High, Dry & Disastrous

Unable to have her exhibition-bound art removed from a strikebound ship in Manhattan, French Sculptress Jacque line Fayet-Leroy stationed herself by the picket lines, went on a hunger strike. After five days, the strikers could no longer stand it, and last week they al lowed longshoremen to remove the crate containing her six sculptures. That was about the only visible progress in the eight-week-old maritime strike, which has become one of the most frustrating in U.S. history. The walkout by deck officers, engineers and radiomen has idled 99 of the best U.S. ships (including the superliner United States), beached 10,000 officers and seamen and cost the economy some $90 million.

Bad Bananas. Some 2,000 fewer longshoremen than usual are being hired each day on the New York waterfront, and seamen have already suffered a $5.5 million wage loss. More than 15,000 travelers have had to change their plans because of canceled sailings. At least $200 million in cargo has been delayed, some of it fatally: $400,000 worth of Ecuadorian bananas have rotted in holds. A leather importer from Philadelphia faces bankruptcy because he has been unable to meet his commitments to local shoe manufacturers, and some Manhattan antique stores fear that the delicate finish of such antiques as Queen Anne tables and Chippendale chairs will be spoiled in the holds.

The biggest stake, however, belongs to the U.S. Government. It maintains expensive U.S. vessels on essential world routes by providing a $200 million annual subsidy, pays 72-c- of every dollar in most seamen's wages. Because some of the largest U.S. ship lines are among the strikebound (U.S. Lines, Moore-McCormack, Grace, Farrell), Labor Secretary Willard Wirtz at first took personal charge at bargaining sessions; he was so frustrated by the gap between the two sides that he was reduced to table pounding.

Since the strike affects only one-fifth of the U.S. merchant marine, no Taft-Hartley injunctions or ship seizures have so far been considered, but last week President Johnson took the unusual step of naming former Presidential Press Secretary George Reedy as an intermediary. Reedy was due to enter the Mayo clinic for corrective surgery on his feet, but even his temporary negotiating role clearly signaled the President's personal interest in a settlement --and the possibility that he will take stronger moves if the impasse continues.

"Me-Too" Clauses. The three striking unions--out of eight in all--want multiple benefits, including a change in vacations and the right of captains to continue belonging to unions. Involved in a jealous rivalry with each other--six unions sometimes represent various crewmen of a single ship--they also insist on me-too reopening clauses in order to renegotiate for raises or crew increases that have been conceded to other unions. The biggest current issue is the number of crewmen who will henceforth man automated ships. The U.S. now has eleven mechanized freighters, and many more are planned; they require far fewer crewmen than the 50 or so who man regular freighters.

Though they have long held out against it, the unions may come around to reducing crews. They intend, however, to exact a good price for any concession: increased pensions of up to $450 a month for displaced crew members. Shipping companies fear that such increases would bankrupt them unless the Government simultaneously increases its subsidies, are so distressed by union demands that they would almost welcome compulsory arbitration. They have other reasons for being distressed: 10% of the business that goes to foreign lines during a U.S. maritime strike never returns, and this time the American Marine Institute estimates that the permanent loss will be even greater. Already, U.S. flag vessels carry only 9.1% of all U.S. exports and imports--and the percentage is falling fast.

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