DOCKS _
bees -Having decisively defeated the Tories in the March a1 election, the ‘British workers now want to cash in on their victory. The seamen . have the honor at the moment of standing at head of the line. ope It. “was: about time. The. action begun. May 16, was ‘the first official strike called by the National Union of Seamen since 1911! It was directed against a 56-hour workweek that was slipped into a sell-out contract signed.March 29,.1965, against the lowest rates of pay for seamen in all-of Europe except Spain, and against feudal-like working conditions codified.in the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894.
‘As ‘the seamen in ‘the NUS, reported to number from 62,000 to 65,000, began climbing off their ships upon arrival in port in ~~” Britain, ‘they emphasized their readiness to stay out for months if necessary. They appealed to other sectors of the country's powerful union movement for solidarity and appeared to be meeting with a~ sympathetic response. ; .
Their immediate. demand is for reduction of the workweek. to forty: hours but without a reduction in the basic pay included in last year's contract.. This would require the payment of overtime for work on the weekend, signifying, it is estimated, an immediate increase of seventeen percent in wages. a
~... In addition the.. British seamen want such things as better food ‘ana the scrapping of the 1894 law. (Among the world's seamen, Britain's "hungry" ships are notorious. Under the 1894 Act seamen are jailed.for missing. a ship.or jumping ship in a foreign port; their pay:can be docked by the company for infractions of work rules; the captain wields dictatorial powers over the crew.)
The 1965 contract provided for a 56-hour workweek instead of the previously won 44-hour week. The monthly pay for an adult seaman with five or more years,.rating was, £59.7s.6d [about $166.25] -- or less than £15 [$42].for a seven-day week. The hourly pay was thus about. 5s.4d [$.75]. Overtime was. virtually eliminated and the shipowners took full advantage of this sweetheart contract to put their crews to work on weekends instead of observing the customary rule at sea. of. doing only what. is necessary to keep the ship running.
Britain' Ss. long-suffering seamen began rebelling against “these monstrous conditions which put them close to the bottom of the scale among the world's maritime nations. Union officials began to feel the pressure, and realized that if they did not take action they would be. faced with an unofficial strike that. could get completely out of hand.
"The . ‘shipowners appear to have recognized that. they went a. bit too far last year. Still, in view of the union's exceptional 55year record :in policing the seamen, they thought the situation could be milked.a bit longer. They . offered. to reduce the workweek in three
stages over a two-year period, which .in terms of overtime would finally amount to a total increase of about thirteen percent.
.. As for work conditions, they offered to institute an “inguiry" into the seamen's grievances!
The temper of the rank and file was such that the union officials did/not dare accept. this insulting offer. “They rejected at and went. ahead with strike preparations. ie
The. strike is now moving ahead in the classic pattern of a major struggle in the maritime industry. The seamen, hitting the: docks, are in daily contact with the port workers. Thus there is a’ strong tendency for the strike action to extend to the dockers, the warehousemen and the transport workers.
; Inherent in a situation of this kind is the possibility of a © general strike.
As was to be expected, Harold Wilson, while recognizing that the seamen have legitimate grievances, particularly in relation to the 1894 maritime law, has come out on the side of the shipowners. He stated on television May 16 that his government was not "taking sides" in the wage dispute, which was a neat way of saying that the Labour government was not backing the seamen. —
He then went. after the strikers with a club, saying that their action would have "grave consequences for our country," that the strike "will settle nothing" but only "delay" a settlement.
Most important ‘of all, he indicated that his government would: stand tough against the seamen. "What is at. issue here is: our national prices and incomes policy.' ;
— ‘According to Wilson, if the seamen won their wage demands, this would breach his policy of freezing wages. The main consequence .of this would be "that we should be priced out of export markets abroad." Wilson appeared particularly fearful that shipping costs. would go up and that the immobilization of the merchant fleet. would make it difficult for manufacturers to deliver goods abroad on schedule. Export markets might be lost! "Export markets: once lost," said Wilson, speaking like a political representative of British merchant and manufacturing interests, "will not easily be regained, because, no less than price and quality, our overseas customers. demand, rightly demand , certainty and speed of delivery. '
As ‘the strike got underway , the shipowners and the government: initiated the usual countermoves. They raised the question of keeping up shipments where "lives" are involved, of shipments for the Royal Navy, of shipments to isolated communities, and so on. The union. bureaucrats appeared to be giving way on these demands.
a As to the next. logical step, of moving British ships away from docks to make way for cargoes in foreign ships, the rank and
file will probably resist this maneuver to breach their picket lines. It can be expected that the issue of "perishable cargoes"; i.e. shipments of fresh fruits, vegetables, etc., will be raised next.
But if the ranks stick tough, and particularly if they succeed in winning sympathetic action from the dockers and other maritime workers, they are certain to win. The strategic position of Britain's seamen is well known in theory. Now for the first time in more than a half century they are in position to demonstrate it in practice.
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