From the era of sailing ships to World War 2

Seafarers’ social security in the late 1800s and early 1900s

This series of articles describes the development of seafarers’ social security as part of the history of Finland. The first article discusses the periods preceding the establishment of the Seafarers’ Pension Fund in 1956. The pivotal point in history is the year 1917 when Finland gained independence as a sovereign state. The article covers a period of time from the late 1800s to the Second World War, when sailing ships still dominated in Finnish navigation. The statute for establishing a General Pension Institution for Seamen was passed in 1879, at a time when attempts were made to modernise work at sea in multiple ways. The second article focuses on the creation of the Seafarers’ Pension Fund and the development of seafarers’ social security as part of the post-war welfare society.

Where did the sailors stand at the time when Finland gained independence?

The beginning of the 1900s was characterised by major changes within the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland as part of the Russian Empire and also in the world of navigation. As windjammers were giving way to engine power, completely new occupations appeared in the field, such as machinists, stokers and coal trimmers, while also female workers were hired for catering and accommodation tasks. Already in the latter half of the 1800s, several social improvements had been pursued and the sailors were not left without their share. Legislation concerning navigation in general and especially working conditions at sea advanced and unionisation was taking its first steps.

Despite the brisk progress in the field, navigation was in many ways clinging to the old. In the early years of independent Finland, only about 20 percent of Finnish ships were steam or engine powered. When sailing ships were already being demolished in other parts of the world, the Finnish sailing ships, particularly those with their home port in the Åland Islands, continued to charter grain from Australia to Europe. The period was crippled by the First World War and Civil War in Finland and the subsequent depression. Nevertheless, the Finnish merchant fleet was at its largest in 1917, totalling more than 366,000 net register tonnes. An abrupt drop was experienced in just one year. In the year of the Civil War and economic slump in 1918, the net register tonnage of the merchant fleet amounted to only 250,000. This corresponded with the shipping capacity of the 1860s and 1870s, and the recovery would be slow.

Downward economic trends weakened the job opportunities for seamen and younger sailors pursued opportunities abroad or in a completely different field. Work at sea was seen as just one phase of life among others. Even during periods of expansion within merchant shipping, the hard and dangerous work rarely attracted sailors to do such work for longer than ten years, with the exception of the officers who had formal training from a maritime institute. The first writer who wrote in Finnish about life at sea, Aukusti Högman, ended his biographical work Merimiehen matkamuistelmia II (‘A sailor’s travel memoirs’), published in 1882, with the following words to the reader: ‘I say, thus, farewell to you until we perhaps meet in my new line of work, namely on the railways, and in A ticket collector’s observations.’

Despite its temporary nature, seafaring represented one of the first paid occupations in a society that was still predominantly rural and based on agriculture. For those sailors, mates and captains who were hired by trading houses based in towns, signing on a ship provided a source of livelihood for the duration of the voyage in the form of the relevant monetary pay, accommodation, catering and protection by the shipowner. In modern terms, it was a temp job, that is, short-term employment in which earnings were secured for the duration of one engagement at a time and as long as one was able to work. There were no holidays or pensions. The monetary pay was emphasised in the 1800s, along with the abandoning of a traditional form of earnings applicable to sailors (known as kaplaaki), which involved the right to import a certain amount of one’s own freight without paying customs duties.

Many seafarers had a family to provide for, and family aspects became a part of the salary payment practices at an early stage. The employer had the right to keep one half or third of the sailors’ pay against a specific money order (known as vetoseteli) for the benefit of family members or relatives, including the caretaker of a sailor’s children in they were left motherless. The money order right was included in the Finnish Merchant Shipping Act (Merimieslaki) of 1924. Moreover, at the start of their assignment, the hired men had the right to receive one month’s pay in advance. Nevertheless, despite their responsibilities as a head of family, sailors with families were not paid any higher wages or salaries as compared to their single workmates. It was customary that shipmasters, Baltic Sea skippers and mates were also shareholders, or partial owners of the ship. Accordingly, they received a commission (known as tantiemi), which was calculated as a specific percentage of the ship’s net profit, as part of their annual salary. The commission system was valid until the early 1900s.

