Media
Issue Date
1943-11-19
Volume
5
Issue Number
33
Plaintext
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OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ATLANTIC AND GULF DISTRICT,
SEAFARERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA
Vol. V. NEW YORK. N.Y., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19. 1943 No. 33
Make Trainees Union Men—Hawk
CHISELING OPERATORS
STRAND U.S. SEAMEN
By a BOSUN
Despite the cry of the RMO
for experienced seamen in or
der to transport the war goods
abroad, American shipowners
are deliberately stranding
rated men in the Caribbean
and filling their places with
n,atives who never went to sea
before. I know this is true be
cause I was one of those
stranded and I saw how the
whole rotten business works.
The shipowners do this, of
course, because the natives
are not union men and will
not demand union wages and
conditions. The effect of this
move on the war effort means
nothing to the shipowners—
apparently.
My story begins on
1943 when I signed on an Al
coa ship in • New York City.
My ship went to Trinadad and
from there spent three months
on a shuttle between
:.:v:;..A. , and
It was during
this run that I saw with my
own eyes two American (sup
posedly union) ships whose
decks were fully crewed by
natives who had been picked
up along the waterfront and
were being paid God-knows-
what. These two ships, the
S.S. ) and the S.S.
...) were fully crew
ed by union men when they
first came south, but during
their long run the original
crew had been forced ashore
one at a time on account of
illness. Each time a replace
ment was needed, the ship-
,,owner would ignore the union
men begging for jobs in Port
of Spain, and hire natives
away from shore jobs.
This practice ha.s been going
on for a long time and when
I was in Port of Spain this
summer I found over 100 Am
erican seamen who had been
stranded there. These men
had all gotten off their ships
for hospital treatment at dif
ferent times, but found that
once they were ashore it was
impossible for them to ship
out again. And since the
Army and Navy would not
give them priority transporta
tion back to the States, they
were stranded in this port
without any means of making
a living. They were becoming
regular beachcombers.
When ever an American
ship would put in and call for
replacements, these men
would beg for the jobs, but no
go. The unorganized natives
got the jobs.
A couple of native replace
ments came aboard' my ship
and I found that they not only
had never been to sea but
they did not even have the
seamen's certificates as requir
ed by law.
The American seamen that
are thus stranded in Port of
Spain are treated like a bunch
of cattle by the shipowners'
agents and by the American
consular service. They are
given no aid whatsoever and
the general attitude seems to
be that they shouldn't have
gotten sick in the first place
and been forced to pile off the
ships.
It is hard to even describe
the despondency of these men
and the hovels they are forced
to live in and the food they
are forced to eat. If they
could hear all the ballyho
back here in the states about
seamen being heroes and how
grateful the nation was to
them, it sure would give them
a belly laugh—^that is, if their
stomachs hadn't shrunk too
much to prevent it.
I should like to say in clos
ing that Mr. Naggs, Alcoa
Agent in Port of Spain is
fully aware of this situation
and as far as I could see, do
ing absolutely nothing about
it. As for the American consul,
he wouldn't even see us and
listen to our problems. It is
impossible, however, that he
is ignorant of the treatment
given the seamen in this port.
At least these gentlemen sure
gave me the brush off When I
went to them for help in get
ting out of that hell hole.
The problem of making union men out of the RMO
trainees is a serious one and has not been given suflScient
attention by either SIU port officials or the rank and file
old timers aboard ships, according to Brother John Hawk,
Secretary-Treasurer of the District,
In presenting a resolution on^ a
the subject to headquarters
meeting two weeks ago. Brother
Hawk asked that greater educa
tional efforts be directed toward
the new men, and that no man
be rejected for SIU membership
unless his conduct labeled him
anti-union. Even then, formal
charges should be placed against
the individual. Hawk said, and
the charges should be aired be
fore the membership and a for
mal vote taken on the case.
The majority of the green kids
now flooding the industry will
not automatically become union
men by the mere fact of riding
a union ship. These trainees now
work under good conditions, and
they do not fully understand just
how these conditions were won.
They did not walk the picket
lines and eat out of the soup
kitchens. They have yet to feel
the lash of , the profit-hungry
shipowner, temporarily held in
check by the war emergency. In
short, these new men have no
real understanding of the class
struggle.
It is the responsibility of all
union 'men to take time out to
talk to these kids, to give them
the facts of life. Make no mis
take, if these trainees know the
score, they'll be on the right side
when the line up takes shape for
the next struggle. But fail to
educate them, and the union will
soon face the shipowners rein
forced by a back-log of potential
finks—men who think that the
way to get ahead is by playing
lone wolf and sucking around the
aft quarters of the brass hats and
swivil chair artists.
The old timers must face these
facts: (1) the majority of the
trainees are in the industry to
stay, and (2) their numbers are
such that they are a force to be
reckoned with. The degree of
union consciousness developed in
these men may well prove to be
the decisive factor in the post
war fight between the SIU and
the shipowners.
In order to place a brake upon
wholesale rejection of trainees,
the SIU has passed the following
resolution up and down the
coast:
All men after having made
a trip on an Atlantic and Gulf
District contracted vessel shall
be joined into the union, unless
a written recommendation
signed by three full book mem
bers to reject the man from
the union is submitted to a
regular meeting and concurred
in. In cases where no branch
meeting is held, the Branch
Agent shall spread the rejec
tion recommendation in full in
the Branch Agent's weekly re
port including the signers'
names and book numliers of
the recommendation in order
(^Continued on Page 4)
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On completion of the 5.000th fur vest produced by the Los
Angeles fur vest project for United Nations seamen, Capt. Wal
ter Treadway of USS presents a scroll of honor to Man. J.
Miller (center) of Local 87, International Fur & Leather Workers
Union (CIO) and Man. Louis Pine (right) of the Los Angeles
Joint Board, International Ladies Garment Workers Union
(AFL).
RMO Tightens Finky Grip
On Seamen Deferment Set-Up
The RMO took another hitch
in the rope around the neck of
merchant seamen this week
when it issued new Army defer
ment regulations which entirely
eliminated the union's past par
ticipation in the Selective Ser
vice machinery. Whereas in the
past the union dispatcher was
charged with notifying the RMO
when a man shipped out, the
new method will by-pass the
union entirely and all correspon
dence will be between the ship
owner, the RMO and the draft
boards.
Not that we particularly care
whether the union is included in
the RMO procedure or not, for
the whole scheme stinks of to
talitarian coercion and the less
the. SIU has to do with it the
better we'll like it. We only re
port this development to bear
out what we said when the RMO
first moved to grab jurisdiction
over the draft status of the sea
men—that is, that the apparatus
set up in this manner would
gradually be ti-ansformed into a
club with which to beat organiz
ed labor over the head. This last
step is certainly a move in that
direction.
The RMO now has complete
and undisputed jurisdiction over
the deferment or induction of
seamen into the army. If this
isn't a threat to union activity—
then we never saw one. The
SIU-SUP is not caught unaware
by this development, wc fought
the RMO on this question from
the first. We boycotted their en
tire card system for months, and
it was only the servile surrender
of the NMU, thus splitting the
ranks of maritime labor, which
forced our final acceptance of the
plan. We said frankly at the
time, and we repeat today, were
we strong enough we wquld
throw the whole finky RMO and
its anti-labor schemes right out
the window. Unfortunately, with
maritime labor split, we are not
strong enough to do this—at
least not in war time. Therefore
we have no alternative but to go
along for the time, and to advise
every member to carefully ob
serve aU the RMO regulations so
as not to get caught short. When
the war ends and the shipowners
really open up on the union, we'll
need every man in his place on
the picket lines. So don't get
fouled up now and find yourself
jerked out of the industry.
Here is an explaination of how
the new RMO regulations oper
ated.
Under the new method, a
single form, WSA-61, consisting
of a white original and a pink
carbon copy, will replace the fa
miliar green and buff cards
known as forms WSA-47 and
WSA-48. Use of the latter forms
are to be discontinued as of mid-
(Co It fin lied on Page 3)
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Pago Two THE SEAFARERS LOG Friday. NoTember 19. 1943 1
SEAFARERS LOG
Published by the
SEAFARERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF NORTH AMERICA
Atlantic and Gulf District
Affiliated with the American Federation of Labor
HARRY LUNDEBERG ------ President
110 Market Street, San Francbco, Calif.
JOHN HAVK ------- Secy-Treas.
p. 6. Box 25, Station P., New York City
MATTHEW DUSHANE - - - Washington Rep,
424 Sth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.
• •
Directory of Branches
BRANCH ADDRES3 PHONE
NEW YORK (4) 2 Stone St. BOwIIng Green 9-3437
BOSTON (10) 330 Atlantic Ave Liberty 4057
BALTIMORE (2) 14 North t^y St Calvert 4539_.
PHILADELPHIA 6 North 6th St. Lombard 765 I
NORFOLK 25 Commercial PI Norfolk 4-1083
NEW ORLEANS (16) ..309 Chartrea St Canal 3336
CAVANNAH .218 East Bay St. .Savannah 3-1728
TAMPA...:::.:: 423 East puu st Tampa MM. 1323
MOBILE 55 So. Conception St Dial 2-1392
PUERTO RICO 45 Ponce de Leon L"?"" J.JT?
