http://www.seafarerslog.org/archives_old/files/original/ea94c5e7f4d7456e177d842a55161571.pdf 6d68f458828b26d09886f2944b84b070 PDF Text Text OCTOBER 2019 VOLUME 81, NO. 10 O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E S E A F A R E R S I N T E R N AT I O N A L U N I O N AT L A N T I C , G U L F, L A K E S A N D I N L A N D W AT E R S , A F L- C I O New RO/ROs Set to Join MSP Fleet At press time, SIU-contracted American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier (ARC) was slated to formally welcome three new vessels into its fleet: the ARC Integrity, ARC Independence, and ARC Resolve. All three will be enrolled in the U.S. Maritime Security Program (MSP) and will be managed by TOTE Services. ARC will continue to operate two of the vessels being replaced in the MSP fleet in U.S.-flag service, so it’s a net gain of two ships. Another SIU-crewed ARC ship – the M/V Patriot which is a sister ship of the ARC Resolve – is pictured above and at left, loading a mix of helicopters, vehicles, containers and support equipment for the Army’s 4th Combat Aviation Brigade. Visit the SIU website and our social media pages for coverage of the flag-ins, which also will be featured in the next LOG. Latest Upgrades at Piney Point Receive Approval From Students, Staff Alike As reported in last month’s LOG, the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education recently completed substantial upgrades to its engineering shop. Students are reacting very favorably to the improvements; upgraders are pictured at immediate left and directly below. Page 6. MTD Welcomes Newest Affiliate Page 2 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 1 Express Marine Pact Approved Page 3 9/19/2019 3:03:41 PM �President’s Report Labor Day Media coverage of this year’s Labor Day often included what I consider a crucial fact. Namely, the general public has a favorable view of organized labor – but people who want to join unions often fight an unfairly uphill battle. AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka, who’s been a friend for many years, did a great job throughout a series of interviews explaining why our country is long overdue for extensive labor-law reform. The deck is severely stacked against workers in most traditional organizing campaigns. We’ve gotten to this point through decades of attacks on unions. Those attacks – sometimes sneaky, sometimes brazen – have taken a toll and have eroded too many protections. And that’s basically why the movement’s numbers are where they are. It’s a flat-out falsehood that unions aren’t needed anymore, or that people aren’t interested in joining. Nonpartisan polling shows that people do indeed value what collective bargaining and union representation have to offer. They understand that union representation is the only effective way to have a voice in the workplace. They’d welcome the chance to sign up, and they know that union members consistently earn Michael Sacco more money and have better benefits than unrepresented workers. But, too often, employers have all the power during an organizing campaign, and they face few if any penalties for breaking the law. It’s no secret that when unions are strong, the middle class is strong. And America’s businesses and workers, from the 1930s to the 1970s, grew together. But since then, companies have gotten more prosperous while workers’ pay largely has stayed the same. We have an opportunity to turn this ship around, and as always, it starts at the ballot box. The 2020 elections, incredibly, are only a year away. There are also elections before the end of this year. Stay informed about the issues and candidates, and support candidates at every level of government who’ll support America’s working families and the maritime industry. The SIU has never cared about political party and that’ll be the case again next year. We’ll back those who back us, period. Grassroots and Civility Speaking of politics, I enjoyed recent remarks from the union’s legislative director, Brian Schoeneman. Addressing one of our affiliated unions, he declared that the most important thing union members can do to protect your job and help advance the labor movement in the political arena is to vote. “There is no more powerful four-letter word in the union vocabulary, even when politicians give us reasons to use a lot of other four-letter words,” he said, and I agree. Motivating others to vote is also important, and it’s something we can all do. Talk with your co-workers and neighbors about the issues and candidates that matter to you. Encourage them to vote, and if they’re not registered, point them in the right direction. Brian also underscored the vital significance of political action funds, which for the SIU means SPAD. Those funds are a form of insurance and a virtual prerequisite to have a seat at the table and have our voices heard. Our political donations help to get good candidates elected to office and keep good elected officials in office. Any help you can give is critical. On a personal note, I encourage all Seafarers to keep it civil when discussing politics, no matter who you’re talking with. It’s often a touchy subject, but our country needs to re-learn the art of civil discourse and focusing on issues rather than personalities. AFT Becomes MTD’s Newest Affiliate Organization Boasts Membership of 1.7 Million Strong The Maritime Trades Department (MTD) recently welcomed its newest affiliate: the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). “We are very proud and honored that the AFT has joined the ranks of the MTD,” declared MTD President Michael Sacco, who also is president of the SIU. “We have had a very good working relationship with the AFT and its members from the local level up throughout the years. “People may wonder why the Teachers would join,” he continued. “Well, without teachers, none of us would have a chance to learn critical new ideas, to fight for our members and to succeed in life.” The MTD is a constitutional department of the AFL-CIO. It has 22 affiliates with a collective membership of approximately six million. “The AFT is proud to join the Maritime Trades Department,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “Together, we can fight for what all Americans want – a better life and a better future for our families – through good jobs; high-quality, affordable health care; a secure retirement; great public schools; affordable college; and a healthy democracy.” The AFT represents 1.7 million teachers, paraprofessionals and school staff, higher education faculty and staff, nurses, other health care professionals, and public employees. MTD President Michael Sacco (right) welcomes AFT President Randi Weingarten to the 2018 MTD meeting. AFT members work as instructors and staff at a variety of public maritime schools, colleges and programs across the United States. The union also represents workers at the Guam Port Authority. During the last two years, MTD affiliates – prominently including the SIU – and the AFT have worked together to help Puerto Rico recover from the devastating hurricanes of 2017, including the delivery and dispersal of 100,000 water filters. Weingarten spoke directly about that labor solidarity when she addressed the 2018 MTD executive board meeting in Orlando, Florida. At the start of this year, members of the Port Maritime Council of Southern California immediately adopted a local school when the United Teachers of Los Angeles went on strike on Jan. 10. They walked picket lines and provided supplies (including food and drinks) during the six-day struggle. In 2018, the Maritime Port Council of Greater New York/ New Jersey and Vicinity recognized Weingarten with its Paul Hall Award of Merit. In receiving the recognition, Weingarten told the audience how MTD affiliates helped her local, New York City’s United Federation of Teachers, gain recognition in the early 1970s. Antares Drydocks in Philly New Tonnage Last but definitely not least, we are gearing up for a big ceremony in Baltimore that’ll welcome three RO/ROs into the SIU-crewed fleet, just after press time. Whenever we can add new or newer tonnage, it bodes well for our future. Some of you have heard me say this before, but when we crew up new vessels, it’s a credit to every rank-and-file Seafarer. Our companies wouldn’t build or flag-in new ships and tugs and passenger ferries if they didn’t have confidence in you. Keep up the great work. O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E S E A F A R E R S I N T E R N AT I O N A L U N I O N AT L A N T I C , G U L F, L A K E S A N D I N L A N D W AT E R S , A F L- C I O Volume 81 Number 10 October 2019 The SIU online: www.seafarers.org The Seafarers LOG (ISSN 1086-4636) is published monthly by the Seafarers International Union; Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes and Inland Waters, AFL-CIO; 5201 Auth Way; Camp Springs, MD 20746. Telephone (301) 899-0675. Periodicals postage paid at Southern Maryland 20790-9998. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Seafarers LOG, 5201 Auth Way, Camp Springs, MD 20746. Communications Director, Jordan Biscardo; Managing Editor/Production, Jim Guthrie; Assistant Editor, Nick Merrill; Photographer, Harry Gieske; Administrative Support, Jenny Stokes; Content Curator, Mark Clements. Copyright © 2019 Seafarers International Union, AGLIW. All Rights Reserved. The Seafarers International Union engaged an environmentally friendly printer for the production of this newspaper. 2 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 2 The SIU-crewed Antares (above) in early August started a routine drydock period for repairs and maintenance at Philly Shipyard. Operated by TOTE Services for the U.S. Maritime Administration, the Antares is part of the Ready Reserve Force. The shipyard period was expected to last approximately two months. (Photo courtesy Philly Shipyard) October 2019 9/19/2019 3:03:43 PM �Express Marine Crews Approve New Contract SIU mariners working aboard Express Marine vessels recently ratified a new, three-year contract with wage increases each year, among other improvements. Negotiating for the SIU were Captain Riley Johnson, Mate Jeff Fackett and AB Scottie Duncan, alongside Philadelphia Port Agent Joe Baselice. The contract includes improved vacation benefits, a boost to the Seafarers Money Purchase Pension Plan, and larger pension contributions. Members also maintain their medical coverage at the Core Plus level, the highest available under the Seafarers Health and Benefits Plan. Fackett said, “It was an awesome process. Joe did a great job, and everyone seems to think it’s a great contract. Given the current conditions of the industry, I think we did a good job.” Duncan, who had served on a previous negotiating committee, said, “I think the new contract is going to be good for everyone. I believe it’s going to help our retirement benefits, as well as our weekly paychecks. Joe Baselice helped us pull some things together at the last minute, and was a real help during the whole process.” The new contract covers approximately 25 members. “Everything went well,” said Baselice. “We were able to address everything that the members had asked for, and it all came together in a nice package that the membership overwhelmingly approved. It’s a good contract with a good company.” Express Marine, Inc. has provided safe, reliable tug and barge transportation for dry bulk and liquid cargos along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, Caribbean and associated bays, harbors and rivers for more than 100 years. SIU members sail aboard the company’s fleet of tugs and barges, which range from smaller inland units to larger offshore ones. Adm. Paul F. Zukunft (Ret) Former U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Zukunft Named Next American Maritime Hero From left, Mate Jeff Fackett, Capt. Michael Daniels and Mate Greg Allman signal their approval of the new contract. USNS Puerto Rico Undergoes Successful Integrated Sea Trials A civilian-crewed U.S. military support ship recently took a big step towards delivery. The USNS Puerto Rico – which will be crewed by CIVMARS from the SIU Government Services Division – successfully completed the first integrated sea trials for an expeditionary fast transport (EPF) ship Aug. 22. The vessel returned to the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, following two days underway in the Gulf of Mexico. Integrated trials combine builder’s and acceptance trials, allowing for the shipyard to demonstrate to the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey the operational capability and mission readiness of all the ship’s systems during a single underway period. During trials, the shipbuilder October 2019 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 3 conducted comprehensive tests to demonstrate the performance of the Puerto Rico’s major systems. “The EPF program continues to be an The American Maritime Partnership (AMP), to which the SIU is affiliated, has announced the latest addition to its American Maritime Heroes campaign: former U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul F. Zukunft (Ret). According to AMP, “An American Maritime Hero is recognized for his or her courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities that have added to the rich history of America as a maritime nation.” The coalition said Zukunft has demonstrated strong support for the Jones Act and the greater American maritime industry – understanding its vital importance in strengthening our national security. Zukunft, who retired in 2018, has previously stated: “[Without the Jones Act,] all of our coastwise trade will probably be done by a third nation, namely China, [and] not just coastwise trade, but plying our inland river systems as well.… The next thing that goes away is the [U.S. and state] maritime academies. You don’t need them because we have foreign mariners. We don’t know who they are, but they are foreign mariners plying our waters and our internal waters as well to conduct maritime commerce. Then the next thing that goes is our shipyards and the technology that goes with the shipyards.” Zukunft joins a group of recognized American Maritime Heroes including the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard, Shipbuilder Andrew Higgins, the late U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minnesota), the World War II U.S. Merchant Mariners and U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. For more information on the campaign, which will culminate on the 100th anniversary of the Jones Act becoming law, visit https:// americanmaritimeheroes.com/ example of stable and successful serial ship production,” said Capt. Scot Searles, Navy Strategic and Theater Sealift program manager, Program Executive Office Ships. “I look forward to seeing EPF 11 deliver in the fall and expand the operational flexibility available to our combatant commanders.” SIU CIVMARS already sail aboard the previously launched EPFs. The Navy The USNS Puerto Rico wraps up sea trials. (Photo by Austal USA) describes the ships as “non-combatant vessels designed to operate in shallowdraft ports and waterways, increasing operational flexibility for a wide range of activities including maneuver and sustainment, relief operations in small or damaged ports, flexible logistics support, or as the key enabler for rapid transport. The ships are capable of interfacing with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities, as well as on/off-loading vehicles such as a fully combat-loaded Abrams Main Battle Tank.” EPFs support a variety of missions including overseas contingency operations, conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, supporting special operations forces, and supporting emerging joint sea-basing concepts. In addition to the Puerto Rico, Austal USA is also currently in production on the future USNS Newport, and is under contract to build the future USNS Apalachicola and an additional sister ship that hasn’t been named. Seafarers LOG 3 9/19/2019 3:03:45 PM �Richard Trumka: Workers ‘Not Interested in a Sliver Of Change,’ Demand Economy That Works For Them Workers are “not interested in a sliver of change or gestures” from politicians, but demand massive shifts to an economy that works for them rather than heavily benefiting the extremely wealthy, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka recently stated. And, primed by their unions, they’re already demanding and getting that commitment from presidential candidates on the campaign trail, he added. Trumka, a longtime friend of the SIU, made those remarks and many others Aug. 29 during an annual pre-Labor Day press breakfast hosted by The Christian Science Monitor. He cited several important steps that would help ensure an economy that works for all, including passage of the Protect the Right to Organize (Pro) Act, strong worker safeguards in the U.S., and massive changes in labor laws (and enforcement) in Mexico before any ratification of an updated NAFTA. (The Pro Act, designed to strengthen U.S. labor law, now has more than 200 U.S. House co-sponsors and 41 Senate cosponsors.) Additionally, Trumka noted that unions’ popularity, at least as measured by an annual Gallup Poll, recently reached a record 64% approval. But that hasn’t translated, yet, into increasing union numbers, due to the loopholes and flaws of U.S. labor law. He sees change coming, though, citing new state-level legislation