1950
The SIU Atlantic and Gulf District became the first seamen’s union to negotiate a company-financed Welfare Plan for its members. This was established in an agreement signed with nine contracted steamship companies on December 28. Although the companies will make all the contributions to the welfare fund, the agreement provides for joint administration by a committee representing the union and the steamship companies.Under the terms of the contract each company will contribute into a common fund, the sum of 25 cents per day for each man employed aboard its vessels.
1975
The SIU-contracted Overseas Alice (Maritime Overseas) has been commended by the Military Sealift Command for the “responsiveness and expeditious manner” in which the vessel completed a transfer at sea operation with the USS Sacramento. A letter from the company to the captain of the Overseas Alice conveyed an “appreciative well done” from the MSC, and the letter stated that the maneuver “contributed significantly to ongoing Indian Ocean Operations.”
1985
The SIU-contracted Baltimore (Apex Marine) foiled the killer instincts of Hurricane Kate last month when she plucked 10 survivors out of the stormy Atlantic during two separate rescues. The Baltimore, an integrated tug/barge, was a day out of St. Croix and headed for New York when the first word of a sailboat’s distress was received from the Coast Guard. A 42-foot sailboat, Taxi Dancer, had capsized in the 80-knot winds and 30-foot waves generated by Hurricane Kate. Despite the weather, the Baltimore saved the five crew members from the sailboat.
While that rescue was under way, the ship received word that nearby another sailboat had been battered by the storm and its five-person crew had abandoned ship. The Baltimore reached the site in less than two hours and the rescue took about 80 minutes to complete in the hurricane conditions.
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