GALVESTON 219 20th Street Galveston 2-8043
FT. LAUDERDALE 2021 S. Federal Highway. .. Ft. Lauderdale 1601
nr -w T.
PUBLICATION OFFICE:
ROOM 213, 2 STONE STREET
New York City BOwling Green 9-8345
~ Z67
Mil
TTT'-^
fRtPORT on.
.^ASHItAOTOIV.
• Bv MATTHEW Du&MAME-a • ^
Plan For Natl. Service
Act Is Hit By Labor,
Farmers, Business
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13—Representative of agri-
fculture and industrial management this week joined labor
in condemning for the ash can all proposals for national
servic legislation, which would recruit workers for jobs and
tie them to them for the duration of the war.
In a statement signed by the*———— " ; ; —
"1. The American people will
provide greater output under a
voluntary system than under one
of compulsion and regimentation.
"2. The present critical man
power situations are results of
dislocations, mal - distribution of
contracts, and ineffective man
power utilization rather than of
inadequate over-all supply of
labor.
"3. The solution depends upon
leadership, coordinated and un
derstood plans, and efficient ad
ministration, not upon broadened
control and regulation.
'•4. Fully effective mobilization
and utilization of the national
manpower will be achieved.
When all agencies of government
concerned with procurement,
production and manpower are
administered under a coordinated
and well understood arrangement
in which government defines the
war needs, enunciated the funda
mental policies or 'rules of the
game,' confines itself to a mini
mum of control and administra
tive detail, and provides the
maximum of real assistance to
those who must do the work,
namely the people of this nation
in each conimunity."
nine members of the national
Management-Labor Policy Com
mittee of the War Manpower
Commission, a continuation of
the voluntary method of recruit
ing workers was urged, and a
positive program, with pledges
to back it up, was offered..
Signing the statement were;
For Labor: CIO Pres. • Philip
Murray, AFL Pres. William
Green and Pres. H. W. Fraser of
the Order of Railway Conductors
of America.
For Industry: Pres. Frederick
C. Crawford, Natl. Assn. of Man
ufacturers; Pres. Eric A. John
ston, U. S. Chamber of Commerce
and R. Conrad Cooper, Asst.
vice-president, Wheeling Steel
Corp.
• For Agriculture: Pres. James
G. Patton, Natl. Fai'mers Union;
Pres. Edward A. O'Neal, Ameri
can Farm Bureau Federation,
and Albert S. Goss, master of the
Natl. Grange.^
The committee report said that
the members "believe that the
people of this nation are unsur
passed in initiative, resourceful
ness, and the will to do when
their course is clear.
"They (the committee mem
bers) are opposed to National
War Service Legislation in the
unanimous belief that compul
sion in any form, whether by law
or by administrative order, does
not go to the heart of the prob
lem. They believe the need goes
beyond that which can be secur
ed by compulsion.
"They are convinced that:
Our American corporation sur
pluses— reserves and undivided
profits — now amount to over
$50 billion—inclusive of $24 bil
lion of government bonds most
of which are tax-exempt.
Keep In Touch With
Your Draft Board
NATIONAL
WAR LABOR BOARD
Attended a conference of the
War Shipping Panel. The session
commenced on Thursday, Nov
ember 11th, and ended Saturday,
November 13th.
On July 14th, 1943, the Na
tional War Labor Board estab
lished this panel in the maritime
industry to expedite all maritime
cases, and to also have persons
who are familiar with the indus
try sit on the panel and make
recommendations to the board on
all voluntary agreements and
disputed cases.
Since the establishment of this
panel, several attempts have
been made to set up a policy
that is favorable to all concerned.
Very little progress has been
made due to the CIO's attempt
to dominate the panel's policy.
In the board's order of July
14th it states, "The labor mem
bers of the panel shall be chosen
from crafts and industrial groups
whose membership may be in
volved in matters within juris
diction of the panel. The labor
member of the panel sitting in
each case shall be a member
chosen from the craft or indus
trial group involved in the case
before the panel, or such labor
member as he may designate."
The position of all the AFL mari
time representatives on the panel
is that on all AFL cases the
union involved in the case shall
have an AFL representative sit
on the panel. The CIO has taken
the position that both the AFL
and CIO labor member shall sit
in on all cases regardless of what
organization is involved.
At the first meeting of the
panel this same dispute occured.
In that meeting the chairman
outlined the policy of how aU
cases were to be heard. The po
sition of the chairman was sim-
iliar to the position taken by the
AFL representatives. To date all
cases have been handled in the
manner outlined under the
board's order.
On Thursday the CIO again
renewed their claim for joint
representation on the panel. The
whole day was wasted in arguing
the point. Final outcome was
that the panel voted on a resolu
tion requesting the board for a
clarification on the board's order.
The AFL representatives voted
against the resolution on the
grounds that the boards order
specifically states how the panel
shall handle aU cases.
If the NWLB rules that there
shall be joint representation on
all cases, this means that when
any AFL mafitime union negoti
ates an agreement with an em
ployer, the CIO can vote not to
recommend approval of the
agreement, and is in a position
to sabotage any agreement that
is reached between the union
and the employer. It gives them
the voting power to interfere
with the final outcome of our col
lective bargaining.
On Friday, a panel consisting
of Edmund M, Morgan, Chair
man and Public member, Chester
W. Willett Industry Member,
Yours truly Labor member, rec
ommended that the board ap
prove of the following voluntary
agreements.
Ashley & Dustin SS Company
and the SIU Great Lakes Dist.
Cleveland & Buffalo SS Company
and the SIU Great Lakes Dist.
Wisconsin & Michigan SS Com
pany and the SIU Great Lakes
District.
These agreements covered the
Stewards department. There
were some wage increases based
upon particular job-classifica
tions, and differences of work in
volved, other than the regional
board's ruling in the D & C
Company and the SIU Great
Lakes District.
The matter of the panel's rec
ommendations on the 26 S^
Companies and the SIU G. L.
District has not been settled. In
dustry and public member are
of the opinion that they cannot
go along on any other proposi
tion, than that rendered by the
board to the Lake Carriers Asso
ciation— Bonus payable at the
termination of the season. My
opinion on the matter is that the
board should grant the same
bonus privilages to the employ
ers with whom the SIU had in
their contracts before the board
upset the established bonus pro
visions, namely bonus payable at
the end of thirty days.
Other cases before the panel
were several tow boat operators
from the gulf coast and the Miss
issippi river, requesting wage
schedule approval by the board.
All of the wage requests were
lower than those paid by com
panies than the SIU have under
contract in the Gulf. Efforts
should be made to organize all
the tow boats in the gulf. If
enough of these tow boat oper
ators wage scale become approv
ed in the Gulf, they automatic
ally set mode for that kind of
work, and no wage scale above
the mode will then be approved
by the board.
On Saturday the 13th, case of
the MM&P-MEBA, for a uniform
standard agreement came up.
Chairman stated that this was
only a preliminary discussion on
the matter. He also stated thaf
Admiral Land has indicated that
the WSA is in favor of a uniform'
agreement for the licensed per-«
sonnel, and has notified all gen
eral agents of the WSA to meet
with representatives of the
MM&P-MEBA for the purpose of
arriving at a uniform agreement.
The operators contended that
they' have requested Admiral
Land to clarify letters that wer®
sent to WSA general agents re
garding this matter and that they
were waiting for a reply. They
also stated that they have not
had the opportunity to negotiate
with the unions, due to several
conflicting letters from the WSA.
The union took the position thafi
the operators are staUing. IWfr,
Morgan chairman of the panel
stated that in his opinion the op
erators have had ample time tO
sit down with the unions, and
has designated the first Thursday
in December Jor this case to be
heard.
4 « *
M. Weisberger, SUP Agt, Nev^
York—Re: Crew of S.S. Morrisoai
R. Waite claim for transporta
tion. This case was taken up
with the WSA and they advised
me that the master of the vessel
had made a mistake in not sign
ing on the crew with WSA in
struction No. 64 being incorpor
ated into the articles. My posi
tion was that the articles super
seded any outside agreement or
instructions to the contrary. At
that time they advised me that
they would send a letter to th®
New York agent of the WSA
position on this matter.
Since that time two other west
coast ships signed on articles in
the Gulf and instruction No. 64
was also left out of the articles.
The WSA has advised me that
they are willing to pay tha
transportation as provided under,
instruction No. 64 on these tw6
vessels, but are not willing to
authorize payment on the M. R,
Waite. I am of the opinion that
the crew that signed on the
Waite are entitled to transporta;-
{Continued on Page 4)
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Friday, November 19. 1943 THE SEAFARERS LOG • Page ThiMi
""t-l
WHAr S DOING
Around the Ports
NEW YORK
In covering various ships in
the past weeks I have encount
ered a number of beefs concern
ing some RMO male or skipper
ordering garbage dumped in for
eign ports or docks and then re
fusing to OK the overtime. In
all agreements it is deck depart
ment work. But you see if any
Stewards Department member
refused to obey such an order,
even though it is deck work,
these men would bo called be
fore the Coast Guard when they
arrived back in the first U. S.
port and their papers would be
at stake. The only solution to
this is to stick the shipowner for
overtime everytime it happens.