that will open the way to organizing significant numbers of workers. Trumka also expressed optimism stemming from public-sector union membership gains that happened after last year’s Supreme Court Janus decision, which some had viewed as a potentially devastating blow to organized labor. However, the federation president noted, the disconnect between union popularity and results has led the AFL-CIO, in its preparations for the 2020 presidential campaign, to undertake a massive education effort among its affiliates’ members, prepping them on questions for the contenders. The quizzes are a prelude to what Trumka predicts will be a record labor political effort next year. Those questions involve kitchen-table issues, such as years of stagnant wages, pensions which crashed in the Great Recession, increased corporate shifting of health care spending from firms to workers, and the right to organize free of corporate interference and repression. The kitchen-table questions also include so-called “free trade” pacts and business’s corresponding massive export of U.S. jobs to Mexico. Those issues and others have come up on the campaign trail as unionists have quizzed some of the hopefuls. The results, Trumka said, have been gratifying. “We’re excited that all the candidates are talking about workers’ rights and unions, and that’s a big plus,” Trumka said when asked to rank five top contenders: former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders (Ind-Vermont), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), and Kamala Harris (D-California), and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Trumka declined to rank them. “Any (AFLCIO) endorsement will come from the bottom up – from our members through our executive council,” he replied. “And it’ll take 70% of the vote there.” “They’re asking candidates about their position on different issues that are important to them, and forcing the candidates to think about it,” Trumka said of union members. “And if they have a position, it’s stated. If they don’t, they think it through and get a position. That’s where we’ve been largely successful and we will do that again.” And in that respect, all the current hopefuls differ from 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, whom most unions supported early in her contest with Sanders. She put kitchentable issues second, behind criticizing Donald Trump, said Trumka. He added that the possibility of winning workers’ votes will increase if candidates spend more time talking about “changing the rules – and it’s not just trade, it’s tax laws, it’s regulations, it’s health and safety, it’s education, it’s health care, it’s pensions…. It’s bankruptcy laws that have stripped workers of their pensions over the years.” On other issues, Trumka reiterated labor’s opposition to the nomination of Eugene Scalia, a pro-management attorney, to be the new Labor Secretary. Trump formally sent Scalia’s name to the Senate on August 26. No hearings have been scheduled yet on the nod. “We actively opposed him in 2002, because his record was so bad,” Trumka stated. “It’s only gotten worse. His views are dangerously outside the mainstream.” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Illinois Rep. Introduces Pro-Maritime Resolution Illinois Rep. Jay Hoffman The Illinois General Assembly will have a chance to show its support for the U.S. Merchant Marine, following the recent introduction of a pro-maritime statement by Rep. Jay Hoffman (D). Hoffman, the assistant majority leader, represents the state’s 113th District. His statement is a well-informed description of why the nation is best-served by maintaining a strong maritime industry, including American crews. In part, the statement reads: “The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are supportive of federal statutes that ensure that vessels engaged in the coastwise and inland trades are built and crewed by American workers; the Jones Act, the Maritime Security Program, the Passenger Vessel Services Act, and U.S. cargo preference laws are critical in maintaining a viable American Merchant Marine…. Without the Jones Act, the American Merchant Marine and its well-paying jobs would be destroyed, and the domestic water- borne commerce of the U.S. would be controlled by foreign interests.” The statement also credits the U.S. Maritime Security Program for its affordability and military usefulness. “The program requires that the vessels, crews, and participating companies’ intermodal assets are immediately available to the Department of Defense in times of crisis; military experts have said it would literally cost tens of billions of dollars to replicate the program’s assets, which currently are delivered for a few hundred million dollars per year,” the resolution points out. Later, the statement backs cargo preference laws, including the Food for Peace program, “whose purpose is to promote the food security of developing countries. Food aid is grown by American farmers, processed by American workers, and transported on board U.S. vessels to countries in need. Since the program’s inception in 1954, more than three billion people in 150 countries have benefited directly from U.S. food aid that was delivered by the U.S. Merchant Marine.” Moreover, the statement also supports development and expansion of America’s marine highway system, and takes to task the so-called flag-of-convenience setup, “in which avaricious shipowners around the world register their vessels in phony flag states to evade labor, safety, environmental, and tax laws.” The system “deserves condemnation [and] has resulted in the global exploitation of seagoing maritime labor and the reduction of international commercial cargo carried by U.S. vessels….” The statement concludes that the House backs “the U.S. Merchant Marine as America’s fourth arm of defense and recognizes that the American maritime industry is critical for U.S. national, economic, and homeland security and that our mariners and our maritime industry deserve our full support.” The Illinois General Assembly reconvenes in late October or November. Seafarers March in Labor Day Parade Seafarers were out in force for the 40th Labor Day parade in Wilmington, California. Pictured at the hall before joining the festivities are (from left) Port Agent Jeff Turkus, DEU John Raquipiso, AB Edward Alfonso, AB Paul Elderts, Chief Cook Todd Curry, ACU David Simon, Bosun Ruben Saturday, AB Julius Dagoldol, ACU Ricky Sencida, SA Sheryl Johnson, SA Ed Lopez, SA Gedrick Reyes, AB Leonard Ajoste and Chief Cook Richard Walker. “There was a great turnout this year overall,” noted Turkus. “There were about 5,000 union members and their families and supporters.” 4 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 4 October 2019 9/19/2019 3:03:46 PM �EPI Asks (and Answers): How is Economy Working for America’s Working Families? A new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) thoroughly examines the economic plight of American workers. “This report makes clear that despite an unemployment rate below 4%, wage growth continues to elude the vast majority of working families,” noted EPI Vice President John Schmitt. “This is a result of a decades-long attack on labor unions, and trickledown policies that put corporate profits and CEO pay ahead of the rights and wages of working people.” A headline on one of the essays contained in the overall report stated, “Working people have been thwarted in their efforts to bargain for better wages by attacks on unions.” The report, available online at epi.org, was launched just before Labor Day. The research therein is consistent with the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank’s selfdescribed mission of “including the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions…. EPI conducts research and analysis on the economic status of working America. EPI proposes public policies that protect and improve the economic conditions of low- and middleincome workers and assesses policies with respect to how they affect those workers.” One of the report components, by Heidi Shierholz, points out that the “share of workers represented by unions has dropped by more than half since 1979 – from 27.0% to 11.7% in 2018. Not coincidentally, the share of income going to the top 10% has escalated in this period – these high earners now capture nearly half of all income. The decline of unions is not because people don’t want to be in unions. They do: The share of people who either have union coverage or report they want it is 60% – the same as it was 40 years ago. But employers’ aggressive efforts to dismantle unions and impede organizing efforts have robbed workers of this opportunity. We need fundamental reform of labor law to restore and protect workers’ rights to come together and have a voice in their workplace.” Her conclusion about the need for labor law reform is shared by the AFL-CIO, to which the SIU is affiliated. Such reform is one of the federation’s top priorities, though it’s also an enormous challenge. “Impeding union representation has been a primary goal of corporate interests in recent decades, and these interests have convinced conservative policymakers to attack collective bargaining through legislation, executive rulemaking, and the courts,” Shierholz added. “Meanwhile, policymakers claiming to care about the economic struggles of typical Americans have too often turned a blind eye to these “This report makes clear that despite an unemployment rate below 4%, wage growth continues to elude the vast majority of working families. This is a result of a decades-long attack on labor unions, and trickledown policies that put corporate profits and CEO pay ahead of the rights and wages of working people.” - - - EPI Vice President John Schmitt attacks. But if workers are not able to effectively organize into unions, broadly shared prosperity that extends to most working people has virtually no chance.” Her part of the report states it is “no surprise that workers want unions.” The EPI, using government data, found that on average, a worker covered by a union contract earns 13.2% more than a peer with similar education, occupation, and experience in a nonunionized workplace in the same sector. Union workers also are more likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance, and their employers tend to contribute more toward those plans. They are also more likely to have paid vacation and sick Maritime Administrator Pledges Jones Act Support Outlines Efforts to Recapitalize RRF, Boost Manpower The head of the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) recently reiterated that the agency is constantly pushing to revitalize the U.S. Merchant Marine. At a recent Navy League breakfast, Maritime Administrator RAdm. Mark Buzby (USN, Ret) spoke of the importance of the American maritime industry, in relation to both domestic security and the nation’s economy. He also identified MARAD’s top priorities. Buzby said, “We are addressing the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) and ensuring that it is prepared to answer the call. That has been a struggle, with readiness of the 44-year-old fleet a day-to-day challenge given our budgetary constraints. I’m pleased that Congress has increasingly gotten it on their scope, and having TRANSCOM Commander General Steve Lyons testify that RRF recap is his number one priority is a huge deal. Long-term, we believe the Navy’s surge sealift recapitalization strategy, which includes a combination of targeted service life extensions, acquiring and converting used vessels, October 2019 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 5 leave, more input into the number of hours they work, and more predictable schedules. Union employers are more likely to offer retirement plans and to contribute more toward those plans than comparable nonunion employers, the EPI found. Other benefits of union representation, according to the report, include providing workers due-process protections; creating safer workplaces (“because union workers are protected by their unions from repercussions for reporting safety issues, they are more likely to report safety concerns”); and shrinking the racial wage gap. “Furthermore, the benefits of collective bargaining extend beyond those em- and building new sealift vessels in U.S. shipyards, will get us where we need to be.” He continued, “I pledged myself to a vigorous defense of the Jones Act. There has been a lot of discussion about the Jones Act of late, much of it misinformed and some of it purposely misleading. We’ve turned back several serious challenges to this indispensable policy, but only a vigilant watch will protect this linchpin of American maritime policy from attack.” A lifelong advocate of American mariners and a former commanding officer of the U.S. Military Sealift Command, Buzby said MARAD is working “across the board, from growing the U.S.-flag fleet and strengthening our ports to improving and modernizing maritime education and addressing the mariner shortage, to help ensure that America’s maritime community is ready to meet all challenges in an increasingly contentious and competitive world. That means not only addressing the needs for the RRF, but also supporting U.S.-flag commercial carriers ployees who are represented by a union,” Shierholz wrote. “Where unions are strong, they effectively set broader standards that nonunion employers must meet in order to attract and retain the workers they need and to avoid facing an organizing drive. The combination of the direct effect of unions on union members and this ‘spillover’ effect to nonunion workers means unions are crucial in fostering a vibrant middle class and reducing income inequality.” Shierholz also debunks a view held by some outside the labor movement that the decline in collective bargaining has occurred naturally. “Quite the contrary,” she wrote. “Fierce corporate opposition has suppressed workers’ freedom to form so U.S.-flag ships are there for us to provide sustained sealift.” He added, “The MSP (Maritime Security Program) stipend is a lifeline for those carriers who struggle to compete against foreign competitors who benefit from government subsidies and preferential tax policies.” He then addressed the manpower shortage, saying, “Right now, we remain about 1,800 mariners short of what we need to crew government and commercial sealift ships to meet national security needs. Closing that gap demands that we grow the U.S.-flag fleet to ensure that qualified American mariners have places to ply their trade. “We also recently announced nine new marine highway projects that will join previously designated projects in being eligible to apply for $7 million of marine highway grants this year,” he concluded. “Short sea shipping is an additional way that we can boost Jones Act shipping and support mariner jobs. There are some really innovative ideas emerging in the marine highways sector.” The Navy League of the United States, founded in 1902 with the support of President Theodore Roosevelt, is a nonprofit civilian, educational and advocacy organization that supports America’s sea services: the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and U.S.