Over the decades preceding the independence of Finland, several reforms were implemented that improved the position of seafarers. Statutory stipulations concerning the duration of a work assignment were first included in the Maritime Act (Merilaki) in 1873, when the maximum length of an assignment was limited to two years. Previously, a sailor would never know how long a journey he would be taking since the hiring contract obliged him to stay on board until the ship returned to its home port. If he left the ship too early, it was interpreted as desertion, which could be punished by a fine or several months’ in prison. During an assignment, the sailor had no right to refuse work and the only legal free time was during the church service on Sundays.

The Maritime Act also included a provision concerning a particular work permit, a so-called free pass (vapaapassi), that made it easier for sailors to search for employment in international markets. Granted by the Provincial Governor for a fixed term, a free pass served as a permission to work abroad. Legislative amendments were made in the late 1800s and early 1900s to specify the training requirements for officers and engineers, as well as the responsibilities of employers, including the obligation to provide accident insurance, medical examinations and sufficient catering onboard.

The ship’s cook, indeed, had some calculations to do in order to ensure that the rations would be in compliance with the rules. For example, it was ordered that, on alternate days, everyone should have either 500 grams of meat or 325 of fat per day. The minimum volume of water per day was 4 litres, of which a part could be used for cooking, and there were separate rules for the weekly amounts of butter, mustard, vinegar, syrup, sugar, coffee, tea, peas, wheat flour, grain and rice as well as bread. The range of foods reflects the gradual increase in the standard of living and the fact that groceries, or colonial products, had become an integral part of the diet at that time.

The legislation concerning working conditions and occupational health and safety had its model in Great Britain and the United States of America. Upon the abolition of slavery, attention was turned to the treatment of sailors, both black and white, who were used as cheap labour on merchant ships. In Finland, similar to other countries, the shipmaster held an absolute power of command over his subordinates. The master’s right to punish included corporal punishment, with the condition that it must not result in bruises or bloody scratches. The violence related to the work culture at sea was brought up for discussion in the Parliament by traders who themselves represented shipping. The superior’s right to corporal discipline was criminalised in the Merchant Shipping Act of 1924. The Finnish Seamen’s Mission started its activities in the 1870s, and through its statements and social work, it pursued to tackle the harsh physical and mental conditions on board and in foreign ports. By the start of the First World War, the Finnish Seamen’s Mission had a total of nine operational stations around the world. They provided mental and material assistance while also serving as intermediaries between the seafarers abroad and their families by forwarding messages and money remittances.

Shipping Offices as an early provider of social security

Despite the attempts to reform seamen’s social security in the turn of the 1800s and 1900s, the situation was largely similar to what it had been for the past two hundred years. While the family or relatives served as the primary safety network for a sailor who lost his job or ability to work, another source of security was the Shipping Office of his hometown. Membership in a Shipping Office (merimieshuone in Finnish, sjömanshus in Swedish), or registration on its ‘roll’, was obligatory for a person to pursue a profession at sea.

The Shipping Office institution was operational until 1937, and it can be considered as the first pension system for seamen. The Shipping Offices operated locally, but under the supervision of the State. When Finland gained its independence in 1917, the Shipping Offices were placed under the National Board of Navigation and, thereby, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Shipping Offices originated from the period when Finland was part of Sweden. A statute was issued in 1748 that all seamen within the Kingdom of Sweden, including Finland, must be registered in a Shipping Office supervised by a Foreign Trade Office. This served the purpose of forming a reserve for the naval fleet. The first Shipping Offices were founded in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Turku, and during the course of the 1700s and 1800s, the network expanded to cover all coastal towns engaged in foreign trade.

