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Election Day Approaches I don’t have to tell you that Nov. 3 isn’t far off. Make sure you’re registered to vote, and, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may want to consider absentee balloting this time around. Of course, many of our members utilize absentee or early voting because they’re at sea on…

Weighing the potential long-range effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. security, two maritime experts said the country desperately needs to bolster its commercial fleet and the corresponding manpower pool. Maritime Administrator Mark Buzby (left) and Navy League VP Jonathan Kaskin advocate for the U.S. Merchant Marine during a recent online…

A prominent legislator from “The Last Frontier” recently received a major maritime honor. The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), the national association representing the U.S. shipyard industry, honored U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) with the SCA Maritime Leadership Award on June 30. The award is given annually “to national…

Editor’s note: SIU members are encouraged to regularly check the union’s website for the latest union-specific news about the pandemic. There is a prominent COVID-19 section on the home page. Members also may sign up for text alerts by texting the word “join” (without the quotation marks) to 97779. The SIU and its affiliated school…

U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia), an acclaimed civil rights leader/activist and a champion of the U.S. Maritime industry, died July 17 at age 80. The son of sharecroppers and an apostle of nonviolence, the late congressman on Dec. 29, 2019 announced that he had Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer and…

Seafarers will continue sailing aboard the Jones Act-qualified tanker Empire State following a recent contract award by the U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC). The agency in late July announced that American Petroleum Tankers has secured a new agreement consisting of “one 12-month firm period, three one-year options and one 11-month option period…. Work will be…

SIU President Michael Sacco was among those forcefully speaking in favor of the Jones Act following recent attempts to undermine the crucial law. “At their core, there is nothing new about recent, erroneous attacks against America’s freight cabotage law, commonly known as the Jones Act,” Sacco stated in a web post on Aug. 6. “This…

The Seafarers Health and Benefits Plan’s 2020 Scholarship Committee on Aug. 10 bestowed scholarships totaling $132,000 upon nine individuals – in the process helping to chart their respective courses toward higher education degrees. Two active Seafarers and seven dependents were selected by the committee to receive funds to offset costs associated with pursuing degrees at…

During the September membership meetings, Seafarers will be presented with actions by the union’s executive board aimed at facilitating access to absentee ballots for this year’s SIU election. The board approved these modifications in light of the global COVID- 19 pandemic. The SIU Constitution provides that eligible members can vote by absentee ballot if they…

Editor’s note: This is the fifth installment from a 1951 booklet titled “The Seafarers in World War II.” Penned by the late SIU historian John Bunker, the publication recapped SIU members’ service in the War. More than 1,200 SIU members lost their lives to wartime service in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Earlier installments are available…