-flag Merchant Marine. As part of its mission focus, the Navy League of the United States, according to its website, unions and bargain collectively. Intense and aggressive anti-union campaigns – once confined to the most anti-union employers – have become widespread; it is now typical, when workers seek to organize, for their employers to hire union avoidance consultants to orchestrate fierce anti-union campaigns. “And though the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) makes it illegal for employers to intimidate, coerce, or fire workers in retaliation for participating in union-organizing campaigns, the penalties are insufficient to provide a serious economic disincentive for such behavior (there are no punitive damages or criminal charges under the NLRA; penalties may consist of being required to post a notice or reinstate illegally fired workers),” she continued. “This means that many illegal tactics can be actively pursued; for example, employers often threaten to close the worksite, cut union activists’ hours or pay, or report workers to immigration enforcement authorities if employees unionize. More than one in seven union organizers and activists are illegally fired while trying to organize unions at their place of work.” Yet, despite such conduct, policymakers “have egregiously failed to update labor laws to rebalance the system,” she said. “In fact, in many cases policy is moving backward; 27 states have passed so-called right-to-work laws, which are intended to undermine union finances by making it illegal for unions to require nonunion members of a collective bargaining unit (who don’t pay union dues) to pay ‘fair share fees’ – fees that cover only the basic costs of representing employees in the workplace. And the Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME – a case financed by a small group of foundations with ties to the largest and most powerful corporate lobbies – made ‘right-to-work’ the law of the land for all public-sector unions. Conclusion: We need to protect workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.” Mark Buzby Maritime Administrator “Enhances the morale of sea service personnel and their families through national and council level programs, provides a powerful voice to educate the public and Congress on the importance of our sea services to our nation’s defense, well-being and economic prosperity and supports youth through programs, such as the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Junior ROTC and Young Marines, that expose young people to the values of our sea services.” Seafarers LOG 5 9/19/2019 3:03:47 PM �Mariners work on various electrical projects in the new electronics lab. Upgraders work inside the new machine shop. Students, Instructors Praise PHC Machine Shop Upgrades As detailed in last month’s issue of the LOG, the machine shop at the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education has recently undergone a complete overhaul, with new equipment, classrooms and specially designed trainers. PHC Acting Vice President Tom Orzechowski noted, “The shop is completely retooled and set for the next level of training. The building itself went through a complete renovation, and we added new classroom space adjacent to the new Electricians’ Lab. New trainers encompassing every aspect needed for upgrading and basic training are now available and at the ready. This brings our vocational shop up to date and prepares us for the future.” “This is a plus right here,” said QMED Lamont Robinson of the new Electrical Training Lab. “We had something like 2019 SEATU Convention Builds Towards Future Convention themes aren’t always so literal, but at the 2019 Seafarers Entertainment and Allied Trades Union (SEATU) Triennial Convention, “Building for the Future” was a slogan that delivered. The convention took place September 1011, at the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center in Piney Point, Maryland, and brought with it news of solid membership growth, new contracts and multiple new constructions, the latter of which potentially will provide jobs for hundreds and hundreds of SEATU members before the next convention. SEATU is an affiliate of the Seafarers International Union of North America. In addition to reports from each SEATU representative and a dozen resolutions, attendees were treated to presentations from: Cornel Martin, President and CEO of the Delta Queen Steamboat Company; Howard Weinstein, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at The Cordish Companies; Nelson Hill, Vice President of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 27; Daniel Duncan, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Valerie Cole, SEATU’s Union Plus Representative; and Brian Schoeneman, SEATU’s Legislative Director. Representing the SIU at the convention were SIU (and SEATU) President Michael Sacco, Executive Vice-President Augie Tellez, Secretary-Treasurer David Heindel, Vice President of Contracts George Tricker, Gen- eral Counsel Leslie Tarantola, Vice President Lakes and Inland Waters Tom Orzechowski, Vice President Atlantic Coast Joseph Soresi, Vice President Gulf Coast Dean Corgey, Vice President West Coast Nick Marrone, Assistant Vice Presidents Bryan Powell, Pat Vandegrift and Mike Russo, Port Agent Mark von Siegel, Port Agent Todd Brdak, Port Agent Victor Nunez, and Safety Directors Amber Akana, James Brown and William Tyson Little. The SEATU Representatives in attendance were Akana, Monte Burgett, Brdak, Brown, Patti Christian, Gerard Dhooge, Amber Gibson, Ashley Smith, Shane Sterry, and Little. Each brought delegates from their respective worksites to the convention. Martin presented information on the long history of the Delta Queen, a celebrated river steamboat which operated from 1927 until 2008 as an overnight passenger vessel, often carrying SIU crews. The vessel was granted a Congressional Exemption on December 4, 2018, which will allow the Delta Queen Steamboat Company to fully restore the boat and return it to overnight river cruise service. He explained that in 2007, the owners of the boat at that time began to crew the vessel with non-union, improperly trained employees. Shortly thereafter, also in 2007, the vessel’s exemption expired, as Congress no longer felt the vessel was being operated safely by qualified mariners. By October 2008, the vessel was retired from sailing the waterways, and was operated as a floating hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee, until 2014. SEATU representatives, delegates and guests look on during the convention session. 6 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 6 this, but it was very basic. Everything is right here now, and organized much better.” Robinson also praised the other new trainers, as well as the overall redesign of the space. QMED Reginald Hunter also credited the new Electrical Training Lab, saying, “You could wire whatever you want, it’s all right in front of you. Much better than what we used to have.” Martin then spoke on how he became involved with the Delta Queen: “The hotel eventually came under the operation of Randy and Leah Ann Ingram, longtime supporters of the Delta Queen, in 2010.... In 2012, they contacted me and said, ‘We’d like to see the Delta Queen cruise again on the river, and we’d like you to come on board and help us.’ And I said, there’s only one way I’ll do it, and that’s if you agree to [get input from maritime labor].” After a detailed report of the work it will take to restore and modernize the vessel to meet current safety requirements, Martin stated that the boat will sail the inland rivers again as soon as the restoration is complete. Weinstein’s presentation also carried with it the reveal of potential new jobs on the horizon. After a look back at the history of the working relationship between Maryland LIVE! Casino and the union, he focused on the future expansion of that property, as well as new facilities. “We are in the process of building two new casinos,” he said. “The first is in Pittsburgh, which is due to open in August of next year. And the second one is another casino, in Philadelphia, which is also due to open next year.” He further clarified that the Philadelphia property is both a hotel and casino, and will employ hundreds of people in both facilities when it opens in December 2020. He then mentioned that the partnership with SEATU isn’t always perfect, and that there have been plenty of disagreements and grievances over the years. “I share that with you because we have good, healthy disagreements, and the relationship stays intact. We’re both committed to the long term here, and it has worked very, very well,” he concluded. Duncan explained the importance of grassroots and community activities, and how QMED Christian O’Brien agreed, adding, “It’s awesome! Seems a lot more professional, and definitely more organized. It makes me feel a lot more confident now.” PHC Instructor Chris Morgan also spoke on the new upgrades, saying, “I think we’ve seen a dramatic improvement with the recent changes. With these technical advances, we can teach a lot more in our classes. All welcome improvements.” SEATU executives and representatives have stepped up to do their part. For example, he noted the union’s successful efforts to defeat so-called right-to-work statutes in Missouri; and SEATU’s volunteerism in assisting Habitat for Humanity in Baltimore. Schoeneman offered a fact-based picture of the current political landscape, saying, “Let me put things into perspective. This Congress is on pace to being the most do-nothing Congress in the history of the Union. Since January when they came into office, they’ve created and enacted 56 laws. 56. Of those 56, 26 were things like post office namings, short-term extensions of programs and technical corrections bills.... That gets us to about 150 bills by the end of this Congress. When President Truman ran in 1948 against the first do-nothing Congress that he christened, that Congress passed 906 laws. “That being said, the 2020 election cycle is probably going to be one of the most contentious in history,” he continued. “The 2016 election saw the largest number of Americans in history voting, despite the turnout hovering around 60 percent. Last year’s mid-term elections saw turnout of almost 50 percent, which was the highest since 1966 and way up from 2014, when 37 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot – the lowest in 72 years.” He then urged everyone in attendance to get out to the polls and vote, reminding them that every vote counts. Outside of the meeting hours, SEATU representatives and delegates attended discussions and seminars, before being treated to a crab feast as well as campus tours for those so inclined. Delegates unanimously re-elected Sacco as president, Heindel as secretary-treasurer and Tellez and Orzechowski as vice presidents. From left, General Counsel Leslie Tarantola swears in the newly elected SEATU Executive Board: President Michael Sacco, Vice Presidents Tom Orzechowski and Augustin Tellez and Secretary-Treasurer David Heindel. October 2019 9/19/2019 3:03:50 PM �‘Fuji’ Finds a Home for Lighthouse Collection When longtime Seafarer Shawn “Fuji” Fujiwara realized he had to downsize from his residence, he wanted to find a suitable home for some of his prized lighthouse model collection. It didn’t take long for him to identify his preferred destinations: SIU headquarters, and the union-affiliated school in Piney Point, Maryland. “Now, people can enjoy them. That was a big thing,” said Fujiwara, a recertified steward who is retiring due to medical issues stemming from a major auto accident. “Lighthouses are part of our industry, and our headquarters is a beacon. The models are going to a good home.” Fujiwara, 55, started sailing with the SIU in May 1988, aboard the cruise ship Independence. “I was kind of struggling before I joined the union,” he recalled. “I went to the union hall (in Honolulu), got signed up, did the physical. The port agent looked at me and said, ‘Hey you, you want a job? Ninety-day rotary.’ I didn’t know what 90-day rotary meant. My mom was excited because I was going to work on a cruise ship. I didn’t know what I was getting into.” It wound up being an excellent fit. Fujiwara pursued his sailing career with constant enthusiasm – and with appreciation. “I always had a good job and I always had something to look forward to,” he noted. “As a steward, I always believed Though he didn’t plan to retire this soon, Seafarer Shawn Fujiwara (center) maintains a positive outlook about his career as well as his health. He’s pictured at the Tacoma hiring hall, receiving his first pension check. SIU Asst. VP Joe Vincenzo is at right, while Port Agent Warren Asp is at left. it was up to me to make a difference. You are the heartbeat of the ship. Plus, I don’t care if you own the restaurant, you’re not going to make the money you make on a ship.” Fujiwara maintained similar passion for his lighthouse models. A shipmate gave him a couple miniature lighthouses 30 years ago, and his interest quickly blossomed. He collected approximately 110 of them (most were created by artist Bob Younger, whom Fujiwara met). Purchases were made both online and in person, at collector events and stores. “I went crazy with it,” he said with a laugh, adding that the average cost was around $100 per item. “I had a cabinet custom-built so I could see them from the side. Later, I built a custom bookcase for some other ones. “But I like it because when a sailor saw a lighthouse, they knew safety was close,” he continued. “To me, the galley was a beacon of hope for the crew. Everything can be going to hell on deck and in the engine room, but if the galley area was good, that was a safety zone for everyone.” He donated nearly half of the lighthouses to the union and the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education. A few were designated for specific individuals (including SIU President Michael Sacco), but most are displayed in offices and common areas throughout the respective locations. “Shawn’s generosity has given a big boost to our member lounge in particular,” said Chuck Corbin, building manager for the SIU headquarters facility in Camp Springs, Maryland. “The lighthouse models are really well-made and captivating.” Fujiwara also made other donations and kept 15 for himself. But parting with the items didn’t leave him bittersweet. He said he’s simply grateful to have survived the accident and to have found a new home while collecting his SIU pension and other retiree income. He also said he plans to remain involved with the union, particularly through the hiring hall in Tacoma, Washington. “The union has been a big part of my life for 30 years,” he The two photos above show some of the 110 lighthouse models collected by Recertified Steward Shawn Fujiwara. said. “That won’t change just because I can no longer sail.” Asked what advice he’d give to people who are entering the industry, he replied, “Keep your nose clean, believe in yourself – and you have to care. The day you stop caring, you need to get out. That’s true with any job. That’s what kept me going. From day one, I cared. “Also remember that you when you sign on board, you have watch – whether you’re relief, rotary or permanent,” he concluded. “You have the watch, so don’t put the blame on the person you relieved. Be you, make it right, and leave it better than the last person. With sadness, I have been relieved of watch and I have to come ashore.” Spotlight on Mariner Health Identify Cause of Dizziness Editor’s note: The following article was provided by the Seafarers Health and Benefits Plan Medical Department. Dizziness is a term used to describe a range of sensations, such as feeling faint, woozy, weak or unsteady on your feet. It is one of the most common reasons that adults will visit their doctor. Dizziness that makes people feel as though they are spinning or moving when they actually are not is called vertigo. Frequent or constant vertigo will interfere with individuals’ daily routines and should be evaluated by a physician as soon as possible. There are a variety of possible culprits when it comes to the causes of dizziness. Included are: low blood sugar, dehydration, hyperventilating and migraine headaches. Other causes are alcohol consumption, prescription medications, low blood pressure, and/or very high blood pressure that could also cause a stroke. Inner ear infections, Meniere’s disease, or problems with circulation and blood flow (such as anemia) can also cause dizziness and even vertigo. Treatments for dizziness need not be complicated and often involve commonsense measures, including: October 2019 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 7 n Moving slowly – Do not just jump up from a seated position. Instead, move at a normal pace. It’s important to establish a good blood flow from the extremities back up to the heart/lungs and brain. n Exercise daily – Do this to establish a routine for your body. Also remember to drink plenty of fluids. n Take medications as instructed – Do not miss doses or take more than prescribed. n Know your diet – Avoid consuming foods that could possibly cause allergies. n Treat inner ear infections with medications prescribed by your doctor. n Check your blood pressure regularly – Use home blood pressure machines to stay on top of readings. Immediately report any significant changes (too high, or too low) to your doctor. n Use a walking aid – If dizziness persists, use a cane or walker. This will provide needed stability. n Limit the use of caffeine, alcohol and tobacco. Most cases of dizziness will clear up on their own once the underlying cause has been identified. If not, see your doctor for testing. Healthy Recipe Cajun Chicken Servings: 25 Ingredients 10 pounds chicken breast without skin, trimmed of fat Seasoning: ½ cup olive oil 2 tablespoons thyme, dry crushed fine 1 ¼ teaspoons salt 1 ½ tablespoons Spanish paprika 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 ½ tablespoons granulated garlic 2 tablespoons oregano, dry crushed fine 1 teaspoon white pepper, ground 1 teaspoon cumin, ground ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ground Garnish: 2 tablespoons parsley, fresh chopped ¼ cup red bell pepper, roasted and diced Preparation Place the chicken in a large container with plenty of room. Pour the olive oil all over the chicken. Mix all the remaining dry ingredients together. Mix the dry seasoning into the chicken. Marinate over night. Grill the marinated chicken over medium-high heat on a well-oiled grill. Cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side; cook half way through. Place the seared chicken in 2” hotel pans. Bake the chicken in a 350 degree F oven uncovered for about 15-20 minutes until internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Garnish pans with chopped parsley and roasted peppers. Nutrition Information Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 205 calories; 6g fat (28.6% calories from fat); 34g protein; 1g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber; 84mg cholesterol; 202md sodium. Exchanges; 0 grain (starch); 4 ½ lean meat; 0 vegetable; 1 fat. Provided by Chef Robert “RJ” Johnson of the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education’s Lundeberg School of Seamanship. Seafarers LOG 7 9/19/2019 3:03:53 PM �At Sea and Ashore with the SIU GATHERING IN PHILLY – SIU officials in August attended the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement convention in Philadelphia. Pictured from left are SIU VP Atlantic Coast Joseph Soresi, LCLAA National President Yanira Merino, AFLCIO President Richard Trumka and SIU Port Agent Amancio Crespo. SIU HONORED – Philadelphia City Councilman Alan Taubenberger on Aug. 21 presented a proclamation to the union, thanking the SIU for its help and support in the community. Pictured at the hiring hall are (from left) SIU Safety Director Andre MacCray, Taubenberger and SIU Port Agent Joe Baselice. BOATMEN BACK SPAD – Two Seafarers employed by G&H Towing recently signed up for SPAD, the union’s voluntary political action fund. They joined two fellow crew members who already were donating. Pictured from left are Mate Francois Conde-Jahn, Deckhand Mauro Gutierrez, Chief Engineer Christopher Wooten, SIU Port Agent Joe Zavala and Capt. Jean Sean Irish. Conde-Jahn and Gutierrez are the newly signed-up members. B-BOOK IN HOUSTON – QEE Orlin Thomas (left) is sworn in for his B-book at the hiring hall. SIU VP Gulf Coast Dean Corgey is at right. SPREADING THE WORD – Patrolman Ray Henderson sets up at a career fair at Port Richmond High School in Staten Island, New York, in early August. ABOARD USNS PETERSBURG – Pictured from left aboard the TOTE Services vessel in San Francisco are GUDE Julian Lacuesta, Bosun Roberto Flauta, AB Elorde Ramos, AB Leodiane Torrenueva, Chief Steward Jurally Aseberos and QEP Mohamed Sheriff. 