Definitive Report - Report No 11, 1954

Case No 70 (United States of America) - Complaint date: 24-NOV-52 - Closed

A. A. The complainants' allegations

• Analysis of the Complaint
  69. 69 The passages transmitted to the I.L.O from the complaint of the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions, dated 24 November 1952-a complaint which has been endorsed by the delegation of the U.S.S.R to the United Nations-contain the following allegations:
      • (a) A considerable number of Greek seamen were detained on Ellis Island; as they could not leave that place except by being deported to Greece, they were subjected to pressure on the part of the American authorities to compel them to sign statements denouncing the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions and then to sign on ships under degrading conditions.
      • (b) In August 1952 American authorities arrested at Portland, Oregon, the crew of the ship Niki, " because they were struggling to improve their wretched conditions of life ".
      • (c) The Federation of Greek Maritime Unions, although representing the majority of seamen, has been outlawed and its leaders imprisoned; the shipowners have appointed their own agents to the Executive Committees of the trade unions affiliated to the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Seamen and as a result these unions have accepted a collective agreement under which seamen's wages are only about 50 per cent of pre-war wages, while the shipowners are realising tremendous profits.
  70. Analysis of the Reply of the Government of the United States
  70. 70 In its reply the Government of the United States emphasises that the allegations made are flagrantly political in character and consist mainly of general statements unsupported by any precise facts. It considers that no infringement of trade union rights exists.
  71. 71 Concerning the allegation that pressure was exercised on Greek seamen detained on Ellis Island, the Government emphasises that although the complainant does not refer to any concrete fact it has nonetheless undertaken an inquiry which has established that this allegation has no basis. No pressure has been exercised on detained seamen to cause them to sign declarations hostile to the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions or to any other organisation or to sign on ships under degrading conditions.
  72. 72 The Government then points out that in virtue of the Immigration and Nationality Act which came into force on 24 December 1952, foreign seamen, in order to obtain authorisation to land, must prove on their arrival in an immigration centre in the United States that they do not belong to any of the categories of persons mentioned in section 212 (a) of the Act who are forbidden to enter the territory of the United States. Under this Act officials of the Immigration Service must ask foreigners certain questions concerning their affiliation to various organisations in order to establish whether there is ground to refuse authorisation to enter the United States by reason of the fact that these persons belong to one of the abovementioned categories which are forbidden entry into the United States by the Act. The formalities and conditions to which foreign seamen are subjected in order to be able to be admitted to the United States are exactly the same as those concerning all other foreigners.
  73. 73 Concerning the allegation that the crew of the ship Niki were arrested in August 1952 at Portland the Government declares that 11 members of the crew of this ship which arrived on 11 July 1952 at Coos Bay (Oregon) had obtained, in conformity with section 3 (5) of the Immigration Act of 1924, authorisation to enter the United States during the stay of the ship in port, this authorisation being valid only for a maximum period of 29 days. The ship Niki left Coos Bay on 24 July 1952 for Portland from where it sailed on 1 August 1952 for South Africa. The 11 seamen in question did not sail on board the Niki, and so from that time were in the United States in the quality of immigrants without any legal status. They were arrested by order of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and charged with having prolonged their stay in the United States beyond the limits provided for in the Immigration Act of 1924 and by the regulations published in application of this Act. They were allowed to appear and to be heard in conformity with regular judicial procedure; their expulsion was decided upon and they have left the territory of the United States.
  74. 74 In conclusion, the Government considers that the complaint as a whole should be rejected by the Governing Body.
• Analysis of the Reply of the Government of Greece
  75. 75 In a letter dated 6 October 1953 the Government of Greece points out that it refers to the text of the observations already made on 4 February 1953 by its representative to the United Nations. These observations concerned the whole of the memorandum presented to the United Nations by the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions. It has been recalled above that only certain passages of this memorandum were transmitted to the I.L.O by the United Nations. The observations of the Government of Greece are therefore analysed below only in so far as they refer to the allegations contained in the passages transmitted to the I.L.O from the complaint presented by the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions.
  76. 76 The Government of Greece emphasises at the outset of its observations that no restriction on trade union freedom exists in Greece, that there also exist no restrictions on individual political liberty beyond those which the immense majority of Greek people have accepted in the interest of national security and that no one can be penalised by reason of his political opinions unless he engages in subversive activities or commits acts of treason.
  77. 77 The Government emphasises that it cannot express an opinion on policies applied by foreign immigration services but points out that the United States Immigration Services allowed the Greek sailors whose expulsion was ordered a very wide liberty of choice of country of destination. It notes in this connection that the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions has itself admitted that its Acting General Secretary was able to take refuge in Poland. It affirms that no pressure has been exercised on the crew of the ship Martiella to cause them to sign a declaration hostile to the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions, as the latter complains.
  78. 78 Concerning the arrest of the seamen from the Niki the Government points out that according to a note of the Transworld Marine Transport Corporation of New York of 4 September 1952 it was not at all a question of improving living conditions of seamen but of a well-calculated blackmail which amounted to no less than turning over the command of the ship to the organisers.
  79. 79 The Government points out that the group which calls itself the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions was not a trade union organisation but carried on activities mainly political in character, exclusively designed to defend the interests of a foreign government and which has never concealed the fact that it furnished men and material to those who brought war and bloodshed to Greece in order to bring it under foreign domination. The Government recognised that it decided in 1947 to outlaw the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions, in view of the support given by this organisation to the revolt in Greece directed by the Cominform. This step was only taken after the discovery of secret archives of the Federation which furnished incontrovertible evidence of acts of treason whose instigator was in Gdynia in Poland. Greek seamen have founded the Pan-Hellenic Seamen's Federation which is affiliated to the Greek Labour Confederation. Within this Federation the seamen are divided into numerous sections with freely elected officers at the head of each. The Government considers that the allegations made concerning the wages of Greek seamen are pure and simple inventions in view of the fact that these wages are the highest in the world after those paid by the merchant marines of the United States and Canada. The number of members and sympathisers of the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions which, before it was banned, was not negligible, is now practically nil, this organisation having as members only a few political agitators in various foreign ports where they carry on their propaganda without much success.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

