A detailed look at the conditions, and tasks for organizing, of maritime workers from the Red International of Labor Unions. This resolution was adopted at the Fifth International Conference of Revolutionary Transport Workers held in April, 1928 in Moscow around the 4th R.I.L.U. world meeting.

‘Tasks of Militant Transport Workers’ from Labor Unity. Vol. 2 No. 8. September, 1928.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT FOR THE AMERICAN TRANSPORT WORKERS

The resolution of the April 5-11 international conference of transport workers, that part of it which is published here, is of especial significance to American seamen. It is a close analysis of the working conditions in the industry, with suggestions for remedy, and in the chaotic state of organization in the American shipping industry, with its enormous and successful rationalization, blacklist, and unemployment, should be taken to heart by every American marine worker. Read it and study it, Fellow Workers, then act in an organized manner to end the abuses which abound in the marine transport industry. GEORGE MINK, National Secretary and Organizer for the International Seamen’s Clubs in America.

THE transport workers of all countries are confronted with a number of tasks for which they should organize the struggle of the workers in every line of the transport, and on the basis of which, according to the conditions in each country, and depending on the state of organization of labor and capital, and the achievements already gained, they should endeavor to work out the demands for each variety of the transport, and organize the struggle for these demands. Hence these demands should be considered as material for working out a platform of the strike struggle, making use of all the possibilities of the political struggle both nationally and locally, depending again on the conditions of each country, and of each individual case.

What All Should Struggle For

In spite of the resistance of the reformist leaders of the transport workers’ unions to the establishment of unity in the trade union movement, and despite their disruptive activity, the masses of the transport workers are becoming more and more profoundly imbued with a consciousness of the need for unity. It is our task to develop the unity campaign in all countries, attracting the masses of the employees, and endeavoring to establish unity from below, both in the course of strikes, through the strike committees as well as through the primary trade union organizations. In times of class conflicts, the class solidarity of the transport workers facilitates the struggle of the particular group of transport workers that is involved in the conflict. Therefore the revolutionary transport workers should endeavor to establish the united front in each country, as well as on an international scale, organizing boycotts against enterprises involved in a strike, and material aid to the strikers.

In late years the transport workers in the colonial and semi-colonial countries are taking an ever increasing part in the class struggle, as well as in the struggle against the national oppression of their peoples by the imperialists.

The most brilliant examples are: the struggle of the Chinese seamen, railway- men and transport workers, both against the national bourgeoisie and against the foreign imperialists. The strike of the transport workers at Canton and the boycott of English goods have played a decisive role in the development of the revolutionary movement not on at Canton, but also in the whole of China.

The struggle of the Indonesian transport workers, railwaymen and seamen, against the Dutch oppressors in Java and Sumatra, the struggle of the Hindu railwaymen on the Bengal railway, as well as the struggle of the Lascar seamen in the course of the strike of the British seamen in 1925, and a whole number of other smaller conflicts of the colonial and semi-colonial transport workers with their employers and the imperialists: all this goes to show that the transport workers of these countries have taken to the path of the class struggle and the struggle for national emancipation. They are developing a struggle for the improvement of material conditions, for higher wages, shorter hours, and improved legal status of the transport workers.

Frequently the struggle is crushed by the imperialists by means of police force, and even by the use of troops, frequently with the passiveness, and sometimes with the active assistance of the white transport workers.

The revolutionary transport workers in all countries should show their class solidarity with the transport workers of the colonial and semi-colonial countries in the course of their struggles and develop the widest campaign against the oppression of the transport workers in these countries, organizing in every country the collection of contributions for the strikers in the colonial countries.

The rationalization which is being carried out in all countries is yielding tremendous profits to the capitalists, whilst the conditions of the workers are becoming worse, and it is therefore the task of transport workers to develop propaganda and to organize the struggle for increasing the wages of transport workers, railwaymen and seamen.

Along with the introduction of rationalization on the transport there goes on the continuous discharging of workers, resulting in growing unemployment, which renders the hard conditions of the transport workers even more severe, and clogs the class struggle. The revolutionary transport workers should organize a fight for shorter hours, particularly in those branches of the transport where intense rationalization is in progress; they should also agitate for the abolition of overtime work and against the enterprises in which the capitalists are trying to introduce overtime work. The system of piece work practised on the railway transport, among freight-handlers, dockers, and other transport workers, has for its purpose to achieve the maximum output with the minimum number of people employed, which again increases unemployment. It is the task of the revolutionary transport workers to demand the abolition of piece work on all branches of the transport in all countries, yet without reducing the wages.

