MARINE ENGINEERS' BENEFICIAL ASSOCIATION (AFL-CIO)
         "On Watch in Peace and War Since 1875"

MEBA TELEX TIMES       JUNE 05, 2009

The Official Union Newsletter

NUMBER 23

In this issue...
New Interlake MOU...TSA, Maritime education bills...Piracy round-up...Striking a New Balance, we lace up a high-top, cross-training issue that goes cleats-up into another week. Don't come untied by the flat-footed, loafer competition that clogs you up with flip-flopping nonsense. We'll have those scuffed-up, squeaky clodhoppers shaking in their shoes! Come "Converse" with the well-heeled edition that "pumps" you up with plenty of maritime spit and polish to boot. The steel-toed Telex Times is good for the sole!

NEW MOU WITH INTERLAKE
A wage reopener with Interlake Steamship Company has netted a new Memorandum of Understanding that locks up important new gains for members sailing under the long-term contract.

M.E.B.A. President Don Keefe worked with Interlake Senior Vice President Bob Dorn to secure raises for members in each of the last four years of the deal which runs through July 2013. The M.E.B.A. Training Plan is a big winner in the new agreement with a significant boost in the per day contribution rate. The Joint Employment Committee also receives a much-needed increase running through the life of the contract.

TSA BILL ADVANCES TRANSPORTATION SECURITY
The Transportation Trades Dept, AFL-CIO, is hailing the House passage of the Transportation Security Administration authorization bill which helps strengthen America's transportation network.

Among various airline provisions, the bill made necessary changes to the TWIC program. Section 403 of the bill allowed for port and maritime personnel, who have applied for a TWIC but have not yet received one, to be escorted onto port facilities by a TWIC holder. The bill also addresses the issue of timing. Once passed, the TSA will be forced to respond to applicants within 30 days after receiving the application and requires a 30 day timeline for the review of appeals and waivers. Further, and especially helpful, the bill allows for the TWIC card to be mailed to mariners and activated at an enrollment center. This should make it so that a second trip is not required which would become particularly burdensome once the enrollment centers are scaled back.

Edward Wytkind, TTD President, said "In the almost eight years since the September 11 attacks on America, we have advocated for a more aggressive policy response to the security vulnerabilities of our transportation system, its users and workforce. Now that the House has completed its work on TSA reauthorization, it is up to the Senate to complete the job."

"We also applaud adoption of the Castor amendment," he continued, "which ensures that confusing state or local government-based employee security requirements do not impede the federal standards already in place. The purpose of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) was to create a uniform credentialing standard. A hodgepodge of state or local mandates makes it more difficult to ensure uniformity and the efficient flow of commerce. Transportation unions and their members thank Subcommittee Chair Sheila Jackson Lee and Chairman Bennie Thompson for their tenacious pursuit of a more secure transportation system."

M.E.B.A. is a founding member of the TTD which represents 35 member unions in the maritime, aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, and related industries.

CUMMINGS INTRODUCES MARITIME EDUCATION BILL
Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD.), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, has introduced a bill that would create a recruitment, training, and student loan program to attract the next generation of workers to jobs in the maritime industry. H.R. 2651, the Maritime Workforce Development Act would authorize $60 million over six years to create a maritime-focused student loan program through which individuals can receive up to $60,000 in loans over the course of their lifetime. Recipients of the loans would be required to maintain satisfactory progress and be required to repay their loans within ten years. Additionally, the bill would authorize $60 million over six years to enable the Department of Transportation to award grants to maritime training institutions for mariner recruitment, training, and retention.

"Many of the men and women who comprise our maritime industry will soon be entering retirement, and it is important that we have the tools and resources in place to bring in the next generation of mariners," Congressman Cummings said. "The Maritime Workforce Development Act seeks to improve the current system and ensure that individuals seeking to enter or advance in the maritime field are able to afford tuition for training programs."

