Seamen face dockers' problem: modernization means giant jobs cut

major shipyards of the capitalist world have full order books can in no way be seen as a shipping boom and a consequent glut of jobs for seamen.

The opposite is the case.

Modernization of world shipping now taking place should be looked at in the same way as modernization of the docks and mines in Britain.

Combined with new systems of working, the new equipment there has meant a continuous jobs decrease.

The great incentive to hit out to an even greater extent at the seamen implicit in the employers' crisis.

Big initial profits for the first in with the new methods and a buyers' market on ships as the shipbuilders cut profits to the minimum to win more orders, quickly changes to a cut-throat war among the shipping operators themselves as more and more of the established firms fight for a slice of the chief shipping routes.

CUTBACK

Five main trends are developing in the shipping industry which are contributing heavily towards a continuous cutback on jobs. These are: 1. The replacement of conventional shipping by container vessels, monster bulk carriers and so on. In many cases, this means one ship doing the work done previously by five or six.

Automation aboard ship. All loading, steering and engine room activities being carried on by automatic control systems.

Faster turn-round of ships in port. This adds up to more trips each year with fewer ships.

Changes in the concept of ship-repairing. Instead of being docked for repairs, "flying squad' repair gangs work on the ships while at sea. Reductions in the number of ships laid up at any given time, again means fewer ships needed.

Rationalization of the crew's work. All individual positions disappear and each member of the crew becomes a general purpose worker who must carry out any duties in engine room, deck or catering assigned to him.

During the latter part of the 1960s, these developments have moved from the experimental to the operational stage, and are expected to spread through the great majority of the world's shipping during the next five Just some aspects of the application of these trends are as follows:

MODERN SHIPS The increase in the use of oil products, coupled with the closure of the Suez Canal, has led to the development of the super • tankers of more than 200,000 tons (in the 1950s 50,000 tons was usual).

This has meant that one ship, with a compliment of 52, transports the same amount of oil as previously carried by five ships with 41 men aboard each.

Two hundred such supertankers are already at sea, or on order. More and more container ships are being built as specialized cellular vessels and are being increased in size, and the invention of the collapsible container reduces the amount of space taken up in returning empties.

The number of container ships in operation throughout world is around 300 (in 1968 it was 50).

A more recent development has been the lighter-aboard-ship system (LASH), by which a seagoing vessel carries barges which can be dropped off directly at the outlet to inland waterways.

This type of vessel is specially constructed with an internal conMODERNIZATION JOBS CUT veyor system and a lift to load and unload the lighters.

The frorest these ship Nore built in into operation in Another new type of vessel is the ten-deck car carrier.

With sideport loading and some decks actually moveable, this ship can carry up to 3,200 cars.

CAR EXPORTS

The Norwegian-built 'Laurita' is the first of three such vessels to be built to carry car exports from Europe and Japan to the USA. It made its maiden voyage in January this year.

In several countries, the possibilities of using nuclear cargo ships to give a knot or two of extra speed and to reduce fuelling time are being considered.

The W German research nOtte Hahn has been in oreer, tion for 18 months and will go until 1972 before re-fuelling with a second reactor core. Its top speed is 17 knots.

A ship is launched at Birkenhead Japan and France are also considering building experimental nuclear merchant ships, while W Germany is to build a second such vessel. This is likely to be a 200,000-ton tanker or bulk carrier.

AUTOMATION

Whereas many of the developments outlined so far have been fairly well publicized, particularly for their spectacular size, unusual design, or relation to containerization, the technical changes that are taking place aboard ship are less well known.

Radio navigational systems, including the use of transmission signals from US Navy satellites, can now give positioning accurate to one-tenth of a nautical mile; automatic and electronic control has made it possible for remote control of the engine room.

On the 'Laurita', compressed air from Volkeswagen engines is used to power tools, hoists and ramp winches. But probably the biggest step yet taken is the use of the computer to analyse and in some cases control many aspects of the working of vessels. The most advanced vessel of its kind in the world is the 138,370ton japanese tanker, "Toko Maru'.