8 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers.indd 8 October 2019 9/18/19 12:39 PM �ABOARD AMERICAN SPIRIT – Pictured in the photo directly above are Bosun Jabr Ali, AB/Wheelsman Jamal Sailan and Gateman Ali Yahya. The photo at left includes Chief Cook Mohamed Algalham and ACU Aldrin Saez. The American Steamship Co. vessel was docked in Indiana Harbor, Indiana, in late July when the photos were taken. ABOARD EL COQUI – This steward-department selfie aboard the Crowley vessel features (from left) Recertified Steward Juan Vallejo, SA La’Sonia Randolph and Chief Cook Bryan Alvarez. At Sea and Ashore with the SIU ABOARD GLOBAL SENTINEL – Pictured from left to right aboard the Transoceanic cable ship in Baltimore (above, left) are Chief Steward Brian Bautista, SIU Piney Point Port Agent Victor Nunez, 3rd Cook Albert Hermoso and Chief Cook Casey Pearson. Nunez and AB Antonio Arizala are pictured in the center photo, while AB Alex Reyes, Nunez and Recertified Bosun Sanyboy Whiting are shown in the photo at right. MANY BOOKS IN OAKLAND – Several Seafarers received union books at the August membership meeting. Picking up their respective A-books in photo above were Ali Ghaleb (left) and Jose Balerite (right). They’re pictured with Port Agent Nick Marrone II. The photo at the immediate right shows members who got their B-books (from left): Jose Medina, Abdulrhman Omar and Jerwin Francisco. SEAFARING SELFIE – Chief Cook Anthony Harrell (right) and SIU Port Agent Amancio Crespo are pictured aboard Crowley’s National Glory in Puerto Rico. October 2019 54930_Seafarers.indd 9 WELCOME TO CROWLEY VP – SIU Port Agent Amancio Crespo (right) and Chief Cook Luis Perez (center) recently conferred with Crowley Maritime VP of Labor Relations Ira Douglas (left) at the hiring hall in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Perez most recently sailed on Crowley’s Taino. WELCOME ASHORE – Recertified Steward Randy Stephens (left) picks up his first pension check at the Houston hall. He’s pictured with Patrolman J.B. Niday. PASSING DURING THE DAY – Two SIU-crewed tankers are pictured this summer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That’s the West Virginia at left and the Lone Star State at right. Both ships are operated by Intrepid Personnel and Provisioning. Seafarers LOG 9 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Remembering the SIU-Crewed SS Henry Bacon Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in a booklet titled “The Seafarers in World War II.” Written by the late SIU historian John Bunker, the 44-page digest recapped the often-heroic work of Seafarers during the war. (More than 1,200 SIU members lost their lives during World War II.) The tale of the SS Henry Bacon is the tome’s final entry. It is presented here as both a respectful nod to the union’s history – and a descriptive reminder of why the U.S. Merchant Marine is known as America’s fourth arm of defense. Twenty-seven people, most of them SIU members, perished as the Bacon was attacked and then sank. The vessel was the last Allied ship sunk by German aircraft during the war. No better finale to the story of SIU ships in World War II could be written than the epic account of the SS Henry Bacon, an SIU-manned Liberty operated by the South Atlantic Steamship Company. Cold were the Artic waters and forbidding was the sky when the Henry Bacon added its name to the list of valiant fighting freighters. Besides her crew, the Henry Bacon carried 19 Norwegian refugees as passengers, when she headed back toward Scotland after a voyage to Murmansk, North Russia, in the early winter of 1945. After leaving the White Sea, the Bacon had been in convoy, only to lose contact with it on the 19th of February because of heavy weather. She rejoined it on the 20th, then dropped out again two days later when trouble developed with the steering gear. A heavy gale was blowing, and Captain Alfred Carini radioed his plight to the convoy while the black gang worked on the steering mechanism. Contact Lost With this finally fixed, the Bacon proceeded, meeting up with more moderate seas, but seeing no sign of her companions which, Captain Carini then decided, they must have passed during the night as they hurried to rejoin the fleet. Having lost radio contact, and there being no response to his messages, he decided to turn back over his course for just one hour in the hope of picking up their companion ships. It was while doubling back on her wake that the Henry Bacon was suddenly attacked by a huge flight of 23 torpedo planes that pounced upon the lone Liberty almost as soon as the thundering roar of their engines was heard through the leaden sky, sending the crew running to battle stations. Twenty-three planes against one merchant ship! It was odds enough for a battleship or a cruiser. Many a big aircraft carrier that thought itself hard pressed in the Pacific thundered back at half as much opposition with a hundred times the firepower that this unattended freighter The SIU-crewed SS Henry Bacon could muster for its defense there amid the bleak, rolling waters. There was not another ship around upon which to call for help. The bombers were Junkers 88s, coming in off the starboard bow in an extended, wing-to-wing formation no more than 30 feet above the jumbled wave tops. All Guns Working Every gun on the Bacon went into action as soon as the canvas covers could be pulled off the barrels, and the magazines clamped onto the breech of the 20-millimeters. The sky around the ship was pocked with shell bursts as the fighting merchantmen and the vessel’s armed guard drove off sally after sally by those audacious bombers that attacked simultaneously, one to a side, darting away through a hail of 20-millimeter shells. The gun on the bow boomed out at point blank range, blowing one bomber to pieces as it banked and exposed its belly to the Bacon’s forward gun. Another Nazi nosed into a wall of 20-millimeter fire and dived into the sea in flames. A third wobbled aimlessly over the waves with smoke pouring from his engine. He probably crashed into the steep, green seas soon after, but the crew had no time to worry about verifying their hits. When the Germans swooped down on the unaccompanied Bacon they probably were expecting an easy time of it. Three or four torpedoes and the laboring Liberty would sink beneath the waves, they no doubt thought. If they expected any resistance at all, they were certainly unprepared for the flame and fire of battle with which the men of the Bacon met this overpowering assault. More Ammunition The 20-millimeters stopped firing long enough only to load more ammunition, to change overheated barrels. A bomber which tried to get in at the ship from dead ahead ran into a storm of this small shellfire and disintegrated into a thousand pieces, as tracers found the torpedo slung SIU Scholarship Helped Member’s Son Launch Long, Successful Legal Career Editor’s note: This article was written and submitted by Lynn Thompson, a retired reporter in Seattle. She recently wrote a longer feature about civil rights attorney Lem Howell for the legal community. Seattle attorney Lembhard “Lem” Howell spent a 50-year career cham- 10 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers.indd 10 pioning civil rights. He’s received numerous awards for his legal advocacy, landmark lawsuits to expand employment opportunities for African Americans and for his work to reform the criminal justice system in Washington state. But Howell, now 83, has never forgotten that the Seafarers International beneath the fuselage and blew up plane and occupants in a terrible explosion of steel and flaming debris. Torpedo after torpedo missed the ship when the pilots faltered in their aim in the face of such concentrated fire from this fighting Liberty. For twenty minutes the gunners of the Henry Bacon, standing side by side with the men of the merchant crew, held off this armada of Junkers bombers that had by now become so madly exasperated by the heroic defense of the ship that, once their torpedoes were wasted, they flew at her with machine guns blazing. But such a fleet of planes had only to persist, if nothing else, to be successful against one unescorted ship, and a torpedo finally hit the Henry Bacon on the starboard side in number-three hold, forward. When another tin fish found its mark soon after, Captain Carini ordered the ship to be abandoned. Not All Leave The fateful signal to “leave her”’ was sounded in long, solemn blasts from the whistle while the Junkers – about eight or nine fewer than when they had begun the fight – roared away from the scene toward the coast of Norway 200 miles to the east. The doughty Bacon had kept them in action longer than they wanted. With their gas getting low, they could find no satisfaction in winging around as this “bulldog” settled beneath the waves. The order from the Skipper was “passengers first” and, though two of the lifeboats had been smashed in high seas, the Norwegian refugees – man, women and children – were put safely over the side into the first boat launched, along with some of the merchant crew and Navy gunners. Into the second lifeboat went as many more as could be accommodated. It could not possibly hold them all, but still there was no rush for seats of safety. These SIU crewmen and their Navy comrades waited quietly as Third Mate Joseph Scott counted the regular crew assigned to the boat, and then called to the deck above for half a dozen more to climb down over the scramble nets and take their places between the thwarts. During this time Bosun Holcomb Lemmon was making what the survivors later described as “heroic efforts” to help his shipmates over the side into lifeboats and onto several life rafts which had been launched into the chilling waters. This done, he hurried about the sinking ship gathering boards to lash together as emergency rafts. The Henry Bacon was slowly sinking. Water was pouring into her holds. The black gang had left the engine room and all was deserted down below. Bit by bit the cold water rose higher around her rust-streaked side plates. One of the men assigned to a place in the Third Mate’s boat was Chief Engineer Donald Haviland, who climbed over the side into the bobbing craft only to decline his chance for rescue in favor of a young crewman. The Chief had already taken a seat in the boat when, looking up at the men still left on the Bacon’s deck, he saw among the forlorn group a youthful crewman staring down at those who were about to push away from the settling hulk. Deserting his own place in the boat, Mr. Haviland yelled to the lad to hurry down the net and take his chance for safety. So Long, Brothers “Hey, you,” he called. “You’re a young fellow. It won’t matter so much if I don’t get back.” As the Henry Bacon went down, the survivors in the lifeboats saw Chief Engineer Haviland leaning against the bulwarks with Bosun Holcomb Lemmon, as casually as though the ship was leaving the dock for another routine voyage. Captain Carini waved to them from the bridge and, as he did so, the Henry Bacon slid swiftly and quietly under the sea. A big wave rolled over the spot and soon only some floating boards and crates marked where this gallant fighting freighter of the SIU had written such a glorious chapter into the annals of the American merchant service. Union awarded him a scholarship in 1955 that allowed him to lay the educational foundation for his future success. Howell’s father, Seafarer Cleveland Howell, a Jamaican immigrant and union activist who worked to integrate SIU, encouraged his son’s academic achievement from an early age. Howell recalls his father pointing to his head and saying, “What you have up here, they can’t take away from you.” Howell received a four-year, $6,000 union scholarship – about $57,000 in today’s dollars. Howell Continued on Page 13 Lem Howell October 2019 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Welcome Ashore Each month, the Seafarers LOG pays tribute to the SIU members who have devoted their working lives to sailing aboard U.S.-flag vessels on the deep seas, inland waterways or Great Lakes. Listed below are brief biographical sketches of those members who recently retired from the union. The brothers and sisters of the SIU thank those members for a job well done and wish them happiness and good health in the days ahead. DEEP SEA ANTHONY ADA Brother Anthony Ada, 66, began sailing with the SIU in 2005 when he shipped on the Green Lake. He was a member of the deck department and most recently sailed on the Overseas Key West. Brother Ada makes his home in Hacienda Heights, California. ALFONSO BOMBITA Brother Alfonso Bombita, 69, started sailing with the SIU in 1983, initially shipping aboard the Santa Maria. He sailed in the engine department and upgraded at the Piney Point school on numerous occasions. Brother Bombita last sailed aboard the Gem State. He resides in American Canyon, California. ROBINSON CRUSOE Brother Robinson Crusoe, 60, signed on with the SIU in 1998 when he shipped on the Keystone State. The deck department member’s final vessel was the Green Bay. Brother Crusoe makes his home in New Orleans. WILLIAM DOBBINS Brother William Dobbins, 62, embarked on his career with the union in 1978, first shipping aboard the J.A. Kling. A deck department member, he upgraded on multiple occasions at the Paul Hall Center. Brother Dobbins concluded his career on the Olive L. Moore. He calls Willoughby, Ohio, home. STEVEN DUDLEY Brother Steven Dudley, 71, started his career with the SIU in 2001 when he sailed on the John Paul Bobo. Sailing in the deck department, Brother Dudley concluded his career on the North Star. He resides in Gig Harbor, Washington. SHAWN FUJIWARA Brother Shawn Fujiwara, 55, began his career with the SIU in 1989 when he sailed on the Independence. A steward department member, he upgraded his skills at the union-affiliated Paul Hall Center on numerous occasions. Brother Fujiwara most recently sailed on the California and settled in Tacoma, Washington. EDDIE HALL Brother Eddie Hall, 63, joined the SIU in 1979, initially sailing on the Jefferson Davis. He primarily October 2019 54930_Seafarers.indd 11 sailed in the deck department and upgraded often at the Piney Point school. Brother Hall last sailed on the Ocean Jazz and makes his home in Houston. HERBERT HYDE Brother Herbert Hyde, 71, signed on with the SIU in 2003 when he sailed on the Delaware Bay. An engine department member, he upgraded on several occasions at the Paul Hall Center. Brother Hyde last sailed on the Alliance St Louis. He lives in Tampa, Florida. ROBERT LANGDON Brother Robert Langdon, 65, joined the Seafarers in 1998, initially sailing aboard the USNS Stalwart. A member of the steward department, he upgraded at the Piney Point school in 2001. Brother Langdon last sailed on the Green Point. He calls Pembine, Wisconsin, home. LIONEL LEE Brother Lionel Lee, 72, started sailing with the SIU in 1987 when he shipped out aboard the USNS Harkness. He sailed in all three departments and upgraded often at the Paul Hall Center. Brother Lee’s last vessel was the Liberty. He resides in Oakland, California. ALI MUTHER Brother Ali Muther, 46, joined the SIU in 1993, initially sailing on the Independence. He upgraded at the union-affiliated Piney Point school in 2009 and shipped in the steward department. Brother Muther last sailed on the Horizon Anchorage and resides in Tacoma, Washington. EDWIN ORTEGA Brother Edwin Ortega, 59, signed on with the SIU in 1979, first sailing on the Pisces. He sailed in the deck department and upgraded often at the maritime training center located in Piney Point, Maryland. Brother Ortega most recently shipped on the Maersk Seletar. He lives in Rockaway Beach, New York. KENNETH POWELL Brother Kenneth Powell, 66, began sailing with the union in 2003, initially shipping aboard the Lykes Explorer. An engine department member, he upgraded on multiple occasions at the Paul Hall Center. Brother Powell last worked on the Golden State before settling in Warsaw, Missouri. Gladstone, Michigan, home. WILLIAM MULCAHY Brother William Mulcahy, 59, began sailing with the SIU in 1977, first shipping out aboard the Adam E. Cornelius. A deck department member, he upgraded often