The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 26, 1927, Page 9

Ship Committees On Soviet Vessels BS fe tasks of the ship committees, as the primary organizations of the union on board the ships, are determined both by the statutes of the Water Work- ers’ Union of USSR and by the general tasks with which the working class of the Soviet Union became confronted ever since the overthrow of the bour- geoisie and the establishment of the proletarian dic- tatorship. The fundamental and immediate task of the ship committee is the protection of the economic inter- ests of the ship’s crew and of their working condi- tions, as well as the satisfaction of their cultural needs. For these purposes the ship committee: 1.—Looks after the faithful observance of the col- lective agreement and of the wage agreements, both on the part of the administration and crew of the ship; 2.—Looks after the proper hiring and discharging of crews on the basis of the collective agreement signed between the parties; 3.—Sees to the timely payment of wages, to the observation of all the rules concerning labor pro- tection and social insurance on the part of the ad- ministration, takes care of improving working and living conditions aboard ship, looks after the quality of the crew’s food, and also co-operates with the labor inspectors in their work, and 4.—Carries on cultural and. educational activity among the crew, assists in the illiteracy campaign, ty arranging during leisure hours: talks, readings, ecurses, lectures, ete., looks after the activity and content of the ship’s wall-newspaper, and takes _ charge of the ship’s library. In the domain of professional organization, the task of the ship committee is: to get the workers on board the ship to join the union; to develop the revolutionary class consciousness among the mem- bers of the crew; to make propaganda for organiza- tional proletarian discipline: to represent the mem- bers of the crew before the various organizations and institutions, including the organs dealing with any conflicts arising between members of the union and the administration. Furthermore, on ships owned by the Soviet gov- ernment it is also one of the tasks of the ship com- mittee to encourage in every way the profitable running of the ship, to assist.in promoting effici- ency and labor discipline. The last task arises from the fact that the work- ing class, during the period ofthe proletarian dic- tatorship, has for its important purpose to take part in the building of the socialist commonwealth, and‘in the first place, in the organization and im- provement of the state industries and transports. In this connection the trade uniofis of the USSR, incidentally, furnish a school for the management of socialized industries. Of course, this last task does not in any way concern the ship committees on board ships owned by private people or by concessionaires. Aboard such ships the only task of the ship committee is to look after the economic interests of the members of the union and to take charge of cultural and general educational work. f Thus, the ship committees, although only con- stituting the primary organs of the union, are charged with very responsible, complex and varied tasks and functions. Of particular importance be- comes the activity of the ship committees aboard oceanic vessels going out on long journeys, where “ the members of the crew are for many months de- tached from the direct influence of the leading or- gans of the union, These tasks are not only recorded on paper, but in the overwhelming majority of cases are being carried into effect by the ship committees of the USSR, in which they are aided to a considerable extent by the labor legislation of the USSR—the world’s first proletarian state—which, encourages in every way the consolidation and growth of the trade unions. A further contributing factor is fur- nished by the centralized industrial structure of the union which embraces 95% of all the workers em- ployed on the water transport. On the water trans- port there is.no other trade union organization besides the Water Transport Workers’ Union, and this ensures unity of action in protecting the eco- nomic interests of the members. Organizational Structure of Ship Committees. The ship committee is an elected body composed of from 3 to 5 members and 1-2 candidates, elected at general meetings of the ship’s crew. Part is taken in these elections by all those work- ing aboard ship who have the right of becoming members of the union, whether they are members er not. On the other hand, only members of the union may be elected on the ship committee, and not under 18 years of age. The election meeting is considered valid if at- tended by not less than two-thirds of all the people employed aboard the ship. Those are considered elected who obtained an absolute majority of the votes, i. e. 51% or over, of all the votes recorded in the meeting. The election is carried out by means of personal and open voting. In this respect the principles of trade union democracy are fully applied. By J. CANTY The term of office. for the ship committee aboard ships navigating throughout the year is for 6 months, and on board ships engaged in seasonal navigation, - term is for the duration of the period of navigas ion, On a request being made by not less than one- third of the members of the crew, the questi@h of re-election of the ship committee before the expira- tion of their time may be raised at a general meet- ing of the crew. In order to audit the finances of the ship com- nittee an auditing committee is elected at the same meeting of the crew in the same manner, composed of three members, and serving for the same period as the ship committee. The auditing committee ex- amines the financial activity of the ship committee at least once a month, and furnishes its report both to the genera! ship’s meeting and to the leading or- gan of the union. The ship committee chooses its officers, consist- ing of the chairman, secretary and treasurer. In order to cope with its tasks, the shin