The Seafarers (1953) - full transcript

This is a story, simple but dramatic.

The story of the men who
crew our ships: the seafarers.

Every seafarer will recognize in what
follows, something of himself:

familiar scenes, the faces of the men
who share his calling, his way of life,

and maybe something more -
call it a dream fulfilled.

I'm Don Hollenbeck.

Joseph Conrad wrote a lot of
things about the sea,

and among other things,
he wrote this:

"The true peace of God, begins
at any spot 1000 miles from land."

And here's something else
I came across the other day

that interested me very much:



"Ever since the days
of sailing ships,

seafaring has drawn to it
men of many different types.

And yet they have one
thing in common, these men.

It's the quality that makes men
want to live not in a city, or in a town,

but in the world.

It's a true spirit of independence,
and it's always been

deeply rooted in the
seafaring tradition."

And now to go on
with this little essay,

nobody knows better than a
seafaring man,

that any man,
however independent he is,

isn't entirely independent.

He's a member of something larger:

of a family, of a community,
of a nation.

Or, bring it back to seafaring;



he's a member of a crew,
a crew of men like himself,

banded together for one
essential common purpose.

Now the picture you're
going to see now,

is the story of men who are
banded together

for one essential
common purpose.

This a vital story in their daily lives,
and their achievements.

It's a proud story, made possible
by the deeds of seafaring men.

It's the story of the S.I.U.

From Vancouver,
along the Pacific coast,

around the great curve
of the Gulf of Mexico,

up the rim of the Atlantic
from Tampa to Halifax,

in every major North American
port, close by the waterfront,

there is a headquarters of the of
the Seafarers International Union.

This is headquarters for the
S.I.U. Atlantic and Gulf district,

more than just a building,
a solidly impressive symbol

of what seafarers have achieved.

And like every S.I.U. headquarters,
the heart of this one is

it's hiring hall, run by
seafarers, for seafarers.

In this S.I.U. hall, as in others,
seafarers can pick berths

on ships of many types, going
almost anywhere in the world:

Antwerp, Cape Town, London,
Marseille, Singapore.

You name it.

Picking his destination is
the right of every seafarer,

and sometimes, more
than a right, a duty.

In the great seafaring tradition,
a duty voluntarily assumed.

Every true seafarer respects
courage, the courage of men

of all national origins and
religions, that has created

seafaring tradition
and built the S.I.U.

A seafarer coming
ashore in any U.S. port,

no longer needs to feel cut
adrift, as many once did.

He has a place to go.

A union hall,
built by seafarers

to meet the needs and
suit the tastes of seafarers.

Big, modern, efficient and
safeguarding the rights

and interests of
those who go to sea,

but never forgetting that the
machines and the files

and the figures are there
to serve the seafarers

and not the other
way around.

Staffed by experts but
under the supervision of men

who know what it is to top a
boom, to batten down a hatch,

to weigh an anchor.

Financial statements posted
weekly in every port

for seafarers to read.

And an S.I.U. printshop turns
out regular bulletins and reports,

airmailed to seafarers on S.I.U.
contracted ships around the world.

A good seafarers headquarters has
to begin where others leave off,

for seafarers coming ashore in a
port away from home it ought to be,

and is, a second home, where no man
off a ship is a stranger to the rest,

and where the things he
needs are close at hand.

Like this S.I.U. cafeteria,
open to the public,

but mainly for the
convenience of seafarers.

Lots of space, lots of
good, inexpensive food.

The galley, well stocked
and well scrubbed.

A pleasant sight after any
voyage is the S.I.U. barbershop,

another of the many conveniences
at S.I.U. headquarters.

The S.I.U. sea chest, which
meets S.I.U. contracted ships

in every U.S. port with
ship and shore gear,

takes orders, makes deliveries from
S.I.U. warehouses in S.I.U. trucks,

maintains this headquarters
store for those ashore

with some refitting to do.

