ראיון של מכונאי ראשי דבי דוד
קצין מכונות ראשי דבי דוד עבד כמפקח אוניות בחברת "צים" בזמן השביתה בשנת 1978.
?Question: What is you occupation today
Answer: I am retired since 2002
Question: In 1978, during the big strike, what was your position and where you work?
Answer: In 1978 I was employed at the office as a ships group Superintendent.
?Question: Tell me what you know about the big strike at 1978
Answer: As most of the strikes were mainly about salaries, I believe that this one was also, it started with the Ratings Union, and then the Officers joined.
Question: How long was the strike?
Answer: About three months.
Question: How did you get information about the strike?
Answer: It was all the time in the news and TV. Being working in the office , though we were part of the Masters & Chief Engineers union, we were not consulted nor asked to join the strike… The Union Executives considered us as Quislings, If you know what is this expression is…(a person who betrays his or her own country by aiding an invading enemy, often serving later in a puppet government)
Question: Tell me how were the work relationship between the union – officers and rating and the ship company?
Answer: The relations were bad, Between the Ratings and the Officers, vis a vis the Company, Where as at Zim They acted as separate and rule.. The negotiations were complicated, some of the company's officials were former Seamen, and the unions wanted to deal only with the General Manager. At the end the Company settled with the ratings , and the officers had no choice but to follow suit….
Question: Did you trust the union to represent you properly?
Answer: Historically, I believe that The Company favored the Ratings, as at the time they were the majority of seamen. Both unions were militaristic, Therefore the on the spot strike was the matter of the day. These bad relations were not exempt from the bad personal relations between the Unions representatives and their counterpart at the Company., not thinking that they were cutting the branch they are sitting on. Long strikes at the end, never made any good to nobody, and not only at Zim….. But I have to note that the Problems between the Unions started when the Ratings split to form their own Union . If I am not mistaken by the end of the 60's.
Question: Were you concern about the fact that you might lose your work?
Answer: I do not think that right then they would have sold the company, Of course this strike gave the attitude of later reactions. To me it looks that the decline of the economy in 1984 gave a strong push for forming a smaller company and later selling out of the 'Israel corporation'.
Question: Did you know seamen that were against the strike?
Answer: From my side I think most of the Superintendents were against, but again there was no meeting nor any consultations about…
Question: As an officer, what did you think at that time about the rating seamen?
Answer: Normally there should have been some difference in wages between Officers and Ratings, but in Zim was not the case….
Question: During the strike, did you think was justified?
Answer: No strike of that extent is right, at the end the branch is cut, and Zim is no longer a National Company. And I think that the Government and Zim's Managements gave a hand to it. On the other hand look where are the Unions, their Representatives and their members. It is all gone with not a chance of revival…..
Question: Did you think that the result of the 1978 strike might be as the 1951 strike?
Answer: The strike was more political and Union representation with the HISTADRUT and has not any correlation and similarity with 1978.
Question: Were you proud to work at the merchant navy during the strike?
Answer: The answer is NO…. As I do not work anymore, I am still proud of the years when the ship was a home to many of us. I have not changed my attitude towards the strike. I did sail as a Chief Engineer after 20 years as a Superintendent between 1992 and 2002, but that was not like the early years….Altogether consecutive 42 years………
קריאה נוספת מהעבודה
יחסי העבודה בענף הספנות בשביתה
לכידת קבוצה על חוזק השביתה, סיכום ומסקנות
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ראיון עם קצין מכונות ראשי שמעון אוזן
ראיון של קצין מכונות ראשי דבי דוד מפקח אוניות
כתבה שירלי אוזן, ספטמבר 2009, עבודת סיום סמינר – שביתות בהיסטוריה, מרצה פרופ' דוד דה פריז, הפקולטה למדעי החברה, החוג ללימודי העבודה, אוניברסיטת תל אביב. השפעת לכידות הקבוצה על חוזק השביתה – מקרה של שביתת הימאים הגדולה בשנת 1978.
