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Health & Fitness

Pirates: The Forgotten Heroes of the Middle Class

Union mandated wage increases and company paid benefits are being blamed for the current economic crisis.  Those who do the complaining forget that the wages, benefits and rights enjoyed by both non union and union workers were not handed to employees but were won by pro laborer activists like Mother Jones, organizer of the mine workers, Samuel Gompers, the first president of the American Federation of Labor, and Eugene V. Debs the leader of the Pullman Strikes.

To that list should be added pirates.  Many sailors became pirates because of the dismal conditions onboard merchant and naval ships.  Food was insufficient.  Merchant captains literally held the power of life and death over their crew and floggings were frequent even for minor offences.  The ordinary seaman was often cheated out of his wages.

Pirates, when they formed their own crews, took measures to ensure that the captain (management) would not become abusive, that working conditions on their ship would be tolerable and that each pirate was paid his fair share.  When a pirate crew took over a ship they asked the crew how their captain treated them.  If the crew complained the captain faced a torturous death.

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Captains were elected by the crew.  If the crew felt that the captain wasn’t providing them with enough ships to capture (Pirates operated on a “No Prey, No Pay” basis) he could be voted out of office.  Imagine what would happen today if workers could boot out of office the CEO who didn’t pay them enough. 

 The crew would sign Articles which today would be easily recognized as a union contract.  This paper would spell out wages paid to each crew member. (The captain making only a share or two more than the rest of the crew.)  There were incentives for those who spotted a ship first or were the first to board.  Punishments for various offences would be spelled out.  Pirates even had workman’s comp because the articles also listed payments for the loss of limbs and eyes that occurred during battle. 

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The quartermaster, also elected by the crew, had as one of his duties to act as a liaison between the crew and the captain.  Today he would be called a shop steward or union rep.

Despite the threat of hanging, many sailors declared “It’s a pirate’s life for me” because of the better working conditions, better pay, and a say in how the ship was run.  The sailors who became pirates wanted a fair share of the wealth they helped create, not unlike the working class sentiments being echoed today.

           




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