The Shipping Office’s duties included the hiring of crew jointly with shipmasters and shipowners, and the provision of financial aid to the members. Prior to the establishment of Shipping Offices, the City of Stockholm had actually had an assistance system known as the Sailor’s Chest, from which sailors could receive aid. Shipping Office membership required that one paid regular register and hiring fees, which were hierarchically determined in accordance with one’s post. The model derived from the Swedish army in the late 1600s when so-called centonal (sentonaali) fees were deducted from the officers’ pay to support the military hospital in Vadstena. The shipowners’ duty, on the other hand, was to pay the entrance fees (lästimaksu) that were determined per net register tonne per calendar year. Other sources of income of the Shipping Offices included contributions paid by the Crown, individual donations, church offertories and the interests on the loans they had granted.

The assistance and charity work of the Shipping Offices was similar to that of craftsmen’s guilds in the earlier centuries. When a sailor grew old or fell ill and could no longer be hired for work on a ship, he reported to the Shipping Office of his hometown that he would stay on land and no longer wished to be listed in the roll. Based on his years of service, fees and payments remitted, as well as his earned reputation, financial aid could be granted to the sailor himself, his widow or his orphaned children. The sum was granted for specific expenses, such as the cost of a barrel of flour, rent, doctor’s fees or funeral arrangements, but it was not meant to guarantee the daily living. On the other hand, thanks to the Shipping Office system, sailors were better off than many other population groups. For those who were not members in any mutual fund based on their occupation, the only security was provided by the poor relief of the community.

In the late 1800s, aid was also offered by private charity organisations, which often were based on Christian values. In 1907, on the initiative of the local Ship’s Officers Association in Helsinki and the Sailors Home Foundation, a sailors’ home was built at Linnankatu 3 in Katajanokka, Helsinki. In the early 1910s, the number of those staying overnight in the Sailors Home amounted to a thousand sailors and a couple hundred other guests every year. The location is the same as where the Seamen’s Service started operating in the early 1970s.

During the course of the 1800s, as the freight sailing outside of the Baltic Sea increased and the number of workers from a poor background grew, the assistance provided by the Shipping Offices was increasingly seen as relief aid. When shipping was challenged by periods of depression, those in the need of assistance included both elderly sailors and families with small children. Many a sailor’s wife lost her husband due to occupational hazards and illnesses as well as to desertion. Deserting in a foreign port offered sailors an opportunity to sign onto a foreign ship or to live as an immigrant, but such a decision could mean financial disaster for those who were left behind at home. Not all deserters did so at their own initiative; some disappeared abroad under unclear circumstances in a port, or their homecoming was hindered as a result of the ship being sold or a war breaking up. If the head of the family died, the livelihood was not secured even for the families of shipmasters and mates.

The fragmented nature of a seafarers’ livelihood is illustrated by the petition submitted to the Shipping Office in Pori in 1870 by the widow of an assessor of the Maritime Institute in Turku. Civil servants’ families were entitled to a survivor’s pension but the amount paid was not much. In this case, the widow requested financial assistance for herself and her daughter on the basis of her husband’s earlier service as a shipmaster for shipowners in Pori some 50 years ago. The assessor’s lifelong work as a teacher in the Maritime Institute had not accrued a sufficient pension to ensure the livelihood for his family. The Shipping Office decided to grant the widow 20 Finnish marks per year, which would today mean less than 100 euro.

The first Pension Institution as part of seafaring reforms

Toward the end of the 1800s, the Government became increasingly aware of its responsibility to improve the financial situation of seafarers. The Shipping Offices were no longer deemed as sufficient guarantors of social security. In 1879, on the basis of the recommendations of a committee, an imperial statute was issued for the purpose of establishing a ‘General Pension Institution for the benefit of officers and other ship’s company serving on board Finnish mercantile ships’. In Sweden, a corresponding pension institution had started operating in the late 1860s. The statute entered into force in 1880 and, accordingly, the entrance fees paid earlier to the Shipping Offices were now to be paid the new Pension Institution. In practice, the entrance fees were remitted to the Shipping Offices, which forwarded the sums to the Pension Institution. Foreign ships paid their entrance fees directly to the Pension Institution via Customs. In Finnish language, the word lästi is an old capacity measure that was used to denote a ship’s tonnage. The official use of the word had been abandoned by a decree issued in 1877, but the word was still commonly used along with the term register tonne. One ‘lästi’ was equal to 1.85 register tonnes.