The S.I.U. is port of call, from the
figurehead on the ship-shaped bar,

to the faces of men
you have shipped with.

A friendly spot for seafarers
ashore to spend some time,

to relax, to meet shipmates,

or to bring some friends.

But the hiring hall, through which
every job on every S.I.U. ship

in port is filled,
is the center of it all.

Here, seafarers get their jobs not
as a favor, but as a right,

in the order in which
they apply for them.

When a seafarer registers for a
berth he gets a registration card.

The card, filled out right in front
of him, is stamped with a number

marked with the date of his
application. Then this information:

name, job classification,
date and number,

is typed onto list which
is posted in full view.

When two or more seafarers
throw in for the same job,

the one with the registration
card showing the earlier date

and lower number gets it,

and any seafarer in the hall
can check these for himself.

What's more, a seafarer can pass
up a berth because he would

rather work another type of ship,
or one headed for his favorite ports,

without losing his place
on top of the list.

Shipping call is every
hour, on the hour,

but there's no standing in line
or idling on a sidewalk in between.

A seafarer waiting for a ship,
doesn't have to kill time

in S.I.U. headquarters,
he can enjoy it.

He can shoot a game of pool.

He can shoot the breeze,
write a letter, read a book.

Or play some cards.

He can try his hand at
one of these games.

Or take a look at works
of art by fellow seafarers,

carvings and paintings
done abord ship.

Some good enough for any gallery.

And for those staying ashore
a while there's a S.I.U. school.

Well, we've pretty much
covered that subject.

All of us have had our say,
and we come to the next question,

that is "what does a
union mean to you?".

George.

I'd say protection on
the job, security.

It means the boss
can't shove me around.

Anyone else?
Denis.

The big thing is how
you take home pay.

And overtime along with the
penalty pay, buys a load of groceries.

Any other ideas?

Yes, Paul.

I look at it this way:

I see other guys doing things
together, I want to be part of it.

Being part of this group, the S.I.U.
provides benefits of many kinds

to the seafarer and his family,
when he is likely to need them most.

All of them financed by
company contributions required by

S.I.U. contracts, and costing
seafarers not a cent.

You can sum these benefits up
in one word: security.

The security seafarers
gain by working together

in their common interest.

For example there's a
maternity benefit of $200

to help a seafarer and his family.

Plus a $25 dollar bond for baby.

And later on, the children of
seafarers have a chance

at S.I.U. college scholarships.

Seafarers become
eligible for vacation pay

after every ninety
days they've worked.

And in the S.I.U., as every seafarer
knows, there is no red tape,

this whole operation takes
5 minutes, or a little more.

The S.I.U. never loses sight of
the fact that it exists to serve

it's seafaring members in every way
it can, wherever they may be.

That is why seafarers
created the S.I.U..

Every hospitalized seafarer
knows at least once a week

an S.I.U. representative will come by
to say hello, to fill personal requests.

And pay the S.I.U.'s weekly
hospital benefit of $15 in cash.

And this goes on for as long
as the seafarer is hospitalized;

weeks, months or years.

For disabled seafarers or
those too old to go to sea,

the S.I.U. weekly disability
benefit of $25, comes in handy.

Seafarer's gains through the S.I.U.
have been won step by step

in victories on ships of Isthmian,
City Service and other lines.

Through the solidarity of seafarers
themselves, backed by the S.I.U..

Of one S.I.U. victory in a major tanker
fleet, a senate committee said:

"It is amazing that any union could
survive this heavily financed,

lawyer-led attack."

But winning through
the democratic process

of collective bargaining
is an S.I.U. habit.

As these headlines
from its newspaper,

the "Seafarer's Log", show.

The "Seafarer's Log", often called
the country's best labor paper,

is airmailed to S.I.U.
ships everywhere,

keeping seafarers informed
of S.I.U. progress.

Progress such as this:

Shipping lines under
contract up from 8 to 84.

S.I.U. assets up from less than
$100,000 to close to $3 million.

