:25:14.440

Oh, sure. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. So, that's where, I know I used to see, Some championship prize fights. Cause we lived on a tough flat. And right on the corner of 8th and. And fulsome. Ethan Harlow Folsom was what they call Crawford's Arena. There was a lot of

00:25:14.440 - 00:25:37.100

fights that were fought there. Crawford. Yeah, see, I think it was C O double F R E T H Crawford like that. He was a promoter. So, I remember seeing some of those things. So your, your father had the flat already when you came? He had

00:25:37.100 - 00:25:59.830

the job. He had the job. And how many, how many brothers and sisters? It was 5 of us brothers. 5 boys in the family. So then, then what you did, you know, you didn't know English. So how did you, your father knew English? Some. How long

00:25:59.830 - 00:26:19.320

had he been here before the family came? I would say not more than 2 years. Your mother didn't know English. No. That's why I forget to talk Hungarian trying to tell her to talk English. So how did you first start learning English? Went to Franklin Grammar

00:26:19.320 - 00:26:42.500

School. Were you. And. Were you the oldest in the family? I was the middle one. I have 2, I had 2 older ones. The oldest one is still alive. And the one next to him, he passed away. Then I was 3. Then I had a brother

00:26:42.500 - 00:26:58.950

younger than me. He passed away. Then I got a younger brother. So there's 5 boys. And did, and you say you started selling newspapers when you were 6? That's right. How did you make an arrangement to sell newspapers? What did you have to do? You know,

00:26:59.160 - 00:27:20.260

come and gossip around the kids. They're always looking for somebody to sell papers. I sold in front of Hale's, which was at that time. Was on 5th Market. Which paper? Uh, if I remember I saw the bulletin. Them days you get the bulletin. And so kids

00:27:20.260 - 00:27:40.100

going to school with. Pardon me, that's how I wind up down there. Alright, so 5th and Market. So what I have 30 or 40 kids on the corner. So what hours did you have to stay there? Oh, I would say from school till about. 6:30, 7

00:27:40.100 - 00:28:00.760

o'clock. And how much were you paid? Not pay you made if you sold papers you made a penny. One paper was a penny. You had to sell two papers to make one penny. Cause they were a penny paper at that time. So what, uh, how well

00:28:00.760 - 00:28:20.570

did you do? Yeah, I learned to use my head. I found customers too. In barrooms and what have you. So, I go line up some customers to make some money. So, about how many papers did you sell one afternoon? Could have been 30 or 40. That

00:28:20.570 - 00:28:46.340

was big money. I brought home 25 cents. That was big money. My father's sick with the rheumatism. That broad bread steel bread. I boil a 2 or 3 day old milk. So people don't know what their kids today don't know what the hell that is. Am

00:28:46.340 - 00:29:19.670

I right? You're right. So how long were you selling papers? Oh, I sold papers till I was about 12 years old. Then I went to work, At a, uh, A furniture store. I don't know how I got there. Do you remember? I would say. About 19

00:29:26.040 - 00:29:53.680

About 19. 16 I think it was. I was 17 I went to work at WJ Sloan. As a sort of a stock clerk. And later is marking the merchandise. And From there I left, I went to work at another place. I went to work at the

00:29:53.680 - 00:30:21.590

Union Iron Works the end of the war, first war. Union Iron Works? Where was that? On 16th and And 3rd I think I call it the Bethlehem now. What did you do? I was a mechanic's assistant. Give the hand tools and stuff like that. And I

00:30:21.590 - 00:30:42.710

think I got out there was a strike there. I think it was in 1920. And then I had to find another job. I went to work on what they called, that time was a, They call the Western Fancy Goods. Western Fancy Goods? Yeah, they sold wigs.

00:30:42.770 - 00:31:10.920

They sold thread. They sold all that kind of different stuff. I was sort of a shipping clerk. How much did you earn? Not much. I don't remember that much. Bring my own lunch or go without lunch. But we lived So you quit school when you were

00:31:10.920 - 00:31:41.290

about 12 or 13. I went to the 6th grade. Went 2 years of night school. Which didn't mean much. And uh And I quit work, I quit school. My funny Somewhere I got a job on a newspaper. So, I was sort of a, they call a

00:31:41.290 - 00:32:03.660

street man. What's that? I delivered to vendors on the corners. So, you went in a truck or, um, a. No, I went on foot first. Carrying all these, how did you carry all these papers? It wasn't easy. No. So, that was for the bulletin? The old

00:32:03.660 - 00:32:29.470

bulletin. Which was an afternoon paper. Yes, it was. And you had the bulletin then. You had the cold, you had the, News Then you had the post was going out of business. So, uh, what radius did you cover then when you only covered a radius about

00:32:29.470 - 00:32:49.630

7 blocks, 6 blocks. I carried the papers there. So how did this work financially? They had to pay you. Then you pay the. No, they paid the vendors. They didn't pay in them days. They lived down what they sold. And I forgot how much I got.

