Gulf-area Seafarers recently approved three new contracts that call for wage increases and maintain top-of-the-line medical benefits.Each of the respective agreements is for five years. Boatmen at E.N. Bisso in New Orleans unanimously approved their new contract, while Seafarers at Seabulk and at Moran of Texas, respectively, ratified their pacts by overwhelming margins.
SIU Vice President Gulf Coast Dean Corgey led the SIU negotiating teams for all three contracts. He stated that maintaining Plan G medical coverage for the boatmen and their families while also securing wage gains “is a great credit to all concerned and a major accomplishment. The struggle to maintain good, affordable health care benefits is the main issue in practically every union contract negotiation—for all unions— across the country. The fact that we kept the top coverage for members and their dependents and still got wage increases is a great achievement.”
Corgey, SIU Assistant Vice President Jim McGee and SIU Representative Kevin Marchand were joined on the Seabulk bargaining committee by Captain Chuck Taylor, Chief Engineer Kenneth Beach, Deckhand Gus Leday and Quartermaster Chris Thibodeaux.
“Everything’s cool,” Taylor said when asked for his thoughts on the contract. “Everything went okay—Dean and Jimbo and Kevin did a darn good job. The medical benefits are really valuable.”
The Moran negotiating committee consisted of Corgey, McGee, Marchand, Capt. Clint Campbell, Chief Engineer Jimmy Broussard, Quartermaster Andy Ashworth and AB Paul Paszkiewicz.
“What we ended up with is very good,” Campbell said. “We got wage increases and kept our medical benefits. I think everything looked good.”
The Moran contract has one unresolved issue that is scheduled for arbitration, as agreed to by the union and the company.
The Bisso bargaining committee included Corgey, SIU New Orleans Port Agent Steve Judd, Safety Director Chris Westbrook, Engineer Delegate Robert Jordan and Deckhand Delegate David Abney.
Judd pointed out that this was the first time the company “communicated directly with the union reps and members without using attorneys. Negotiations were hard-fought, but they had a better tone this time. They were constructive and respectful with good, direct communication between the negotiating teams.”
Jordan agreed, characterizing the negotiations as “much better than last time. The cooperation, the good faith of sitting down without the lawyers—I liked it. Dean and those guys can negotiate with the best, so I wasn’t worried about that, but it was all very smooth.”
Commenting about the contract itself, Jordan added, “We got some money out of it and the most important part was we continue to have our (health) insurance. That’s one of the big things the guys wanted.”
Altogether, more than 150 SIU boatmen are covered by the new agreements—approximately 75 at Bisso, more than 50 at Seabulk and more than 30 at Moran.
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