Sailing Toward a Disturbing Future
As this Caronia Spring Mediterranean Cruise was progressing, so news of the 1966 Seamen's strike was filtering through. Clearly it was becoming a protracted affair, with little sign of either side giving way. Despite our best hopes that it would all be settled by the time we reached Southampton, this was looking more and more unlikely.
The signs were ominous, with many of the seasoned crew members becoming fearful that a way of life was being brought to an untimely end. Despite our basic wage being poor, there was very little support for the strike on board Caronia.
Possible Foreign Registration
The biggest fear was that Cunard would be forced to re-register their ships abroad as a result of this strike. It would mean that crews could be recruited from outside of the auspices of the British Shipping Federation, with terms and conditions of employment worsening rather than improving.
To their credit, until the Shipping Federation itself collapsed, Cunard never took this route, even though it must have been very tempting to its directors. Today, crewing of British ships has changed beyond all recognition and not necessarily for the better!
Stranded Passengers
For the passengers on this Mediterranean cruise, this period must also have been very worrying. The cruise was booked to end in Southampton rather than New York, with return transatlantic crossings usually being made available on other Cunard ships.
Under normal circumstances Caronia would have spent 12 days in Southampton before her next positioning crossing. Now the passengers are faced with the prospect of either flying back to the USA or sitting it out with an unexpected extension in Europe until the strike ends.
It's worth mentioning that the prospect of flying across the Atlantic in the mid-1960s was still daunting to many people. Introduction of the wide-bodied jet like the Boeing 747 was still 3 or 4 years away.
Seamen's Strike story continues on July 1966 page…
Villefranche
