APRIL 18 SEAFijtERS LOG 1952 • OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE S E A F A R E R S I N TE R N AT I O N A L UNION • ATLANTIC AND GULF DISTRICT • AFL • sn; LAY­UPS RISE .­Ua " • story on Page 3 U5PH5 Curbs 'Case­Chasers' ­Story on Page 2 1: ,V! Jtfisaur Shown being nudged back to the yard in Chester, Pa., for finishing now 8/uCCn* touches and installation of machinery, the Keystone Mariner, launched in February, is expected to be ready for service in June. First of 35 planned Mariner­type ships, the speedy vessel will probably be crewed by Seafarers for an SIU­ contraCted company when she makes her maiden run. (Story on Page 2.) e!!9S?? Pac* Tw« SEAFARERS LOG PrMiOr. ASrfl It. ItSS Union Endorses First Wheat to Transjordan Half Million Paid Out In USPHS Crackdown Vac. Money ­'Rounding out the first two months of operation the SIU Va­ cation Plan has already paid out On Case^Chasers well over a half million dollars to A crackdown on ambulance chasers has been instituted by seamen sailing SIU ships. With the first crush of applications over, the Staten Island USPHS Hospital. From now on, the the Vacatio.n Office at headquar­ hospital will take legal action against any lawyer found ters has itself been able to take a soliciting cases among seamen ' bit of a breathing spell. who are patients at the hos­ a seaman who has suffered a ship­ Reliable estimates hint that the pital. board injury and persuade him to original $2.5 million expected to Dr. Kenneth Nelson, medical of­ sign a paper agreeing to split the be paid out may be exceeded with­ ficer in charge of the hospital, said award in a law suit. In many cases in the first year of operation. Ap­ that ambulance chasing has been the injury is covered by compen­ plications at headquarters and in a "vicious" problem at the Staten sation, but the lawyer will con­ Ceremony at Beirut, Lebanon shows US Minister to Transjordan, the outports, processed and paid Island hospital and that drastic ac­ vince the seaman he can get more Gerald M. Drew, blessing first load of wheat shipped to that coun­ out as soon as received, have re­ tion is being taken as a result of money through a lawsuit. try. SlU­manned Skystar was scene of ceremonies* A buffet was vealed few kinks in the entire complaints from patients and hos­ While this may be the case, by then given in honor of various Transjordanian dignitaries. set­up. pital employees. (Continued on page 17) The Plan, effective as of last it­­ An SIU headquarters spokesman June 1, requires an applicant to 'k' said that the action met with full have a minimum 90 days worked approval of the Union which has on SIU ships since that date as long been concerned with such Union Studies New Pact Ideas shown on Coast Guard discharges. abuses. Work is going ahead in Union headquarters on classification of crew suggestions for In this way, a Stafarer may apply Protect Seamen's Rights contract improvements. The negotiating committee is at present concentrating on sugges­ as much as four times each year if However, the spokesman empha­ tions involving freight­ships, with tanker contract proposals next in line for thorough he has the requisite time worked, sized that the new restrictions or can let it pile up and collect a should not hinder seamen seeking examination by the commit­ lump sum, whichever is more de­ legal assistance. He pointed out tee. ent agreement to which they re­ tee will be able to select what it sirable. that seamen, unlike shoreside work­ The suggestions came in from late. thinks is the best possible way of handling a particular provision. Minimum amount possible un­ ers, face special problems in in­ crews of SIU ships in response to At the same time, the commit­ der the Plan is $34.99, represent­ stituting lawsuits since it is often a request by the Union that all tee has set up ^lomparison charts Censtmctive Proposals ing 90 days, with the peak sum very difficult to locate witnesses SIU crews submit contract ideas of all contra.cts in the maritime in­ In its close examination of the $140. Average payments, based and other parties to the case. He to aid the Union negotiating com­ dustry so that clauses relating to hundreds of suggestions received, on the $521,881.17 paid out so far expressed the hope that their rights mittee in drafting of demands for the same work classifications can the committee is finfiing that the to 7,661 Seafarers, run about $68.' as citizens would be protected and a new contract. readily be compared as to their overwhelming majority of them not injured under the new regu­ Talks Start July 31 wording and general provisions. In are serious and constructive. In Watt for Checks lations. After the best of these sugges­ turn, these clauses will