In this connection it is import
ant that all men hold onto their
overtime slips. A lot of good
overtime is bureaucratically cut
off by the home office, and unless
the men have their slips it is dif
ficult for the patrolmen to settle
the beef. But if you keep ac
curate track and present the
whole thing to the patrolmen it
will be a different story.
For instance, this week I suc
ceeded in collecting overtime for
two brothers who were instruct
ed in a port in North Africa to
use an Army truck to secure
supplies two miles away from
the dock. We collected 5 hours
overtime for them, even though
the home office had at first dis
allowed it. All this because the
Brothers involved kept accurate
records, dates and places, and I
had something concrete to go on,
Remember, your best guaran
tee of collecting is to hold your
overtime slips for the shore pa
trolmen.
CLAUDE FISHER,
N. Y. Stewards Patrolman
SAVANNAH
Here's a new one for the book:
Seems as if the NMU and the
Maritime Commission has cook
ed up a new one. Seems that all
the surplus ships being built on
the Pacific Coast, that cannot be
handled by West Coast operators,
is being alloted to East Coast
operators with Seafarers' Inter
national Union agreements
About 85% of the ships being
built in the South Atlantic dis
trict is being alloted to compan
ies north of Hatteras and the
South Atlantic Steamship Com
pany has to go all the way out to
the West Coast to take out ships.
There seems to be something
rotten in Denmark somewhere.
When they are talking about sav
ing money, it seems the sensible
thing to do would be to allot
ships to a company that is close
to a yard where they are being
built.
Whenever we have to call on
our nearest union hall for men
to fill out a crew, they always
put up a big holler about not
authorizing transportation, but it
is all right for them to ship
gandy dancers all over the coun
try.
Just finished crewing up a hew
Liberty ship for the South At
lantic Steamship Company with
a complete union crew.
CHARLES WAID, Agent
RMO Tightens Finky Grip
On Seamen Deferment Set-Up
New Post Regulations
For Merchant Seamen
Seafarers International Union '
Of North Amrrica
2 Stone Street
New York, New York
Gentlemen:
This will supplement our letter to you of December 31, 1942
(copy attached), with reference to mail service to and from mem
bers of the crews of American merchant vessels. ^
The following changes have become advisable in the mail pro
cedure since its inception on January 1, 1943, and are now in effect:
(1) Included in this service will now be members of the crews
of Allied merchant vessels oVfer 200 gross tons, under War Shipping
Administration control, as weU as American members of the crews
of Allied or AUied-controUed merchant vessels subject to such se
curity regulation for the handling of mail as may be prescribed by
the Allied control having jurisdiction over the vessel.
(2) Reports indicate that considerable quantities of mail for
merchant crews are being returned to the United States from over
seas ports, due to a lack of interest on the part of seamen and their
failure to call for it. Masters have, therefore, been instructed that
when arriving at ports outside of the United States, they or duly
authorized detailed members of the crew, should call for mail at
the U.S. Navy Fleet Post Office, or in the absence of a Fleet Post
Office, at the office of the Naval Observer, Marine Post Office, Army
^ost Office, other U.S. postal activity, or American Consulate iff
the order named.
(3) Members of merchant crews of merchant ships calling at
'oreign ports are having considerable correspondence forwarded to
ihem in care of American consulates, A.P.O.'s, shipping agents for
the steamship line in a foreign port, etc. This is absolutely contrary
to regulations and defeats security. Seamen are, tlierefore, caution
ed to refrain from the practice of communicating this information
to anyone in the Urdted States. Letters thus addressed will be ab
solutely stopped by the censors in this country and not delivered-
(4) Seamen should advise their correspondents in this country,
prior to their departure from a continental U. S. Port, to assure
that mail addressed to them should be in accordance with the fol
lowing form.
I" II
{Contimied from Page 1)
night last Sunday. Moreover, the
procedure has been so stream
lined that its operation will now
revolve chiefly around the RMO
central office in Washington, on
the' one hand, and the shipown
ers. Included are ships of the
Army Transport Service, which
are sailed by civilian masters
and crews. The new plan will
give the Washington office the
necessary information for filing
with a local-draft board a Form
42-A. This is the instrument for
establishing a seaman's status in
the Selective Service system. A
form 42-A must be filed every six
months.
Under the former system, now
to be supplanted, various fixed
responsibilities were divided, re-
ictively, among operating
ipanies, maritime unions, all
individual seamen and the cen
tral, regional and port offices of
RMO.
The new instruction covers all
active merchant seamen employ
ed on vessels under the Ameri
can, Philippine, Honduran or
Panamanian flag which are en
gaged in coastal, intercoastal or
offshore shipping and owned by
or under charter to the War
Shipping Administration, or on a
vessel of the Army Transport
Service.
The form WSA-61, entitled
"Record of Service in Merchant
Marine," consists of three sec
tions. The white original of the
form and the pink carbon copy
both contain Section A, identical
on both, which the master of a
vessel is required to fill out in
duplicate for each seaman whose
employment on the ship is com
mencing. At sailing time the
master will give the white orig
inals. covering his entire crew, to
the last person to leave the ship,
for mailing to the RMO central
office. Section A will include the
following information: The sea
man's name, number of certific
ate of identification or continuous
discharge book, his rating, date
when employment on the ship
began, the port where he joined,
local draft board number, order
number, year of birth and, in ad
dition, the names of the shipping
company and ship and the mas
ter's signature.
Section B and C of the form
are contained only on the pink
copy and are to be kept in the
ship's records until the seaman's
employment on the ship is ended.
This may be after the first voy
age or one or more subsequent
voyages! At that time the master
will fill out on Section B the
date when employment ended,
the' port of pay-off and the date
when the seaman is required to
ship again under the Selective
Service provisions for shore leave
between voyages. The master
will then sign Section B and mail
it to the RMO central offce to be
paired with the white copy. The
process will be repeated when
the seaman signs on his next
ship. If the seaman were to sail
continuously with the same ship,
no repetition of the process
would be necessary; the white
copy mailed to Washington in
the first instance would consti
tute the RMO central office rec
ord.
In the case of a seaman who
fails to join his ship, the white
copy of the form filled out for
him is to be mailed along with
the white copies for the other
crew members. But the pink
copy for this seaman is to be
completed by the master writing
in on Section B the words "Fail
ed to join ship" and the date.
This pink copy will then be mail
ed with the white copy.
Section C is a stub which the
master will fill out and give to
the seaman to keep. It contains
the seaman's name and the date
when he must ship again and in
addition an instruction stating in
part as follows:
"This form is the basis of ob
taining and maintaining your
draft deferment. You should
take up any draft board diffi
culties with your union hiring
hall, with the personnel office
of the steamship company, or
with a port office of the Re
cruitment and Manning Or
ganization. IMPORTANT; You
are to reship by the 'Date to
ship again.' This date was
calculated by allowing two
days ashore for every 7 on
ship, with a minimum of 4 and
a maximum of 30 days. If you
are between the ages of 18 and
65, be sure to keep your draft
board informed of your address
or you may be declared delin
quent and be classified 1-A."
On the reverse side of the pink
copy are detailed instructions to
masters of vessels covering vari
ous possible exceptions to the
rules, as well as the basic rou
tine. There is also instruction 4
which states:
"This document contains In
formation affecting the nation
al defense of the United States
within the meaning of the Es
pionage Act, 50, U.S.C., 31 and
32, as amended. Its transmis
sion or the revealation of its
contents in any manner to an
unauthorized person is prohib
ited by law."
Whenever a seaman wishes an
extension of allowable shore
leave on account of extenuating
circumstances, the new regula
tions authorize the regional or
port offices of RMO to grant any
justifiable extension up to 30
days, the regional or port office
will forward the information to
the RMO central office with its
recommendations. In neither.in
stance will it be necessary under
Mrs. T. Smith
1022 Marble Street
New York, New York
John T. Smith
SB PRESIDENT JACKSON
c/o Postmaster
''Neiv York, New York
(Name of Steamship Line)
(4) Hereafter it will be permissible for seamen to place their
return address on letters enclosed in envelopes (but not on the out
side of envelopes). This is an important change and will enable
seamen to communicate to their correspondents in this coimtry the
name of the vessel on which they are serving and instruct their
relatives and friends as to how to address mail to them properly.
As heretofore, seamen are cautioned not to include in their letters
any other reference to names (other than as above) of either their
own or other ships, movements, ports touched, or any similap
information.
Please disseminate this information among the various members
of your organization in order to familiarize them with the foregoing
changes. It is suggested that bulletins be posted in your halls to
acquaint the seamen to this effect.
Very truly yours,
HUBERT WYCKOFF
Director, Division of Maritime
Labor Relations
•Mail for crew complements on ships sailing from East Coast ports
will be addressed c/o Postmaster, N, Y.; from Gulf Coast ports,
c/o Postmaster, New Orleans, La.; from West Coast port, c/o Post
master, San Francisco, Calif.
the new arrangement to refer the
question to the local draft board
or Selective Service headquart
ers with which the seaman will
have been registered. The Selec
tive Service, board instead will
communicate with the RMO
whenever for any reason a sea
man's status seems in question.
