This condition should not be permitted to exist, in our opinionespecially in view of the fact of the reasons that have been brought out here, and because right in the contract with the shipping companies they recognized our right to be designated as officers.

And in comparison with the merchant marines of foreign countries, you have seen for yourselves just what the conditions are over there. The CHAIRMAN. Do you say that the radio men get better treatment abroad than they do here? Is that your contention?

Mr. BOROW. Well, it all depends on how you mean that, Senator. The CHAIRMAN. How is that?

Mr. BOROW. It all depends on how you mean that.

The CHAIRMAN. I mean better pay and better quarters and better social standing.

Mr. BOROW. Comparatively; yes. Comparatively; yes.

The CHAIRMAN. What do you mean by "comparatively; yes"? What treatment is due them, as compared with our country? Do they get better treatment abroad than they do here?

Mr. BOROW. I say, comparatively; yes-they do.
The CHAIRMAN. All right; go ahead.

Mr. BOROW. In closing this particular point, I have one more paragraph.

In comparison with vessels of foreign registry, it is conspicuously noticeable that the radio officer enjoys an official and social prestige far superior to that of his American cousin. This is an anomalous situation when one realizes how much superior is the American radio officer to the radio officer of any other nation. In ability to repair his apparatus, make improvements, in speed of transmission and reception of the Morse code, in his expeditious handling of traffic, the American radio officer stands without a peer in any foreign country. Why, then, is not the American radio officer accorded that legal recognition by the Government of the United States which all the world, including the American steamship owners, in signed contracts, and the masters. of their vessels, have extended to their radio officers?

Because of the foregoing, the American Radio Telegraphists' Association feels itself justified in requesting the Congress of the United States to fix the legal status of the American radio officer. We therefore urge the enactment of the foregoing amendment, offered by ourselves and with the unanimous support of our affiliated groups-an amendment that would fix by law the radio operator's status as an officer.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you finished?

Mr. BOROW. No, sir.

Senator GIBSON. Let me ask you a question, please.

Mr. BOROW. Yes, sir.

Senator GIBSON. Are not the duties of a telegraph operator and radio operator on board a ship comparable to those of a telegraph operator ashore?

Mr. BOROW. No, sir.

Senator GIBSON. What is the distinction?

Mr. BOROW. There are many distinctions. Number 1, sir, is this: Usually the telegraph operator ashore has practically no apparatus of any consequence that he is responsible for, insofar as being responsible for its operation, maintenance, and upkeep: But aboard

ship, the radio apparatus is much more complicated. That is readily understandable, of course.

Senator GIBSON. That is true, of course.

Mr. BOROW. Yes. Another thing is that the radio operator is required to be familiar with all the rules and regulations of the radio. service company which owns and licenses the apparatus. Second, they are required to be familiar with all the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States, and the international rules regarding radio communications.

Senator GIBSON. And with all the code?

Mr. BOROW. Yes; with all the code. Those are just a few of the differences.

Senator GIBSON. Are there many companies operating radio stations on shipboard, or is it all under one head?

Mr. BOROW. There are two companies that control for the most part the radio communication facilities of the vessels of the American merchant marine: The Radio Marine Corporation of America, which is one, and the Mackay Radio Telegraph Corporation, the other.

Senator GIBSON. Then there is the Globe Co.?

Mr. BOROW. Well, the Globe Co. is confined primarily to the ships. of the Dollar Line.

Senator GIBSON. Are there any other companies comparable to the Globe?

Mr. BOROW. Yes, sir. The United Fruit Steamship Co. has a branch or subsidiary which they call the Tropical Radio Co. And they confine their operations, as far as shipboard installations are concerned, to the vessels of the United Fruit Co.

Senator GIBSON. So you would make these radio operators officers? Where would you place them in the scale of the grade of officers?

Mr. BOROW. Well, that would be in my opinion, up to either the Congress or the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation to define.

Senator GIBSON. No; I am asking you.

Mr. BOROW. But in our opinion he should be placed in the comparable status with that of his foreign colleagues that is, equivalent, we shall say, to a second deck officer. But the primary objective of bringing this issue before the Congress is to have him legally recog

nized as an officer.

Senator GIBSON. And let the grade be fixed later?

Mr. BOROW. Yes, sir.

Senator GIBSON. Or, rather, "rank," perhaps is a better word? Mr. BOROW. Yes, sir.

Senator VANDENBERG. Do you contend this bill actually demotes you?

Mr. BOROW. Yes, sir; it does.

There is another very important point which I have not brought up, and that is that many of our members hold commissions in the Communications Naval Reserve of the United States Navy. Under this amendment, here-S. 3078-they would not be given the same privileges as other licensed officers who are members of the United States Naval Reserve. They will not even be permitted to wear a uniform, in spite of the fact that they are commissioned officers of the Communications Naval Service of the United States Naval Reserve.