00:32:49.720 - 00:33:07.540

I didn't get much. 18 or something like that a week. Let's see. How, how did it work? You delivered the papers to the street. Then I. And Checked them in. You checked them in. They only got, uh, a half a penny. Then it was two cents

00:33:07.540 - 00:33:23.290

a paper. You only got a penny for each one. OK. And the paper sold for how much? Two cents at that time. So they owed you a penny for each. For sure. Paper. So you collected that then? Turned it into the company. And then you got

00:33:23.290 - 00:33:56.880

your wages from the company. That is right. All right. So, you were about, uh, how old then at that time? I would say it was about. About 18 or 19. Uh, did you hear a lot of talk about, uh, laborers and unions at home? No. My

00:33:56.900 - 00:34:12.250

father was not a union man. He didn't know what a union was. Frankly, I didn't know in them days what a union was. So you accepted everything as it was. That's all you could do. That's all the people that came over here could accept. There's nobody

00:34:12.250 - 00:34:38.820

preaching labor. Not like all these people right now getting all the benefits of the labor movement. No, you didn't have that. So then when did some when did you begin to uh I got into it really. Into labor after working on the newspapers for several years

00:34:38.840 - 00:35:03.600

till 1934. Then I, along with others, I organized, A driver, which is a distributor. And we first organized the people that I work with on the news. It was a Scripps Howard paper. And we had a couple from the Chronicle, a couple from the call. I

00:35:03.620 - 00:35:30.540

don't think we had anybody from the exam there. And as I say, we got a charter from a teamsters. And August 1st. Jack, after we installed the charter on July 31, 1934. August 2nd Jack was out of a job. So my brother was working in a

00:35:30.540 - 00:35:51.440

card room. A younger brother. So he got into an argument and he broke his hand. So I went to work taking his place for 50 cents an hour. Keeping peace in a cloud room. In the meantime, I'm fighting to get everybody back to work on the

00:35:51.440 - 00:36:11.740

newspaper. So I worked on that. Until January 1935. That's when I went back. Everybody was back to work. There had been a strike? Yes. There was no strike. But what was it? They just fired us. Oh, they NRA was in effect. It was not like what

00:36:11.740 - 00:36:36.460

the, what the NLRB is today. Like there's a format for in the lobby. And Sam Cagle. And Henry Millerco fought that case all over the country. And as I say then what happened at the building trades temple at a political meeting for Upton Sinclair. Is that

00:36:36.800 - 00:36:56.960

came about that we went back to work through a gradual basis. Cause they want us to sign with them. They, we considered a, um, Uh, what the hell kind of a contract was it? Yellow dog contract. Yellow dog? Yellow dog contract they call it. And what

00:36:56.960 - 00:37:18.390

does that mean? And we would never do anything for a union again, which I refused to sign. So, I walked the street. I went down from 230 pounds down to 170 pounds. Cause I didn't have no money. I just had a newborn baby about two years

00:37:18.390 - 00:37:45.800

old. So, I went without food myself to make sure they can get some. So, I took that job, as I say, as a bouncer. 50 cents an hour, which is big money, I thought. So They made an agreement that I won't do nothing with the union.

00:37:47.220 - 00:38:05.480

But they finally had to call me in again anyhow. Who's they? Uh, they, them days when a settlement came about that I went back to work. There were certain people in labor. I get my job back they agreed, which I can understand. There's no bitterness over

00:38:05.480 - 00:38:34.750

that. So then when they, they talked about union again, they came to me. And Aquasyn, 36 and 37, I helped them. Get organized. The, the vendors. No. The distributor. The distributor. OK. We call them wholesalers. All right. And so our first contract. I was not the

00:38:34.750 - 00:39:01.140

first officer either. I was just a regular member in 1937. 1937 they urged me to run for office. So I did in 1938. I was elected. What were you elected as business agent for the distributors 10th, 1938. Until the day I retired. That was me. So.

