payment. No such charge was made, however, that that would happen, and I do not believe it was a serious factor. The CHAIRMAN. Are there any further questions? The hearing is closed. (Thereupon, at 12: 20 p. m., the committee adjourned subject to the call of the Chair.) The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Collins. Mr. COLLINS. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. How long do you think you will take, Mr. Collins? Mr. COLLINS. Not longer than 10 minutes. The CHAIRMAN. I am not limiting you; take as long as you desire. STATEMENT OF J. J. COLLINS, ADVISER TO INDEPENDENT UNIONS, NEW YORK CITY, N. Y. Mr. COLLINS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is J. J. Collins. I am appearing here as adviser to the independent unions of licensed and unlicensed personnel of the oceangoing tankers of the major oil companies. These independent unions represent more than 5,000 seamen on approximately 175 tankers, and have all been certified by the National Labor Relations Board following elections conducted by that Board. Naturally these men have a very deep personal interest in this legislation which so acutely affects their welfare, and on their behalf I thank this committee for their generosity in allowing me to appear before them at this time. These independent unions wholeheartedly endorse unemployment insurance for seamen. They believe that unemployment insurance for seamen is long overdue and that in an industry such as the maritime industry, subject to frequent dislocations due to causes over which the employees have absolutely no control, unemployment insurance is a logical and just method of cushioning the impact of unemployment. Today the Nation is more conscious of its merchant marine than it has been in more than two decades. Hardly a day goes by without the announcement of the laying of a keel or the launching of a ship. Last Saturday considerable publicity was given by the newspapers and the radio to the launching of 14 ships in 1 day. Side by side with the news of the building and launching of ships we hear of the new schools and training centers that have been established by the United States Maritime Commission for the training of both licensed and unlicensed personnel. What right, however, does the Government or industry have to entice and encourage young men to follow the sea for their livelihood and as a profession if they cannot offer stability of employment or some form of protection against the hazards of unemployment peculiar to the industry? Admitting that life is made up of uncertainties and that absolute security is never really attainable, nevertheless if the program of building a bigger and better American merchant marine is to meet with any success, four guarantees should be given to any young American who elects the sea as his career: First, he should be guaranteed fair wages; secondly, decent living conditions aboard ship; third, an opportunity to advance himself; and, fourth, adequate compensation for a reasonable length of time during which he may be unemployed. And, mind you, individuals who are unemployed may be required to go to these places of registration despite the fact that they may be very much opposed to these particular unions. What treatment do you think such an individual would receive with respect to shipping out? This is one of the things that is unwritten. Furthermore, the principle upon which registration is predicated is undiluted rotary hiring subsidized by Government funds and possible of control by hostile unions. These independent unions believe that if the final plan for unemployment insurance calls for places of registration these places should be entirely controlled and run by Government agents and not delegated to any non-Government organization. In this way the unemployed seaman will be protected against any possibility of favoritism, coercion, or any other improper action. The term "company union" is used in this bill and these independents suggest that for the sake of clarity either the term be eliminated entirely or it be qualified by the word "dominated." That is the practice of the Labor Board for designating an illegal organization and it is to be presumed that it is the illegality of the organization that is aimed at, not its structure. The structure of a labor organization; in our democratic society, is for the employees to decide. Company domination is wholly outside the structure and can be true of affiliated as well as unaffiliated unions. Briefly then, these independent unions endorse, support, and are anxious for unemployment-insurance legislation, but are opposed to certain features of this bill because they believe them harmful not only to themselves but to the entire American Merchant Marine. We sincerely hope that these defects can be remedied, and unemploymentinsurance legislation enacted during this session of Congress, and finally we trust that in this legislation, as well as in any other legislation enacted relating to American seamen, you will never forget that to the American seamen neither industry nor the Government has any right to hold out inducements that may be of a purely temporary or transitory nature. Anxious as are these independent unions to see the inauguration of unemployment insurance, they do not believe that any unemploymentinsurance legislation will be satisfactory. Rather they believe that unemployment-insurance legislation should be an integral part of the whole pattern of the American Merchant Marine. Its place in