As the newest graduates of the Paul Hall Center’s recertified steward program shared their experiences with fellow Seafarers at the April membership meeting in Piney Point, Md., it became increasingly obvious that each of them has found a home with the SIU.Typically, graduation speeches from recertified stewards and bosuns include personal insights about different aspects of union membership and life as a mariner. Last month was no exception, as the stewards encouraged unlicensed apprentices who attended the meeting and also thanked fellow members and SIU officials for keeping the union strong.
Completing the four-week recertification course were Jim Battista, Florencia Farquhar, Fernando Guity, Jose Guzman, Tommy Kleine, Mary Lou Smith, Steve Valencia and Donald Williams. The class is considered the top steward-department curriculum available at the Paul Hall Center.
“The thing that keeps us doing our jobs is to do a little more than expected every day and take pride in our work,” noted Battista, who joined the union in Piney Point in 1999. “I always encourage new recruitment and upgrading to all parties with interest. It is a great career and a huge opportunity to be part of a great American tradition.”
He added a welcome to new union members who are in training for jobs aboard NCL America cruise ships. “NCL America is part of this growing union, an addition to our family,” Battista stated. “The more ships we have, the more jobs we have.”
Guzman was born in Honduras and first shipped in 1979, aboard foreign-flag vessels. “I joined the best maritime union on the globe, which is the SIU, in 1990 in Houston,” he recalled. “Since then, my life has changed for the better. I give thanks to the SIU officers and staff of this school for the good jobs they are doing.”
Speaking to the apprentices, Guzman said, “Study hard, use the school, work hard and work as a team. When you’re on a ship, listen to your supervisors and we’ll have answers for you.”
Williams jokingly told the membership that he was so happy to graduate, he was tempted to break-dance.
Turning serious, he said, “I thank our officials and the school—you’ve been great to me and helped me. I don’t know where I’d be without you. I’ve been doing this job for 25 years and loved every year. You can’t find better friends. This is our family.”
Farquhar offered similar sentiments, recalling that her introduction to the union in 1990 and subsequent first voyage aboard the Long Lines laid the foundation for “a stable future for my family.”
She advised the apprentices to “work hard, achieve your life’s goals and enjoy.”
Guity said the SIU “changed my life 180 degrees. I will always thank this organization for making me the person I am today. And in our president’s famous words, it’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs. Well, we’ve got jobs. Thank you, (SIU President) Mike Sacco.”
Guity, who joined the union in 1992, also thanked the Paul Hall Center instructors and staff “for helping me and so many others. This is a great school for those who want to get ahead in life.”
Smith joined the SIU in 1992 in Honolulu. She said she feels a bond with the union’s officials, symbolized during a mid-1990s rally for the United Farm Workers in California. “We were trying to help them organize strawberry pickers,” Smith remembered. “Midway through the march, I looked up and Mike Sacco was on my left. I was proud to see him do that, and I know our officials are with us all the way.”
Kleine said that, like his classmates, he learned a lot during the course and looked forward to “sharing the knowledge acquired with members on ships.”
He took particular interest in the SIU’s political efforts, “learning about the union’s role in Washington and how as union members we can help create a positive image. I now see how much work is involved in putting me on a ship.”
Kleine, who signed on with the SIU in 1983 in Honolulu, also urged fellow members to “let your port agent know you’re willing to help when needed, whether it’s a political campaign or a community project.
“I have trust in the union and I’m proud to be a member. I loved it from the minute I walked on to the Independence.”
Valencia started his maritime career with the Marine Cooks & Stewards, which merged into the SIU in 1978. He expressed “profound appreciation” to Paul Hall Center Vice President Don Nolan and the school’s staff.
He encouraged fellow Seafarers to contribute to the union’s voluntary political action fund (SPAD).
Lastly, he told President Sacco, “Through your tireless commitment to this membership, you’ve made the SIU Number 1.”
Like most Paul Hall Center courses, steward recertification blends hands-on training with classroom instruction. Topics and training components include communications, computer lab, first aid and CPR, fire fighting, small arms training, sanitation, international maritime conventions and more. Students also met with representatives of the union’s contracts and communications departments, respectively, as well as with representatives from the Seafarers Plans.
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