00:39:01.550 - 00:39:21.550

So, I had over 50 years of experience. And how many were in the union when it first in 1930 280. Sure, it's nothing to call you out at home at midnight, be down a paper at 6:00 in the morning. We had a what they call a

00:39:21.550 - 00:39:42.720

baby Gloria kidnapping. Uh And they, everybody be down at the plant, come right down. Paper didn't come out until about 7:00 in the morning, 8:00. Cause they thought they might be able to find the baby that was kidnapped. What's. They did. Yeah. It was called a

00:39:42.720 - 00:40:03.730

baby Gloria. Who was baby Gloria? It was a daughter of a, Of a guy we later on we wait on the streetcars, a guy by the name of Murphy. Uh, but we, uh, say it was a sensational case of kidnapping. And uh Cozan Dezec was a

00:40:03.730 - 00:40:23.830

good story. So They thought they were gonna get baby Gloria back. That's why we called in so we can put up with an extra so. We used to work on football games. The news and a call actually did not have no edition on Sunday. But we

00:40:23.830 - 00:40:54.880

sold Saturday papers at the Giza stadium. So working 7 days for Wages was just so bad them days they may not furnish your own car. So, you can understand what I mean now. From that time on When we reorganized on 37, 38. These people who never.

00:40:55.710 - 00:41:17.660

Never had a chance in life. I took murderers. Thieves. Made good, honest citizens out of them, believe me. I had a guy that was tried for murder 6 or 7 times when he retired with a pension. Whether he was guilty of the murders or not, I

00:41:17.660 - 00:41:43.790

don't know. But somebody had to do something for these people too. Cause that's all the newspapers used to hire them days too. William Randolph Hirsch was not an angel. So, I can say this. Which I'm proud by the grace of God where I lived. I could

00:41:43.790 - 00:42:02.790

have been a Saint Quentin too. By the grace of God. Every time I walked in the hall of justice, I said it. I could have been there too. So somebody had to find a way to help these people. And they turned out to be good citizens.

00:42:06.430 - 00:42:21.210

I have only known the one guy that ever went back on me. Two guys. Of all the people I help. Now, I'm not bragging again, please believe me. That I help. Now, the government came to me to help people get jobs figured. I was, I didn't

00:42:21.210 - 00:42:45.500

seek them out. They came to me too. The government did. Both federal and state governments. But they had a, they kept their commitment with me. If they want to play around that way again, get out. Even let the rules that I, I call my rules. But

00:42:45.500 - 00:43:03.320

I have to get out. They want to go out and steal, get out and go and steal. I don't care. That's not my business. You wanna play with junk, go ahead, play with junk when you get out. The only guy that ever went back on me,

00:43:05.150 - 00:43:35.820

One guy, two guys. One guy was a. Uh A check writer. And I took him out of jail at the request of somebody. Put him to work Kept on writing checks. Couldn't help him no more. And the other one was narcotics. And His brother, uh, brother

00:43:35.820 - 00:44:02.210

asked me to help him. I did. But I found out he was playing with the drugs. I says, get out. So maybe I was wrong, but that's the way I felt. The rest is all in there. Any particular stuff or any particular beat that you can,

00:44:03.200 - 00:44:29.380

Uh, newspapers got the library, as you know. That I I settle more cemetery strikes. You name it. I'm not bragging. Please believe me. I understand. I never got paid either. I never got a decent wage. When I look at some of these labor leaders, they got

00:44:29.380 - 00:44:59.210

second homes. To keep the union alive like mortgages from. Two times. Fine. Yeah. OK. You want me to tell me, yeah, tell me how, how you got started in the unions when you were a young man. Of course in them days there where I used to

00:44:59.210 - 00:45:21.190

work. There is no such a thing as unions. And uh What really got a lot of us excited and actually was the general strike in 1934. Because it finally showed us the way which we could never find out newspapers. Or death against any organization of drivers.

00:45:22.190 - 00:45:47.500

Oh, it's true that they had union printers, union pressmen. Union mailers. But that was done came about way many years before. Nobody ever gave a thought about the drivers, except I will say that in New York, in Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, you did have union of drivers,

00:45:47.760 - 00:46:09.560

but not in the so-called West. You never had them. So the general strike actually woke us up. That will tell us that we can do some good for the people that we're working on the newspapers arriver. Uh, the general strikers involved, of course, was the longshoremen.

00:46:10.900 - 00:46:39.130

The, uh, teamsters were involved. A lot of unions that I can't place my mind on were were involved, and the, the brutality. By the police department. brutality by the Unfair news stories. That appeared in there which woke some of us up because we, we know what

00:46:39.130 - 00:47:02.950

it meant. As drivers that we were being used too. They could use us for rough stuff. They would use us. And we finally woke up, as I said, in 1934. And we did organize after the Uh, of course, I'll never forget it, July 31st, 1934. But

00:47:02.950 - 00:47:15.360

it only took 3 days and they broke our back. I wound up as a bouncer in a gambling house in the card room 50 cents an hour. 10 hours a day.