that pattern should be a balanced one, not weighted in such a way as to impair the morale or destroy the efficiency of the merchant marine. It should complete the cycle in the industry so that the peaks and valleys of overemployment and unemployment will be leveled off. But above all, the tail that is unemployment-insurance legislation should not wag the dog that is the entire American Merchant Marine. Where possible, unemployment insurance for seamen should be streamlined; it should be tailor-made to fit the exigencies of the situation as it affects different men in different companies and certainly if we are to have a merchant marine of which we can be proud a premium should not be placed on discontinuous service. If you men could only talk to the average man going to sea you would realize how much he wants to be proud of his calling, and what it means to him to have the American Merchant Marine respected for what it is doing and what it can do. This average man is not seeking unemployment insurance every day in the week but he would like to know that it is there should he become unemployed. That is the man that this legislation should protect; his is the morale that should be sustained. The present legislation is particularly unsatisfactory as regards the methods for registering those who become unemployed. This bill states, "The term 'registration office' means a registration facility operated by the Board," but since the "Board" may designate such facilities and may in areas where no other registration facilities of the Board are available without regard to the civil-service laws and the Classification Act of 1923, appoint persons to accept, in such areas, registration of such employees and perform services incidental thereto and may compensate such persons on a piece-rate basis to be determined by the Board it is at least within the realm of probability that the seaman is just as eager as you gentlemen are to have a first-rate merchant marine. In fact, we think you will agree it means even more to him than to you; it is his life. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee. The CHAIRMAN. Did you point out, Mr. Collins, in your statement, all of the defects that you consider there are in the bill? Mr. COLLINS. No, sir; I did not because I preferred to wait until the entire testimony is heard, and, if possible, I desire to file an additional brief at this time, depending upon the testimony that is adduced. The CHAIRMAN. I might say, without objection on the part of the committee, that all witnesses appearing may file additional briefs not later than October 25, and that all persons who do not appear, and who desire to do so, may file briefs within the same period. We wish to have all of the information that we can get. Just 1 minute, Mr. Collins. Did you state your business initially? Mr. COLLINS. Yes, sir; I advised the committee I was adviser to the independent unions, and I am also instructor in history and labor problems at Fordham University, in New York. The CHAIRMAN. Are there any questions? Mr. HART. Who are the independent unions that you represent, Mr. Collins? Mr. COLLINS. They are confined to the employees of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, on all of their tankers, and include both licensed and unlicensed personnel. Mr. HART. What is the official name of them? Mr. COLLINS. There are several names of the individual unions. For instance, in the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, there is the New Jersey Standard Tanker Officers' Association for the licensed personnel, and there is also the New Jersey Tanker Men's Association for the unlicensed personnel. In the Socony-Vacuum Co. there is the SoconyVacuum Officers' Association for licensed personnel, and there is also the Socony-Vacuum Men's Association for the unlicensed personnel. The same thing is true with respect to the licensed and unlicensed personnel in the Texas Co. and City Service; that is, the names follow essentially the names of the companies. Mr. HART. They are all connected with the tanker industry? Mr. COLLINS. Yes, sir; they are all connected with the tanker industry and in the deep-sea branch of the industry. Mr. BRADLEY. Mr. Collins, do I understand that your principal objection so far expressed is this question of the registration facilities being unsatisfactory? Mr. COLLINS. Yes, sir; that is the principal objection. Mr. BRADLEY. And also the fact that those words "company union" as used in the bill should be changed. Mr. COLLINS. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Are there any further questions of Mr. Collins? If not, stand aside. Mr. COLLINS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. I am going to alter the arrangement as to witnesses. Captain Delaney, we will hear you now. There are persona reasons for Captain Delaney being heard now, which would appeal to members of the committee. We will hear you now if you are ready to go on, Captain. Captain DELANEY. I am ready to go on, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. We will be glad to hear you, Captain. STATEMENT OF JAMES J. DELANEY, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF MASTERS, MATES, AND PILOTS OF AMERICA Mr. DELANEY. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I have not had a great deal of time to make a study of the bill. You all appreciate that it is quite voluminous as well as being quite ambiguous, especially to a layman, and due to the critical illness of Mrs. Delaney, I have only had 2 days to study it, and that was at the hospital. The CHAIRMAN. You may file briefs up until October 25, Captain. Captain DELANEY. Yes. In going through the bill, Mr. Chairman, and members of your committee, it appears to my conception that the inland waterways and the Great Lakes are eliminated from the bill, and you bring them under Social Security. I may be be wrong in my conception of it, but that is my understanding of it after going through it, and I cannot conceive why especially the inland waterways should be eliminated from the bill, because I believe that the inland waters would be an asset instead of a liability to the bill for the reason that there is less unemployment, I believe, on the inland waters than in any other part of the industry, and you would have the benefit of the taxes from the employers on the inland waters to build up your fund, and I think we all appreciate the necessity of building up a fund for the unemployment insurance for the maritime industry. There is no question in my mind about that. It is going to be an expensive luxury, but it is essential. We all know, and your committee knows how hard we have worked for years to build up a merchant marine here, and if we are to build up a merchant marine that will be a credit to our country, and that is what we have been aiming for, it is essential, I believe, to give the men employed in our merchant marine just as good an opportunity as the men have in other industries. Therefore, as has been stated before, I believe that unemployment insurance is overdue, it should have been in force long before now, and I hope that this Congress will see that it is enacted into law. As far as the Great Lakes are concerned, the men that I represent, who are the licensed deck personnel, they would be no load on the bill whatever, due to the fact that all of my men on the Great Lakes are under contract, and while some of them may only operate for 2 or 3 months they will get at least 6 or 7 months' pay at real compensation, a great deal higher than is paid on the east, the west, or the Gulf coasts. Therefore, they would be no load on your bill at all, and I stated I believe that your inland waterways would be an asset to your bill on account of the tax that you would receive from the operators. We all know, at least you people know. that the marine men in the railroad industry come under the railroad unemployment insurance, and I believe if a study is made you will find that there is more unemployment in the railroad marine industory than there is outside of it, but, nevertheless, the railroad marine industry has been no load on the railroad unemployment insurance. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, and the members of your committee, I hope that you will give serious consideration to this fact and bring all maritime employees under the one bill, and not create a chaotic condition by having them under two or three different bills. That is all I intend to say at this time. The CHAIRMAN. Are there any questions? If there are no questions, thank you very much, and we hope Mrs. Delaney will be better when you get back. Captain DELANEY. Thank you, sir. (The following statement was subsequently filed for the record.) Hon. S. O. BLAND, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION MASTERS, MATES AND PILOTS OF AMERICA, New York, N. Y., November 24, 1941. Chairman, Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR CONGRESSMAN: With reference to my statement before your Committee on Unemployment Insurance for the Maritime Industry, I desire to say that it is absolutely necessary that the same be established so the American merchant marine that we all have worked so hard to have built, maintained, and operated can function properly and the American people can point to same with pride. If this is to be accomplished we must see that nothing is left undone to attract and retain in this industry the youth of America. It is through that source the wages, working conditions, and living conditions have been improved considerably, and the Government has spent and is spending a vast amount of money to train officers and men, but I am afraid this will all go for naught if the men employed in the industry do not receive the same consideration as is granted the employees of other large industries. And apparently it still remains a fact that the employees of the maritime industry are always the last to receive the benefits of social and progressive legislation. This should not be and must not be if we are to accomplish our purpose. The cry of the operators that they cannot afford it is too ridiculous for consideration. Every other large industry has to assume the responsibility, why not the maritime operators? At this late day I believe it is just as much responsibility of the maritime operators to provide unemployment insurance as it is for them to provide for their pay rolls and other operating expenses. We cannot continue to permit this industry to lag behind if we expect to obtain and retain the character of personnel that I believe your committee and our organization has been striving for. Therefore I believe it to be the duty of your committee to favorably report out as good an unemployment insurance bill as is humanly possible for your committee to present, and to do your utmost to see that it is enacted into law. I believe that the maritime insurance bill should at least be as liberal as any other bill which covers the various industries; and, as stated to your committee |