at the union-affiliated Piney Point school. Brother Mulcahy most recently shipped on the Walter J. McCarthy. He lives in Orange Park, Florida. LOUIS ULESKI JAMES RUSH Brother James Rush, 64, joined the SIU in 1980. The deck department member’s first vessel was the Santa Mariana. Brother Rush upgraded at the Piney Point school on numerous occasions. He most recently shipped on the Alliance St. Louis and calls Jacksonville, Florida, home. IRINA SHUBOV Sister Irina Shubov, 73, embarked on her career with the SIU in 2005 when she sailed on the Liberty. She was a steward department member and upgraded at the Paul Hall Center on multiple occasions. Sister Shubov last shipped on the Courage in 2013. She makes her home in Brockton, Massachusetts. Brother Louis Uleski, 65, donned the SIU colors in 1978, initially sailing on the Aries. Sailing in the deck department, he upgraded on multiple occasions at the Piney Point school. Brother Uleski concluded his career on the Detroit Princess. He makes his home in Chesterfield, Michigan. INLAND RAY BROWN Brother Ray Brown, 71, began his career with the SIU in 2005 when he worked for G&H Towing. A deck department member, he remained with the same company for the duration of his career. Brother Brown resides in Rockport, Texas. EDWARD SOSA CRISPIN CARINO Brother Edward Sosa, 71, signed on with the Seafarers in 1999, initially shipping on the Express. He was a deck department member and upgraded on multiple occasions at the Piney Point school. Brother Sosa concluded his career on the Green Cove. He lives in Sunrise, Florida. Brother Crispin Carino, 62, joined the union in 2002, first shipping on the R.J. Pfeiffer. He upgraded on numerous occasions at the Paul Hall Center and sailed in both the steward and deck departments. After spending most of his career in the inland division, Brother Carino last sailed on the USNS Loyal. He resides in the Philippines. RANDY STEPHENS Brother Randy Stephens, 64, joined the union in 1987 when he sailed on the USNS Bartlett. He sailed in the steward department and in 2000 upgraded at the Paul Hall Center. Brother Stephens most recently shipped aboard the Palmetto State. He resides in Houston. GREAT LAKES DAVID DEMENTER Brother David Dementer, 62, became an SIU member in 1977 when he worked for Quality Quarries. He upgraded at the Paul Hall Center in 1995 and worked in both the deck and steward departments. Brother Dementer’s final vessel was the Joyce L. VanEnkevort. He calls JAMES CRISHER Brother James Crisher, 65, embarked on his career with the Seafarers in 2005 when he shipped with the Association of Maryland Pilots. He continued to work for the same company for the remainder of his career. Brother Crisher calls Virginia Beach, Virginia, home. ROBERTO DIAZ CANDELARIO Brother Roberto Diaz Candelario, 66, joined the SIU in 1976 when he worked for Crowley Puerto Rico Services. He sailed in the deck department and upgraded on multiple occasions at the Piney Point school. Brother Diaz Candelario last sailed on the Producer. He resides in Orlando, Florida. GARY GILLISPIE Brother Gary Gillispie, 62, started sailing with the SIU in 1988. A deck department member, he worked for Orgulf Transport for the duration of his career. Brother Gillispie makes his home in Columbia, Kentucky. GLENN HUGHES Brother Glenn Hughes, 63, signed on with the union in 1974. A deck department member, he worked for Crescent Towing and Salvage for his entire career. Brother Hughes calls Gretna, Louisiana, home. ROBERT MULHOLLAND Brother Robert Mulholland, 55, embarked on his career with the SIU in 1996 when he worked for Crowley. He was employed by the same company for the duration of his career. Brother Mulholland calls Sewell, New Jersey, home. RAYMOND SAMARIA Brother Raymond Samaria, 60, joined the SIU in 2001. A deck department member, his first vessel was the Columbia Bay. Brother Samaria trained at the SIUaffiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education around the same time he signed on with the Seafarers. He was last employed with OSG Ship Management and makes his home in Miami. WILLIAM SMITH Brother William Smith, 66, embarked on his career with the Seafarers in 1988, initially sailing with Steuart Transportation. He upgraded on several occasions at the Piney Point school and was a member of the deck department. Brother Smith most recently worked for Penn Maritime and is a resident of Middleburg, Florida. HEWSON WILLIAMS Brother Hewson Williams, 69, signed on with the SIU in 1992 when he worked for Higman Barge Lines. Sailing in the deck department, he remained with same company for his entire career. Brother Williams resides in Groves, Texas. MARK WILLIAMSON Brother Mark Williamson, 62, donned the SIU colors in 1978. He sailed in both the deck and engine departments and was employed by Hvide Marine. Brother Williamson upgraded at the Paul Hall Center in 1985 and continued sailing with the same company for the duration of his career. He lives in Livingston, Texas. Seafarers LOG 11 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Renovations take place (photo at right) on the building in 1953. The updated facility is pictured in photo at left. Farewell to a Waystation Editor’s note: This article was written by Rafael Alvarez, who spent 20 years as a city desk reporter for the Baltimore Sun. The son of a longtime member of the SIU’s inland division (pensioner Manuel Alvarez, 85), he has published numerous books in addition to briefly sailing with the union. This piece first appeared in Chesapeake Bay Magazine, in late June; it is reprinted with the author’s permission, under its original headline. The subject is one of the SIU’s old hiring halls in Baltimore. for having been taken by the Khmer Rouge the year before in the last official battle of the Vietnam War. I sailed on the Mayaguez for two consecutive summers; first in the deck department and in ’77, as a wiper down below. Soon after getting my discharge papers that second As the Tall Ships sailed into the Port of Baltimore over year, I landed a job dispatchthe Bicentennial Summer of 1976, I waited to ship out of ing trucks in the circulation Crabtown at the Seafarers International Union hall just east of department of the Baltimore downtown. Sun. I had graduated high school just a few weeks before; 18, In June of 1978, the Seaeager to take a bite out of the world and completely unprefarers made the hall available pared for the work soon be expected of me in the deck deto their union brethren in partment. The only knot I’d mastered was the one I used to tie the Baltimore-Washington my shoes. Newspaper Guild. There, in But however ignorant of actual seafaring, I was long fathe same room where the port miliar with the large building where I waited for a job on a agent had called my name for Members and officials meet in the hall in early 1955. ship – 1216 East Baltimore Street, just off the corner of Central work just a year before – I Avenue and a block away from the Lloyd Street synagogue and and my fellow newspaper to the Jewish Education Alliance and demolished to make way Attman’s Delicatessen in Baltimore’s original Jewish neighcolleagues voted to strike the for the Michael S. Levy Memorial building, a wonder of recborhood. Sunpapers, a disruption that lasted three days. reation and edification with a rooftop playground, not unlike My father, a retired chief engineer now receiving a generThat was more than 40 years ago. Until the other day, I had the one that once graced the roof of the City Recreation Pier on ous and well-earned pension, is a lifetime member of the SIU. not been back inside. The only thing recognizable to me from Thames Street. As a boy in 1966, my family attended a large Christmas party the past were brushed aluminum handrails and what was left Local architect Joseph Evans Sperry, perhaps best known at the hall during a protracted tugboat strike against the Bakerof the star-and-diamond shaped terrazzo tiles. There were discs for the Bromo Seltzer tower downtown – inspired in part by Whiteley and Curtis Bay towing companies. My brother and cut out of wooden passageway doors, but the portholes which the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence – was commissioned by the I were given G.I. Joes. In grade school, I was treated there by once filled them had been yanked out, most likely in some laJEA to design the Levy building, which was dedicated in 1913. union physicians, one of whom diagnosed me with allergies. It borer’s basement or garage. Had the building remained as Sperry envisioned it – brick was as close to a functioning American socialism as ever exThe first building developed on the footprint known as with arched windows in an overall “Colonial Revival” spirit isted and the men were proud of it. 1216 East Baltimore Street – now part of the Jonestown – it likely would have been protected by historic status and Later, on the notion that to be a writer you needed advenHistoric District, the earliest settlement of note in colonial spared the wrecking ball that awaits it. ture, I sat in the large open hall reading Tolstoy (which I didn’t Baltimore along with Fells Point – was the Second Unitarian But after the Jewish community sold the building to the understand any more than I knew what it meant to “go aloft”) Church, cornerstone 1860. SIU in 1952, Sperry’s conception was radically altered by a while waiting for an entry-level job to be posted on a large A quarter-century later, the Redemptorists religious order massive – and much celebrated – makeover, according to a board that resembled a movie marquee. My chances were best acquired the property for the city’s first incarnation of St. report by Baltimore City’s Commission for Historical and Aron a vessel that more senior men – meaning everybody else – Wenceslaus Bohemian Catholic Church, which opened in chitectural Preservation. had no interest in. 1886. The Seafarers opened the hall to its members on NovemThe ship was the S.S. Mayaguez, built in Wilmington, Next to occupy the building were two theater operators ber 10, 1954, a much-ballyhooed event that garnered TV North Carolina, for the federal maritime commission and offering live entertainment – including Yiddish drama, vaudecoverage. launched as the S.S. White Falcon in 1944 less than two weeks ville and boxing matches – for a predominantly Jewish audiIn addition to squaring off the arched windows with stainbefore D-Day. By the time I trudged up the gangway (a satchel ence, first known as Baltimore Theater and better known as the less steel, the building’s brick skin was covered by white of notebooks and pencils and cassette tapes in my seabag), the Princess Theater. stucco to mimic the SIU hall in New York; a “bump-back” freighter had been converted into a container ship, infamous The big change came in 1912 when the building was sold addition was added on the east side, and, overall, said Walter W. Gallas, a city preservation planner, the post-war seafaring “showplace” fell victim to “an unsuccessful effort at modernist design.” Oh, but what a prosperous, Eisenhower-era palace it was to sailors shipping out of the Chesapeake Bay compared to the small union hall it replaced on above the Lorraine Tavern on Gay Street. In 2000, claiming that the area had become too rough even for salty dogs, the SIU sold the building to the mdlogix healthcare and information technology firm. A number of tenants followed – including a Christian school, which left a New Testament passage from Hebrews in red paint on a wall. In 2016 the building was bought by the non-profit Helping Up Mission, which is headquartered across the street. “We’re putting up a 150,000 square feet building to house 210 adult women and their children,” said Robert K. Gehman, chief executive officer of the Mission. “We weren’t buying the building; we were buying the future.” The future is set to open in September of 2021. And by the time you read this, the past will be dust. These undated file photos from the Baltimore hall are believed to be from the mid to late 1950s. 12 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers.indd 12 October 2019 9/18/19 12:39 PM �SIU Issues Notice About Text Message Alerts The union occasionally sends text messages to Seafarers (and others) who have signed up for such alerts. Those texts contain information relevant to members’ careers, including important news about the SIU, its contracted companies and the industry as a whole. The messages may include alerts about open jobs, information about grassroots campaigns, and other time-sensitive bulletins. The SIU does not charge for this service, but there may be costs associated with receiving messages, depending on an individual’s phoneservice plan that they have with their provider. People can unsubscribe from SIU text alerts at any time, simply by texting the word STOP to 97779. To sign up for the alerts, text the word JOIN to 97779. Terms and Conditions By signing up for this service, you acknowledge that you understand there may be costs associated with the receipt by you of such text messages depending on the cell phone service plan that you have with your provider. You are providing your cell phone number and your consent to use it for these purposes with the understanding that Continued from Page 10 your cell phone number will not be distributed to anyone else without your express consent and that this service will not at any time be used for the purpose of distributing campaign materials for official elections for union office. Scholarship The Union Plus Scholarship Program has awarded more WIRELESS DISCOUNTS CREDIT CARDS than $4.5 million to students from working families who want to begin or continue their post-secondary education. Find out more about this and other great Union Plus FREE COLLEGE programs by visiting unionplus.org. CAR RENTALS 10/19 For more information: unionplus.org/scholarship October 2019 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 13 Union Grant Paves Highway To Greatness said the generous award allowed him to attend the private Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, where Howell graduated in 1958 with honors in history. “Daddy was so proud,” Howell recalls. So was the union. The Seafarers LOG wrote an article about him when he received the scholarship and again when he was the first in his family to graduate from college. The newspaper even sent a photographer to Easton to document the event. Howell served four years in the Navy, but his father was impatient. He wanted his son to go to law school. Howell graduated from New York University Law School in 1964 and headed west on a Ford Foundation Fellowship. He interned in the Washington governor’s office, clerked for the state supreme court and served as an assistant attorney general before moving to Seattle to start a private law practice. As a young Seattle attorney, Howell quickly established a reputation as an advocate for equal opportunity in employment. His lawsuits on behalf of black construction workers opened the state’s trade unions to minority applicants. He also defended the city’s affirmative action program which ensured the promotion of qualified black union firefighters. Howell’s advocacy on behalf of African American construction workers led to a successful career as a personal injury attorney representing workers killed or injured on the job. But it was his work challenging police killings of African American men, beginning in 1971 and continuing over the next several decades, often without pay, that made Howell a hero among community members and within the legal field. In an era before cell phone videos and police dash cams, Howell repeatedly challenged the official police versions of fatal shootings and questioned whether the use of force was justified. He advocated for more police accountability and for a greater emphasis on de-escalation techniques rather than the immediate use of deadly force when apprehending criminal suspects. In 2016, at age 80, Howell received the Outstanding Attorney Award from the King County Bar Association, which cited his “courage and relentless pursuit of justice on behalf of the marginalized and underrepresented.” Ron Ward, former Washington State Bar president, said Howell’s work led to significant changes to police policies and practices that in turn “improved basic civil rights protections for Washington citizens.” Cleveland Howell died in 1974, long enough to share in some of his son’s early successes and to have his faith in his potential confirmed. After his death, Howell found in his father’s wallet two folded copies of the article from the Seafarers LOG. Seafarers LOG 13 9/19/2019 3:03:55 PM �Seafarers International Union Directory Michael Sacco, President Augustin Tellez, Executive Vice President David Heindel, Secretary-Treasurer George Tricker, Vice President Contracts Tom Orzechowski, Vice President Lakes and Inland Waters Dean Corgey, Vice President Gulf Coast Nicholas J. Marrone, Vice President West Coast Joseph T. Soresi, Vice President Atlantic Coast Kate Hunt, Vice President Government Services HEADQUARTERS 5201 Auth Way, Camp Springs, MD 20746 (301) 899-0675 Inquiring Seafarer This month’s question was answered by members of the most recent bosun recertification class at the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education. Question: Why did you join the SIU and why have you remained with the union? Raymond Johnson Recertified Bosun I joined to see the world and because