The SIU’s greatest strength has always been the professionalism and reliability of our rank-and- file members, and those characteristics have been on display quite often lately.
As you’ll see in this issue of the LOG, our members recently responded in fine fashion to a shipboard emergency; safely and compassionately rendered aid to refugees stranded at sea; and helped negotiate a truly outstanding contract with one of our largest inland companies.
Aboard the USNS Bobo, SIU members teamed up with the ship’s officers to successfully extinguish an engine room fire while the vessel was underway. Most importantly, there were no reported injuries. The ship itself remained operational enough to sail back to port.
Without any prompting whatsoever, the ship’s bosun quickly credited the safety training received by him and others at our affiliated school in Piney Point, Maryland, as a key factor in successfully responding to the emergency. Brothers and sisters, that’s what I call a powerful endorsement.
A week or so later, Seafarers on the Maersk Kinloss assisted a literal boatload of refugees who were stranded in the Atlantic, between Morocco and the Canary Islands. Times being what they are, our members proceeded cautiously but caringly. They provided aid to the 50 or so individuals – including children – who were inside the overloaded, inflatable craft until local coast guard personnel took over. They upheld the finest traditions of the Brotherhood of the Sea.
Back here at home, rank-and-file delegates collaborated with union officials to secure a superb new contract with Crescent Towing. I encourage you to read the details and the quotes on the back page, but in the meantime, hats off to all concerned. Great contracts like this one don’t fall from the sky – they are earned. And I want to credit Crescent’s management, too, for stepping up and demonstrating that they value our Seafarers and their employees.
I couldn’t be more proud of our members, and I extend my congratulations for your recent achievements. Keep up the great work.
Meetings Underscore Solidarity
One of the SIU’s most important affiliations is with the Maritime Trades Department, a constitutional department of the AFL-CIO. The MTD, with its 25 affiliate unions and 21 port maritime councils across the country and Canada, helps amplify our voice on critical issues. This is true at every level of government and in our communities at large.
With that in mind, I was pleased to chair the recent MTD Executive Board meeting in D.C., in my role as MTD president. As reported in detail in the LOG and on our website, we heard from an array of noteworthy guest speakers, including a four-star general, the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO and several others.
As someone who’s spent many years working with other maritime unions from around the world (primarily through the International Transport Workers’ Federation), I was especially glad to welcome officials from two Singaporean unions. Their respective members were on the Dali when that ship infamously struck the Key Bridge in Baltimore earlier this year. I’m glad we had a chance to hear about what the mariners themselves have gone through. Their story has been overlooked, in my opinion.
Collectively, the guest speakers reinforced a feeling of solidarity among the MTD, its affiliates, our partners in the military and our international brothers and sisters around the world. We share many of the same goals and it’s usually no exaggeration to say we’re all in this together.
One of our guests, Dr. Sal Mercogliano, shared the interesting story of his largely unplanned rise to relative fame as a YouTube maritime spokesperson. He made some great points about how we can utilize social media to promote and grow our industry – and how we can also use it to make sure people understand the facts about maritime. Both the SIU and the MTD have “upped our game” on social media in recent years, and we’ll continue investing in the mediums.
Weeks after the meetings, Sal posted a very worthwhile video explaining our nation’s sealift components, and cautioning against what may be a haphazard move to lay up some Army prepositioning ships. The situation is still fluid, but be assured that your union is actively working to protect your jobs and to maintain a dialogue about any plans for those vessels.
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