This ship incorporates a computer system which links directly to a special radar set enabling the tracking of ten other ships simultaneously, giving the course and speed of each.

The computer will give alarm at the possibility of collision and will give instruction for avoiding danger. The computer also fixes the ship's position from US naval satellites; carries out direction fixing based on automatic calculations from compass bearings and from weather, wind and current effects; controls loading and unloading of ships, i.e. controls pumps, valves, pressure in the oil lines and monitors the oil level in each tank and the draught of the ship.

TRACKED

Stresses and strains of the ship itself are tracked and details of cargo movement given.

The computer is also linked to the engine room where it watches the engines (main and auxiliary) and checks temperature and pressure. Warnings of faults are given and correction measures typed out.

It can also take action automatically in a crisis, slowing the main engines, changing pumps, etc.

All such actions it reports to the engineer. In any case, it automatically scans all engineroom instruments and logs the results.

One other job that the makers claim can be carried out is the medical diagnosis of illness among the crew. Symptoms of any illness may be fed into the computer, which then gives the name of the sickness, and recommends the treatment.

Presumably, this will cut the demand for ships' doctors.

The computer is said to be able to carry out all the above operations simultaneously and requires only moderate knowleage of computers to operate.

The 'Toko Maru' has a crew of 36, but future ships of this type are expected to operate with only 15 men.

LOADING AND UNLOADING Ship operation is, of course, not separate from port operation and the rationalization of dock work which brings loading and unloading time down from two weeks to two days or less adds enormously to the percentage of time the ships and seamen spend at sea.

For example, it is estimated that a container ship is loaded and discharged 30 times faster than a conventional vessel and so spends about 80 per cent of its working-life at sea, compared with only 40 per cent for conventional ships.

Also, the last word has not yet been said in this sector, as experiments with direct ship-toshore moveable conveyor systems are being conducted which could lead to an advance on the present use of cranes to handle containers.

SHIP REPAIRS

The move towards mobile repair gangs already mentioned has been made by a Dutch firm which supplies 'flying squads' of skilled labour who board a ship during or in port, and work faults or damage.

If it is work which can only be done in dock, they at least do as much of the preparatory work as possible.

For example, the 'SS Columbia' was found to be needing renewal of some tubes in the ship's starboard boiler.

A work squad was put aboard at Amsterdam, and the ship continued on to Philadelphia, USA. The work was completed en route while the vessel steamed on the port boiler only.

For as long as human beings have transported cargoes across seas, the terrible fight of the seaman with nature has had to be fought, as it were, in hand-tohand combat.

REMORSELESS

Always there has been a constant heaving and hauling, scrapng and painting; and with the dvent of steam, a remorseless grind of cleaning, oiling and shovelling was added to the list of tasks.

As if this were not enough of a burden, the battle was stepped up to huge proportions as the profit motive gave the reason for carrying goods from A to B in the quickest possible time and at the lowest possible cost.

A measure of how even today this battle goes on continuously is shown in the fact that world shipping losses average 150 vessels a year or one ship every two-and-a-half days.

Now, at last, when a measure of the tasks are for the first time falling under the sway of machine operation, when a measure of the idyllic life which some non-seamen have associated with sea and ships appears within the grasp of reality, the section of the working class which should benefit from such advancement is to be either callously cast aside or made to fit, machine-like, into the employers' concept of how the new developments should be used.

In fact, under capitalism, it cannot be otherwise.

INTENSIVE

The ships and new equipment were bought under the pressure of intensive competition, and solely as a means bf squeezing more profit out of the work of the seamen. The shipping bosses are gratified by the new chance of making bigger rofits that modernization brings, ut horrified at the cost.

As far as the seamen are concerned, the employers' only aims By using automation, not to aid the workers, but to replace them.

To break down all demarcation between different _jobs and categories of work so that each man can be kept fully occupied, rushing trom one task . to another in any part of the ship.

To use time-and-motion methods to 'rationalize' all methods and actions, so that they can be done at the fastBest possible pace. This will squeeze yet more operations into the working day of the seaman.

To introduce stronger, sterner discipline to ensure that the demanded speed of operations is adhered to.