The idea of safeguarding the old age of seafarers by means of a pension saved during their career was connected with the trend of paid work becoming increasingly usual in Finland in the late 1800s. As the pay level increased, it was no longer necessary to live from hand to mouth. The newly established savings and insurance institutions encouraged people to save and prepare for worse days. Civil servants and soldiers had their statutory pension schemes, and gradually, many local communities of craftsmen and workers began go form mutual pension, sickness and relief funds. They can be viewed as forerunners for trade unions. These included, among others, the Finnish Engineers Association and the Finnish Ship’s Officers Association, which were organised in 1906 on the basis of local associations operating in Turku and Helsinki. Some shipowners also remembered their old employees in a similar manner as many mills and factories did; they had, indeed, schools, kindergartens, health care, housing and even sports clubs for their employees. One major competitor to the Pension Institution was the pension fund of Suomen Höyrylaiva-Osakeyhtiö (SHO/FÅA, later known as Effoa), which was established in 1912 for the benefit of masters, deck officers, line pilots, engineers and telegraphers aged over 60 years, as well as their widows and children aged under 16.

The Pension Institution granted old-age, disability and survivors’ pensions. To receive a full pension, the applicant had to be 55 years old and must have been registered in Shipping Office rolls for at least 20 years. Pension fees must have accrued from 25 years. If the applicant failed to fully pay the fees and was retired at an earlier age, he was only entitled to receive half of the pension. In terms of a disability pension, there was no age limit, but the person had to be less than 45 years of age when joining the fund. A full survivor’s pension was granted if the deceased seafarer had at least two survivors. Otherwise, two thirds of the pension were payable. In the early periods of the Pension Institution, the role of survivors’ pensions was much more significant than that of old-age or disability pensions. Nearly 70 percent of all applicants were seamen’s widows and children. The majority of old-age pensions were granted to shipmasters and skippers, who also constituted the majority of the membership of the Pension Institution.

Social hierarchy still prevailing

The assistance work of the Shipping Offices underlined one’s good reputation and social hierarchy in terms of various posts on board the ships. The same spirit was reflected in the seafarers’ pension system as well. Similar to the composition of the boards of the Shipping Offices, the directors of the Pension Institution were senior shipowners and shipmasters. The chairman was appointed by the Financial Division of the Senate, which was the highest governmental body in the Grand Duchy of Finland, and the other board members were elected by the Shipping Offices. The Pension Institution was situated in Turku and supervised by the City of Turku. Entitlement to a pension would be deprived if a person had been punished for a serious offence. The pensions were divided into three categories as shown in the table below. In 1924, the rules of the Pension Institution were revised, and in addition to the existing three categories, a fourth category was formed for deck boys and cabin boys.

The table shows the amounts of the annual pension fees and pensions provided by the ‘General Pension Institution for the benefit of officers and other ship’s company serving on board Finnish mercantile ships’ from the year 1880 onward.

Source: Kai Hoffman. Merimieskirstusta eläkelaitokseen. Merimieseläkejärjestelmän historia vuosina 1748-1936. Merimieseläkekassan julkaisuja IV. Helsinki 1974.

The pensions were determined hierarchically and linked with the posts rather than the pay. In the period prior to collective bargaining, the salaries and wages varied from one shipowner to another. During the first decades, the size of the pensions was relatively lucrative. The annual pension for skippers, mates and machinists corresponded usually to two or three months’ of pay.

Membership in the Pension Institution was voluntary. The voluntary basis was a result of pressure exerted by the representatives of peasantry in the Parliament. In the late 1800s, the rural regions along the coast played a significant role in navigation. Up to 4,000 seafarers, or approximately 50 percent of the workforce in the field, were engaged in so-called peasant sailing as a secondary source of income. For them, the pension fees meant an extraordinary expense to be paid from the fluctuating income gained from navigation.

