The International Seamen's Union (ISU) was an American maritime

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

which operated from 1892 until 1937. In its last few years, the union effectively split into the

National Maritime Union The National Maritime Union (NMU) was an American labor union founded in May 1937. It affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in July 1937. After a failed merger with a different maritime group in 1988, the union merged wit ...

and Seafarer's International Union.

The early years

Originally formed as the National Union of Seamen of America in 1892 in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the organization was a federation of independent unions, including the

Sailors' Union of the Pacific The Sailors' Union of the Pacific (SUP), founded on March 6, 1885 in San Francisco, California, is an American labor union of mariners, fishermen and boatmen working aboard US flag vessels. At its fourth meeting in 1885, the fledgling organizatio ...

, the Lake Seamen's Union, the Atlantic Coast Seamen's Union, and the Seamen's and Firemen's Union of the Gulf Coast. Formed by maritime labor representatives from America's

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

and

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

regions, in 1893, the ISU affiliated with the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

, and took the name International Seamen's Union of America in 1895. The union existed at a turbulent time in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

industry. The unions within the ISU faced "continual changeover in the makeup and leadership," and weathered the historical periods of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Select periods were beneficial, including during World War I when a shipping boom and ISU's membership included more than 115,000 dues-paying members. However, when the boom ended, the ISU's membership shrunk to 50,000. During its existence, the union did have a major effect on the shipping industry. Perhaps the most significant was the successful lobby for the Seamen's Act of 1915. The act fundamentally changed the life of the American sailor. Among other things, it: #abolished the practice of imprisonment for seamen who deserted their ship #reduced the penalties for disobedience #regulated a seaman's working hours both at sea and in port #established a minimum quality for ship's food #regulated the payment of seamen's wages #required specific levels of safety, particularly the provision of lifeboats #required a minimum percentage of the seamen aboard a vessel to be qualified Able Seamen #required a minimum of 75 percent of the seamen aboard a vessel to understand the language spoken by the officers Another of ISU's successes was the strike of 1919, which resulted in wages that were "an all-time high for deep sea sailors in peace time." However, ISU had its shortcomings and failures, too. After a round of failed contract negotiations, ISU issued an all-ports strike on May 1, 1921. The strike lasted only two months and failed, with resulting wage cuts of 25 percent. The ISU, as with all AFL unions, was criticized as being too conservative. For example, in 1923 the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

publication ''The Marine Worker'' referred to the ISU's "pie-cards" (paid officials) as "grafters and pimps." Additionally, the union was weakened by the loss of the Sailors' Union of the Pacific in 1934. Furuseth charged that the SUP was being infiltrated by "radicals" from the IWW, and demanded the SUP cease activities with the Maritime Federation. The SUP refused and the ISU revoked their charter. The ISU was involved the West Coast longshoremen's strike of 1934. Lasting 83 days, the strike led to the unionization of all West Coast ports of the United States. The San Francisco general strike, along with the 1934 Toledo

Auto-Lite Strike The Toledo Auto-Lite strike was a strike by a federal labor union of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) against the Electric Auto-Lite company of Toledo, Ohio, from April 12 to June 3, 1934. The strike is notable for a five-day running ...

led by the

American Workers Party The American Workers Party (AWP) was a socialist organization established in December 1933 by activists in the Conference for Progressive Labor Action, a group headed by A. J. Muste. Formation The American Workers Party was established in De ...

and the

Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934 The Minneapolis general strike of 1934 grew out of a strike by Teamsters against most of the trucking companies operating in Minneapolis, the major distribution center for the Upper Midwest. The strike began on May 16, 1934 in the Market Distri ...

, were important catalysts for the rise of

industrial unionism Industrial unionism is a trade union organising method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in b ...

in the 1930s. West Coast sailors deserted ships in support of the

International Longshoremen's Association The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) is a North American labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways; on the W ...

longshoremen, leaving more than 50 ships idle in the San Francisco harbor. ISU officials reluctantly supported this strike. In clashes with the police between July 3 and July 5, 1934, three picketers were killed and "scores were injured." During negotiations to end the strike, the sailors received concessions including a three-watch system, pay increases, and better living conditions. In April 1935 at a conference of maritime unions in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, an umbrella union was established to represent the membership of the ISU as well as maritime officers and longshoremen. Called the Maritime Federation,

Harry Lundeberg __NOTOC__ Harrald Olaf Lundeberg (March 25, 1901 – January 28, 1957) was a Norwegian-American merchant seaman and labor leader who served as the first president of the Seafarers International Union from 1938 to 1957. Biography Lundeberg left ...

was named its first president.

