The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
Hiring Halls, Central Issue
In Coast Strike, raft-Free,
'Daily" Correspondent Found
Workers Control of
Halls Eliminated
Blacklist

OloOAlAbL
white, Negro, Hawaiian, Porto Rican
or a member of any other minority
racial group.
The Centralized Shipping Bureau
held regular meetings, where rules
and regulations were adopted, petty
grievances threshed out, and the
whole operation of the project sub
jected to criticism and comment by
all the men registered. 1t was an
immediate success. During the first
week of operation IS men shipped
out. Seamen rallied to it as one
man. And at the same time they
began to fight more unitedly for
Improvement of conditions on their
ships. Assured that they would get
a job when their number came I'D,
these oilers, firemen, cooks, coal
passers, bargemen and nghtermer
refused to accept low wages ant
unsanitary conditions without
protest. Job actions and strikes in
creased-and were increasingly VIC
torious.
Soon the shipowners, realizing
what a powerful weapon they were
being deprived of, began a con-
certed campaign to smash the Gem
tralized Shipping Bureau. Stand
ard Oil boycotted the Centralized
Shipping Bureau from the begin
ming, packing men in buses from
New York to ship out Of Baltimore,
and finally spending thousands to
ship from an island ninety miles
away instead of from the port of
Baltimore. The seamen, almost to
man, replied by boycotting the
fink agencies. Shippers who could
not afford Standard Oils expensive
methods of opposition had to take
their crews through the Centralized
Shipping Bureau. Finally the ship
owners decided to try other meth
DDS. They got help from the Fed
eral government and from some ?
A. F. of L. officials.
Rank and File Support
Officers of the I.S.U., who never
had expressed approval Of the Cen
tralized Shipping Bureau, now
raised false charges of "discrimina-
ton" against it. A committee of
seamen elected in a Centralized
Shipping Bureau meeting went to
Johnny Bley, secretary of the IS.U.
local, and confronted him. He adj
mitted that the IS.U. off1cialdom
was acting as runner" for Stand
ard Oil and said there were ''ru-
mors" that the Bureau wouldn't
give IS.U. men the same chance
that it gave M.W.IU. members.
You started those rumorsl" one
of the seamen told Bley, "and you
can have your book back!"
And mine" said another of the
Centralized Shipping Bureau dele
cation.
And NINE" said a third
All three of them happened to
be members of the I.S.U., and had
seen how Economically the Cen
tralized Shipping Bureau operated 4,
Finally, the shipowners appealed I
to State and Federal government
officials to withdraw relief to smash
worker-c control of this in order $50
they thought to scatter the sea-
men and break up the Centralized
Shipping Bureau. Later, Federal
officials in Washington informed me
that worker control of relief was
being withdrawn, following bitter
protests against it by A. F. of L.
officials and Shipowners, who came
to Washington personally to tell
the government what to do. These
government sources told me that
all of the complainers said that
"the worst thing" about the Balti-
more situation was the Centralized
Shipping Bureau. That's what they
we're after.
After a long, heroic struggle, the
Baltimore seamen did lose worker
control of relief. And the shipown-
ers again are boycotting the Cen
tralized Shipping Bureau.
Three hundred seamen in Balti-
more are still registered today in
the Centralized Shipping Bureau,
however, and are rebuilding their
drive to force the shipowners to
hire through the worker controlled
hall. In recent weeks strikes have
occurred-on the demand of recog,
milton of the Centralized Slnippin 4
Bureau. In one of these, that Of
the SIS. West Eldara, LILA. longE
shoremen dropped their hooks and
Knocked off in sympathy. President
OK OF the LILA. local next day or
dered the men back to work. Many
refused to go. Although the long,
shoremen had not participated in
the Centralized Shipping Bureau,
they knew the significance of
worker-control of hiring halls and
were willing to fight for it. Today
there is strong sentiment among
them for a strike in support of the
Pacific Coast and for worker-con-
troll of their own hiring hall.