CHINESE CREW PREFERRED

Hokitika Guardian, 25 June 1929, Page 8

CHINESE CREW PREFERRED

At ;i time when unemployment is rile in dockland, seafarers in the Port of London aro alarmed by a growing tendency of shipping companies to substitute Chinese and Lascar seamen for British crews. In one case the owners of a sliip have signed on 30 Chinese seamen under British officers in place of an all-British crew. Some of the men who have not been taken on again had made 30 voyages in the vessel and are now workless. The explanation given is that Chinese labour is more suitable for the coastal work which is to Ix2 undertaken by the ship. The Chinese crew are being paid the same wages as the British crew. A trade union official said that, while the Cmnese crew may draw the same wages, they cost considerably less to feed than British sailors. When the ship reaches China the crew may he paid off and local labour engaged. Steps are being taken to place the facts beifore the .Ministry of Labour. “The assertion that Chinese work harder than British sailors is bunkum,” said an official of a big line that does not employ coloured seamen. One Englishman is equal to three Chinamen any day, and in a crisis the Oriental cannot be depended on.”