A good intention remained a falling star

The idea of a pension system for seafarers was highly advanced but its practical implementation faltered. Many sailors were young and worked at sea for a short time only, so they were not attracted by the idea of voluntarily joining the Pension Institution. Those with families had other expenses to cover rather than pension fees. It often happened that they failed to pay the fees regularly because of long periods at sea or abroad. Despite the registers held by the Shipping Offices, the documentation concerning individual work careers was deficient in the early 1900s. Not everyone was able to prove that they had worked at sea for decades. Moreover, the long legacy of Shipping Offices clearly influenced how this old-age assistance was viewed. The entire concept of a pension was new, and some people thought that simply being registered in the Shipping Office’s roll would be enough. They already paid fees to the Shipping Office and, to some extent confusingly, the new pension fees were also paid and accounted via the Shipping Offices.

Information was disseminated through, for example, the Merimiehen Ystävä (Seaman’s Friend) newspaper published by the Finnish Seamen’s Mission. In Rauma, the local newspaper wrote about the lack of interest in joining: ‘One might think that, in a town like Rauma where nearly everyone has something to do with seafaring, there is no need to remind people of the existence of the “Pension Institution for the benefit of officers and other ship’s company serving on board Finnish mercantile ships”. Yet, such a reminder appears to be necessary. Of the numerous sailors in Rauma (except for one or two masters), only two (say two!) are members in the said Pension Institution. There is no other way to explain this but to assume that the persons involved do not know what benefits the Pension Institution offers them.’

It appears that locally exerted and mutual pressure and encouragement had an impact, since there was wide variation in terms of how eagerly sailors in various towns joined the Pension Institution. The rate of joining was the highest in Raahe and Uusikaupunki, representing towns with little alternative career paths in, for example, industry. Almost all of the members in Vaasa represented officers. During its 58 years of operation, the Pension Institution granted pensions mostly to applicants living in the Åland Islands and southwestern Finland. Overall, the number of members lagged far behind the set targets. After the first decade of operation, there were only 944 members, although it was calculated that at least 6,500 persons fell within the scope of the Pension Institution. No more than one thousand sailors had joined the Pension Institution by the early 1930s, while the estimated number of workforce in the field totalled at least 7,500 persons.

Interests on the loans granted by the Pension Institution constituted, especially in the years following the general strike in 1905 and in the early 1930s, up to one half of the Pension Institution’s revenues. This, however, does not mean that lending was a profitable business, but rather, that other sources of income had shrunk to a minimum. The years of depression significantly decreased one of the central sources of revenue, namely the entrance fees paid by shipowners, even though the rate of the fees was increased by a decree issued in 1921. When the Pension Institution was established in 1879, the Government had committed to support it for a period of 40 years, and thus, the State subsidy ended precisely at a time when inflation was gnawing away at the value of money during the First World War. For example, in 1920, pensions in the second category corresponded to no more than two weeks’ pay. The number of people willing to join the Pension Institution declined further. In 1924, as an attempt to tackle inflation, the amounts of the fees and pensions were doubled. This only helped a little. The pension of an average sailor was now 400 marks per year, which corresponded to one month of wages for work at sea.

In 1932, a committee recommendation was issued to close down the Pension Institution. Thus, in 1937, both the Pension Institution and the Shipping Offices, with a history of nearly 200 years, came to an end. The funds accrued in the Pension Institution were transferred to a so-called entrance fee fund for the purpose of paying out the current pensions to the pension recipients. The fund signified the return to old-fashioned discretionary aid, but under a more modern name, welfare. Funds were also directed to the development of rescue at sea operations.