Unemployment Benefits

The revolutionary transport workers in all countries should carry on propaganda among the transport workers of various branches and of various tendencies and political convictions, in the press as well as by speaking at all meetings and conferences, aboard ship, in the workshops, at railway stations, docks, labor exchanges, etc., for the following demands: Social insurance for transport workers against sickness, unemployment, invalidity, and old age.

The transport workers, particularly the seamen, in connection with the rationalization that is being carried out on the marine transport, which yields a tremendous increase in the profits of the ship-owners, are frequently thrown out of work. Such a state of affairs is also to be observed on the railways in Germany and in other countries. It is therefore one of the most urgent tasks of the trade unions to organize the struggle for social insurance for transport workers at the expense of the employers and the governments in those countries where there is no social insurance, and for the extension of social insurance to the transport workers where such extension has not yet been established by legislation, so that the transport workers are not insured against unemployment and sickness. It should be insisted also that the unemployment benefits should not be lower than one-third of the wages of a given category of transport workers. In nearly all the bourgeois countries there is practically an absence of legislation concerning invalidity and old-age pensions for transport workers, and yet the transport workers, and particularly the seamen, owing to the rigorous conditions of life on the high seas, grow old and incapacitated much quick er than other workers.

Frequently one meets a fireman of 35-37 years who looks an old man of 60, while at 40 the majority of men become so worn out that they are turned into total invalids, and then they are thrown out by the employers as useless rubbish. Nearly the same extent of premature invalidity is to be observed among the firemen on the railways. The same conditions are to be observed among freight-handlers and dockers, while this group of transport workers is the least paid category of workers, and the least able to save up for old age and invalidity. They are therefore doomed to a hungry death or to pauperism, while the capitalists are continually lining their pockets with gold and building their happiness upon the bones of the transport workers. Things are not any brighter with other groups of transport workers. It is our task to develop propaganda and to organize the struggle for social insurance at the expense of the employers and the State, for all groups of transport workers against invalidity and old age.

Seamen’s Demands for Shorter Day

The revolutionary seamen should not only resist the capitalist offensive, but should also organize a counter-offensive, in order to secure better conditions of labor and better material conditions. They should carry on the widest propaganda for shorter hours, opposing this demand to the action of the capitalists who are reducing the crews aboard ships, thereby increasing the numbers of unemployed seamen. The seamen in all countries should include in their programme of demands the 7-hour day for seamen of all categories, and the 6-hour day for firemen working on hard fuel and for engine-room staffs working on motorboats, and also when navigating in tropical water. At the present time the firemen of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics on board ships burning hard fuel are working 6 hours. The water transport workers’ union is now working out the question of introducing the 7-hour day aboard ships in the U.S.S.R. for the deck crews. While agitating for the 7-hour day for seamen on the seas, the revolutionary seamen should insist also on the 42-hour week, or at least 44-hour week, in port.

Equal Wage For Equal Work

The capitalists in their conferences establish equal tariffs for the transportation of passengers and freights over one and the same line, yet, for similar work on board similar ships the seamen are getting different scales of wages. It is the task of the revolutionary seamen of all nationalities to struggle for increasing the wages and bringing them up to the level of the highest wage scales existing upon a given line, in order to establish an equal rate of wages for ships on the same line.

Overtime

While asking for a definite working day for seamen and a minimum wage, class conscious seamen should not allow any overtime work. In those cases when overtime work is indispensable owing to the conditions of navigation, the remuneration for such work should be not less than one and a half times for the first two hours and double pay for additional hours, as well as on holidays. At the same time class conscious seamen should struggle against classifying overtime work as emergency and ship-wreck work, thus compelling the seamen to work longer hours than have been fixed.

Vacations

The seamen of all nations, except the seamen of the U.S.S.R. and the officers of some shipping companies, in spite of their hard conditions of labor, do not get any holidays, even if they sail for a score of years on board ships owned by the same company.

The seamen of the U.S.S.R. in line with other categories of labor, enjoy annual vacations at the cost of the employers. During their vacations they have the use of rest homes and sanatoria, if required by their state of health, at the cost of the insurance funds and the managing organs. funds and the managing organs. The seamen of all nationalities should wage a struggle for paid vacations of not less than two weeks for seamen who work from 6 months to 1 year, and of one month for fire- men, at the expense of the shipowners. A monthly vacation should also be granted to engine crews of steamships navigating in tropical waters. At the same time the period spent by the individual seamen in the employ of a given company on its different vessels should be taken into consideration. If a seaman has failed for some reason to take advantage of his vacation, he should be paid compensation by the shipping company for the unused vacation. If a seaman leaves his job before the expiration of 6 months, he should be paid compensation for the portion of his vacation that he is entitled to.

