The SIU teamed up with several other unions and labor organizations to deliver a unified message during a recent hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on May 11 conducted a hearing titled, “Assessing the Shortage of United States Mariners and Recruitment and Retention in the United States Coast Guard.” Guest panelists included U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Paul Thomas, deputy commandant for Mission Support; Rear Adm. Ann Phillips, USN (Ret.), administrator, United States Maritime Administration; Heather MacLeod, director, Homeland Security and Justice, United States Government Accountability Office; and Dr. Beth Asch, Ph.D., senior economist, RAND Corporation. Submitting joint testimony that was entered into the formal record were the SIU; American Maritime Officers; International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots; Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association; Marine Firemen’s Union; Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Sailors’ Union of the Pacific; and Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
The maritime labor organizations spelled out why the widely acknowledged manpower crisis is worthy of prompt action.
“It is critically important that our government and the American people understand that without the U.S.-flag vessels and U.S. citizen licensed and unlicensed merchant mariners ready and available to provide the commercial sealift readiness capability needed by the Department of Defense, our nation would be forced to entrust the support, supply, and security of American forces deployed overseas to foreign flag vessels and foreign crews who may not support U.S. defense operations and objectives,” they stated. “It goes without saying that doing so would jeopardize the lives of American servicewomen and men who will no longer be guaranteed the supplies and equipment they need to do their job in support of our country.”
They added, “It is therefore imperative that the downward trend in the number of vessels operating under the U.S. flag must be stopped and reversed, and the American maritime manpower shortage must be addressed and resolved. Simply put, the current manpower shortage is a national security threat, and it is clear that the Department of Defense cannot do its job if private industry is unable to provide the civilian American merchant mariners DOD needs. This requires strong, positive action by the Congress and the Administration to support and fund existing programs that support the operation of U.S.-flag vessels, including the Maritime Security Program, the Tanker Security Program, and the Jones Act; to eliminate statutory and regulatory impediments to the growth of the maritime manpower pool; and to propose and implement innovative and effective programs and policies that will increase the number of commercially viable U.S.-flag vessels, increase the number of American maritime jobs, and increase the amount of America’s foreign trade carried aboard U.S.-flag ships. Simply put, more cargo means more U.S.- flag ships, and more U.S.-flag ships means more American mariners!”
To that end, they recommended several viable steps that would boost U.S.-flag shipping and help grow the manpower pool. Those suggestions included developing “a realistic maritime strategy that includes at its core a national cargo policy that increases the percentage of America’s foreign trade carried aboard U.S.-flag commercial vessels and ensures that American mariners have jobs during peacetime. The treatment of U.S.-flag vessel operations and American mariners under the tax code should encourage rather than discourage the utilization of U.S.-flag vessels and American mariners, and bilateral and multilateral trade agreements should reflect the strategic importance to our nation of a stronger, more active U.S.-flag fleet in the carriage of America’s exports and imports. Today, with the ongoing efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to secure domination over the world’s oceans and international trade as well as the proliferation of state-owned and controlled and foreign flag-of-convenience vessel operations, including partial ownership in many security-sensitive foreign ports, we have seen the U.S.-flag share of America’s foreign trade fall to less than 2 percent. This situation threatens our security and threatens our economy, as China will only further increase its control over what cargoes move and at what cost unless we bolster our own U.S.-flag fleet and regain control over the carriage of our foreign trade.”
The organizations further explained the importance of Congress “continuing to provide the Maritime Administration with the authority it needs to fully enforce and implement the nation’s U.S.-flag cargo preference shipping requirements…. Similarly, we recommend Congress increase the U.S.- flag requirements for all other government-generated civilian cargoes to 100 percent, the same percentage that covers the shipment of defense cargoes, with U.S.-flag carriage dependent, as it is today, on the availability of U.S.-flag vessels at fair and reasonable rates. Requiring 100 percent would greatly decrease the gamesmanship of U.S. government agencies intentionally violating cargo preference statutes , and will make Maritime Administration enforcement that much easier.”
After highlighting additional recommendations, the groups concluded, “Finally, we strongly support provisions included by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in H.R. 2741, the bipartisan Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2023. Reducing the time requirement for Able Seaman and authorizing additional funding for the Coast Guard to modernize its credentialing system are just two of the provisions that can and should help alleviate impediments to the efficient and timely availability of American mariners.”
Video of the entire hearing is available on the subcommittee’s website.
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