of the excellent wages and excellent benefits. I have stayed because it’s now in my blood. Shawn Strand Recertified Bosun I joined because I wanted to travel, see the world and make money. I remain with the union because the SIU gave me the opportunity to have a career, grow, and support my family.. Ronald Webb Recertified Bosun I joined the SIU because I always had daydreamed about traveling the world. The chance came and I jumped on it. What keeps me going is the travelling, seeing different places. Christopher Rosado Recertified Bosun Because of the opportunities for career advancement. You can go as high up as you want in this career, and the SIU gives you the tools to do it. I’ve remained because with the SIU, I have job security and I belong to something big. The opportunity to get a job at any of our 20 halls is amazing. ALGONAC 520 St. Clair River Dr., Algonac, MI 48001 (810) 794-4988 ANCHORAGE 721 Sesame St., #1C, Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 561-4988 BALTIMORE 2315 Essex St., Baltimore, MD 21224 (410) 327-4900 GUAM P.O. Box 3328, Hagatna, Guam 96932 Cliffline Office Ctr. Bldg., Suite 103B 422 West O’Brien Dr., Hagatna, Guam 96910 (671) 477-1350 HONOLULU 606 Kalihi St., Honolulu, HI 96819 (808) 845-5222 HOUSTON 625 N. York St., Houston, TX 77003 (713) 659-5152 JACKSONVILLE 5100 Belfort Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32256 (904) 281-2622 JERSEY CITY 104 Broadway, Jersey City, NJ 07306 (201) 434-6000 JOLIET 10 East Clinton St., Joliet, IL 60432 (815) 723-8002 MOBILE 1640 Dauphin Island Pkwy, Mobile, AL 36605 (251) 478-0916 NEW ORLEANS 3911 Lapalco Blvd., Harvey, LA 70058 (504) 328-7545 NORFOLK 115 Third St., Norfolk, VA 23510 (757) 622-1892 John O’Shaughnessy Recertified Bosun I was offered the chance to join when my life was in a period of uncertainty. A chance to see the world and get paid sounded good. I stayed because of the money, of course, but also the time off and adventure. Donley Johnson Recertified Bosun I joined the SIU to travel and see the world. I have remained in the union because it’s a good career. I am able to support my family and live a very comfortable lifestyle. William Lima Recertified Bosun My dad and uncle were merchant seamen. I started off in the NMU. In 1987, I was on board the USNS Neosho, where I met (current SIU VP) Kate Hunt. I listened to her remarks about the union and that’s when I joined. Now, we became the SIU and it has been great. (The unions merged in 2001.) OAKLAND 1121 7th St., Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 444-2360 PHILADELPHIA 2604 S. 4 St., Philadelphia, PA 19148 (215) 336-3818 PINEY POINT P.O. Box 75, Piney Point, MD 20674 (301) 994-0010 PORT EVERGLADES 1221 S. Andrews Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 522-7984 SAN JUAN 659 Hill Side St., Summit Hills San Juan, PR 00920 (787) 721-4033 ST. LOUIS/ALTON 4581 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, MO 63116 (314) 752-6500 TACOMA 3411 South Union Ave., Tacoma, WA 98409 (253) 272-7774 WILMINGTON 510 N. Broad Ave., Wilmington, CA 90744 (310) 549-400 Foaad Saleh Recertified Bosun I joined because my father was a sailor and he got me into it. I remained because the SIU changed my life. I get time off for vacation. I have better and more benefits than I had before. This was my dream and it became true. When I was younger, I worked in many industries, but I’ve never found one better than this career. Lovell Smith Recertified Bosun A friend of my father came home from work with an application (for the trainee program) and told me to make a copy so I can get my life together. This was back in 1990. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but from the moment I walked into the school, I knew that I wanted to be part of the SIU. The SIU saved my life in all areas. Antjuan Webb Recertified Bosun I became a merchant seaman because my uncle David Dove went through the program and my mother saw a great opportunity for me to travel around the world and be financially stable. I’ve been sailing 30 years. I encourage my fellow seamen to take advantage of the opportunities available for upgrading. This field allows us to have a very comfortable lifestyle. Pic From The Past After the Bloomfield Steamship vessel Anne Butler ran aground in 1953 and ended up drydocked in a Japanese shipyard, crew members passed some time on the softball field. The U.S. squad won two of three games against a team of shipyard workers. They opened with a 16-7 victory, dropped the second game by a score of 18-10, and then “came through in the rubber in good old SIU style, 19-9,” according to information submitted with this photo. The original image is noteworthy for a few reasons. The footwear on the mariners in front appears to have been drawn, and the 1953 version of white-out was added in the lower part of the frame before publication. Also, the original submission included nicknames (“Tiny” and “Big Nose”) that didn’t make it to print. If anyone has a vintage union-related photograph he or she would like to share with other Seafarers LOG readers, please send it to the Seafarers LOG, 5201 Auth Way, Camp Springs, MD 20746. Photographs will be returned, if so requested. High-resolution digital images may be sent to webmaster@seafarers.org 14 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers.indd 14 October 2019 9/18/19 12:39 PM �PHC Offers Culinary 2.0 As previously reported, the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education continues to offer Culinary 2.0 classes designed to help students boost their skills while complying with a new rule that takes effect next year. Completing the coursework also is intended to aid individual shipping opportunities. Shipping Rule 5.A.(6), which will go into effect January 1, 2020, states, “Within each class of seniority in the Steward Department, priority shall be given to those seamen who possess an advanced Culinary 2.0 certificate from the Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship, in the event such program is being offered and that the seaman is registered in Group I, Steward Department.” While every new member of the steward department who completes their apprenticeship at the Paul Hall Center’s Lundeberg School of Seamanship will have successfully passed Culinary 2.0, it’s important to remem- ber that those already sailing as chief cooks and chief stewards must also take the coursework in order to exercise preference and priority beginning next year (unless they have received training after January 1, 2017 at the Piney Point, Maryland-based campus). For those seamen currently employed as permanent stewards aboard commercial vessels, they must attend Culinary 2.0 in order to maintain their current employment status. For those already sailing as chief cooks and chief stewards, there are two new revalidation courses that have been designed to ensure a consistent level of culinary training and efficiency: Orientation/Assessment Chief Steward 2.0 and Orientation/Assessment Chief Cook 2.0. The courses are being offered regularly, but spaces are limited, so members are encouraged to plan ahead and enroll as soon as possible. For more information, contact your port agent and/or the school’s admissions office. NMC Issues Final Update On FY2019 Shutdown The U.S. Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center (NMC) on Aug. 26 issued the following notice, which is available both on the SIU website (in the News section) and on the agency’s site. Merchant mariner credentials (MMC) and medical certificates (national endorsements only) that expired in December 2018, January 2019, February 2019, March 2019, April 2019, May 2019, June 2019, or July 2019 will remain valid only until August 31, 2019. No further credential extensions are authorized. The backlog of credential applications and increased net processing time caused by the lapse in appropriations and partial government shutdown has improved. Within the next 2 weeks, the National Maritime Center (NMC) will resume processing all MMC applications within the stated goal of 30 net days. Applications for medical certificates are currently processed well under the stated goal of 20 net days. The NMC recommends mariners submit their application packages at least 2 months prior to the expiration date of their current credentials. If you need immediate assistance or require expedited processing, contact our Customer Service Center via the NMC online chat system, by e-mailing IASKNMC@uscg.mil, or by calling 1-888-IASKNMC (4275662). For general information, visit the NMC website at http://www. uscg.mil/nmc. October & November 2019 Membership Meetings Piney Point................................ Monday: October 7, November 4 Algonac.......................................Friday: October 11, November 8 Baltimore................................Thursday: October 10, November 7 Guam...................................Thursday: October 24, November 21 Honolulu..................................Friday: October 18, November 21 Houston...............*Tuesday: October 15, **Tuesday:November 12 Jacksonville..........................Thursday: October 10, November 7 Joliet.................................Thursday: October 17, November 14 Mobile.........................Wednesday: October 16, November 13 New Orleans........................Tuesday: October 15, November 12 Jersey City..........................Tuesday: October 8 , November 5 Norfolk................................Thursday: October 10, November 7 Oakland...........................Thursday: October 17, November 14 Philadelphia........................Wednesday: October 9 , November 6 Port Everglades......................Thursday: October 17, November 14 San Juan................................Thursday: October 10, November 7 St. Louis..................................Friday: October 18, November 15 Tacoma..................................Friday: October 25, November 22 Wilmington..............................Monday: October 21, November 18 *Houston change due to Columbus Day Holiday **Houston change due to Veterans Day Holiday Each port’s meeting starts at 10:30 a.m October 2019 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 15 Dispatchers’ Report for Deep Sea “Total Registered” and “Total Shipped” Data is cumulative from Aug. 16-Sept.15. “Registered on the Beach” Data is as of Sept. 16. Total Registered All Groups B Total Shipped C A All Groups B Port A Algonac Anchorage Baltimore Fort Lauderdale Guam Harvey Honolulu Houston Jacksonville Jersey City Joliet Mobile Norfolk Oakland Philadelphia Piney Point Puerto Rico Tacoma St. Louis Wilmington TOTALS 20 3 7 20 1 4 7 27 25 27 2 7 23 13 5 1 4 39 2 29 266 7 3 4 9 1 4 3 21 16 9 2 3 15 7 0 1 3 6 0 11 125 4 3 1 5 0 3 0 9 6 4 1 2 8 1 0 5 0 6 0 5 63 Algonac Anchorage Baltimore Fort Lauderdale Guam Harvey Honolulu Houston Jacksonville Jersey City Joliet Mobile Norfolk Oakland Philadelphia Piney Point Puerto Rico Tacoma St. Louis Wilmington TOTALS 3 1 1 11 0 1 9 6 20 15 0 2 16 8 1 1 7 10 1 12 125 1 0 3 4 0 2 5 11 11 16 1 2 10 5 0 3 1 7 3 15 100 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 6 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 22 Algonac Anchorage Baltimore Fort Lauderdale Guam Harvey Honolulu Houston Jacksonville Jersey City Joliet Mobile Norfolk Oakland Philadelphia Piney Point Puerto Rico Tacoma St. Louis Wilmington TOTALS 3 0 0 8 0 5 7 19 24 9 0 3 10 14 3 4 3 16 2 14 144 3 0 4 5 0 1 3 7 6 0 0 1 5 4 0 4 6 1 0 8 58 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Steward Department 4 2 0 0 1 3 10 2 0 1 0 0 8 2 17 1 15 3 4 3 0 1 2 0 10 4 12 2 3 0 2 2 5 1 8 0 1 0 8 8 110 35 Algonac Anchorage Baltimore Fort Lauderdale Guam Harvey Honolulu Houston Jacksonville Jersey City Joliet Mobile Norfolk Oakland Philadelphia Piney Point Puerto Rico Tacoma St. Louis Wilmington TOTALS 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 0 5 1 1 22 4 1 0 1 0 2 2 11 16 15 1 0 7 13 1 1 0 9 1 18 103 7 1 2 5 0 3 2 9 15 4 2 0 28 4 0 7 0 8 0 8 105 Entry Department 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 1 1 2 1 0 3 11 1 19 0 4 0 0 0 1 1 13 1 9 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 11 11 83 GRAND TOTAL: 557 386 203 Deck Department 20 6 2 0 4 1 14 12 1 0 6 1 7 3 38 14 11 14 29 5 1 2 4 5 22 12 6 3 3 0 4 2 5 3 23 6 3 0 17 5 220 94 Registered on Beach C Trip Reliefs A All Groups B C 3 0 1 3 0 0 0 7 3 1 0 3 2 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 30 7 0 2 9 0 1 0 17 12 11 0 4 12 2 2 0 4 6 1 12 102 27 4 6 28 3 11 17 71 68 63 4 15 39 29 4 0 7 63 6 57 522 16 6 4 9 1 7 4 32 39 22 5 6 22 10 0 3 9 13 0 26 234 3 3 0 8 0 6 0 5 11 6 2 4 10 2 0 4 1 11 2 10 88 1 0 0 4 1 1 0 11 8 5 0 0 8 0 0 0 3 6 0 7 55 6 2 3 17 1 5 12 23 33 21 1 4 25 14 2 1 6 22 3 25 226 2 0 3 11 0 3 4 21 30 19 2 5 17 6 0 7 5 11 2 22 170 2 1 0 1 0 2 1 6 3 3 3 1 12 2 0 0 1 4 2 9 53 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 10 0 0 2 4 0 0 1 9 5 4 0 0 6 4 0 1 2 3 0 8 49 4 0 1 16 1 10 17 29 34 18 0 5 22 27 3 5 1 24 2 29 248 3 1 3 8 2 2 5 8 17 4 0 4 13 10 0 3 11 5 1 13 113 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 4 1 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 16 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 10 2 0 0 14 5 0 8 1 3 0 2 52 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 4 4 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 10 0 4 44 16 2 1 7 0 1 9 18 31 27 3 0 22 23 3 1 1 21 1 36 223 17 1 3 5 0 3 6 13 68 9 4 0 44 11 1 1 0 14 1 25 226 102 221 1,040 740 383 Engine Department 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 5 2 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 6 2 0 11 13 0 11 3 0 10 6 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 16 13 1 5 4 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 7 5 0 13 2 1 1 1 0 7 10 3 105 70 10 446 282 Seafarers LOG 15 9/19/2019 3:03:55 PM �Final Departures DEEP SEA LUCIANO ALFEO Pensioner Luciano Alfeo, 90, has passed away. He joined the SIU in 1970, sailing first on the Manhattan. An engine department member, Brother Alfeo last sailed aboard the Falcon Champion. He retired in 1993 and lived in Yonkers, New York. FIDEL BROAS Pensioner Fidel Broas, 82, died July 20. He signed on with the Seafarers in 1979 when he sailed on the Del Sol. Brother Broas sailed in all three departments and concluded his career on the Liberator in 2001. He went on pension the following year and made his home in the Philippines. CARLOS CACHO Brother Carlos Cacho, 49, passed away July 17. Born in Honduras, he became an SIU member in 1994 when he sailed on the Independence. Brother Cacho primarily sailed in the deck department. He was most recently employed by American Service Technology, working on shore gangs. Brother Cacho resided in Houston. JOHN CARMELLO Pensioner John Carmello, 89, died August 24. He joined the union in 1966 and first sailed on the Beaugard. Brother Carmello shipped in the engine department and also worked on shore gangs. He became a pensioner in 1994 and was a resident of Venice, Florida. RODNEY CLARK Pensioner Rodney Clark, 66, passed away July 27. He embarked on his SIU career in 1975, initially sailing on the Sea-Land Market. Brother Clark sailed in the deck department, most recently aboard the Horizon Spirit. He became a pensioner in 2014 and settled in Surprise, Arizona. 