CO129-556-14 Chinese Seamen's Union- activities 1-7-1936 - 16-2-1937 — Page 27

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This payment of security is not directed by the Company against the seamen, it was explained, but was only imposed on the senior men who alone were responsible to the ship's master for any irregu- larity occurring in their section of the ship.

While the Chinese authorities themselves do not take a very serious view of smuggling activities by ships, the authorities at Malaya, Siam and Hong Kong dealt very severely with cases coming before them and the ship-owners were not immune from any punishment imposed by them.

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SEAMEN'S PAY

The average pay of a Chinese seaman began at about $30 a month, but local shipping men do not deny the fact that there are various payments to be made by the seaman to the union and to the person who got him the job on the ship. After several de- ductions of this nature, no doubt the Chinese seaman's pay dwindled down to about $8 per month, it was admitted. "But this is the re- sult of the evils of the universal "squeeze" system in China, against which foreign shipping companies are powerless to act against," de- clared a shipping official. ""The foreign employers have raised the pay of their seamen to a scale beyond that which the Chinese themselves, are paying their own nationals."

EMPLOYERS POWERLESS

Speaking of the contractor- system, one local shipping author- ity revealed the fact that no em- ployment could be made by foreign companies except through the medium of the Canton Seamen's Union.

"The hands of local shipping employers are absolutely tied and they are utterly unable, and do not dare, to dismiss any seamen of their own accord," he said. “Every- thing must be dealt with by the Union alone and only in extreme cases are the foreign employers

able to persuade the Union to sub- stitute another seaman for one who has fallen down very badly on his job," he added.

"There is a feeling of unrest upon the ships in local waters," this same authority said. “We must expect an outbreak here within the next six months."