Merchant Marine Act of 1920: The Impact on American Maritime Labor

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 , popularly known as the Jones Act , provides that vessels engaged in United States intra-coastal trade—to wit, vessels going from one U.S. port directly to another U.S. port (including Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, and dependencies such as Puerto Rico)—must be constructed in the United States, have American corporate owners, and the U.S.-flagged. In addition, all licensed shipboard personnel (i.e., watch-standers) were required to be U.S. citizens. Furthermore, the act established procedural requirements for the treatment of injured crew members and the related right to institute civil proceedings against employers for injuries sustained as a result of negligence on the part of owner, captain or crew.

During the 1940-1955 period; the United States Navy and the nation’s Merchant Marine dominated the seas, carrying goods largely, but not entirely, of American manufacture to every part of the world. This predominance grew out of both the massive shipbuilding effort of the Second World War and the collapse of such production by many of the world’s industrial nations during that same period. This accomplishment stands as a monument to the supreme effort of hundreds of thousands of dedicated American workers.

This report examines the manner in which the Jones Act affected—both positively and negatively—the shipbuilding and merchant marine industries and employees. It considers abnormalities in ship production and employment—functions of American participation in World War II and dislocations accompanying the return to peacetime production and employment levels. Finally, the report, to the extent possible, evaluates the contribution that provisions of the Jones Act have made in furthering the interests of the shipbuilding and merchant marine industries and their employees.

by: arjun sethi
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