The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-12-04
NO Slavery. d
WATCHES;CLU
CLASS ROOMS
PASSENGERS and Crew
FraterniZe
BY a Seamen Correspondent.

BY Seamen Correspondent.
The Soviet government bought two
ships this summer from Seattle
companies, the S. s. Apex and the
S. S. Charles Brewer. The crews
were hired by Amtorg, under the
best conditions prevailing on the Pa
cific coast. The two ships were de-
livered at Petropavlosk, Kamchatka
was in the crew. After staying in
Petropavlosk for three weeks, we
were shipped to Vladivostok on the
Soviet passenger ship Astrakhan.
While on the trip, which lasted six
days, ] had wonderful opportunity
to study at first hand the conditions
Of the seamen and passengers on a
Soviet ship. Some of US were ship
ped as first class and others second
class. This was due to the fact that
the ship was an old one and the
cabins were rated as first and sec
ond class, but there was no differ
ence in the food, which was very
good. We got all we wanted to eat.
I also observed that the crew got
the same food as passengers, which
was prepared in the same galley as
that of the passengers, and by the
same cooks. There were still three
galleys on the ship from the old
days, when the crew were fed from
the third galley.
The first thing which astonished
US about the Astrakhan was the num-
Der of the crew compared with
American ships of the same tonnage.
This ship carried twice as many
men, which proves that the Workers
and Peasants government knows
how to solve the unemployment
problem. The sailors are not short
handed, as on the American ships
with their capitalist efficiency"
The sailors on the Astrakhan had
three watches; the firemen had four
watches. found out tina: all coal
burning firemen and coal passers on
the Soviet ships have four watches.
damn near keeled over when l first
heard this. To think of all the years
Of bitter struggle that we have had
in the U. S. ships to get three
watches. We are even losing the
three watches, and without strug-
gle or even a squeak from the Of
ffcials of the International Seamen's
Union. And yet the Marine Trans
port Workers of the Soviet Union is
only 10 years old, and 100 per cent
organized, with four watches down
below in the fire-room on coal burn
ing ships, a room set aside on every
ship as a club room, and dungarees
supplied by the Soviet fleet.
We had many an interesting chat
in the Lenin Corner (club-room) of
the Astrakhan. Some of the seamen
could speak English, as many of
them had sailed on British ships be-
fore the revolution. They had many
interesting things to tell US. Some
of them were going on their vaca-
ton and were getting ready to leave
the ship on her arrival at Vladivos-
tok. There they would get railroad
tickets to any part of the U. S. S. R.
they wished to go to. Some pre-
ferred to go to rest homes in the
south, and others were going to their
homes. The Lenin Corner was 1T
only used for reading, playing chess,
playing the photograph, but also as
a class room.
One afternoon l dropped in when
a class was being held in marine en-
gineering. The instructor was the
chief engineer and the students were
the coal passers, oilers and firemen,
off watch.
I inquired if the deck department
had the same opportunity, and it was
explained to me that they did, as it
is the unions policy to develop work
ing class officers and eliminate the