To break up, weaken and smash the organized strength of this section of workers to make the act of throwing them on the scrap heap so much easier.

To the employers, the modern ship is seen as a factory; the officers become the management and the crew becomes the equivalent to the productionline operatives.

In Britain, many of these systems, or the preparation for their introduction, are incorporated in the general purpose agreements being negotiated between the employers and the strike.

National Union of Seamen.

These agreements are productivity deals and are basically the same as those that other employers are attempting to bring into every factory, dock, building site, office and mine.

'All General Purposes seamen will participate in the activities previously undertaken separately by deck and engine room departments.

Catering ratings will participate in general purpose activities as required.

It is not intended that the cook steward, where carried, should participate in the activities of the general-purpose work force, but he may be required to undertake general purpose duties in exceptional circumstances. The mechanics, where carried, may be required to undertake general-purpose duties outside the engine room, including instructing other generalpurpose ratings.' SPECIFIC The Scottish Ship Manageent Contract is much more recific on operations:

'Catering department ratings will participate to the extent of being taught bridge watchkeeping duties, including steering, with the aim of taking other g.p. ratings' duties on the bridge during periods of high manpower demand, such as mooring and unmooring, manoeuvring, etc., in order to release full g.p. ratings for duty elsewhere in the ship.

It is not intended that ratings participate in routine engine room/machinery maintenance, but they will join in some activities of the g.p. work force, e.g. storing ship, painting in selected locations, etc.

Full participation of catering ratings within the g.p.

working system will examined within a reasonable period of this scheme becoming operable.

'In the event of full integration of catering ratings into the g.p. working system in the tuture, such ratings' conditions and terms of service will be altered accordingly in agreement with the NUS!

This agreement also requires The Encounter Bay container ship on it's maiden voyage to Australia.

ex-deck department will participate fully in all activities formerly undertaken separately by deck and engine departments ... petty officers and ratings ex-engine room will also participate fully in all activities formerly undertaken separately by deck and engine departments ... mechanics, if carried, will participate to the extent that work undertaken outside engine room duties will be extended to any activity on board in which their skills are appropriate.' GENERAL-PURPOSES In each case the agreement states that experienced ship's personnel will give instruction and training to those learning new skills.

General-purposes deals are a first step in the employers' aims to cut back and discipline the seamen. They offer some improvement in pay, sickness benefits, pensions, overtime and death benefits in return for the right to continuously reorganize the labour force in preparation for the immense cutback in jobs that is to come.

Exactly what type of timeand-motion system the bosses are hoping to introduce on the ships is not known, but the Rochdale Report noted that in 1968 the shipowners spent a third of a million pounds on research into work and method study involving all activities associated with ship operation.

Introduction of work study would lead to reductions in the number of jobs that had survived modernization and automaAnd just how big is this cutback to be?

Australia Brian series on abe said it replace 85 conventional vessels by 15 container ships. This is be finally accom Iso, in 1969, 36 ships wel eclared surplus on the Nor Atlantic lines.

These sections alone account tor the redundancy 02 the Brish ago eper cent four to fore stips til be abat tom-Unitede totate United KingStates trade goods which can go into containers.

In fact, this is far fewer that he number of firms proposing to. operate container ships on this run.

o The sams situation also exists Container ships being built for this same trade by companies in different countries amount to far more than the 15 which, it is claimed, is all that is required to cover this section.

Not only a surplus of conventional shipping, but an overproduction of epacity es beingures opening these figures described by some as over-optimistic; that inevitably the late entries into the field will only compete if they outmodernize the moderns and introduce bigger container ships, operating at greater speed with smaller crews.

Will some 'enterprising' outsider set out to corner the entire North Atlantic trade with one nuclear, two-man, robot container ship by, say, 1985?

The rate of development of modern shipping science over the recent five years does not exclude such a possibility.

The outlook for passenger services is no better.

Since 1960, more than 40 Baitish passes stipe and sen taken service and not replaced. The effect of these changes on jobs is obviously enormous. The number of men in Merchant Navy is at present 100,000 (45,000 officer?' 150,000 55,000 in 1957.