2006. Brother Erdt resided in Kenmore, New York. ERNEST GIBSON Pensioner Ernest Gibson, 78, died August 25. He began his career with the SIU in 1964 when he sailed on the Trans Orleans. An engine department member, Brother Gibson last shipped on the Pride. He went on pension in 2008 and lived in Moscow, Texas. HERBERT HOLLINGS Pensioner Herbert Hollings, 85, passed away September 2. He embarked on his SIU career in 1951, first working with Waterman Steamship Corporation. Brother Hollings sailed in the steward department, most recently aboard the William R. Button. He became a pensioner in 1999 and made his home in Mobile, Alabama. Pensioner Gregory Johnson, 61, died August 14. He joined the union in 1980, initially sailing aboard the Point Susan. Brother Johnson worked in the steward department and concluded his career on the Benavidez. He retired in 2016 and settled in Jacksonville, Florida. PHILLIP NILES Pensioner Phillip Niles, 74, passed away August 19. He signed on with the SIU in 2001 during the NMU/ SIU merger. An engine department member, he first shipped on the Lykes Explorer. Brother Niles’ final vessel was the Philadelphia Express. He went on pension in 2016 and made his home in Houston. JOHN RYAN Pensioner Alvin Dyer, 92, died September 8. He became a member of the SIU in 1945 and sailed in the deck department. Brother Dyer’s first vessel was the Del Comp; his last, the Long Island. He retired in 1992 and lived in Gouldsboro, Maine. EDMUND ERDT EDWARD SINGLETON Pensioner Edmund Erdt, 81, passed away July 19. He signed on with the Seafarers during the 2001 NMU/SIU Merger. Brother Erdt was an engine department member whose first SIU vessel was the Seabulk Trader. He last sailed on the Seabulk Mariner before becoming a pensioner in 16 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers.indd 16 NORMAN TAYLOR Pensioner Norman Taylor, 64, died July 31. He embarked on his career with the SIU in 1981 and first sailed on the USNS Contender. Brother Taylor was a member of the deck department and most recently shipped on the Maersk Utah. He went on pension in 2017 and made his home in Iron Mountain, Michigan. GREAT LAKES JAMES KUCHNICKI Pensioner James Kuchnicki, 82, passed away August 3. He became a member of the SIU in 1987 when he shipped on the Steel T. Crapo. A deck department member, Brother Kuchnicki concluded his career on the Paul H. Townsend. He became a pensioner in 2002 and resided in Alpena, Michigan. GREGORY JOHNSON Pensioner John Ryan, 77, died September 7. He donned the SIU colors in 1967, initially shipping on the Seatrain New York. Brother Ryan worked in the engine department. He last sailed on the San Juan, and became a pensioner in 2007. Brother Ryan was a resident of Toms River, New Jersey. ALVIN DYER sailed in the steward department and last shipped on the Gulf Merchant. He retired in 1991 and settled in Mobile, Alabama. Pensioner Edward Singleton, 90, passed away August 1. He joined the union in 1951, and his first vessel was the Lafayette. Brother Singleton INLAND COLIN CHALMERS Pensioner Colin Chalmers, 83, died August 29. He signed on with the Seafarers in 1980, initially working for Dixie Carriers. Brother Chalmers sailed in the steward department and was last employed with OSG Ship Management. He retired in 2003 and lived in Plant City, Florida. OMAR COLLINS Pensioner Omar Collins, 90, passed away August 26. He became a member of the SIU in 1957, first working for Taylor Marine Towing. A deck department member, Brother Collins concluded his career sailing with the same company and retired in 1987. He was a Philadelphia resident. was a deck department member and continued to ship with the same company for his entire career. He began collecting his pension in 1996 and called Alliance, North Carolina, home. BILLY PADGETT Pensioner Billy Padgett, 88, died August 10. He signed on with the Seafarers in 1980, initially sailing on the Manhattan Island. A deck department member, Brother Padgett last worked on the Dodge Island. He became a pensioner in 1996 and resided in Lake Park, Georgia. ROGER RAINEY Brother Roger Rainey, 64, passed away August 22. He joined the SIU in 2000 and first worked for Allied Transportation. The engine department member’s final vessel was the Legacy. He called Gulf Breeze, Florida, home. GEORGE STEWART Pensioner George Stewart, 82, died September 5. He donned the SIU colors in 1981 when he shipped on the Manhattan Island. Brother Stewart was a member of the engine department. He last sailed on the Dodge Island and went on pension in 2000. Brother Stewart lived in Seffner, Florida. NMU JULIAN GARCIA away August 7. He was an NMU member before the 2001 SIU/NMU merger. Brother Garcia began collecting his pension in 1974 and was a Miami resident. BERNARDO MARIANI Pensioner Bernardo Mariani, 106, died August 6. He sailed with the NMU prior to the 2001 merger with Seafarers International Union. Brother Mariani retired in 1980 and lived in Puerto Rico, his birthplace. THOMAS O’DONNELL Pensioner Thomas O’Donnell, 79, passed away April 23. Born in Portland, Maine, he was a member of the NMU before the 2001 SIU/NMU merger. Brother O’Donnell became a pensioner in 2010 and continued to live in his hometown. ALBERT RHEINER Pensioner Albert Rheiner, 93, died August 18. Brother Rheiner went on pension in 1981 and made his home in Tuckerton, New Jersey. In addition to the foregoing individuals, the following union members have also passed away. Insufficient information was available to develop summaries of their respective careers. Name Cerna, Marcial Dawson, Thomas Ebanks, Hoyt Flores, Frank Gibson, Mervain Knight, Wilford Phillips, John Pritchett, Wade Rodgers, James Traywick, Joe Age 94 91 76 94 92 90 91 88 93 82 DOD 08/18/2019 06/10/2019 07/18/2019 08/19/2019 08/11/2019 06/25/2019 09/09/2019 07/23/2019 09/01/2019 09/04/2019 Pensioner Julian Garcia, 91, passed Talking Maritime with Congresswoman GEORGE ESPONGE Pensioner George Esponge, 83, died August 14. Upon joining the SIU in 1984, he initially sailed with Crowley Towing and Transportation. Brother Esponge was a member of the deck department and was employed with the same company for most of his career. He began collecting his pension in 2004 and resided in Galveston, Texas. JAMES MAYO Pensioner James Mayo, 85, passed away August 2. He embarked on his SIU career in 1974, working for Allied Transportation. Brother Mayo SIU Port Agent Georg Kenny (left) and SIU Government Services Division Representative Sam Spain (right) welcome U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Virginia) to a Hampton Roads Port Council meeting earlier this year in Norfolk, Virginia. They and other meeting attendees discussed various maritime issues. Rep. Luria reiterated her strong backing of the U.S. Merchant Marine. October 2019 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Digest of Shipboard Union Meetings The Seafarers LOG attempts to print as many digests of union shipboard minutes as possible. On occasion, because of space limitations, some will be omitted. Ships’ minutes first are reviewed by the union’s contract department. Those issues requiring attention or resolution are addressed by the union upon receipt of the ships’ minutes. The minutes are then forwarded to the Seafarers LOG for publication. HORIZON PACIFIC (PASHA), June 2 – Chairman Daniel Ticer, Secretary Kevin Dougherty, Educational Director Jessie Turner, Deck Delegate Antjuan Webb, Engine Delegate Muthana Koraish, Steward Delegate Mercurion Abuan. Chairman gave reports to union regarding TV and WiFi issues on ship. He noted next year’s upcoming election and urged members to contribute to SPAD. Secretary reported a job well done by crew. Members quickly turned the ship over after the drydock to pass the COI inspections with flying colors. Educational director reminded crew about upgrading opportunities available at union-affiliated school in Piney Point, Maryland. No beefs or disputed OT reported. Satellite dish needs fixed for cable and WiFi functionality, at least while at port. Next Port: Oakland, California. upgrade often. No beefs or disputed OT reported in deck or steward departments. Members discussed recent surprise sanitary inspection by captain. Crew unsure if advanced notice of inspection is contractually required. EVERGREEN STATE (Crowley), June 9 – Chairman Reginald Watkins, Secretary Jorcell Davis, Educational Director Michael Robinson, Steward Delegate Andres Brown. Educational director went over upgrading procedures. No beefs or disputed OT reported. Members discussed the LOG and were urged to be active in the union. Crew requests physical requirements return to one per year. Members were encouraged to do their best while working safely. ANCHORAGE (Horizon Lines), June 23 – Chairman Daniel Seagle, Secretary Justo Reyes, Educational Director Michael Kelly, Deck Delegate Terrence Carmody, Engine Delegate William Mogg, Steward Delegate Douglas Neubauer. New TV will be purchased. Educational director reminded members to upgrade at the SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, located in Piney Point, Maryland. No beefs or disputed OT reported. Members requested dayfor-day vacation time. AMERICAN PRIDE (Intrepid Personnel and Provisioning), June 12 – Chairman Felsher Beasley, Secretary Cynora Hunter, Educational Director Rodriques Carson, Deck Delegate Shaib Juma, Engine Delegate Wordell Prescott, Steward Delegate Adolfo Bermudez. Chairman reminded crew to stay hydrated and to cool down often when working in the heat. Also discussed retroactive OT for engine department members. Educational director advised crew to LOUISIANA (Intrepid Personnel & Provisioning), June 13 – Chairman Gregory Jenkins, Secretary Timothy Dowd, Educational Director Kevin Hall, Deck Delegate Damon Johnson, Steward Delegate Carlos Suazo. Crew waiting for info on new mattresses. Educational director encouraged members to renew documents early. Ongoing dispute for penalty pay due to oilers for burning garbage. Crew asked for clarification on day’s pay in lieu of day off. Members requested new toaster. Crew discussed concerns about galley inventory and portions. OCEAN GLORY (Crowley), June 23 – Chairman Jerrold Foke, Secretary Johnny Palencia, Educational Director Sixin Ling, Deck Delegate Abdulsalam Issa, Engine Delegate Edward Galbis. Galley appliances working well. Chairman reminded members to go to Piney Point and upgrade. Crew was paid for dangerous cargo pickup. Secretary reported low supply of everyday items including honey, cookies, ice cream, butter, etc. No beefs or disputed OT reported. Crew continues having issues with late direct deposits. No TV in rooms and members not being paid for travel transportation. Microwave, rice cooker and additional dishes needed in galley. Members read letter from Vice President Contracts George Tricker. Captain ensured travel pay for members that joined overseas. Satellite fixed and phone and internet working. Members requested better overseas transportation. Next Port: Quebec. On the Job in San Francisco HORIZON RELIANCE (PASHA), June 30– Chairman Kissinfor Taylor, Secretary Mark Cabasag, Educational Director James Donohue, Deck Delegate Jesse Sunga, Steward Delegate Teresito Reyes. Chairman went over contract. Secretary advised crew to check documents six months ahead. He reminded members to leave clean linen and empty trash when finishing rotation. Educational director encouraged crew to upgrade at the Paul Hall Center and to donate to SPAD, the union’s voluntary political action fund. No beefs or disputed OT reported. ALASKAN LEGEND (Alaska Tanker Company), July 7 – Chairman Alvin Martin, Secretary Johnson Ashun, Educational Director Kassim Mohamed, Engine Delegate Corey Hann. Request made concerning crew-lounge computer. Phone booster on B-deck. Ship sailing smoothly. New classes posted in crew mess via portal. Educational director reiterated importance of staying up to date on documents. No beefs or disputed OT reported. Busy port stay in Port Angeles, Washington. Next Port: Valdez, Alaska. GREAT REPUBLIC (Key Lakes), July 7 – Chairman Amin Quraish, Secretary Rolando Batiz. Crew discussed basic information about merchant mariner credentials and the Jones Act. Chairman Recertified Bosun Ritche Acuman performs preventive maintenance for radar foundation aboard the USNS Algol (Ocean Duchess) in San Francisco. discussed safe working practices. Forms in the rec room for crew signing off. Members discussed port agent’s report. Educational director reminded crew of culinary 2.0 requirements for chief cooks in 2020. Deck delegate encouraged members to register within 12 hours and to support union by paying dues. Crew went over president’s report from Seafarers LOG, the SIU’s official publication. LIBERTY PASSION (Liberty Maritime), July 28 – Chairman James Blitch, Educational Director Leon- ard Ajoste, Deck Delegate Shawn Williams. No union meeting on last trip. Patrolman was asked to settle rates on garbage pay. Store seems to be in short supply. Steward department needs latex gloves. Educational director reminded members to upgrade at Piney Point and to keep papers in order. No beefs or disputed OT reported. Chairman urged crew to read current LOG and to stay informed of union affairs. Members discussed contract and made request concerning vacation benefits. Crew unable to get new movies. Next Port: Freeport, Texas. Know Your Rights FINANCIAL REPORTS. The Constitution of the SIU Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes and Inland Waters District makes specific provision for safeguarding the membership’s money and union finances. The constitution requires a detailed audit by certified public accountants every year, which is to be submitted to the membership by the secretary-treasurer. A yearly finance committee of rank-and-file members, elected by the membership, each year examines the finances of the union and reports fully their findings and recommendations. Members of this committee may make dissenting reports, specific recommendations and separate findings. TRUST FUNDS. All trust funds of the SIU Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes and Inland Waters District are administered in accordance with the provisions of various trust fund agreements. All these agreements specify that the trustees in charge of these funds shall equally consist of union and management representatives and their alternates. All expenditures and disbursements of trust funds are made only upon approval by a majority of the trustees. All trust fund financial records are available at the headquarters of the various trust funds. SHIPPING RIGHTS. A member’s shipping rights and seniority are protected exclusively by contracts between the union and the employers. Members should get to know their shipping rights. Copies of these contracts are posted and available in all union halls. If members believe there have been violations of their shipping or seniority rights as contained in the contracts between the union and the employers, they should notify the Seafarers Appeals Board by certified mail, return receipt October 2019 54930_Seafarers.indd 17 requested. The proper address for this is: Augustin Tellez, Chairman Seafarers Appeals Board 5201 Auth Way Camp Springs, MD 20746 Full copies of contracts as referred to are available to members at all times, either by writing directly to the union or to the Seafarers Appeals Board. CONTRACTS. Copies of all SIU contracts are available in all SIU halls. These contracts specify the wages and conditions under which an SIU member works and lives aboard a ship or boat. Members should know their contract rights, as well as their obligations, such as filing for overtime (OT) on the proper sheets and in the proper manner. If, at any time, a member believes that an SIU patrolman or other union official fails to protect their contractual rights properly, he or she should contact the nearest SIU port agent. EDITORIAL POLICY — THE SEAFARERS LOG. The Seafarers LOG traditionally has refrained from publishing any article serving the political purposes of any individual in the union, officer or member. It also has refrained from publishing articles deemed harmful to the union or its collective membership. This established policy has been reaffirmed by membership action at the September 1960 meetings in all constitutional ports. The responsibility for Seafarers LOG policy is vested in an editorial board which consists of the executive board of the union. The executive board may delegate, from among its ranks, one individual to carry out this responsibility. PAYMENT OF MONIES. No monies are to be paid to anyone in any official capacity in the SIU unless an official union receipt is given for same. Under no circumstances should any member pay any money for any reason unless he is given such receipt. In the event anyone attempts to require any such payment be made without supplying a receipt, or if a member is required to make a payment and is given an official receipt, but feels that he or she should not have been required to make such payment, this should immediately be reported to union headquarters. CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS. Copies of the SIU Constitution are available in all union halls. All members should obtain copies of this constitution so as to familiarize themselves with its contents. Any time a member feels any other member or officer is attempting to deprive him or her of any constitutional right or obligation by any methods, such as dealing with charges, trials, etc., as well as all other details, the member so affected should immediately notify headquarters. EQUAL RIGHTS. All members are guaranteed equal rights in employment and as members of the SIU. These rights are clearly set forth in the SIU Constitution and in the contracts which the union has negotiated with the employers. Consequently, no member may be discriminated against because of race, creed, color, sex, national or geographic origin. If any member feels that he or she is denied the equal rights to which he or she is entitled, the member should notify union headquarters. SEAFARERS POLITICAL ACTIVITY DONATION (SPAD). SPAD is a separate segregated fund. Its proceeds are used to further its objects and purposes including, but not limited to, furthering the political, social and economic interests of maritime workers, the preservation and furthering of the American merchant marine with improved employment opportunities for seamen and boatmen and the advancement of trade union concepts. In connection with such objects, SPAD supports and contributes to political candidates for elective office. All contributions are voluntary. No contribution may be solicited or received because of force, job discrimination, financial reprisal, or threat of such conduct, or as a condition of membership in the union or of employment. If a contribution is made by reason of the above improper conduct, the member should notify the Seafarers International Union or SPAD by certified mail within 30 days of the contribution for investigation and appropriate action and refund, if involuntary. A member should support SPAD to protect and further his or her economic, political and social interests, and American trade union concepts. NOTIFYING THE UNION — If at any time a member feels that any of the above rights have been violated, or that he or she has been denied the constitutional right of access to union records or information, the member should immediately notify SIU President Michael Sacco at headquarters by certified mail, return receipt requested. The address is: Michael Sacco, President Seafarers International Union 5201 Auth