As announced during the July membership meetings, the Seafarers Appeals Board (SAB) recently took action that extends the maximum tour of duty for A- and B-seniority Seafarers above entry ratings. This step was taken due to ongoing effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Full text of the new regulation follows.
SEAFARERS APPEALS BOARD Action Number 484 (Setting Specific Parameters for Action 481)
WHEREAS, Article IX entitled Shipping Rules, Sections 7. and 9. grant the sole and exclusive authority to administer and/or amend the shipping rules to the Seafarers Appeals Board; and WHEREAS, by prior action the Seafarers Appeals Board has amended the Shipping Rules to secure and maintain an adequate supply of qualified and trained personnel aboard various U.S.-flagged vessels, in particularly Action Number 481 which suspended Shipping Rules 2, 4 and 5 to be in sync with established Coronavirus Precautionary Protocols; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to this grant of authority and in accordance with the current state of emergencies declared by the Federal Government and by the majority of U.S. States and taking into account world-wide conditions and emergencies resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic the Seafarers Appeals Board has decided, while adhering to the provisions of Action 481, to implement specific altered tours of duty within suspended Shipping Rules 2, 4 and 5.
NOW THEREFORE, with the aforementioned in mind the Seafarers Appeals Board hereby takes the following additional actions regarding specified “A” Seniority Permanent & Trip Reliefs and “B” Seniority.
- Amend Article IX, Rule 2. Shipping Procedure, G. (17.), (a) to provide for the following specific extension of “B” Seniority maximum employment as specified below.
(17.) (a) Except as specifically provided for herein or by SAB action, seamen with Class “B” seniority ratings, shipped pursuant to these Rules, may retain such jobs for three hundred and sixty (360) days and shall request a relief before their one hundred and eightieth (180th) day of employment. At the termination of such round trip or on the first opportunity following the three hundred and sixtieth (360th) day on the job, such seamen shall sign off their vessels and the vacant job shall be referred to the Union hiring hall. Such retention may be extended sixty (60) days when mutually agreed to between the Union and the Company. The remainder of this rule shall remain in full force and effect within the alterations of SAB Action 481
- Amend Article IX, Rule 5 Preference and Priority, A., (13.) Trip Reliefs and Permanent Ratings to extend the maximum tour of duty for “A” Seniority Seamen. This Action shall not amend the seventy-five (75) day criteria for designation as “Permanent” nor the list of those that may be deemed as permanent. (a) The following specified ratings enumerated in this subsection (a), possessing Class “A” seniority, upon completing a tour of duty aboard a specified vessel of no less, or as close to, seventy-five (75) days and no more, or as close to, one hundred and eighty (180) days, shall be designated as having permanent status for such vessel and shall request a relief of no less, or as close to, forty-five (45) days and no more, or as close to, sixty (60) days depending on the vessel’s schedule of operations, upon the vessel’s arrival at a port in the Continental United States or Puerto Rico or other mutually agreed to port. Subsequent tours aboard the vessel for permanent personnel shall be between seventy-five (75) and one hundred and eighty (180) days duration as agreed by the seaman and the Company at time of their sign-on for each tour. Transportation expenses for the seaman requesting a relief and the seaman providing a relief shall be borne by the Company. The remainder of this rule shall remain in full force and effect within the alterations of SAB Action 481
- Amend Article IX, Rule 5 Preference and Priority, A., (13), (r), (2) & (4) Tanker Employment (2) [“A” Seniority] During the specific period of employment their tours of duty shall be scheduled at approximately a two-to-one employment ratio with time on of no less, or as close to seventy-five (75) days and no more, or as close to one hundred and eighty (180) days of employment between periods of time off of no less, or as close to forty-five (45) days and no more, or as close to sixty (60) days of time off. Work schedules may be modified subject to the vessel’s operational necessities, and as mutually agreed to between the Union and the Company. Transportation expenses for the seaman requesting a relief and the seaman providing a relief shall be borne by the Company.
(4) Seamen possessing Class “B” employment seniority employed above the Entry Level aboard tanker class vessels in the domestic trades upon mutual consent may request a relief of forty-five (45) days upon completion of no less than ninety (90) days employment. Subsequent tours of duty shall be no less than ninety (90) days and no more than one hundred and eighty (180) days, based on vessel necessity. The remainder of this rule shall remain in full force and effect within the alterations of SAB Action 481
- Amend Article IX, Rule 5 Preference and Priority, A., (13), (t), (2) & (4) Freightship Employment
(2) [“A” Seniority] During the specific period of employment their tours of duty shall be scheduled at approximately a two-to-one employment ratio with time on of no less, or as close to seventy-five (75) days and no more, or as close to one hundred and eighty (180) days of employment between periods of time off of no less, or as close to forty-five (45) days and no more, or as close to sixty days (60) of time off. Work schedules may be modified subject to the vessel’s operational necessities, and as mutually agreed to between the Union and the Company. Transportation expenses for the seaman requesting a relief and the seaman providing a relief shall be borne by the Company.
(4) Seamen possessing Class “B” employment seniority employed above the Entry Level may request a relief of forty-five (45) days upon completion of no less than ninety (90) days of employment. Such relief will only be provided in a domestic port and subject to the vessel’s operational necessities. Transportation if any shall be borne by the seaman requesting and the seaman providing relief. Subsequent tours of duty shall be no less than ninety (90) days and no more than one hundred and eighty (180) days, based on vessel necessity. The remainder of this rule shall remain in full force and effect within the alterations of SAB Action 481
This action will be reviewed every fourteen days and will be kept in place until such time that the parties have determined that the current emergency no longer exists.
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