"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.."