Among circumstances recognized
as extenuating are illness, effects
of enemy action requiring rest or
treatment, serious illness or
other hardship in the man's fam
ily and enrollment in courses for
up-grading or officer candidate
training in a school maintained
or approved by the U. S. Mari
time Service.
All maritime unions have been
supplied with cancelled copies ol
Form 61 for their representatives
so that all members may be
properly informed of their rights
and obligations.
GJ
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Page Four THE SEAFARERS LOG Friday, November 19, 1943
Union Welfare Demands Close
Attention To RMO Graduates
{Continued from Page 1)
-lhat action may be taken at
Branches where meetings are
held.
In explaining this motion
Hawk said, "There has been a
regular flood of rejected trip
cards coming into the headquar
ters during the past few months.
In many cases ships with less
than 6 full book members have
rejected as many as 20 trip card
men without explaining their ac
tions and giving the men a hear
ing.
"While many men have been
rejected merely because the book
men were prejudiced against
trainees or didn't like the way
they parted their hair. If the
present rate of rejections con
tinues, hundreds of new men
(potentially good union men, if
the old timers would spend a
few hours explaining the score to
•them) will be driven away from
the SIU and into either the NMU
or the fink ships. In cither case,
this organization is cutting off its
hose to spite its face if it does
not spend some effort and time
in developing these new men.
"While it is the right of the
jriembership to reject any one
they see fit, still this process
must be conducted in any or
ganized manner and in a way
that will mean justice for every
one. The minimum requirement
must certainly be that the re
jected men have complaints
brought against them in writing
and that these complaints be
given a hearing before the mem
bership.
"We don't want finks in our
union, but green kids are not
necessarily finks. Many of them
will be the backbone of our or
ganization in years to come. They
should be given a chance to
prove themselves before getting
the bums rush."
m NEW CARGO
SHIPS DELIVERED
Brother Frank Donnally is laid
VP in Ellis Island Hospital in
New York. He would like to re
ceive a visit from any of his old
.shipmates. He is in Ward 25.
» «• »
. The following brothers have
packages in the New York
Agent's office:
Christensen, H. Martin
Corsa, James
Dietrich, Edward
Fowler, Harold
Fitzgerald, Niel
Hammargren. Vincsnl
Hamsy, Clyde
Hanke. Adam
Kaney, William
. Kelley, Jesse
Klauber. Perry
Klieger, Harry
Lukkarila, Edwin
- Miles, C. H.
Olmstead, Frank
Perkins, Walter
Turner, J. D.
^ Walker, Willie
MONEY DUE
. WASHINGTON — American
merchant ehipy.?.rd.s 'in _r
delivered 163 cargo vessels ag
gregating 1,675,311 deadweight
tons, bringing the total 1943 de
liveries to 1,524 ships, totaling
15,501,624 deadweight tons, the
Maritime Commission announced.
October production surpassed
that of September by three ves
sels, 22,540 deadweight tons of
ships. During the month, yards
delivered 98 Liberty Ships, eight
C-type cargo vessels, 16 standard
tankers, 19 emergency tankers
(modified Liberty Ships), three
T-1 or coastal tankers, two pri
vate coastal tankers, five seago
ing tugs, one ore carrier, three
concrete barges, and eight special
types for military use.
Of the total deliveries, 76 ships
were delivered by West Coast
yards; East Coast yards turned
out 51 vessels, 29 vessels were
delivered by yards on the Gulf
Coast, and seven ships were pro
duced by Great Lakes builders.
October deliveries put the
Commission within 3,388,376
deadweight tons of its announced
goal of 18,890,000 deadweight
tons of merchant ships for 1943.
Show 25 Pet.
Earn Less Than
»
50 Cents An Hour
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 —
More than a fourth of the em
ployes involved in wage adjust
ment cases of the War Labor
Board in September earned less
than 50 cents an hour, states the
WLB's seventh monthly report.
Some 77 per cent averaged less
than 80 cents an hour, while 4.3
per cent averaged less than 40
cents.
In a section on incentive plans,
the Board said that action on
such pi'oposals "will be limited
to a determination of whether or
not the proposed plan is in con
formance with the national sta
bilization program and would re
sult in unauthorized wage rate
decreases or increases."
Only plans submitted volun
tarily by employers or plans
agreed upon by employers and
unions which have collective
bargaining rights with the com
pany concerned will be consid
ered.
Washington Report
{Continued from Page 2)
tion to the Pacific Coast as per
the ships articles, regardless of
whether the master made a mis
take. This will require a lawyer
to enter suit to collect. There
may be a possibility to get the
coast guard to compell the com
pany to live up to the ship's ar
ticles and pay off.
J. K. Shaughnessey, SIU Agt.
Fort Lauderdale — Seamen who
are employed by General Agents
of the WSA are entitled to the
protection afforded to other
workers under the National La
bor Relations Act, and can call
upon this agency for an election.
Don't let any one in this agency
give you the run around, have
them give you a statement in
writing if they refuse to grant
any seamen an election.
Army, SIU Agt. N. O.—Re;
Lesli Kohl, wiper on the S.S.
.John C. Spencer. Company
claims that they paid him 100%
bonus from July 8th 1943 to Oct
ober 25th 1943. Recheck on this
and advise whether company's
-statement is correct. Re: West
Coast crews signing on ships and
Instruction No. 64 being omitted
from the articles. U. S. Shipping
commissioners are not authorized
to make any statement for the
WSA. If shipping commissioner
makes statements which are not
in writing or these statements
cover some government agency
wherein they have no jurisdic
tion, the crews are taking a
chance of being the losers in any
deal that they may agree to. Play
safe, there is nothing like get
ting all terms of a contract in
writing. If a party tries to re
pudiate a contract that has been
put in writing, the courts are at
our disposal. Otherwise we have
nothing to fight with.
NEW CARGO ROUTES
The failure of the U-boat cam
paign during recent weeks has
brought about an improved ship
ping situation in the Atlantic,
and consequently the War Ship
ping Administration will prob
ably go ahead with plans to re
shuffle a number of commercial
cargo routes. These changes may
come in the form of diversions,
shifting some operations from the
Pacific to the Atlantic and Gulf
ports, as well as others from New
York to Southern ports, it was
reported.
Reports from the Pacific Coast
indicate thf.t it is the WSA's in
tention to divert to the East
Coast this month Ml commercial
cargo services which have been
performed between Pacific Coast
ports of" the United States and
India. A similar diversion is be
ing considered with respect to
Australia and New Zealand.
A Pie Card Unburdens
Himself To Pal "Joe"
: Crew which paid off S.S. Alcoa
Voyager in Sept. 1943, has $10 ^
linen money coining. Collect 17
Battery Place. New York City.
ATLANTIC AND GULF SHIPPING FOR
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1st TO 6th
DECK ENGINE STEWARD TOTAL
SHIPPED
REGISTERED
355
261
160
211
274
217
789
689
Philadelphia, Pa.
November 9, 1943
Dear Joe:
There was a ship in Philadel
phia not long ago and for 5 days
no one, not even the delegate,
called the hall. It seems a little
unreasonable but believe me Joe,
it's the truth, so help me. This
would never have happened had
B. been on that ship.
Well, its a damn shame that
he and a good number of men
like him' have been lost due to
enemy action.
Another thing that isn't quite
up to hoil these days Joe, is the
men beefing about changing
quarters, etc., after signing ships
articles and then when they ar
rive in a loading port start their
beefing. In the not too far away
days to remember, all these con
ditions were remedied in the port
where one joined the ship before
they signed the ships articles.
Another thing strikes me as
rather queer Joe, and it is this;
when a trip card man was sent
aboard a ship in the good old
days he was schooled in the art
of unionism and what was to be
expected of him. But nowadays,
in some cases, you are asked by
the tripcarder if he joins the
union what will he get out of it.
You would think that after a
trip this question is slightly out
of order, you would think that
the man already knows what he
would get out of the union, es
pecially if some union brother
was to take time out to explain
our strikes for conditions and
etc. ''
I tell you Jpe, things are dif
ferent nowadays. Instead of the
tripcarders fighting to join the
union, in some cases the union
official almost has to fight them
to join.
Some of these tripcarders are
under the impression that they
can get off the ship they are on'
and not join the union in the
port that they pay off in, but
go to the port that they shipped
out of and join there. Of course,
this is all wrong, but unless one '
of the crew members explains
this to these boys they are liable,
to think that they owe a debt of
gratitude to the agent that ship
ped them out, therefore that Is.
where they want to take their
Book out. •
..TThings. like this can be. easily
remedied if the boys would have'
a little get-together before the
ship's arrival in a final pay off
port, and explain these things to
the prospective new members. I
don't know if it wouldnT be a-
good idea if each agent Uiat ships
a trip card man gives him, along'
with his trip card, an application
for, membership blank, and in
struct him to fill it out a day or -
twd before the ship arrives back '
in the states and have a com-'
mittee of 5 book members sign it^
for him and also instruct him to*
take out his book and pay all
his obligations to the union in
the port where he pays off.
