Maritime Union Refuses Aid to Striking Israel Seamen in New York

Israeli seamen who are on strike in the port of New York today sought but failed to obtain support from the National Maritime Union. However, American longshoremen, although told to disregard the strike, could not board the Israeli vessel “Yafo” to unload cargo taken on at Newfoundland.

The Committee for Labor Israel today announced that the New York Central Labor and Trade Council, representing American Federation of Labor unions, has expressed its solidarity with the Histadrut stand against the strikers. The Committee also announced receipt of a cable from the Histadrut headquarters in Israel asserting that the strike is not an industrial dispute but an “attempt to undermine the Histadrut’s authority. “

The National Maritime Union said that it had told a delegation from the striking members of the “Yafo” crew that it would not intervene in the Israeli strike unless and until advised to do so by the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It is understood that the “Yafo” delegation was also told that the N. M. U. would accept only communications from duly authorized union heads.

The “Yafo” strike at the New York harbor continued for a second day today without any signs of a let-up, and none likely unless the striking crew receives instructions from the striking seamen in Israel to end the work stoppage. The crew’s refusal to lower gangplanks or turn on power for the winches has prevented the unloading of the vessel by American dock workers.

Meanwhile, the crew of a second Israeli vessel, the Haifa, has gone on strike in an American port. The crew stopped work when the vessel put in at Baltimore where it was scheduled to take on additional cargo before returning to the Jewish State. Here, too, stevedores were prevented from working on the vessel by the crew’s refusal to lower gangplanks or turn on power needed for loading purposes.