The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-09-16

q seaman, ]. Stone, secretary Of the
International Marine Workers Anal
gamation Committee.
The Condition of the Marine Workers
The workers Of one of the greatest
industries, of this country-in fact, one
Of the greatest industries Of the world
the marine workers, stand today I'M
organized, weak and incapable of real
izing the fight they could wage
against the prevailing conditions of
slavery thru the upbuilding of pow
erful marine union.
Wages.
Altho the shipowners and the CAPT.
talist government of this country
claim that the American seaman is
the highest paid in the world, he is
in fact the lowest paid If we take in
70 consideration the high cost of liv-
ing in the U. S. in comparison with
that In other countries. For instance:
England Holland Sweden
A. 3. Seaman 1892 $50 $40
On the American ships the sea-
mans wages range from $40 to $50 on
private vessels and are about $3.50
on q. S. shipping board vessels; for
hremen, $50 on private vessels and
$3.50 on U. S. s. B. vessels. The
work on the U. s. S. B. ships is,
however, not steady, since ships are
laid up so often that one is never sure
Of his job To make trip on a YES
sci for a month or two and then to
be laid of to loaf for another month
In the shipping offices waiting for an
other Job is an experience that very
frequently happens to the American
seafarer.
Moreover, everybody knows that it
is easier to live on $40 in England,
Holland, or Sweden than it is to live
on the same amount or even on $50
or more in the U. S. A. And so if
we also take into consideration that
the job Of the foreign seaman is more
steady we will come to the conclu-
sion that the American seaman is
the lowest paid.
Working Hours and Overtime.
A few years ago when the Interna-
tional Seamen's Union was still
strong and the seamen had an agree
ment with the shipowners and when
the shipping commissioner acted as
an Intermediary between them, the
working hours of the men on deck
or fire or engineer rooms were esti-
mated at eight hours day. Every
additional hour, be it at sea or in
port, was paid for at the rate of time
and a half With the break up of the
international Seamen's Union the
payment of overtime was abolished
and the old 12-hour day for the men
on deck was again introduced.
After the strike won by the I. w.
w. Marine Transport Workers Indus
trial Union, the eight-hour day was
again given to the seamen, but the
overtime was abolished for good. To-
day a seaman can work from IL to
IA hours day without getting any
compensation for time worked above
the regular eight hours. There is no
law or agreement to protect the sea-
man from working longer hours.
In most cases a lot of work on
ship, instead of being attended to in
port by the shore gang, is left to be
done at sea either by the black gang
If It Is in engine or firerooms or by
the sailor If it happens to be on deck.
Food.
Now about the food on American
vessels. 1t will be easy to guess what
seamen eat aboard the American
ships when we learn that most of the
shipping companies allow about 35
cents a day for the feeding of man.
This, minus the graft on the part OF
the port steward and the other
sharks, reduces the allowance to 20
or 23 cents a day. No wonder that
the seamen on most of our vessels
are starving to death from lack OF
nourishing food.
Conditions Of Slavery.
In order to keep the seamen unor-
ganized, in order to enslave them the
more, the American shipowners are
maintaining a force Of detectives
so-called specials duty 1t is
to spy upon the sea workers, to re-
port their conversation, and to pre-
vent the radical elements" from en-.
tering the docks. They also have spe.
cial men who mix with those in fore
castle, forenoon, or glory hall (the
last is large room for walters and
those OF the steward Department..