Seafarers Log
SIU members working for Penn Maritime recently ratified a new three-year contract featuring annual wage increases while maintaining benefits. The agreement, approved by an overwhelming majority, took effect May 1 and lasts through April 2022. In addition to boosting wages, the contract maintains health benefits at the top level available…
Seafarers Log
When the American Maritime Partnership (AMP) in early June announced the kickoff of its year-long celebration titled “American Maritime Heroes,” the SIU enthusiastically backed the first two honorees: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao, and the U.S. Merchant Marine of World War II. In an online post applauding the…
Seafarers Log
New residential facilities in the U.K. memorialize one of the SIU’s most steadfast officials. The union Nautilus International on May 29 dedicated the John Fay House at Mariners Park in Wallasey, England. Built with financial support from Nautilus…
Seafarers Log
A NY Waterway ferry crew aboard the Gov. Thomas Kean on May 15 rescued the pilot after a helicopter crashed in the Hudson River. SIU member Capt. Adam Sciaino was carrying passengers between West 39th Street in Manhattan…
Seafarers Log
A United States congressman from Texas recently used a hypothetical image to drive home a very real point. U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) on May…
Seafarers Log
Anyone familiar with longtime SIU Government Services Division Assistant Vice President Chester “Chet” Wheeler won’t be surprised by the fact he’s staying quite active in retirement. A tireless worker throughout his decades as a mariner and an official, Wheeler, 74, officially called it a career earlier this year. He’s enjoying…
Seafarers Log
View our Facebook album from the event HERE The SIU made a typically strong showing for this year’s National Maritime Day observance in the nation’s capital. Union officials and an enthusiastic group of apprentices from the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education – two of whom played…
Seafarers Log
The last of the T-5 petroleum tankers, the U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC)-owned, Ocean Ships-operated USNS Lawrence H. Gianella has completed its final mission for the U.S. Navy. The SIU-crewed vessel sailed to Norfolk, Virginia, as part of National Maritime Day, bringing the tanker’s…
Seafarers Log
It didn’t receive as much publicity as many other recent stories originating in the nation’s capital, but a potentially key development for our industry occurred in early May when the U.S. Senate voted to confirm three board members to the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im). The immediate significance for the organization…
Seafarers Log
“No Jones Act waiver” was the message coming from six Senators and one Congressman as they left the White House following a meeting with President Trump on May 1. Several news organizations relayed the declaration after U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska),…