The more I think of the idea
the better I like it. What do you
think, Joe?
f
Well, Joe, I guess that I have
bent your Moose cars long,
enough, but before I close, I must,
say that things are about the
same here in the City of. Broth-;
erly Love, so until I see you.
remain as ever, your Pal, . j
Book No. 496 •
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OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ATLANTIC AND GULF DISTRICT,
SEAFARERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA
Vol. V. NEW YORK. N.Y., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19. 1943 No. 33
Make Trainees Union Men—Hawk
CHISELING OPERATORS
STRAND U.S. SEAMEN
By a BOSUN
Despite the cry of the RMO
for experienced seamen in or
der to transport the war goods
abroad, American shipowners
are deliberately stranding
rated men in the Caribbean
and filling their places with
n,atives who never went to sea
before. I know this is true be
cause I was one of those
stranded and I saw how the
whole rotten business works.
The shipowners do this, of
course, because the natives
are not union men and will
not demand union wages and
conditions. The effect of this
move on the war effort means
nothing to the shipowners—
apparently.
My story begins on
1943 when I signed on an Al
coa ship in • New York City.
My ship went to Trinadad and
from there spent three months
on a shuttle between
:.:v:;..A. , and
It was during
this run that I saw with my
own eyes two American (sup
posedly union) ships whose
decks were fully crewed by
natives who had been picked
up along the waterfront and
were being paid God-knows-
what. These two ships, the
S.S. ) and the S.S.
...) were fully crew
ed by union men when they
first came south, but during
their long run the original
crew had been forced ashore
one at a time on account of
illness. Each time a replace
ment was needed, the ship-
,,owner would ignore the union
men begging for jobs in Port
of Spain, and hire natives
away from shore jobs.
This practice ha.s been going
on for a long time and when
I was in Port of Spain this
summer I found over 100 Am
erican seamen who had been
stranded there. These men
had all gotten off their ships
for hospital treatment at dif
ferent times, but found that
once they were ashore it was
impossible for them to ship
out again. And since the
Army and Navy would not
give them priority transporta
tion back to the States, they
were stranded in this port
without any means of making
a living. They were becoming
regular beachcombers.
When ever an American
ship would put in and call for
replacements, these men
would beg for the jobs, but no
go. The unorganized natives
got the jobs.
A couple of native replace
ments came aboard' my ship
and I found that they not only
had never been to sea but
they did not even have the
seamen's certificates as requir
ed by law.
The American seamen that
are thus stranded in Port of
Spain are treated like a bunch
of cattle by the shipowners'
agents and by the American
consular service. They are
given no aid whatsoever and
the general attitude seems to
be that they shouldn't have
gotten sick in the first place
and been forced to pile off the
ships.
It is hard to even describe
the despondency of these men
and the hovels they are forced
to live in and the food they
are forced to eat. If they
could hear all the ballyho
back here in the states about
seamen being heroes and how
grateful the nation was to
them, it sure would give them
a belly laugh—^that is, if their
stomachs hadn't shrunk too
much to prevent it.
I should like to say in clos
ing that Mr. Naggs, Alcoa
Agent in Port of Spain is
fully aware of this situation
and as far as I could see, do
ing absolutely nothing about
it. As for the American consul,
he wouldn't even see us and
listen to our problems. It is
impossible, however, that he
is ignorant of the treatment
given the seamen in this port.
At least these gentlemen sure
gave me the brush off When I
went to them for help in get
ting out of that hell hole.
The problem of making union men out of the RMO
trainees is a serious one and has not been given suflScient
attention by either SIU port officials or the rank and file
old timers aboard ships, according to Brother John Hawk,
Secretary-Treasurer of the District,
In presenting a resolution on^ a
the subject to headquarters
meeting two weeks ago. Brother
Hawk asked that greater educa
tional efforts be directed toward
the new men, and that no man
be rejected for SIU membership
unless his conduct labeled him
anti-union. Even then, formal
charges should be placed against
the individual. Hawk said, and
the charges should be aired be
fore the membership and a for
mal vote taken on the case.
The majority of the green kids
now flooding the industry will
not automatically become union
men by the mere fact of riding
a union ship. These trainees now
work under good conditions, and
they do not fully understand just
how these conditions were won.
They did not walk the picket
lines and eat out of the soup
kitchens. They have yet to feel
the lash of , the profit-hungry
shipowner, temporarily held in
check by the war emergency. In
short, these new men have no
real understanding of the class
struggle.
It is the responsibility of all
union 'men to take time out to
talk to these kids, to give them
the facts of life. Make no mis
take, if these trainees know the
score, they'll be on the right side
when the line up takes shape for
the next struggle. But fail to
educate them, and the union will
soon face the shipowners rein
forced by a back-log of potential
finks—men who think that the
way to get ahead is by playing
lone wolf and sucking around the
aft quarters of the brass hats and
swivil chair artists.
The old timers must face these
facts: (1) the majority of the
trainees are in the industry to
stay, and (2) their numbers are
such that they are a force to be
reckoned with. The degree of
union consciousness developed in
these men may well prove to be
the decisive factor in the post
war fight between the SIU and
the shipowners.
In order to place a brake upon
wholesale rejection of trainees,
the SIU has passed the following
resolution up and down the
coast:
All men after having made
a trip on an Atlantic and Gulf
District contracted vessel shall
be joined into the union, unless
a written recommendation
signed by three full book mem
bers to reject the man from
the union is submitted to a
regular meeting and concurred
in. In cases where no branch
meeting is held, the Branch
Agent shall spread the rejec
tion recommendation in full in
the Branch Agent's weekly re
port including the signers'
names and book numliers of
the recommendation in order
(^Continued on Page 4)
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On completion of the 5.000th fur vest produced by the Los
Angeles fur vest project for United Nations seamen, Capt. Wal
ter Treadway of USS presents a scroll of honor to Man. J.
Miller (center) of Local 87, International Fur & Leather Workers
Union (CIO) and Man. Louis Pine (right) of the Los Angeles
Joint Board, International Ladies Garment Workers Union
(AFL).
RMO Tightens Finky Grip
On Seamen Deferment Set-Up
The RMO took another hitch
in the rope around the neck of
merchant seamen this week
when it issued new Army defer
ment regulations which entirely
eliminated the union's past par
ticipation in the Selective Ser
vice machinery. Whereas in the
past the union dispatcher was
charged with notifying the RMO
when a man shipped out, the
new method will by-pass the
union entirely and all correspon
dence will be between the ship
owner, the RMO and the draft
boards.
Not that we particularly care
whether the union is included in
the RMO procedure or not, for
the whole scheme stinks of to
talitarian coercion and the less
the. SIU has to do with it the
better we'll like it. We only re
port this development to bear
out what we said when the RMO
first moved to grab jurisdiction
over the draft status of the sea
men—that is, that the apparatus
set up in this manner would
gradually be ti-ansformed into a
club with which to beat organiz
ed labor over the head. This last
step is certainly a move in that
direction.
The RMO now has complete
and undisputed jurisdiction over
the deferment or induction of
seamen into the army. If this
isn't a threat to union activity—
then we never saw one. The
SIU-SUP is not caught unaware
by this development, wc fought
the RMO on this question from
the first. We boycotted their en
tire card system for months, and
it was only the servile surrender
of the NMU, thus splitting the
ranks of maritime labor, which
forced our final acceptance of the
plan. We said frankly at the
time, and we repeat today, were
we strong enough we wquld
throw the whole finky RMO and
its anti-labor schemes right out
the window. Unfortunately, with
maritime labor split, we are not
strong enough to do this—at
least not in war time. Therefore
we have no alternative but to go
along for the time, and to advise
every member to carefully ob
serve aU the RMO regulations so
as not to get caught short. When
the war ends and the shipowners
really open up on the union, we'll
need every man in his place on
the picket lines. So don't get
fouled up now and find yourself
jerked out of the industry.
Here is an explaination of how
the new RMO regulations oper
ated.
Under the new method, a
single form, WSA-61, consisting
of a white original and a pink
carbon copy, will replace the fa
miliar green and buff cards
known as forms WSA-47 and
WSA-48. Use of the latter forms
are to be discontinued as of mid-
(Co It fin lied on Page 3)
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Pago Two THE SEAFARERS LOG Friday. NoTember 19. 1943 1
SEAFARERS LOG
Published by the
SEAFARERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF NORTH AMERICA
Atlantic and Gulf District
Affiliated with the American Federation of Labor
HARRY LUNDEBERG ------ President
110 Market Street, San Francbco, Calif.
JOHN HAVK ------- Secy-Treas.
p. 6. Box 25, Station P., New York City
MATTHEW DUSHANE - - - Washington Rep,
424 Sth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.
• •
Directory of Branches
BRANCH ADDRES3 PHONE
NEW YORK (4) 2 Stone St. BOwIIng Green 9-3437
BOSTON (10) 330 Atlantic Ave Liberty 4057
BALTIMORE (2) 14 North t^y St Calvert 4539_.
PHILADELPHIA 6 North 6th St. Lombard 765 I
NORFOLK 25 Commercial PI Norfolk 4-1083
NEW ORLEANS (16) ..309 Chartrea St Canal 3336
CAVANNAH .218 East Bay St. .Savannah 3-1728
TAMPA...:::.:: 423 East puu st Tampa MM. 1323
MOBILE 55 So. Conception St Dial 2-1392
PUERTO RICO 45 Ponce de Leon L"?"" J.JT?
