title: 1922 seamen's strike
text: # 1922 seamen's strike
  
  Part of a series on the :
  
  Chinese Communist Revolution :
  
  Proclamation of the People's Republic of ChinaMao Zedong and leading revolutionaries proclaim the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. :
  
  Origins
  
  Context
  
  Century of Humiliation
  
  1911 Revolution
  
  Warlord Era
  
  Ideas
  
  Nationalism
  
  Anarchism
  
  Marxism
  
  Movements
  
  New Culture MovementMay Fourth MovementDiligent Work-Frugal Study Movement :
  
  Early history
  
  First United Front
  
  Founding of the Communist Party
  
  Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist International
  
  Sun–Joffe Manifesto
  
  Left Kuomintang
  
  Peasant Movement Training Institute
  
  Canton Coup
  
  28 Bolsheviks
  
  Labor organizing
  
  1922 seamen's strikeMay Thirtieth MovementCanton–Hong Kong strike
  
  Northern Expedition
  
  Wuhan Government
  
  Hunan Report
  
  Hankou incident
  
  Nanjing Incident
  
  Shanghai Commune
  
  Break with the KMT :
  
  Civil War
  
  Aftermath of purge
  
  Nanchang
  
  Little Long March
  
  Autumn Harvest
  
  Guangzhou
  
  Chinese Soviet Republic
  
  Jiangxi–Fujian Soviet
  
  Chinese Red Army
  
  Long March
  
  Zunyi Conference
  
  Anti-Japanese resistance
  
  Xian Incident :
  
  Second United Front
  
  Second Sino-Japanese War
  
  New Fourth Army
  
  Eighth Route Army
  
  East River Column
  
  Hundred Regiments Offensive
  
  New Fourth Army Incident
  
  Communist base areas
  
  Yan'an Soviet
  
  Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region
  
  Yan'an Rectification Campaign
  
  Yan'an Forum
  
  Women's movement :
  
  Resumed Civil War
  
  Military conflict
  
  "Millet plus rifles"
  
  People's Liberation Army
  
  Operation Beleaguer
  
  Liaoshen campaign
  
  Huaihai campaign
  
  Pingjin campaign
  
  Retreat of the ROC to Taiwan
  
  Urban support for Communists
  
  China Democratic LeagueShen Chong caseJiaochangkou incidentYu Zisan IncidentRevolutionary Committee of the KMT :
  
  Forming the People's Republic
  
  Government
  
  Central People's GovernmentWriting the Constitution1954 Constitution
  
  Reforms
  
  Land Reform
  
  New Marriage Law
  
  First five-year plan
  
  Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns
  
  Suppression of counterrevolutionaries
  
  Foreign relations
  
  Sino-Soviet CooperationAnnexation of TibetIntervention in KoreaIntervention in Vietnam :
  
  LegacyMao Zedong ThoughtMarxism-Leninism-MaoismNational Day100th Anniversary of the CPC :
  
  China portal
  
   Communism portal :
  
  vte :
  
  The Seamen's Strike of 1922 began on 12 January 1922, when Chinese seamen from Hong Kong and Canton (now Guangzhou) went on strike for higher wages. Led by the Seamen's Union after shipping companies refused to increase salaries by 40%, the strike quickly garnered over 30,000 participants, greatly disrupting everyday colonial life and food shipments to Hong Kong. Though the strike was declared illegal by the Hong Kong government, negotiations eventually took place after 52 days, with employers capitulating on 5 March 1922 and agreeing to wage increases of 15–30%.
  
  The Seamen's Strike had strictly economic roots—seamen's wages stayed the same while post-World War One inflation increased living costs, they were paying a lower salary than the law allowed, and they were underemployed and underpaid while ashore. Meanwhile, foreign seamen were paid 75–80% more than Cantonese workers for doing the same job.
  
  In November 1921, the Seamen's Union, which represented all Chinese seamen, had demanded wage increases to close the gap between the Chinese and the non-Chinese seamen who received much higher pay. The shipping companies refused to increase their salary, and the union reacted by going on strike starting in January 1922. By February 1922, over $5 million in cargo had been tied up in the Hong Kong harbor, causing shipping companies to start to bypass Hong Kong in their shipping routes. The Seamen's Union was at the same time organizing other workers and unions in the city, hoping to extend their scope to a general strike. By early March, the city was approaching anarchy, with trash piling up, businesses closed, public transportation stopped, and food rationed.
  
  The Emergency Regulations Ordinance was passed by the colonial administration in a single day – 28 February 1922 – to combat the strikes.
  
  