Provisions of The Act
The Act included provisions, inter alia, to:
- abolish imprisonment for desertion
- reduce penalties for disobedience
- regulate the working hours of seamen both at sea and in port
- establish a minimum quality for rations supplied to seamen
- regulate the payment of wages to seamen
- establish a harsh penalty of double wages per day that any wages remained unpaid upon a sailor's discharge (which resulted in one case where the U.S. Supreme Court awarded $302,790.40 to a sailor who had been discharged with $412.50 in unpaid wages)
- set safety requirements, including the provision of lifeboats
- require a minimum percentage of the seamen aboard a vessel to be qualified able seamen
- require at least 75% of the seamen aboard a vessel to understand the language spoken by the officers
Read more about this topic: La Follette Seamen's Act
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