commit- tee may: organize sub-committees for labor pro- tection and educational activity, composed of 3 to 5 people each: Furthermore, on large sea vessels and dredges owned by the state, a production com- mittee may also be organized, having for its pur- pose the discussion of problems relating to the best organization of work aboard ship, and so on. The members of this committee are chosen by the ship committee from among its members and from among the more active and efficient members of the crew. The production committee is an auxiliary organ ot the ship committee working under its guidance, The ship committee carries on its work during the time that they are free from their regular duties or. board. For any additional work upon the ship committee, either all the members or those that are most charged with work, are getting a special com- pensation of from 8 to 22 roubles per month, ac- cording to the size of the crew. The funds for the maintenance of the ship _com- mittee and for the conduct of cultural and educa- tional activity are obtained from the ship’s adminis- tration in the shape of contributions of from 1% to 3% of the total wages paid to the crew, accord- ing to the terms stipulated in the collective agree- ment. a In 1926 the Water Workers’ Union of the USSR had 706 ship committees. which organized over 2, 000 sub-committees and attracted about 8,000 people into active work in the union. In the capitalist countries the living conditions of the seamen are different from those prevailing in the USSR. In those countries the trade unions are hampered by the ship owners at every step in the conduct of their work. But: the seamen must insist on the formation of ship committees aboard every ship. Only the ship committees will help them to become organized, only under the existence of the ship committees the seamen will be able to build up the organization in the proper way and on sound democratic principles. On the other hand, none other than the ship com-. mittee can look after the faithful observance of the working agreements, the labor protection rules, etc., on the part of the administration. The organization of ship committees aboard the Soviet ships should serve as an example for the sea- men of all countries to emulate. LLL LF S| A I AVERAGE COTTON MILL WAGE $1748 PER WEEK: MUCH VARIATION IN DIFFERENT STATES How you lived on that wage is not for 52.3 hours, and in 1926 they had . explained in the report just issued by| to accept $15.89 for 52.8 hours the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the fact that that was all you got is shown by elaborate tables of fig- ures taken from cotton mill payrolls and records from 151 mills in the 12 cotton textile states. These states— Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Is- land, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ala- bama and Georgia—contain 92 per cent of all the workers in this poverty- making industry. . Women Lowest. Men’s wages were slightly less miserable than those paid to women. Both were forced to accept a redue- tion in weekly pay in the period from 1924 to 1926, and the reduction in weekly pay from 1920 to 1926 was 30 per cent. At the same time the working hours were increased by 2 per cent. Male workers in all occupations in the industry received an, average weekly wage of $20.87. in 1924, and they worked 53.5 hours. In 1926 the male workers received only .$18.67 and worked 53.8 hours. : Female employes in 1924 got $18.15 of work in the mill, : Many Children. That a great many employes were children is indicated by some of the figures, given for different jobs in the mills. Thus the male spool ten- ders in 1924 got only $10.56 for 55 hours’ work, and in 1926 they got $11.25 for 59.2 hours, while female workers at the same job got $15.19 for 53.3 hours in 1924,and $13.19 for 53.6 hours in 1926. These male work- ers must have been boys, and the fe- male workers grown women, with a considerable number of girls in 1926. Wages Vary. How wages vary from state to state is shown by a comparison of earnings and hours worked in seven selected occupations in the industry, for male and female workers sep- arately. Alabama pays the lowest wage in most cases, Thus, for picker tenders, male, the rates are: Ala- bama, $12.40 for 56.6 hours; Connec- ticut, $18.84 for 51.9 hours; Georgia, $12.21 for 56.8 hours; Maine, $19.06 for 54 hours; Massachusetts, $19.35 for 49.1 hours; New Hampshire, $21.03 for 54.2 hours; New York, $18.73 for 48.4 hours; North Caro- lina, $14.70 for 55.7 hours; Pennsyl- vania, $22.44 for .53.3 hours; Rhode Island, $19.59 for 50.5 hours; South Carolina, $13.81 for 55 hours, and Virginia, $13.85 for 55.4 hours. Lower in South. Male speed tenders get $16.09 in Alabama, $16.17 in South Carolina and $16.70 in Georgia. Female speed tenders get $13.81 in Alabama, $14.69 in South Carolina and $15.60 in Georgia for a week of 55 and 56.1 hours. Female frame spinners get less than $12 a week in Alabama and South Carolina, while female weavers are prosperous at $15.21 in Alabama, $15.18 in South Carolina, $16.19 in Georgia and $19.18 in Connecticut, with $17.54 in North Carolina, which claims leadership of the South. The highest wage mentioned in the study is $36.15 for loom fixers, male, in New Hampshire, working 54.2 hours. In New York the same job, at 50 hours, paid $32.85, while in South Carolina, at 55.3 hours, it paid $20.85 to the aristocrats of the mill. RIVET PASSER Poised on his lofty spider-web of steel, I saw him stand against the blue of day And saw him catch, a mere young boy at play, A white-hot rivet—catch and swiftly kneel _And place it in the girder there, then wheel And catch another. He would never sway. The gang below would draw its breath and say “The fool’ll kill himself!” but seemed to feel His life was charmed, and yet one day it eame— The rivets, hissing meteors, were flung To him and quickly placed and made to stay By singing hammers—like a speck of flame One rivet flew—an awful instant hung In space his body—then we turned away. HENRY REICH, JR.