Also, a continuous fall in the number of men required is forecast for the indefinite future.

Figures are-not available on a world scale, but the French merchant navy figures indicate that the number of jobs in 1968 was 30,000 compared with 41,000 in 1962—a drop of more than 25 per cent; while the 1969 figure for seamen employed in the Norwegian merchant navy stood at 51,000, which is 4,000 (8 per cent) down on the previous year.

MANNING

In Britain, the employers' schemes for reduced manning have been continually backed by the government.

From 1966, and the Labour goverment's intervention break the seamen's strike and to the subsequent Pearson and Rochdale Reports and Merchant Shipping Bill, mergers have been encouraged, interchangeability and flexibility of working advocated and attempts made to install penal sanctions for industrial misconduct.

How has the seamen's union leadership set about defending its members against this onslaught by the employers?

Not only has it offered no defence, it has assisted in the attack and is still doing so. The NUS leadership is entirely in favour of general purpose deals and hotly defends them against opposition by the membership.

It calls, not for a fight against the employers, but on the contrary, demands that the employers strengthen themselves:

We have made many recommendations to the Rochdale Committee designed to make British shipping more efficient, more progressive and more competitive, for we are well aware that only an efficient, progressive and internationally competitive industry can provide our members with permanent jobs and attractive conditions of employment.

"Even in the good trading times of the past two years, the industry, according to owners themselves, has earned an JUST OUT Sermony 1931 1932 vailable from NEW:

In fact, some companies have shown a marked facility for incurring heavy losses.

"Clearly, it is vital that the industry should be made more efficient in the shortest possible time. ... We have also suggested that the Industrial Re-organization Corporation should look closely at the industry with a view to rationalizing and facilitating nergers' (W. Brankley NUS chairman, opening remarks NUS Annual General Meeting 1969)

ATTACKED While every single measure which the employers take to hold down wages cut back on jobs gets solid NUS backing, a section seamen are being viciously attacked. In the same speech, Brankley spoke of the inevitably of automation and added:

What is not inevitable, however, and what cannot accepted is that some of the new ships are intended to carry low-paid Asian, West Indian or African crews. The National Union of Seamen, faced with a continuing decline in its membership, will not meekly acquiesce to shipowners' habits, whims or preferences in this regard and looks to the government for support. A strong case was submitted to Lord Rochdale's Committee for arresting and reversing this foreign manning trend which presents British seamen with a most serious challenge and threat.' The same issue of the union's magazine containing Brankley's speech also outlines an agreement between the NUS and the National Maritime Board which states that:

It is necessary for it [the NMB] to exercise control over the numbers of non-European seamen employed.' According to the magazine, this met with the unanimous approval of the union's ExecuAs is well known, a number Communist Party members are on the NUS Executive.

In fact, the basis of many of the developments now taking place in the shipping industry was laid in 1966, when the employers and the Labour government combined to wage a political war against the seaThis was not simply a question of wages and hours, but was an intervention by the state to weaken and break the seamen's strike of that year.

It was an attempt to establish firmly the incomes policy by crushing a powerful section of workers who were opposed to ACQUIESCE Then, as now, the union leaders were prepared to acquiesce in the interests of the seamen'. Then, as now, the Stalinists of the Communist Party play a supporting role.

Recent articles by CP seamen in the 'Morning Star' say not a word on the purpose of the general-purpose deals or the agreement with the NMB.

Instead, the TUC-which has established its own special disciplinary clauses for workers who misbehave-is called upon to lead positive action against the penal sanctions of the Merchant Shipping Bill.

In the face of the shipping bosses' intention of solving their crisis at the seamen's expense, no reforms or half measures exist which can save the jobs.

Only the nationalization of the entire shipping industry under the control of the seamen themselves can bring a step towards the improvements and real job security that modern scientific and technical developments make possible.

In the 1966 strike and in their continuous fight for rights, conditions and wages, the seamen have proved the need for a revolutionary alternative, a new leadership, as is being built by the Socialist Labour League and the Young Socialists.