be matched fact, not a single one could be Headquarters and port agents The crackdown by the Staten Is­ tions have been selected and in­ against what Seafarers have sent characterized as a "screwball" in the outports have emphasized land hospital followed after agree­ corporated into the Union's list of in relating to these same ques­ idea. Further, the committee has one important point in the whole ment was reached between the demands, negotiations will be tions. found that through their proposals operation. Although the process USPHS and the Justice Depart­ opened on July 31 when the Through this method of com­ crewmembers have shown an ex­ from form to finish at headquar­ ment for federal prosecution of of­ operators will receive 60­day parison, the negotiating commit­ (Continued on page 17) (Continued on page 17) fenders. The hospital has long notice of intent to write a new been receiving a flood of protests agreement. from patients who say they are As far as is. known the SIU is tired of having lawyers pester the only union, in or out of mari­ them for business. SIU May Crew 1st Mariner Ship time, to provide for direct and The first ship of a postwar government­built merchant fleet, the Keystone Mariner, is There have been occasions when widespread membership participa­ lawyers have been caught in the tion in drafting of a new contract. likely to be manned by Seafarers when she goes into service this June. Indications are act and their names turned over to Having broken down the sug­ at present that the new ship, one of 35 now under construction, will be chartered by the the local bar association. But as gestions into three broad group­ Maritime Administration to­*^ far as the hospital knows, no law­ ings, one for each department on the Waterman Steamship Cor­ chant fleet and the best of gov­ submarine equipment in case of yer has ever been punished for board ship, the committee is pres­ poration. However, no formal ernment­built vessels. The C­type need. Like all modern vessels she such action. ently sorting out the proposals and arrangements have yet been ships were built by the old Mari­ is an all­welded ship. As Dr. Nelson, explained it, an tying them in with the specific concluded between Waterman time Commission before World Work on the Mariner program ambulance chaser obtains entry to clause or sub­section of the pres­ War II. got under way in January 1951 the wards usually by posing as an and the governnient, and it is not certain just when the ship Lots of Horsepower when Congress appropriated $350 ordinary visitor. He'll get hold of Among ­ ottier characteristics of million for such ships. While de­ will be ready for service. the Mariner are her high pressure lays in steel delivery held up the Union to Seek By the time this radically new boilers. The Keystone Mariner's program, all 35 are expected to be SEAFARERS LOG and different type of ship comes April 18, 1952 Vol. XIV, No. 8 FouI­Up Curbs boilers will operate at 40 percent delivered, by late 1953. Some of into operation, the SIU negotiating greater steam pressures and much them will be assigned to the Mili­ As I See It Page 13 A considerable number of committee will have negotiated a communications have been higher temperatures than boilers tary Sea Transportation Service Burly Page 16 manning scale for these vessels. If on Victorys. As a result, the Mar­ undoubtedly replacing slow and coming into SIU headquarters necessary, new working rules will Crossword Puzzle Page 12 from crewmembers reporting iner's steam turbines will develop outmoded Liberty ships now oper­ be written to cover the operation 17,500 hp out of the same number ating under MSTS. 'Others will be Cruise Ship Pages 14, 15 instances wherein crewmen of of the Mariner class ships. Robin Line ships have been of boilers that produce 8,500 horse­ chartered to private steamship Did You Know Page 18 The Mariner type ships carry power on a Victory ship. Her car­ operators. Editorial ; Page 13 performing ashore. Not only are such performers bringing with them the hopes for American go handling facilities consist of While the Mariner program is Foc'sle Fotog Page 19 disrepute upon the Union's leadership in the maritime indus­ seven holds serviced by ten­ton all that has been authorized thus Freak Ships Page 11 name and its members, their try. They are designed as high and five­ton booms. far, the Maritime Administration Galley Gleanings Page 20 actions are harmful to the rep­ speed cargo liners and expect to The Mariners have also been de­ is desirous of having a number of outspeed and outperform any car­ signed for quick conversion to war fast tankers and bulk carriers built Inquiring Seafarer Page 12 utation of the American sea­ men everywhere.