Sick Relief

In the event of sickness of a seaman, he is dumped on shore by the employers as something useless. Still worse is the condition of seamen in the event of shipwreck. They are summarily discharged in any port without being paid even the value of their lost effects, and are left to their fate in a foreign port. The seaman is stranded in a foreign port, suffering hunger and want, and eventually forced to sign on any terms. This frequently furnishes a breeding ground for scabs, and it is the task of revolutionary seamen to organize the struggle for full compensation for shipwrecked seamen or to sick seamen stranded in foreign ports, as well as the travelling expenses to the port where the seaman has signed on.

Shipwreck Compensation

Some shipowners pay compensation in the case of shipwreck only to the officers, but not to the seamen and firemen.

Right To Quit

The bourgeois maritime laws protect especially the interests of the capitalists. The capitalists may dump a seaman in a foreign port without any excuse, and with perfect impunity; but if a seaman quits his ship in a foreign port of his own account he is persecuted by law. The seamen must ask for the abolition of penalties for quitting a ship in a foreign port.

The seamen’s unions should sign collective agreements in which it should be stipulated that the seaman has the right to quit his employment in any port, with full wages until the time of quitting.

Food And Living Conditions

The crews of the ships, regardless of their strenuous labor, are living in terrible housing conditions. The bunks for the seamen are usually located in the fo casle [unreadable], and those of the firemen are frequently located above the boilers, whilst the bunks are built in two rows, one on top of the other.

The seamen, owing to the rattling of the anchor chains, etc. are unable to rest, while the firemen are inconvenienced by the heat from the boilers. At the same time the relief watch is also placed in the same quarters as the resting seamen and firemen, who are prevented from sleeping by the talks and arguments that are going on all the time. It is therefore necessary to establish the cabin system for all seamen and firemen, so that each cabin should have only two berths, and be located in places where the members of the crew will secure restful sleep and sufficient air. At present the members of the crew take their food in the same quarters where they sleep, so that there can be no attention paid to hygiene. The seamen should insist on equipping the ship with special quarters for seamen and firemen for the purpose of partaking of food, as well as showers and baths.

Ship Committees

In order to be able to protect the interests of the seamen on board ship, the seamen should struggle for the recognition of ship committees on board ships, on the same terms as factory committees or local organizations of the seamen’s unions.

At the present time in the capitalist countries even where on shore there are factory committees legally existing, there are frequently no ship committees on board ship.

The ship committees should protect the rights of all seamen on board a given ship and be elected by all categories of seamen, including the engine-room crew, the firemen, the deck hands, and the stewards, etc. In cases where the seamen have an industrial union embracing all categories of seafarers, the ship committees should constitute primary units of the industrial union, as exists now on board ships of the U.S.S.R. and as it existed on board Chinese ships in 1926. Only under such arrangements will it be possible for the shop committees to do full justice to their functions on board ship.

Colored Workers

There are many ships which have crews composed of both white and colored seamen. Although it is frequently assumed that the two categories are paid the same wages, nevertheless the opposite story is told by the facts. Usually the colored seamen are paid less, while compelled to do more work, and kept in even worse conditions aboard the ships than the white seamen. This is particularly frequent on those ships where the number of colored seamen is limited.

The revolutionary seamen should expose the falsehood of the reformist leaders who are supporting their respective national bourgeois, and struggle for equal pay to either white or colored seamen for equal services.

In order to do away with hostility between the white and the colored seamen, and to establish the common struggle of the white and colored seamen for better conditions of labor, higher pay, and the principle of the preference of union men, and also in order to avoid the possibility of strike-breaking by colored seamen, the revolutionary seamen should endeavor to get all the seamen organized in the union and the admission of the colored seamen into all the seamen’s unions on the same terms as the white seamen.

In all bourgeois countries there are still existing barbarous mediaeval laws directed against the seamen, which turn the latter into the slaves of capital. These laws are frequently abused by captains of ships, so that people who are supposed to be free-born citizens are put in chains and incarcerated, whilst the bourgeois courts are also very severe in imposing penalties for violating the antiquated code of the sea. Therefore all the seamen without exception should struggle for the abolition of the unjust laws directed against the seamen.

Labor Unity was the monthly journal of the Trade Union Educational League (TUEL), which sought to radically transform existing unions, and from 1929, the Trade Union Unity League which sought to challenge them with new “red unions.” The Leagues were industrial union organizations of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) and the American affiliate to the Red International of Labor Unions. The TUUL was wound up with the Third Period and the beginning of the Popular Front era in 1935.

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