GALVESTON 219 20th Street Galveston 2-8043
FT. LAUDERDALE 2021 S. Federal Highway. .. Ft. Lauderdale 1601
nr -w T.
PUBLICATION OFFICE:
ROOM 213, 2 STONE STREET
New York City BOwling Green 9-8345
~ Z67
Mil
TTT'-^
fRtPORT on.
.^ASHItAOTOIV.
• Bv MATTHEW Du&MAME-a • ^
Plan For Natl. Service
Act Is Hit By Labor,
Farmers, Business
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13—Representative of agri-
fculture and industrial management this week joined labor
in condemning for the ash can all proposals for national
servic legislation, which would recruit workers for jobs and
tie them to them for the duration of the war.
In a statement signed by the*———— " ; ; —
"1. The American people will
provide greater output under a
voluntary system than under one
of compulsion and regimentation.
"2. The present critical man
power situations are results of
dislocations, mal - distribution of
contracts, and ineffective man
power utilization rather than of
inadequate over-all supply of
labor.
"3. The solution depends upon
leadership, coordinated and un
derstood plans, and efficient ad
ministration, not upon broadened
control and regulation.
'•4. Fully effective mobilization
and utilization of the national
manpower will be achieved.
When all agencies of government
concerned with procurement,
production and manpower are
administered under a coordinated
and well understood arrangement
in which government defines the
war needs, enunciated the funda
mental policies or 'rules of the
game,' confines itself to a mini
mum of control and administra
tive detail, and provides the
maximum of real assistance to
those who must do the work,
namely the people of this nation
in each conimunity."
nine members of the national
Management-Labor Policy Com
mittee of the War Manpower
Commission, a continuation of
the voluntary method of recruit
ing workers was urged, and a
positive program, with pledges
to back it up, was offered..
Signing the statement were;
For Labor: CIO Pres. • Philip
Murray, AFL Pres. William
Green and Pres. H. W. Fraser of
the Order of Railway Conductors
of America.
For Industry: Pres. Frederick
C. Crawford, Natl. Assn. of Man
ufacturers; Pres. Eric A. John
ston, U. S. Chamber of Commerce
and R. Conrad Cooper, Asst.
vice-president, Wheeling Steel
Corp.
• For Agriculture: Pres. James
G. Patton, Natl. Fai'mers Union;
Pres. Edward A. O'Neal, Ameri
can Farm Bureau Federation,
and Albert S. Goss, master of the
Natl. Grange.^
The committee report said that
the members "believe that the
people of this nation are unsur
passed in initiative, resourceful
ness, and the will to do when
their course is clear.
"They (the committee mem
bers) are opposed to National
War Service Legislation in the
unanimous belief that compul
sion in any form, whether by law
or by administrative order, does
not go to the heart of the prob
lem. They believe the need goes
beyond that which can be secur
ed by compulsion.
"They are convinced that:
Our American corporation sur
pluses— reserves and undivided
profits — now amount to over
$50 billion—inclusive of $24 bil
lion of government bonds most
of which are tax-exempt.
Keep In Touch With
Your Draft Board
NATIONAL
WAR LABOR BOARD
Attended a conference of the
War Shipping Panel. The session
commenced on Thursday, Nov
ember 11th, and ended Saturday,
November 13th.
On July 14th, 1943, the Na
tional War Labor Board estab
lished this panel in the maritime
industry to expedite all maritime
cases, and to also have persons
who are familiar with the indus
try sit on the panel and make
recommendations to the board on
all voluntary agreements and
disputed cases.
Since the establishment of this
panel, several attempts have
been made to set up a policy
that is favorable to all concerned.
Very little progress has been
made due to the CIO's attempt
to dominate the panel's policy.
In the board's order of July
14th it states, "The labor mem
bers of the panel shall be chosen
from crafts and industrial groups
whose membership may be in
volved in matters within juris
diction of the panel. The labor
member of the panel sitting in
each case shall be a member
chosen from the craft or indus
trial group involved in the case
before the panel, or such labor
member as he may designate."
The position of all the AFL mari
time representatives on the panel
is that on all AFL cases the
union involved in the case shall
have an AFL representative sit
on the panel. The CIO has taken
the position that both the AFL
and CIO labor member shall sit
in on all cases regardless of what
organization is involved.
At the first meeting of the
panel this same dispute occured.
In that meeting the chairman
outlined the policy of how aU
cases were to be heard. The po
sition of the chairman was sim-
iliar to the position taken by the
AFL representatives. To date all
cases have been handled in the
manner outlined under the
board's order.
On Thursday the CIO again
renewed their claim for joint
representation on the panel. The
whole day was wasted in arguing
the point. Final outcome was
that the panel voted on a resolu
tion requesting the board for a
clarification on the board's order.
The AFL representatives voted
against the resolution on the
grounds that the boards order
specifically states how the panel
shall handle aU cases.
If the NWLB rules that there
shall be joint representation on
all cases, this means that when
any AFL mafitime union negoti
ates an agreement with an em
ployer, the CIO can vote not to
recommend approval of the
agreement, and is in a position
to sabotage any agreement that
is reached between the union
and the employer. It gives them
the voting power to interfere
with the final outcome of our col
lective bargaining.
On Friday, a panel consisting
of Edmund M, Morgan, Chair
man and Public member, Chester
W. Willett Industry Member,
Yours truly Labor member, rec
ommended that the board ap
prove of the following voluntary
agreements.
Ashley & Dustin SS Company
and the SIU Great Lakes Dist.
Cleveland & Buffalo SS Company
and the SIU Great Lakes Dist.
Wisconsin & Michigan SS Com
pany and the SIU Great Lakes
District.
These agreements covered the
Stewards department. There
were some wage increases based
upon particular job-classifica
tions, and differences of work in
volved, other than the regional
board's ruling in the D & C
Company and the SIU Great
Lakes District.
The matter of the panel's rec
ommendations on the 26 S^
Companies and the SIU G. L.
District has not been settled. In
dustry and public member are
of the opinion that they cannot
go along on any other proposi
tion, than that rendered by the
board to the Lake Carriers Asso
ciation— Bonus payable at the
termination of the season. My
opinion on the matter is that the
board should grant the same
bonus privilages to the employ
ers with whom the SIU had in
their contracts before the board
upset the established bonus pro
visions, namely bonus payable at
the end of thirty days.
Other cases before the panel
were several tow boat operators
from the gulf coast and the Miss
issippi river, requesting wage
schedule approval by the board.
All of the wage requests were
lower than those paid by com
panies than the SIU have under
contract in the Gulf. Efforts
should be made to organize all
the tow boats in the gulf. If
enough of these tow boat oper
ators wage scale become approv
ed in the Gulf, they automatic
ally set mode for that kind of
work, and no wage scale above
the mode will then be approved
by the board.
On Saturday the 13th, case of
the MM&P-MEBA, for a uniform
standard agreement came up.
Chairman stated that this was
only a preliminary discussion on
the matter. He also stated thaf
Admiral Land has indicated that
the WSA is in favor of a uniform'
agreement for the licensed per-«
sonnel, and has notified all gen
eral agents of the WSA to meet
with representatives of the
MM&P-MEBA for the purpose of
arriving at a uniform agreement.
The operators contended that
they' have requested Admiral
Land to clarify letters that wer®
sent to WSA general agents re
garding this matter and that they
were waiting for a reply. They
also stated that they have not
had the opportunity to negotiate
with the unions, due to several
conflicting letters from the WSA.
The union took the position thafi
the operators are staUing. IWfr,
Morgan chairman of the panel
stated that in his opinion the op
erators have had ample time tO
sit down with the unions, and
has designated the first Thursday
in December Jor this case to be
heard.
4 « *
M. Weisberger, SUP Agt, Nev^
York—Re: Crew of S.S. Morrisoai
R. Waite claim for transporta
tion. This case was taken up
with the WSA and they advised
me that the master of the vessel
had made a mistake in not sign
ing on the crew with WSA in
struction No. 64 being incorpor
ated into the articles. My posi
tion was that the articles super
seded any outside agreement or
instructions to the contrary. At
that time they advised me that
they would send a letter to th®
New York agent of the WSA
position on this matter.
Since that time two other west
coast ships signed on articles in
the Gulf and instruction No. 64
was also left out of the articles.
The WSA has advised me that
they are willing to pay tha
transportation as provided under,
instruction No. 64 on these tw6
vessels, but are not willing to
authorize payment on the M. R,
Waite. I am of the opinion that
the crew that signed on the
Waite are entitled to transporta;-
{Continued on Page 4)
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Friday, November 19. 1943 THE SEAFARERS LOG • Page ThiMi
""t-l
WHAr S DOING
Around the Ports
NEW YORK
In covering various ships in
the past weeks I have encount
ered a number of beefs concern
ing some RMO male or skipper
ordering garbage dumped in for
eign ports or docks and then re
fusing to OK the overtime. In
all agreements it is deck depart
ment work. But you see if any
Stewards Department member
refused to obey such an order,
even though it is deck work,
these men would bo called be
fore the Coast Guard when they
arrived back in the first U. S.
port and their papers would be
at stake. The only solution to
this is to stick the shipowner for
overtime everytime it happens.
