Marion Joncich, Joseph C. Mardesich and Antonia Dogdanovich v. Anthony Vitco

Appellants owned and operated the Pioneer, a fishing vessel engaged in the tuna trade off the coast of California and Mexico. In the fall of 1951, pursuant to an oral contract, Vitco, the appellee, was employed aboard the Pioneer as a fisherman-cook for the 1952 tuna fishing season. He was employed on a lay basis; that is, he was to receive as wages a share of the proceeds of each catch.

Just prior to the first trip, Vitco and other members of the crew signed articles with the Master of the Pioneer, “now bound from the Port of Los Angeles, California, to Mexican Waters and such other ports and places in any part of the world as the Master may direct, and back to a final port of discharge in the United States, for a term of time not exceeding 12 calendar months.”

Vitco was a member of the International Fishermen and Allied Workers of America. Prior to and during his employment there was in effect a collective bargaining agreement between the Union and appellants, owners of the Pioneer.

Paragraph V of such agreement provides : “In event illness incapacitates any crew member from further work on board the vessel, he shall be entitled to receive his proportionate share of the…