Jagged seas
Subtitle: the New Zealand Seamen's Union 1879-2003
By: David Grant
Publisher: Canterbury University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Christchurch, N.Z
Language: eng
Number of pages: 383
ISBN-13: 9781877257995
Subjects: Merchant seamen; New Zealand Seamen's Union; Trade-unions; Labor unions; Merchant mariners; History
Description: "From humble beginnings in 1879 until the time it merged with the Waterside Workers' Union in 2003 to become the Maritime Union of New Zealand, the New Zealand Seamen's Union played an integral and essential role in this country's seafaring industry. Covers the huge changes that have occurred in the working lives of seamen, and union practice, through these years. Portrays a union that was assertive and volatile but always steeped in never-ending struggle to win jobs for its members and to better their lives, which were often grim, particularly in the early years. The Seamen's Union was integrally involved in the country's biggest industrial disputes - in 1890, 1913 and 1951. In these and lesser quarrels class solidarity became a byword for its existence, hewn by decades of collective struggle with kin unions against the forces of capital - alongside participation in political struggles such as opposition to the Vietnam war, nuclear ship visits and apartheid in South Africa." -- Back Cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 323-366) and index.
Table of contents: title: 1. Early days and the exhilaration of the Jubilee Company; title: 2. The great strike of 1890; title: 3. Survival in the aftermath; title: 4. Split in the ranks; title: 5. Whither arbitration? : the Seamen's Union 1900-06; title: 6. The politics of moderation 1907-12; title: 7. Missing in action : the union and the 1913 strike; title: 8. Seamen and the Great War; title: 9. Downward spiral : Tom Young and the strike of 1922-23; title: 10. Changing of the guard; title: 11.  The Great Depression; title: 12. In bed with Labour 1936-49; title: 13. Seamen, their Union and the 1951 Waterfront Lockout; title: 14.  Idealogical metamorphosis : Walsh and the union 1951-63; title: 15. A new dawn : the Seamen's Union 1963-70; title: 16. Deregistration; title: 17. Towards a national shipping line; title: 18. The struggle for jobs : the Seamen's Union 1973-85; title: 19.  The brief rise and spectacular fall of the New Zealand Shipping Corporation; title: 20. Continuing controversies 1986-94; title: 21. The long road home 1994-2003; title: Epilogue.