The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-12-31
Great RISKS 100
MILES OFF LAND
ALONE IN BOAT
$50 for Three Weeks of
Slavery
(By a Worker Correspondent


job in the world. At the end of
the day, after pulling 1000 fathoms
10000 feet) Of heavy fishlines from
> a. m. to p. m. or 10 p. NJ, our
bonds look like raw Jumps of flesh,
there are so many blisters on them
Just at present we are engaged in
tile fishing 100 miles out on the At
lantic from New York City. We are
working for the Caleb Haley Co.,
wholesale fish dealers in Fulton
Market. Some of the other big fish
dealers located in Fulton Market,
for whom we fishermen work, are
the Portland Co., Cheseboro Bros,
G. H. Hanson and other companies.
All of these companies cheat US.
This is how we work. The company
supplies the boats. There are Is
men to each fishing schooner. These
schooners are two-masters.
$50 For 254 Hours Slavery.
The crew of the smack is sup
posed to get 60 per cent of the
---''N OF t''a catch. to be divided up
In even shares. The company is
posed to take 20 per cent. This
is for expenses" and supplying the
boat. Each trip out on the Atlantic
takes US about two or three weeks.
This means 81 days Of slavery, IA
hours each day, sweating our
strength out in pulling the heavy
fishlines. The most fish we can
catch on a trip is from 10000 to
10000. This means that for three
weeks of slavery, after the crew
divides up, $50 is all each fisherman
gets. That's SIG week for shaving
seven days a week, ii hours a day.
Bosses Cheat Fishermen.
sAfter we pull into New York with
The catch we got to the Haley Co.,
n whatever company in Fulton Mar
Bet that owns the boat we were
slaving on. 1t doesn's make any
difference which it is; they all cheat
US. They cheat us in many ways.
They tell us that all they will be
able to get for the fish is cents a
pound or Z cents. They give us
what they want to. Then, after
they give us this small amount,
they go out and get IA cents a
pound for it. When the fishermen
come in to the market, Haley or
Hansen or the other companies tell
us they are going to pay us to 9
cents pound. They take the fish,
and, when we return for our money,
the company tells us: "All you'll
get is 8 cents a pound. If you do
not like it, then go to hell" The
bosses are supposed to get only 40
per cent. but they take what they
want. Often they rob US of about
400 pounds of fish after the fish
has been weighed out in cases. They
sneak a case away from us. We do
not let them cheat us on the weight,
because we weigh the fish ourselves.
RlUUe-lUU hlICS OuI.
Ocean fishing is one of the most
dangerous jobs there is. A man
goes out alone in boat for IA or
Is hours, and, often, he never re-
turns Often the little boats we go
out in get run down by ocean liners.
These are the risks we have to take.
Sometimes the boats are in rotten
condition. Then, another risk we
have to take for the SIC or so we
get is IN stormy weather. Just at
present we are tile-fishing; also 60
ing out for cod and scallops. Most
of the fishermen out of New York
are Norwegian. There are about
$50 or 200 of us out of New York.
Forced to Fish by Poverty.
The rotten conditions are the
same for all the fishermen on the
Atlantic Coast, from Nova Scotia
and Gloucester down 20 Newport
News. Most Of us are forced to be
fishermen because it is so hard to
get work at other jobs in other
work. Even the worst paid factory
slave is not as bad off as we are,
for at the end of the day they can
go back to their homes and fam
lies, and they at least know in adj
vance what pay they are going to
get. But we never know what the
fish bosses will pay US. They pay
us what they want, and they tell US,
eff we don't like it, to go to hell
out of here; there are plenty of
others waiting for the job"
There are many men out of work,
drifting to fishing from The other
industries.
Must Organize.
The reason the bosses can do what
they want with us is that we are
What we fishermen
must do is organize strong, fight
Ing union. and then tie up all the
boats until we get decent wages and
We have no union now,
but we had one few years ago.
When the Storm Breaks.
want to tell you one happening,
Just to show you what dangerous
risks the fishermen must take, and
how we are cheated by the bosses.
A while ago I was on the crew Of
he Haley Co. fishing schooner, the
Mary P. Mosquito. A heavy storm
,roke, and we wanted to beach The
,oat off Cape May, N. j. The cap
ain, however, promised us much
money if we would risk our lives in
he storm, and we kept the boat |
float until we reached New York. |