International Seamen's Union
International Seamen's Union | |
Merged | Seafarer's International Union |
---|---|
Founded | 1892 |
Dissolved | August 1937 |
Location | |
Members | 115,000 (1919) |
Affiliations | American Federation of Labor |
Website | www.seafarers.org |
The International Seamen's Union (ISU) was an American maritime
The early years
Originally formed as the National Union of Seamen of America in 1892 in
Formed by maritime labor representatives from America's
The union existed at a turbulent time in the
During its existence, the union did have a major effect on the shipping industry. Perhaps the most significant was the successful lobby for the Seamen's Act of 1915. The act fundamentally changed the life of the American sailor. Among other things, it:
- abolished the practice of imprisonment for seamen who deserted their ship
- reduced the penalties for disobedience
- regulated a seaman's working hours both at sea and in port
- established a minimum quality for ship's food
- regulated the payment of seamen's wages
- required specific levels of safety, particularly the provision of lifeboats
- required a minimum percentage of the seamen aboard a vessel to be qualified Able Seamen
- required a minimum of 75 percent of the seamen aboard a vessel to understand the language spoken by the officers
Another of ISU's successes was the strike of 1919, which resulted in wages that were "an all-time high for deep sea sailors in peace time."[1]
However, ISU had its shortcomings and failures, too. After a round of failed contract negotiations, ISU issued an all-ports strike on May 1, 1921. The strike lasted only two months and failed, with resulting wage cuts of 25 percent.[1] The ISU, as with all AFL unions, was criticized as being too conservative. For example, in 1923 the Industrial Workers of the World publication The Marine Worker referred to the ISU's "pie-cards" (paid officials) as "grafters and pimps."[3] Additionally, the union was weakened by the loss of the Sailors' Union of the Pacific in 1934. Furuseth charged that the SUP was being infiltrated by "radicals" from the IWW,[1] and demanded the SUP cease activities with the Maritime Federation. The SUP refused and the ISU revoked their charter.[4]
The ISU was involved the
West Coast sailors deserted ships in support of the International Longshoremen's Association longshoremen, leaving more than 50 ships idle in the San Francisco harbor.[1] ISU officials reluctantly supported this strike. In clashes with the police between July 3 and July 5, 1934, three picketers were killed and "scores were injured."[1] During negotiations to end the strike, the sailors received concessions including a three-watch system, pay increases, and better living conditions.
In April 1935
The rise of the NMU
In 1936, an ISU
Believing it was time to abandon the conservative ISU, Curran began recruiting members for a new rival union. The level of organizing was so intense that hundreds of ships delayed sailing as seamen listened to organizers and signed union cards.[11] The ISU's official publication, The Seamen's Journal, suggested Curran's "sudden disenchantment" with the ISU was odd, since he'd only been a "member of the union for one year during his seafaring career."[1]
In May 1937, Curran and other leaders of his Seamen's Defense Committee reconstituted the group as the National Maritime Union. Holding its first convention in July, approximately 30,000 seamen switched their membership from the ISU to the NMU and Curran was elected president of the new organization.[6][7][9] Within a year, the NMU had more than 50,000 members and most American shippers were under contract.[9][11]
Reorganized as SIU
In August 1937,
Leadership
Presidents
- 1892: Charles Hagen[13]
- 1895: T. J. Robertson[13]
- 1897: Andrew Furuseth[13]
- 1899: William Penje[13]
- 1908: Andrew Furuseth[1]
Secretary-Treasurers
- 1892: Thomas J. Elderkin[14]
- 1899: William H. Frazier[14]
- 1904:
- 1905: William H. Frazier[14]
- 1912:
- Thomas A. Hanson
- K. B. Nolan
- 1925: Victor Olander[14]
- 1936: Ivan Hunter
See also
- Andrew Furuseth
- Seafarers International Union of North America
- National Maritime Union
- Paul Hall
- United States Merchant Marine
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "SIU & Maritime History". seafarers.org. Archived from the original on February 24, 2007. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
- ^ a b "Glossary". The Samuel Gompers Papers. Archived from the original on February 14, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
- ^ "Wobbly Protest". Time magazine. July 23, 1923. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
- ^ "Harry Bridges: Rank-and-File Leader". The Nation. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
- ^ a b "Chapter VIII: Twilight of Freedom" (PDF). Sailor's Union of the Pacific History. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
- ^ a b Barbanel, "Joseph Curran, 75, Founder of National Maritime Union," The New York Times, August 15, 1981.
- ^ a b c Kempton, Part of Our Time: Some Monuments and Ruins of the Thirties, 1998 (1955).
- ^ "Retired Union Boss Joseph Curran Dies," Associated Press, August 14, 1981.
- ^ a b c d Schwartz, Brotherhood of the Sea: The Sailors' Union of the Pacific, 1885-1985, 1986.
- ^ "Politics and Pork Chops," Time, June 17, 1946.
- ^ a b "C.I.O. Goes to Sea," Time, July 19, 1937.
- ^ "SIU & Maritime History". SIU History. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Weintraub, Hyman (1983). Andrew Furuseth. University of California Press.
- ^ ISBN 9780252033896.