Seamen: ‘drastic action'

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33791, 13 March 1975, Page 2

Seamen: ‘drastic action'

(New Zealand Press Association)

DtINEDIN, March 12.

Seamen throughout New Zealand m ight take “drastic action” on Friday in an effort to press their case for work for me n at present unemployed, Mr A. McDonald, a national councillor of the Seamen’s Union, said today in Dunedin.

Some of the 40 out-of-work seamen in Dunedin this afternoon marched from their union office to the wharves, where they attempted to hold a “work-in’ ’aboard two of the ships laid up in the port, the VVanaka and the Storm. They were met aboard the Wanaka by management officials, who told the men they were trespassing. A reporter, invited on board the ship by the seamen to hear their case, was also ordered off the ship by one of the officers.

Nevertheless, the men held a meeting aboard the ship, and left quietly after about an hour.

Later, the general manager of the Union Steam Ship Company (Mr B. S. Cole, of

Wellington) said the company was “quite keen” to provide work for the men, and was negotiating with the union to determine a reasonable basis for productive maintenance work while ships were laid up. In Auckland, the Seamen’s Union today began organising collections to buy food parcels for families of the growing number of unemployed seamen. The move is the first stage in a campaign to help the position of the 130 unemployed seamen, 90 of them in Auckland. Other activities planned include. A stop-work meeting of all employed and unemployed seamen in Auckland on Friday; A protest march down Queen Street, if the Auckland City Council eives permission;

A series of work-ins on board the laid-up vessels around the coast; A voluntary system to share available seagoing jobs among all seamen. The Auckland secretary of the Seamen’s Union (Mr D. Clark) said unemployment among seamen was extremely serious, and growing worse. Many were in serious financial circumstances as a result. The position of an unemployed seaman was particularly difficult. Because of an anomaly, he was unable to draw the unemployment benefit. This was because a seaman wishing to remain eligible for a job at sea had to report daily at the shipping office of the Ministry of Transport, and keep available for work. But the dole was not paid unless an applicant regis-

tered with the Department of Labour, and took any work the department had offering. Mr Clark said this problem had been drawn to the attention of the Government, but without success. The only solution put forward was to use a provision of the Shipping and Seamen Act to set up a roster of unemployed seamen, who would be paid for keeping themselves available. But the shipping companies had so far offered only a payment of about $l5 a week for those on such a roster, and this was worthless. Mr Clark said the unemployment had been caused by the shipping companies, who had asked the union last year to recruit some 240 more members to provide crews for all their ships, and now were laying up those ships.