• Allegation concerning Pressure Exercised on Greek Seamen Detained on Ellis Island
  80. 80 The complainant alleges that a considerable number of Greek seamen were interned on Ellis Island and that, as they could only leave this place by being deported to Greece, they were subjected to pressure on the part of the American authorities who made them sign declarations hostile to the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions, as well as to sign on ships under degrading conditions.
  81. 81 In its reply, the Government of the United States points out that the allegation is not based on any precise facts and adds that although this is the case it has made an inquiry to discover if it had any foundation. This is not so, and it has been established that no pressure was exercised on detained seamen to make them sign declarations hostile to the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions or to any other organisation or to sign on ships under degrading, conditions. The Government of the United States also gives indications concerning the procedure arising from the Immigration and Nationality Act; but as this Act did not enter into force until 24 December 1952 and as the complaint presented dates from 24 November 1952 there is no point in examining the details of this procedure since it could not be the basis of the complaint which has been presented.
  82. 82 It is to be noted that the complainant emphasises that the reason why the detained Greek seamen had yielded to the pressure said to have been exercised on them by the American authorities was that they could only have left Ellis Island by being deported to Greece.
  83. 83 The Greek Government points out in its reply that the United States Immigration Services allowed the Greek seamen whose expulsion had been ordered a very wide liberty of choice of country of destination. In this connection, when it dealt in its Sixth Report with a complaint also presented by the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions against the Governments of the United States and of Greece, alleging that Mr. Nicolas Kaloudis, General Secretary of this Federation, had been expelled from the United States by being deported to Greece, the Committee came to the conclusion that, according to the information furnished by the governments concerned, Mr. Kaloudis had in fact been deported to Poland, a fact which, according to observations presented by the Government of Greece, was recognised by the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions itself.
  84. 84 In these circumstances the Committee considers that as far as the first allegation is concerned, the complainant has not furnished any proof that there has been any infringement of the exercise of trade union rights.
• Allegation concerning the Arrest of the Crew of the "Niki"
  85. 85 The complainant alleges that in August 1952 the American authorities arrested at Portland, Oregon, the crew of the Niki, who " were struggling to improve their wretched conditions of life ".
  86. 86 The Government of the United States states in its reply that 11 members of the crew of this ship which arrived on 11 July 1952 at Coos Bay, Oregon, had obtained, in conformity with section 3 (5) of the Immigration Act of 1924, authorisation to enter the United States during the stay of their ship in port, but that this authorisation was valid only for a maximum of 29 days. However, the Niki left Coos Bay on 24 July 1952 for Portland from where it sailed on 1 August 1952 for South Africa, and the 11 seamen in question did not sail on board the ship but remained from that time in the United States as immigrants without legal status. Accused by the Service of Immigration and Naturalization of having illegally prolonged their stay in the United States they were, following a regular judicial procedure, condemned to be expelled and have left the territory of the United States.
  87. 87 In earlier cases (Case No. 27: Hongkong and Case No. 45: United States and Greece) the Committee has emphasised that it was not within its competence to deal with the general question of foreigners not covered by international Conventions. Having regard to the observations presented by the Government of the United States according to which the arrest and expulsion of the seamen of the crew of the Niki had no connection with the exercise of their trade union rights and were carried out following normal judicial procedure and with all judicial guarantees provided for by law in the case of foreigners in general, the Committee considers that in so far as the second allegation is concerned the complainant has not furnished proof that there was in fact any violation of trade union rights.
• Allegation concerning the Ban on the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions
  88. 88 The complainant alleges that the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions, although representing the majority of seamen, was outlawed and its leaders imprisoned.
  89. 89 In its reply the Government of Greece recognises that it decided in 1947 to ban this Federation in view of the fact that it gave support to the revolt directed in Greece by the Cominform; in this connection, it emphasises that this organisation carried on activities of a mainly political character, aiming exclusively at the defence of the interests of a foreign government and that it has never concealed the fact that it furnished men and material to those who brought war to Greece in order to subjugate it to foreign domination. It points out that this measure was only taken after the discovery of secret archives of the Federation which furnished incontrovertible evidence of acts of treason whose instigator was at Gdynia in Poland. According to the Government of Greece, the number of members and sympathisers of the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions was not negligible before the ban but is today almost nil.
  90. 90 The Committee has already twice examined complaints concerning the entire situation of the trade union movement in Greece and in particular a complaint concerning the imprisonment of leaders of the Federation of Greek Maritime Unions. In view of the information furnished at that time by the Government of Greece concerning the activities of this Federation which endangered the security of the Greek State, the Committee considered that this complaint, in view of its essentially political nature, did not merit further consideration on the part of the Governing Body.
  91. 91 The present allegation does not bring any new element which would allow of a useful examination of this question and the Committee therefore considers that it does not merit further examination.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 92. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to decide that the case as a whole does not call for further examination.