This condition should not be permitted to exist, in our opinionespecially in view of the fact of the reasons that have been brought out here, and because right in the contract with the shipping companies they recognized our right to be designated as officers.

And in comparison with the merchant marines of foreign countries, you have seen for yourselves just what the conditions are over there. The CHAIRMAN. Do you say that the radio men get better treatment abroad than they do here? Is that your contention?

Mr. BOROW. Well, it all depends on how you mean that, Senator. The CHAIRMAN. How is that?

Mr. BOROW. It all depends on how you mean that.

The CHAIRMAN. I mean better pay and better quarters and better social standing.

Mr. BOROW. Comparatively; yes. Comparatively; yes.

The CHAIRMAN. What do you mean by "comparatively; yes"? What treatment is due them, as compared with our country? Do they get better treatment abroad than they do here?

Mr. BOROW. I say, comparatively; yes-they do.
The CHAIRMAN. All right; go ahead.

Mr. BOROW. In closing this particular point, I have one more paragraph.

In comparison with vessels of foreign registry, it is conspicuously noticeable that the radio officer enjoys an official and social prestige far superior to that of his American cousin. This is an anomalous situation when one realizes how much superior is the American radio officer to the radio officer of any other nation. In ability to repair his apparatus, make improvements, in speed of transmission and reception of the Morse code, in his expeditious handling of traffic, the American radio officer stands without a peer in any foreign country. Why, then, is not the American radio officer accorded that legal recognition by the Government of the United States which all the world, including the American steamship owners, in signed contracts, and the masters of their vessels, have extended to their radio officers?

Because of the foregoing, the American Radio Telegraphists' Association feels itself justified in requesting the Congress of the United States to fix the legal status of the American radio officer. We therefore urge the enactment of the foregoing amendment, offered by ourselves and with the unanimous support of our affiliated groups-an amendment that would fix by law the radio operator's status as an officer.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you finished?

Mr. BOROW. No, sir.

Senator GIBSON. Let me ask you a question, please.

Mr. BOROW. Yes, sir.

Senator GIBSON. Are not the duties of a telegraph operator and radio operator on board a ship comparable to those of a telegraph operator ashore?

Mr. BOROW. No, sir.

Number 1, sir, is

Senator GIBSON. What is the distinction? Mr. BOROW. There are many distinctions. this: Usually the telegraph operator ashore has practically no apparatus of any consequence that he is responsible for, insofar as being responsible for its operation, maintenance, and upkeep: But aboard

The CHAIRMAN. May I say that, as I have listened to this witness, he really wants an amendment to the general Seamen's Act, so as to give protection to the radio men all through the merchant marine. But I suppose that, failing that action at the moment, he would like to have this act amended to take care of the subsidized ships, to give the radio men the standing suggested. Is that right?

Mr. BOROW. Yes, sir; that is No. 1. No 2 is the other point I brought out, sir-that it is on the basis of what happened in the Shipping Board days: When the Maritime Commission sets certain standards, the rest of the industry will fall right in line. We have even had instances of that since the Maritime Commission has been in effect.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Borow, you seem to be a very intelligent gentleman. Do you think that maritime labor has better treatment and greater consideration in foreign countries than it has here?

Mr. BOROW. Well, on that, I cannot say; because I really do not know. I have not made a study of it.

The CHAIRMAN. You have no answer to make to that?

Mr. BOROW. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. All right; go ahead.

Mr. BOROW. I should like to say this: I should like to make a comparison, sir, between conditions as they exist today and as they existed several years ago.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you mean they are much better now?
Mr. BOROW. Well, let me explain, please, sir.

In 1934 I was a radio operator on the Morro Castle-that is the ill-fated Morro Castle. And the conditions aboard that ship were abominable as your own committee has investigated and determined. There were certain of those conditions that I brought to the attention of the chief mate of that vessel, and complained about them, particularly with respect to food and discipline and fire and boat drills. And for going to such trouble, I was summarily discharged just 1 month before the fatal voyage when the vessel caught fire.

Now, around 2 or 3 months ago I took a trip on the S. S. Oriente, which is a sister ship of the ill-fated Morro Castle. And it was miraculous, to me, just to see the change, from the top all the way down to the bottom.

The CHAIRMAN. You think our investigation did some good, then? Mr. BOROW. I do; I do think so. I think the investigation did some good, and I think the fact that the maritime unions have strengthened has done considerable good. Because there are many conditions which would probably have continued, which existed before, which have been stopped through the action of the National Maritime Union and other groups in the maritime industry.

The CHAIRMAN. Is it your belief that we are on the way to a better understanding between labor and the operators of ships?

Mr. BOROW. Yes, sir. I think it has been a long time coming, but I think it is getting here. But I do not think, Mr. Chairman, that we will help the situation by submitting legislation calling for compulsory arbitration, such as has been recommended by the Maritime Commission. In other words it should be something free and willing, coming from both sides-from capital on one side and labor on the other. This certainly would not be the case if this compulsory arbitration were required.