Way Camp Springs, MD 20746. Seafarers LOG 17 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Paul Hall Center Upgrading Course Information The following is a schedule of courses at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education in Piney Point, Maryland, for the next several months. All programs are geared toward improving the job skills of Seafarers and promoting the American maritime industry. Seafarers who have any questions regarding the upgrading courses offered at the Paul Hall Center may call the admissions office at (301) 994-0010. Title of Course Start Date Title of Course Start Date Date of Completion Steward Department Courses Orientation/Assessment Chief Steward 2.0 Date of Completion October 26 November 16 November 30 November 1 November 22 December 6 Safety Upgrading Courses Deck Department Upgrading Courses Able Seafarer Deck October 12 AB to Mate Modules Modules must be taken in order. Those who are not in the mates program cannot apply for these courses. Contact the Admissions Office for further details. Basic Training/Basic FF October 19 November 2 November 16 December 7 October 25 November 8 November 22 December 13 Basic Training Revalidation October 18 October 25 November 15 December 6 October 18 October 25 November 15 December 6 Basic Training/Adv. FF Revalidation September 14 September 20 Combined Basic/Advanced Firefighting September 21 September 27 Government Vessels October 12 October 26 November 16 December 7 October 18 November 1 November 22 December 13 Tank Ship Familiarization - DL October 19 October 25 Tank Ship Familiarization - LG November 9 December 7 November 15 December 13 November 8 Crane Familiarization October 5 October 11 ECDIS November 16 November 22 Lifeboat October 19 November 16 December 14 November 1 November 29 December 27 Radar Renewal (one day) Contact the PHC Admissions Office RFPNW November 9 December 6 100 Ton Master October 19 November 8 Engine Department Upgrading Courses BAPO November 9 December 6 FOWT October 12 November 8 Machinist October 19 November 8 Marine Electrician October 12 November 15 Pumpman November 9 November 15 Welding October 19 November 8 Steward Department Courses Certified Chief Cook Modules run every other week. The next class will start October 14. Chief Steward October 19 December 6 Galley Operations November 9 December 6 Orientation/Assessment Chief Cook 2.0 October 19 November 2 December 7 October 25 November 8 December 13 UPGRADING APPLICATION Name ________________________________________________________________________ Address ______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Telephone (Home)_________________________ (Cell)_________________________ Date of Birth __________________________________________________________________ Deep Sea Member o Lakes Member o Inland Waters Member o If the following information is not filled out completely, your application will not be processed. Social Security #_______________________ Book #_________________________________ Seniority_____________________________ Department_____________________________ Home Port____________________________________________________________________ E-mail_______________________________________________________________________ Endorsement(s) or License(s) now held_____________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Are you a graduate of the SHLSS/PHC trainee program? o Yes o No If yes, class # and dates attended __________________________________________________ Have you attended any SHLSS/PHC upgrading courses? oYes o No _____________________________________________________________________________ With this application, COPIES of the following must be sent: One hundred and twenty-five (125) days seatime for the previous year, MMC, TWIC, front page of your book including your department and seniority and qualifying sea time for the course if it is Coast Guard tested. Must have a valid SHBP clinic through course date. I authorize the Paul Hall Center to release any of the information contained in this application, or any of the supporting documentation that I have or will submit with this application to related organizations, for the purpose of better servicing my needs and helping me to apply for any benefits which might become due to me. 18 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers.indd 18 SHBP Trustees Approve Modification of Rules Regarding Eligibility for Upgrading Programs Due to recent feedback from the membership, the Seafarers Health and Benefits Plan (SHBP) Trustees approved a modification to the rules regarding eligibility requirements for scheduling and attending classes at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education. The new rule allows mariners to apply as long as they have a valid U.S. Coast Guard Medical Certificate that covers the duration of the class, and removes the requirement for a valid SHBP Fitness Certification form (sometimes referred to as a clinic card). Since the Coast Guard Medical Certificate is valid for a two-year period, this should allow for mariners to apply and attend classes while they are in the process of updating their medical exams that are required for shipping. COURSE ____________________________ ____________________________ START DATE _______________ _______________ DATE OF COMPLETION ________________________ ________________________ ____________________________ _______________ ________________________ ____________________________ _______________ ________________________ ____________________________ _______________ ________________________ ____________________________ _______________ ________________________ LAST VESSEL: ___________________________________ Rating: ____________________ Date On: _______________________________ Date Off:____________________________ SIGNATURE ____________________________________ DATE______________________ NOTE: Transportation will be paid in accordance with the scheduling letter only if you present original receipts and successfully complete the course. If you have any questions, contact your port agent before departing for Piney Point. Not all classes are reimbursable. Return completed application to: Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education Admissions Office, P.O. Box 75, Piney Point, MD 20674-0075; or fax to (301) 994-2189. The Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education is a private, non-profit, equal opportunity institution and admits students, who are otherwise qualified, or any race, nationality or sex. The school complies with applicable laws with regard to admission, access or treatment of students in its programs or activities. 10/19 October 2019 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Paul Hall Center Classes Apprentice Water Survival Class #851 – Graduated June 14 (photo at right, in alphabetical order): Andre Barbary Jr., Keshyra Brinkley, Rhiannon Buttrum, Denny Hale, Romello Johnson, Gregory Nash, Travis Nesar, Sharde Ross, Nikia Stripling and Luis Ricardo Venegas Nolasco. Important Notice To All Students Students who have registered for classes at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, but later discover - for whatever reason - that they can’t attend, should inform the admissions department immediately so arrangements can be made to have other students take their places. Water Survival (Upgraders) – Graduated May 17 (above, from left) Maurice Woodhouse Jr. and Osborn Miranda. Also graduating, but not pictured, was Billy Sawyer III. MSC Supply Configuration Management – Graduated May 31 (above, in alphabetical order): Bernard Baker, Barry Bettis, Ana Marie Chona Razon Calma, VanNessa Curd, Christopher Flood, Eric Hondel, Eric Johnson, Porcia Johnson and Christopher Waters. Class instructor Matthew Rogers is at the far left. (Note: Not all are pictured.) Government Vessels – Graduated May 10 (above, in alphabetical order): Jeffrey Amestoy, Rodelo Blanco Ayaton, Roche Aurea Bonita, Hector Ismael Caballero, Nelxon Colon Diego, Faustino Tmodrang Cosby, Mario Humberto Cruz Levy, A’trenique Tramani Deamus, Smyrno Desir, Dexter Douglas Jr., Carlicia Jones, Gizelle Jones, Kyle Knickerbocker, Vincent Knight, Deshante Luchien, Deven McCoy, Mohamed Abdullah Ali Mohamed, Patricia Ricks, Terry Santure and Curtis Spencer. Their instructor Keith Adamson, is at the far left. (Note: Not all are pictured.) October 2019 54930_Seafarers.indd 19 Seafarers LOG 19 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Paul Hall Center Classes Tank Ship Familiarization LG – Graduated April 26 (above, in alphabetical order): Digna Castillo, Jawonn Nicholson, Glenn Snow, Jamika Thomas, Sutthipong Ticer and Nicole Walton. ECDIS – Graduated April 19 (above, from left): John Schmanski and Jason Boyer. Instructor Patrick Schoenberger is at right. Tank Ship Familiarization LG – Graduated April 5 (above, in alphabetical order): Abdul-Ghaffar Abu-Bakr, Ali Ahmed, Evan Bradley, Ferdinand Malicay Cabanlit, Gary Davis Jr., Ashley Fabor, Harold Gerber II, Hussein Kareem Howe, Nat Lamb, Thomas MacGregor, Jesus Manuel Pacheco, Kyle Parson, Efren Asdrubal Ramos-Sosa, Chenequa Moet Rodriguez, Ovidio Joana Santos, Terry Santure, Charles Williams and Matthew Wright. Junior Engineer – Graduated May 10 (above, in alphabetical order): John Abernathy, Ryan Cameron, Oliver Luc Especa, Marquez Fields, Viliamu Milikini, Bryan Moreira, James Parker, Robert Pendarvis, Michael Smith, Boleslaw Tomasz Szatkowski and Keshawn Webster. 20 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers.indd 20 October 2019 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Paul Hall Center Classes UA to FOWT – Graduated May 24 (above, in alphabetical order): Keondre Bell, Justin Bodnar, Kevin Campfield Jr., Elyser Valdez Carpio, Samuel Fanjoy, Vincent Hall, Joshua Irvine, Daniel Jaim Leon-Bruges, Kevin Lueddeke, Ryan Kaleolani Manlapit, Robert Murphy, Srawut Petchsaitip, Tresten Porter, Gabriel Santa Ramos and Nicholas Simoneaux. (Note: Not all are pictured.) Medical Care Provider – Graduated April 26 (photo at left, in alphabetical order): Yahya Abdulaziz Ahmed, Hussein Mohsin Alrayyashi, William Born, Corey Covington, Charles Drumm, Michael Iverson and Andrzej Tlalka. John Thomas, their instructor, is at the far right. ARPA – Graduated May 31 (photo at right, in alphabetical order): Yahya Abdulaziz Ahmed, Husein Mohsin Alrayyashi, Smyrno Desir, Christopher Hickey, Martin McDonald, Ian McDonough, Michael Norman, James Norsworthy and Mackenzie Wincelowicz. Instructor Brian Moore is at the far left. UA to Able Seaman (Deck) – Graduated May 24 (photo at left,, in alphabetical order): Tommy Benton, Devin Hoerr, Rahsean Lillard and Brian Wendler. Welton Grooms, their instructor, is at the far right. October 2019 54930_Seafarers.indd 21 Seafarers LOG 21 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Paul Hall Center Classes GMDSS – Graduated May 10 (photo at right, in alphabetical order): Yahya Abdulaziz Ahmed, Husein Mohsin Alrayyashi, Christopher Hickey, Brennon Hough, James Pierce and John Reyes. Instructor Patrick Schoenberger is at the far right. Radar Observer – Graduated May 24 (photo at left, in alphabetical order): Yahya Abdulaziz Ahmed, Hussein Mohsin Alrayyashi, Smyrno Desir, Christopher Hickey, Martin McDonald, Ian McDonough and Mackenzie Wincelowicz. Brian Moore, their instructor, is at the far left. Small Arms – Graduated May 24 (photo at right, in alphabetical order): Justice Agha-Kuofie, Johnnatan Escobar, Amos London, Loreto Antonio Orosco and Timothy Valentine Sr. Instructors John Thomas and Matthew Rogers are at the far left and far right, respectively. Advanced Refer Container Maintenance – Graduated May 31 (photo at left, in alphabetical order): Carlos Eduardo Amaya Avila, Ricardo Bonuel Ducay, John Groom, Vernon Humbles, Lon Tige Maduro, Carl Montoya, Michael Murphy, Tijani Rashid and Brian Wilder. Instructors William Dodd and Mike Fay are first and second from the left, respectively, while Instructor Christopher Morgan is at the far right. 22 Seafarers LOG 54930_Seafarers.indd 22 October 2019 9/18/19 12:39 PM �Paul Hall Center Classes Bridge Management (Delta Mariner) – Graduated April 5 (photo at left, in alphabetical order): Scott Accardi, John Bilich Sr., Antonio Manuel Carreiro Jr., Lee Hendrix, Hussein Marumbo Hussein, Thor Pearson, Van Powell, Carson Shallenberger, Johnny Skipper and Thomas Sullivan. Basic Training (Basic Firefighting) – Graduated May 31 (photo at right, in alphabetical order): Jonamie Antonio Encarnacion, Angelo Hernando Golden, Gladys Grant, Michael Matthews, Frederick Neese, Kwame Owusu, Carlos Ovidio Palacious-Nunez, William Jose Sanchez and Marshall Turner Jr. MSC Ship Reaction Force – Graduated May 29 (above, in alphabetical order): Justice Agha-Kuofie, Johnnatan Escobar, Amos London, Loreto Antonio Orosco and Timothy Valentine Sr. Instructors John Thomas and Matthew Rogers are at the far left and far right, respectively. Chief Cook 2.0 – Graduated May 24 (above, from left): William Jose Sanchez, Demarius Jones and John Chaney. October 2019 54930_Seafarers.indd 23 Chief Steward 2.0 – Graduated May 10 (above, in alphabetical order): Thalis Ealy, Gerald Kirtsey, Just B Self and Samuel Sinclair. Certified Chief Cook (Module 5) – Graduated May 31 (above, in alphabetical order): Nasr Ahmed Ali Almusab, James Cherico, Gerard Cox, Reynard Gibbs and Andrew Miller. Seafarers LOG 23 9/18/19 12:39 PM �VOLUME 81, NO. 10 OCTOBER 2019 Text “Join” to 97779 To Sign Up for SIU Text Alerts O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E S E A F A R E R S I N T E R N AT I O N A L U N I O N AT L A N T I C , G U L F, L A K E S A N D I N L A N D W AT E R S , A F L- C I O Hands-on Training Highlights PHC Curriculum A state-of-the-art vocational school in southern Maryland acts as a gateway to rewarding careers for experienced mariners and entry-level students as well. The Piney Point, Maryland-based SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education opened its doors in 1967. Since that time, it has enjoyed more than a half-century of steady growth and has developed into a cutting-edge school with wide-ranging curriculums. A characteristic that hasn’t changed from the facility’s outset, however, is its continuing emphasis on practical training. Hands-on instruction is featured in virtually every one of the school’s 81 U.S. Coast Guard-approved courses. Many classes are department-specific (deck, engine, or steward), while numerous others provide comprehensive safety training for the entire crew. Similarly, the Paul Hall Center offers entry-level instruction for those just embarking on their respective maritime careers, plus upgrading coursework for 54930_Seafarers_X.indd 24 experienced Seafarers. Some hands-on segments take place aboard the Freedom Star, a modern training vessel which also is one of the most visible parts of the campus’ waterfront. Proactive training also takes place at the nearby Joseph Sacco Fire Fighting and Safety School, located on a satellite campus just a few miles from the main base. While the Paul Hall Center mainly is known for vocational training – including its highly regarded apprentice program, which is registered with the U.S. Department of Labor – it also offers academic support along with separate programs for earning a high school degree and a two-year college degree. The photos on this page show a small sample of practical coursework in Piney Point. Additional information about the school is available in the Training and Careers section of the SIU website: www.seafarers.org 9/19/2019 3:03:57 PM � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Seafarers Log Issues 2010-2019 Description An account of the resource Volumes LXXII-LXXXI of the Seafarers Log Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seafarers Log Digital Copies Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Seafarers International Union of North America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-2019 Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource October 2019 Description An account of the resource Headlines: AFT BECOMES MTD'S NEWEST AFFILIATE EXPRESS MARINE CREWS APPROVE NEW CONTRACT ADM. ZUKUNFT NAMED NEX AMERICAN MARITIME HERO USNS PUERTO RICO UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATED SEA TRIALS RICHARD TRUMKA: WORKERS 'NOT INTERESTED IN A SLIVER OF CHANGE,' DEMAND ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR THEM ILLINOIS REP. INTRODUCES PRO-MARITIME RESOLUTION EPI ASKS (AND ANSWERS): HOW IS ECONOMY WORKING FOR AMERICA'S WORKING FAMILIES? MARITIME ADMINISTRATOR PLEDGES JONES ACT SUPPORT STUDENTS, INSTRUCTORS PRAISE PHC MACHINE SHOP UPGRADES 2019 SEATU CONVENTION BUILDS TOWARDS FUTURE 'FUJI' FINDS A HOME FOR LIGHTHOUSE COLLECTION IDENTIFY CAUSE OF DIZZINESS REMEMBERING THE SIU-CREWED SS HENRY BACON FAREWELL TO A WAYSTATION SIU ISSUES NOTICE ABOUT TEXT MESSAGE ALERTS PHC OFFERS CULINARY 2.0 NMC ISSUES FINAL UPDATE ON FY2019 SHUTDOWN HANDS-ON TRAINING HIGHLIGHTS PHC CURRICULUM Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Seafarers Log Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seafarers Log Digital Copies Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Seafarers International Union of North America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 10/1/2019 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Newsprint Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Vol. 81, No. 10 2019 Periodicals Seafarers Log