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SIU Contract News

July 2008

Several SIU contracts recently have been ratified. Following are summaries of each. 3-Year Agreement Signed with Intrepid SIU boatmen unanimously ratified a contract covering more than 100 Seafarers employed by Intrepid Personnel & Provisioning. The three-year agreement includes wage and subsistence increases along with increases in maintenance and cure, missing-man wages and reimbursement for lodging. It also maintains Core Plus medical benefits and a 401(k) plan. Pension credit rates will be maintained. Intrepid Personnel & Provisioning moves petroleum products back and forth from the West Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Intrepid has a total of six ATBs and ITBs under SIU contract with more on the way. The SIU negotiating team included SIU Vice President West Coast Nick Marrone, SIU Vice President Gulf Coast Dean Corgey and members Capt. George Sadler, Chief Engineer Robert Paul Joiner and AB/Tankerman Bruce Murphy. 3-Year Pact Inked with Penn Maritime More than 100 SIU members recently overwhelmingly approved a three-year contract with Penn Maritime Inc. Penn Maritime operates barges and tugs and is the largest coastal transporter of heated asphalt products. Contract highlights include annual wage increases, maintaining Core Plus health benefits, increases in “longevity pay,” participation and company contributions in the 401(k) plan, and an additional holiday. The agreement also calls for short- and long-term disability, an increase in maintenance and cure, and bereavement involving maternal and paternal grandparents. The negotiating committee included SIU Atlantic Coast Vice President Joseph Soresi, SIU Patrolman Joe Baselice and members John Harvard (representing mates), Jeff Rydza (engineers) and Teddy Crockett (ABs). 3 More Years with OSG Inland SIU boatmen working for Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. inland operations in Philadelphia overwhelmingly ratified a three-year contract calling for wage increases and other gains. The agreement covers nearly 100 Seafarers who operate tugs and barges primarily between Philadelphia and the Gulf Coast. The contract includes gains in travel compensation, an increase in overtime pay rates and additional compensation for ABs on lightering vessels and Cooks/Ordinary Seamen who complete a mutually agreed upon class at the union-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, based in Piney Point, Md. It also includes the addition of the Seafarers Money Purchase Plan at company expense, necessary company contributions to the Seafarers Health and Benefit Plan to maintain the top level of benefits and the necessary company contributions into the pension plan to maintain days of credit for days worked. Nothing Petty for Seafarers at Petty’s Island More than 50 SIU members at Petty’s Island agreed to a three-year pact with Crowley. Petty’s Island is located in the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The members there work with roll-on/roll-off ships and perform mechanical work on barges at Crowley’s facility. Some of the highlights of the “no loss” contract include pay increases over each of the three years, one additional personal day off at the beginning of the third year of the contract, three days off for the death of a grandparent and/or grandchild and compensation for sick leave not used by the end of any contract period (to be paid out at the hourly rate at which it was accrued). Members will now be able to participate in the Seafarers 401(k) through payroll deduction, and the company is increasing its contribution to the separate Seafarers Money Purchase Pension Plan. The union also secured from the company the necessary contribution to maintain medical benefits at the top Core Plus level. Finally, the union secured company contributions into the pension plan to maintain days of credit for days worked. ###