In this connection it is import
ant that all men hold onto their
overtime slips. A lot of good
overtime is bureaucratically cut
off by the home office, and unless
the men have their slips it is dif
ficult for the patrolmen to settle
the beef. But if you keep ac
curate track and present the
whole thing to the patrolmen it
will be a different story.
For instance, this week I suc
ceeded in collecting overtime for
two brothers who were instruct
ed in a port in North Africa to
use an Army truck to secure
supplies two miles away from
the dock. We collected 5 hours
overtime for them, even though
the home office had at first dis
allowed it. All this because the
Brothers involved kept accurate
records, dates and places, and I
had something concrete to go on,
Remember, your best guaran
tee of collecting is to hold your
overtime slips for the shore pa
trolmen.
CLAUDE FISHER,
N. Y. Stewards Patrolman
SAVANNAH
Here's a new one for the book:
Seems as if the NMU and the
Maritime Commission has cook
ed up a new one. Seems that all
the surplus ships being built on
the Pacific Coast, that cannot be
handled by West Coast operators,
is being alloted to East Coast
operators with Seafarers' Inter
national Union agreements
About 85% of the ships being
built in the South Atlantic dis
trict is being alloted to compan
ies north of Hatteras and the
South Atlantic Steamship Com
pany has to go all the way out to
the West Coast to take out ships.
There seems to be something
rotten in Denmark somewhere.
When they are talking about sav
ing money, it seems the sensible
thing to do would be to allot
ships to a company that is close
to a yard where they are being
built.
Whenever we have to call on
our nearest union hall for men
to fill out a crew, they always
put up a big holler about not
authorizing transportation, but it
is all right for them to ship
gandy dancers all over the coun
try.
Just finished crewing up a hew
Liberty ship for the South At
lantic Steamship Company with
a complete union crew.
CHARLES WAID, Agent
RMO Tightens Finky Grip
On Seamen Deferment Set-Up
New Post Regulations
For Merchant Seamen
Seafarers International Union '
Of North Amrrica
2 Stone Street
New York, New York
Gentlemen:
This will supplement our letter to you of December 31, 1942
(copy attached), with reference to mail service to and from mem
bers of the crews of American merchant vessels. ^
The following changes have become advisable in the mail pro
cedure since its inception on January 1, 1943, and are now in effect:
(1) Included in this service will now be members of the crews
of Allied merchant vessels oVfer 200 gross tons, under War Shipping
Administration control, as weU as American members of the crews
of Allied or AUied-controUed merchant vessels subject to such se
curity regulation for the handling of mail as may be prescribed by
the Allied control having jurisdiction over the vessel.
(2) Reports indicate that considerable quantities of mail for
merchant crews are being returned to the United States from over
seas ports, due to a lack of interest on the part of seamen and their
failure to call for it. Masters have, therefore, been instructed that
when arriving at ports outside of the United States, they or duly
authorized detailed members of the crew, should call for mail at
the U.S. Navy Fleet Post Office, or in the absence of a Fleet Post
Office, at the office of the Naval Observer, Marine Post Office, Army
^ost Office, other U.S. postal activity, or American Consulate iff
the order named.
(3) Members of merchant crews of merchant ships calling at
'oreign ports are having considerable correspondence forwarded to
ihem in care of American consulates, A.P.O.'s, shipping agents for
the steamship line in a foreign port, etc. This is absolutely contrary
to regulations and defeats security. Seamen are, tlierefore, caution
ed to refrain from the practice of communicating this information
to anyone in the Urdted States. Letters thus addressed will be ab
solutely stopped by the censors in this country and not delivered-
(4) Seamen should advise their correspondents in this country,
prior to their departure from a continental U. S. Port, to assure
that mail addressed to them should be in accordance with the fol
lowing form.
I" II
{Contimied from Page 1)
night last Sunday. Moreover, the
procedure has been so stream
lined that its operation will now
revolve chiefly around the RMO
central office in Washington, on
the' one hand, and the shipown
ers. Included are ships of the
Army Transport Service, which
are sailed by civilian masters
and crews. The new plan will
give the Washington office the
necessary information for filing
with a local-draft board a Form
42-A. This is the instrument for
establishing a seaman's status in
the Selective Service system. A
form 42-A must be filed every six
months.
Under the former system, now
to be supplanted, various fixed
responsibilities were divided, re-
ictively, among operating
ipanies, maritime unions, all
individual seamen and the cen
tral, regional and port offices of
RMO.
The new instruction covers all
active merchant seamen employ
ed on vessels under the Ameri
can, Philippine, Honduran or
Panamanian flag which are en
gaged in coastal, intercoastal or
offshore shipping and owned by
or under charter to the War
Shipping Administration, or on a
vessel of the Army Transport
Service.
The form WSA-61, entitled
"Record of Service in Merchant
Marine," consists of three sec
tions. The white original of the
form and the pink carbon copy
both contain Section A, identical
on both, which the master of a
vessel is required to fill out in
duplicate for each seaman whose
employment on the ship is com
mencing. At sailing time the
master will give the white orig
inals. covering his entire crew, to
the last person to leave the ship,
for mailing to the RMO central
office. Section A will include the
following information: The sea
man's name, number of certific
ate of identification or continuous
discharge book, his rating, date
when employment on the ship
began, the port where he joined,
local draft board number, order
number, year of birth and, in ad
dition, the names of the shipping
company and ship and the mas
ter's signature.
Section B and C of the form
are contained only on the pink
copy and are to be kept in the
ship's records until the seaman's
employment on the ship is ended.
This may be after the first voy
age or one or more subsequent
voyages! At that time the master
will fill out on Section B the
date when employment ended,
the' port of pay-off and the date
when the seaman is required to
ship again under the Selective
Service provisions for shore leave
between voyages. The master
will then sign Section B and mail
it to the RMO central offce to be
paired with the white copy. The
process will be repeated when
the seaman signs on his next
ship. If the seaman were to sail
continuously with the same ship,
no repetition of the process
would be necessary; the white
copy mailed to Washington in
the first instance would consti
tute the RMO central office rec
ord.
In the case of a seaman who
fails to join his ship, the white
copy of the form filled out for
him is to be mailed along with
the white copies for the other
crew members. But the pink
copy for this seaman is to be
completed by the master writing
in on Section B the words "Fail
ed to join ship" and the date.
This pink copy will then be mail
ed with the white copy.
Section C is a stub which the
master will fill out and give to
the seaman to keep. It contains
the seaman's name and the date
when he must ship again and in
addition an instruction stating in
part as follows:
"This form is the basis of ob
taining and maintaining your
draft deferment. You should
take up any draft board diffi
culties with your union hiring
hall, with the personnel office
of the steamship company, or
with a port office of the Re
cruitment and Manning Or
ganization. IMPORTANT; You
are to reship by the 'Date to
ship again.' This date was
calculated by allowing two
days ashore for every 7 on
ship, with a minimum of 4 and
a maximum of 30 days. If you
are between the ages of 18 and
65, be sure to keep your draft
board informed of your address
or you may be declared delin
quent and be classified 1-A."
On the reverse side of the pink
copy are detailed instructions to
masters of vessels covering vari
ous possible exceptions to the
rules, as well as the basic rou
tine. There is also instruction 4
which states:
"This document contains In
formation affecting the nation
al defense of the United States
within the meaning of the Es
pionage Act, 50, U.S.C., 31 and
32, as amended. Its transmis
sion or the revealation of its
contents in any manner to an
unauthorized person is prohib
ited by law."
Whenever a seaman wishes an
extension of allowable shore
leave on account of extenuating
circumstances, the new regula
tions authorize the regional or
port offices of RMO to grant any
justifiable extension up to 30
days, the regional or port office
will forward the information to
the RMO central office with its
recommendations. In neither.in
stance will it be necessary under
Mrs. T. Smith
1022 Marble Street
New York, New York
John T. Smith
SB PRESIDENT JACKSON
c/o Postmaster
''Neiv York, New York
(Name of Steamship Line)
(4) Hereafter it will be permissible for seamen to place their
return address on letters enclosed in envelopes (but not on the out
side of envelopes). This is an important change and will enable
seamen to communicate to their correspondents in this coimtry the
name of the vessel on which they are serving and instruct their
relatives and friends as to how to address mail to them properly.
As heretofore, seamen are cautioned not to include in their letters
any other reference to names (other than as above) of either their
own or other ships, movements, ports touched, or any similap
information.
Please disseminate this information among the various members
of your organization in order to familiarize them with the foregoing
changes. It is suggested that bulletins be posted in your halls to
acquaint the seamen to this effect.
Very truly yours,
HUBERT WYCKOFF
Director, Division of Maritime
Labor Relations
•Mail for crew complements on ships sailing from East Coast ports
will be addressed c/o Postmaster, N, Y.; from Gulf Coast ports,
c/o Postmaster, New Orleans, La.; from West Coast port, c/o Post
master, San Francisco, Calif.
the new arrangement to refer the
question to the local draft board
or Selective Service headquart
ers with which the seaman will
have been registered. The Selec
tive Service, board instead will
communicate with the RMO
whenever for any reason a sea
man's status seems in question.