Cash benefits to seafarers
now running into millions.

Seafarers' earnings tripled through
S.I.U. contracts. Impressive, isn't it?

With the best contracts in
the maritime industry, the S.I.U.

makes sure that seafarers get
the full benefit of those contracts.

An S.I.U. representative goes
abord all incoming ships

to represent the crew
in ironing out all grievances,

claims and disputes,
before the payoff.

This S.I.U. representation
assures every seafarer

that he will be paid off in full.

A seafarer's union,
in doing its job,

must meet and service
its members abord ship.

The S.I.U. brings its
services to its members,

not waiting for the
members to come to it.

Working onboard ship, every
seafarer knows that his job,

his rights on his job, and his
rights and interests ashore

are fully protected through his
cooperation with other seafarers,

not only in his crew,
but in his union.

This explains why
S.I.U. organizers,

when they approach members
of unorganized crews,

get a friendly welcome.

And real cooperation in
providing S.I.U. support

for those who want the
benefits of S.I.U. membership.

Membership in the union that
represents seafarers effectively

because it is controlled by
seafarers in the democratic way.

All officers of the S.I.U. are elected.

No one can be a candidate for S.I.U.
office unless he has spent at least

3 years at sea, a guarantee that he
will understand seafarers' problems.

On ship and on shore, all S.I.U.
policies are decided

by the majority vote of seafarers,
with plenty of time for discussion.

Every S.I.U. meeting begins with
a statement reminding seafarers

of the rights guaranteed them
in the S.I.U. constitution.

Calling on them to
exercise those rights.

The right of any seafarer
to nominate himself

or any other seafarer as a
meeting officer or to any committee.

The right of any seafarer to
speak his mind on any issue.

The right to vote on every issue.

The right to straight talk
from S.I.U. officers.

Listen to Paul Hall,
Secretary Treasurer

of the S.I.U. Atlantic
and Gulf district.

For the Chairman, Officers of
the meeting, fellow seafarers.

You have heard in the previous
part of this meeting,

our organizers made the report that
we have petitioned a very large

unorganized company for the
purpose of representing

their employees for collective
bargaining reasons.

You know as I do, that the seamen
of that particular company

are going to vote in our favor.

Those men are going to vote
in our favor because

they know what kind of
a union that we are.

They know the things
that we represent,

they know the things
that we want to do.

They know, for example, that in this
union we have the most fair,

democratic system of hiring ever
known to any American industry.

They know, too, that we
have in this organization

the most democratic constitution
in the trade union movement,

whereby no decision can be
made to affect our people,

unless that decision is made on the
floor of meetings just such as these.

They know too, that this organization
has the finest agreements

ever negotiated in the
entire maritime history.

They know that the seamen
under those agreements

are the highest paid
seamen in the world.

They know too of our many broad
benefits that we have for our people,

they know of the payments
we make for hospital benefits,

vacation benefits, they know too
that disability, regardless of age,

when you can't work
in this organization

you are put on a pension so
that you will be taken care of.

They know of the death benefits,
they know of the maternity benefits.

They know too of the fact that we
have scholarship benefits.

The men in that
particular fleet also realize

that we have a tremendous
economic strength here,

an economic strength that
enables us to be protected

against the boss,
if such need arises.

They know too that
while we do possess

such large economic strength,

that we do not abuse that strength.

The S.I.U.'s economic strength,
used effectively but without abuse,

has meant much to seafarers;
security, a higher standard of living,

a position of respect
in their communities.

Today, every seafarer beginning a
voyage goes up the gangplank

secure in the knowledge that
he and his family can depend

on the protection of
a great organization.

An organization the
seafarers themselves,

with their own intelligence and
effort, have brought into being.

You've seen the story
of how the seafarers,

conscious of their rights,
and their responsibilities,

are working together for
their common objectives:

dignity, security, a better way of life
for themselves and for their families.

This is the story of the S.I.U..