The rise of the NMU

In 1936, an ISU

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, or the third hand on a fishing vessel, is the most senior Naval rating, rate of the deck department and is responsible for the ...

by the name of

Joseph Curran Joseph Curran (March 1, 1906 – August 14, 1981) was a merchant seaman and an American labor leader. He was founding president of the National Maritime Union (or NMU, now part of the Seafarers International Union of North America) from 1937 t ...

was drawing attention. From March 1 to March 4, Curran led a strike aboard the '' S.S. California'', then docked in

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...

.Barbanel, "Joseph Curran, 75, Founder of National Maritime Union," ''The New York Times,'' August 15, 1981.Kempton, ''Part of Our Time: Some Monuments and Ruins of the Thirties,'' 1998 (1955)."Retired Union Boss Joseph Curran Dies," ''Associated Press'', August 14, 1981.Schwartz, ''Brotherhood of the Sea: The Sailors' Union of the Pacific, 1885-1985,'' 1986. Seamen along the East Coast struck to protect the treatment of the ''S.S. California's'' crew. Curran became a leader of the 10-week strike, eventually forming a supportive association known as the Seamen's Defense Committee. In October 1936, Curran called a second strike, the

1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike The 1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike was a labor action of the splinter union "Maritime Federation of the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast" lasting from October 31, 1936 to January 21, 1937. The strike's main effects were felt in ...

, in part to improve working conditions and in part to embarrass the ISU. The four-month strike idled 50,000 seamen and 300 ships along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts."Politics and Pork Chops," ''Time'', June 17, 1946. Believing it was time to abandon the conservative ISU, Curran began recruiting members for a new rival union. The level of organizing was so intense that hundreds of ships delayed sailing as seamen listened to organizers and signed union cards."C.I.O. Goes to Sea," ''Time'', July 19, 1937. The ISU's official publication, ''The Seamen's Journal'', suggested Curran's "sudden disenchantment" with the ISU was odd, since he'd only been a "member of the union for one year during his seafaring career." In May 1937, Curran and other leaders of his Seamen's Defense Committee reconstituted the group as the

. Holding its first convention in July, approximately 30,000 seamen switched their membership from the ISU to the NMU and Curran was elected president of the new organization. Within a year, the NMU had more than 50,000 members and most American shippers were under contract.

Reorganized as SIU

In August 1937, William Green, president of the

, assumed control of the ISU with the goal of rebuilding it under the AFL. He assigned this task to

, who was also head of the Sailor's Union of the Pacific. On October 15, 1938, at an AFL convention in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Green handed Lundeberg the Seafarer's International Union charter. The new union represented 7,000 members on the East and

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

coasts. Seventy years later, SIU holds the charters to both NMU and SUP.

Leadership

Presidents

:1892: Charles Hagen :1895: T. J. Robertson :1897:

Andrew Furuseth Andrew Furuseth (March 17, 1854 – January 22, 1938) of Åsbygda, Hedmark, Norway was a merchant seaman and an American labor leader. Furuseth was active in the formation of two influential maritime unions: the Sailors' Union of the Pacific ...

:1899: William Penje :1908:

Secretary-Treasurers

:1892: Thomas J. Elderkin :1899: William H. Frazier :1904: :1905: William H. Frazier :1912: :Thomas A. Hanson :K. B. Nolan :1925: Victor Olander :1936: Ivan Hunter

References

External links

Maritime Workers and Their Unions
from the Waterfront Workers History Project.
''Time'' magazine article on the 1934 strike
{{Authority control Trade unions established in 1892 Trade unions disestablished in 1937 American Federation of Labor affiliates Maritime history of the United States Seafarers' trade unions