Among circumstances recognized
as extenuating are illness, effects
of enemy action requiring rest or
treatment, serious illness or
other hardship in the man's fam
ily and enrollment in courses for
up-grading or officer candidate
training in a school maintained
or approved by the U. S. Mari
time Service.
All maritime unions have been
supplied with cancelled copies ol
Form 61 for their representatives
so that all members may be
properly informed of their rights
and obligations.
GJ
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Page Four THE SEAFARERS LOG Friday, November 19, 1943
Union Welfare Demands Close
Attention To RMO Graduates
{Continued from Page 1)
-lhat action may be taken at
Branches where meetings are
held.
In explaining this motion
Hawk said, "There has been a
regular flood of rejected trip
cards coming into the headquar
ters during the past few months.
In many cases ships with less
than 6 full book members have
rejected as many as 20 trip card
men without explaining their ac
tions and giving the men a hear
ing.
"While many men have been
rejected merely because the book
men were prejudiced against
trainees or didn't like the way
they parted their hair. If the
present rate of rejections con
tinues, hundreds of new men
(potentially good union men, if
the old timers would spend a
few hours explaining the score to
•them) will be driven away from
the SIU and into either the NMU
or the fink ships. In cither case,
this organization is cutting off its
hose to spite its face if it does
not spend some effort and time
in developing these new men.
"While it is the right of the
jriembership to reject any one
they see fit, still this process
must be conducted in any or
ganized manner and in a way
that will mean justice for every
one. The minimum requirement
must certainly be that the re
jected men have complaints
brought against them in writing
and that these complaints be
given a hearing before the mem
bership.
"We don't want finks in our
union, but green kids are not
necessarily finks. Many of them
will be the backbone of our or
ganization in years to come. They
should be given a chance to
prove themselves before getting
the bums rush."
m NEW CARGO
SHIPS DELIVERED
Brother Frank Donnally is laid
VP in Ellis Island Hospital in
New York. He would like to re
ceive a visit from any of his old
.shipmates. He is in Ward 25.
» «• »
. The following brothers have
packages in the New York
Agent's office:
Christensen, H. Martin
Corsa, James
Dietrich, Edward
Fowler, Harold
Fitzgerald, Niel
Hammargren. Vincsnl
Hamsy, Clyde
Hanke. Adam
Kaney, William
. Kelley, Jesse
Klauber. Perry
Klieger, Harry
Lukkarila, Edwin
- Miles, C. H.
Olmstead, Frank
Perkins, Walter
Turner, J. D.
^ Walker, Willie
MONEY DUE
. WASHINGTON — American
merchant ehipy.?.rd.s 'in _r
delivered 163 cargo vessels ag
gregating 1,675,311 deadweight
tons, bringing the total 1943 de
liveries to 1,524 ships, totaling
15,501,624 deadweight tons, the
Maritime Commission announced.
October production surpassed
that of September by three ves
sels, 22,540 deadweight tons of
ships. During the month, yards
delivered 98 Liberty Ships, eight
C-type cargo vessels, 16 standard
tankers, 19 emergency tankers
(modified Liberty Ships), three
T-1 or coastal tankers, two pri
vate coastal tankers, five seago
ing tugs, one ore carrier, three
concrete barges, and eight special
types for military use.
Of the total deliveries, 76 ships
were delivered by West Coast
yards; East Coast yards turned
out 51 vessels, 29 vessels were
delivered by yards on the Gulf
Coast, and seven ships were pro
duced by Great Lakes builders.
October deliveries put the
Commission within 3,388,376
deadweight tons of its announced
goal of 18,890,000 deadweight
tons of merchant ships for 1943.
Show 25 Pet.
Earn Less Than
»
50 Cents An Hour
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 —
More than a fourth of the em
ployes involved in wage adjust
ment cases of the War Labor
Board in September earned less
than 50 cents an hour, states the
WLB's seventh monthly report.
Some 77 per cent averaged less
than 80 cents an hour, while 4.3
per cent averaged less than 40
cents.
In a section on incentive plans,
the Board said that action on
such pi'oposals "will be limited
to a determination of whether or
not the proposed plan is in con
formance with the national sta
bilization program and would re
sult in unauthorized wage rate
decreases or increases."
Only plans submitted volun
tarily by employers or plans
agreed upon by employers and
unions which have collective
bargaining rights with the com
pany concerned will be consid
ered.
Washington Report
{Continued from Page 2)
tion to the Pacific Coast as per
the ships articles, regardless of
whether the master made a mis
take. This will require a lawyer
to enter suit to collect. There
may be a possibility to get the
coast guard to compell the com
pany to live up to the ship's ar
ticles and pay off.
J. K. Shaughnessey, SIU Agt.
Fort Lauderdale — Seamen who
are employed by General Agents
of the WSA are entitled to the
protection afforded to other
workers under the National La
bor Relations Act, and can call
upon this agency for an election.
Don't let any one in this agency
give you the run around, have
them give you a statement in
writing if they refuse to grant
any seamen an election.
Army, SIU Agt. N. O.—Re;
Lesli Kohl, wiper on the S.S.
.John C. Spencer. Company
claims that they paid him 100%
bonus from July 8th 1943 to Oct
ober 25th 1943. Recheck on this
and advise whether company's
-statement is correct. Re: West
Coast crews signing on ships and
Instruction No. 64 being omitted
from the articles. U. S. Shipping
commissioners are not authorized
to make any statement for the
WSA. If shipping commissioner
makes statements which are not
in writing or these statements
cover some government agency
wherein they have no jurisdic
tion, the crews are taking a
chance of being the losers in any
deal that they may agree to. Play
safe, there is nothing like get
ting all terms of a contract in
writing. If a party tries to re
pudiate a contract that has been
put in writing, the courts are at
our disposal. Otherwise we have
nothing to fight with.
NEW CARGO ROUTES
The failure of the U-boat cam
paign during recent weeks has
brought about an improved ship
ping situation in the Atlantic,
and consequently the War Ship
ping Administration will prob
ably go ahead with plans to re
shuffle a number of commercial
cargo routes. These changes may
come in the form of diversions,
shifting some operations from the
Pacific to the Atlantic and Gulf
ports, as well as others from New
York to Southern ports, it was
reported.
Reports from the Pacific Coast
indicate thf.t it is the WSA's in
tention to divert to the East
Coast this month Ml commercial
cargo services which have been
performed between Pacific Coast
ports of" the United States and
India. A similar diversion is be
ing considered with respect to
Australia and New Zealand.
A Pie Card Unburdens
Himself To Pal "Joe"
: Crew which paid off S.S. Alcoa
Voyager in Sept. 1943, has $10 ^
linen money coining. Collect 17
Battery Place. New York City.
ATLANTIC AND GULF SHIPPING FOR
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1st TO 6th
DECK ENGINE STEWARD TOTAL
SHIPPED
REGISTERED
355
261
160
211
274
217
789
689
Philadelphia, Pa.
November 9, 1943
Dear Joe:
There was a ship in Philadel
phia not long ago and for 5 days
no one, not even the delegate,
called the hall. It seems a little
unreasonable but believe me Joe,
it's the truth, so help me. This
would never have happened had
B. been on that ship.
Well, its a damn shame that
he and a good number of men
like him' have been lost due to
enemy action.
Another thing that isn't quite
up to hoil these days Joe, is the
men beefing about changing
quarters, etc., after signing ships
articles and then when they ar
rive in a loading port start their
beefing. In the not too far away
days to remember, all these con
ditions were remedied in the port
where one joined the ship before
they signed the ships articles.
Another thing strikes me as
rather queer Joe, and it is this;
when a trip card man was sent
aboard a ship in the good old
days he was schooled in the art
of unionism and what was to be
expected of him. But nowadays,
in some cases, you are asked by
the tripcarder if he joins the
union what will he get out of it.
You would think that after a
trip this question is slightly out
of order, you would think that
the man already knows what he
would get out of the union, es
pecially if some union brother
was to take time out to explain
our strikes for conditions and
etc. ''
I tell you Jpe, things are dif
ferent nowadays. Instead of the
tripcarders fighting to join the
union, in some cases the union
official almost has to fight them
to join.
Some of these tripcarders are
under the impression that they
can get off the ship they are on'
and not join the union in the
port that they pay off in, but
go to the port that they shipped
out of and join there. Of course,
this is all wrong, but unless one '
of the crew members explains
this to these boys they are liable,
to think that they owe a debt of
gratitude to the agent that ship
ped them out, therefore that Is.
where they want to take their
Book out. •
..TThings. like this can be. easily
remedied if the boys would have'
a little get-together before the
ship's arrival in a final pay off
port, and explain these things to
the prospective new members. I
don't know if it wouldnT be a-
good idea if each agent Uiat ships
a trip card man gives him, along'
with his trip card, an application
for, membership blank, and in
struct him to fill it out a day or -
twd before the ship arrives back '
in the states and have a com-'
mittee of 5 book members sign it^
for him and also instruct him to*
take out his book and pay all
his obligations to the union in
the port where he pays off.
The more I think of the idea
the better I like it. What do you
think, Joe?
f
Well, Joe, I guess that I have
bent your Moose cars long,
enough, but before I close, I must,
say that things are about the
same here in the City of. Broth-;
erly Love, so until I see you.
remain as ever, your Pal, . j
Book No. 496 •
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