The year when the Pension Institution ceased operations marked an important turning point in the development of Finnish social security along with the initiation of the National Pensions Institute (or Social Insurance Institution, currently known as Kela). The Act on National Pensions (Laki kansaneläkkeistä) entered into force in 1939, and the first disability pensions were granted three years later. The social security of the elderly population was also improved by the so-called poor law, according to which employers were obligated to care for those employees who had served them for over 20 years, if they were not supported by family or relatives.

In the early years of independent Finland, trade unions became increasingly influential in terms of the social security of seafarers. Since their foundation, the Finnish Engineers Association and the Finnish Ship’s Officers Association had worked actively to supervise the employees’ interests. After the Civil War, trade unions representing crew members also entered the field. Founded in Tampere during the turmoil of the general strike in 1905, the Finnish shipworkers’ association was followed by many local associations. However, sailors belonging to the crew were not widely interested in union activities until the nationwide Finnish Trade Union (SAJ, later in 1930 SAK) was organised in 1907 and the Finnish Transport Workers’ Union was founded in 1912. In 1916, a local seamen’s and stokers’ association was founded in Helsinki, but the Civil War interrupted its activities. In 1920, the Finnish Seamen’s and Stokers’ Union was established to supervise the interests of shipworkers. Since 1935, the Union has been the main supervisor of interests in the field under the name Finnish Seafarers’ Union (FSU).

During the period between the First and Second World War, the Finnish Seafarers’ Union only represented a portion of seafaring workers; the low memberships was explained by the same short-term career prospects as earlier in the context of the Pension Institution. However, already before the Second World War, the trade unions were acknowledged as supervisors of employees’ interests and their statements and opinions were heard in legislative reforms. The first Act on collective agreements (Työehtosopimuslaki) in 1925 stipulated that trade unions are to represent wage-earners, and the law was applied in practice for the first time in 1927. The Government also offered mediation between the trade unions and the employer organisation, the Finnish Navigation Association, and, since 1930, the Finnish Shipowners’ Association and Ålands Redarförening.

The new Merchant Shipping Act and the Act on seamen’s working hours (Merimiesten työaikalaki), both issued in 1924, improved the working conditions and protection against dismissal. The shipowner was now obliged to pay the employee compensation for travelling back home and an upkeep for a maximum of 14 days if the employee was dismissed anywhere outside of the Baltic Sea due to illness, incapacity, dishonesty, negligence or misconduct in office. The improvement did not eliminate the fact that a sailor might suddenly lose his job when abroad if the vessel was sold to a new owner or it suffered shipwreck. The law did not hold the shipowner responsible for unemployment due to dismissal. In the past, it was possible that very young boys signed onto a ship, but now, the law prohibited onboard work as a seaman for those under 14 and as a stoker for those under 20. For women, the minimum age was 20 years, and it was not at all allowed to hire women to serve on board ocean liners engaged in freight transportation. In addition, the procedures related to work contracts and the payment of salaries and wages were harmonised and clarified. In 1938, on the initiative of and driven by the Finnish Seafarers’ Union, the working hours were limited to 8 hours a day for crew in ports and idlers at sea, while the working hours for officers and deck crew remained at 12 hours until the year 1945.

National pensions provided a minor comfort for those seafarers who had hoped for a pension based on their earnings. Of the various maritime unions, the Finnish Ship’s Officers Association resisted most intensely the termination of the Pension Institution since it benefited, in particular, those shipmasters and mates who had served at sea until old age. Throughout the early 1900s, the Association had pushed for a mandatory membership in the Pension Institution. Immediately upon the termination of the Pension Institution, the Association began to survey the willingness of deck officers to establish a new pension fund, and the Finnish Engineers Association also joined the initiative. This was the starting point for the active lobbying that continued until the post-war years and was particularly attributed to Felix Granit, the Chairman of the Finnish Ship’s Officers Association. On the other hand, the Finnish Seafarers’ Union, under Chairman Niilo Wälläri, began to advocate for a general, statutory pension fund to be established for the entire field of navigation. These endeavours would bear fruit in the happy 1950s.

Text: Pirita Frigren

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