"The maritime industry is an essential component of our nation's commerce and economy, and we cannot ignore the growing threat of a shortage in qualified maritime labor," Rep. Cummings said. "We cannot allow this problem to continue to grow as a result of individuals being denied access to maritime training due to income levels, and H.R. 2651 takes the first step in ensuring that we don't."

The Maritime Administration has indicated that the average age of a mariner with a Master's license at that time was 51, while the average age of a Chief Engineer was 50. Figures have also shown that nearly 30 percent of those working in the inland towing industry would be eligible to retire in coming years.

PIRACY ROUND-UP
The Swedish naval warship HMS MALMOE captured seven suspected pirates, after they unsuccessfully attacked a Greek merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden last week. The suspects will be prosecuted in a Kenyan court, due to the recent EU-Kenyan agreement inked in March. This will make it a total of 59 suspected pirates that have been handed over to Kenyan authorities.

While conducting counterpiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden as part of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Task Force 151, Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS PORTLAND detected, intercepted and boarded two suspicious skiffs preventing a possible pirate attack on June 2.

PORTLAND identified, pursued and subsequently conducted a boarding of the vessels where they found articles that indicated the skiff had been involved or was about to conduct an act of piracy and were clearly not those of an innocent fishing vessel. The skiffs, with 10 people aboard, were equipped with extra barrels of fuel, grappling hooks and a cache of weapons that included rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and ammunition.

However, due to insufficient evidence to directly link the group to a specific attack, the suspected pirates were disarmed and released. Having prevented this group of pirates from reaching their merchant traffic prey, Portland destroyed one of the skiffs and confiscated all their weapons.

On Sunday in the late morning a Japanese chemical tanker sailing under the flag of the Philippines was attacked by two skiffs in the very southern part of the Red Sea, a rarity for those waters. Last week Yemeni sources reported a fishing boat being sunk by a missile fired from a foreign warship in the Red Sea inside Yemeni territorial waters. No pirate attacks had been seen in the Red Sea and so none of the international warships fighting piracy has ever operated there. The presence of warships may potentially change in case of more attacks in that area.

MAERSK LINE COMPLETES RECAPITALIZATION
Maersk Line, Ltd has completed a recapitalization of its U.S. flag container fleet. The effort involved an investment of nearly $400m for the purchase and reflagging of nine ships into the U.S. registry. MLL's recapitalization plan called for the company to remove nine older, smaller ships from its U.S. fleet and replace them with larger, faster and more modern U.S. flag tonnage. All nine of the reflagged ships are enrolled in the Maritime Security Program.

"This additional capacity and capability, paired with the optimization and expansion of our U.S. flag network will enable us to provide even more reliable, timely and flexible service to our government customers," said Bill Kenwell, MLL's Chief Commercial Officer.

The ships joining MLL's fleet will be deployed on the MECL 1, MECL 2 and Trans-Atlantic services and include M.E.B.A.-crewed vessels MAERSK KENTUCKY, MAERSK IDAHO, MAERSK UTAH, MAERSK WISCONSIN, MAERSK WYOMING, SEALAND CHAMPION, SEALAND EAGLE, SEALAND MERCURY and SEALAND RACER. These ships feature an average capacity of more than 4000 TEU and an average age of just 10 years, while the nine ships they replace had an average capacity of only 3400 TEU and an average age of 23 years.

MLL's Technical Organization and its Maritime Technical Services business unit, which develops and applies advanced operating, maintenance and lifecycle strategies for maritime customers, are managing the sale and recycling of the nine older U.S. flag ships.

Ships being removed from MLL's U.S. flag fleet include: MAERSK ARIZONA, SEALAND ACHIEVER, SEALAND ATLANTIC, SEALAND COMMITMENT, SEALAND FLORIDA, SEALAND MOTIVATOR, SEALAND PERFORMANCE, SEALAND PRIDE and SEALAND QUALITY.

MARAD TO RID RESERVE FLEET OF CLASSIC U.S. LINES SHIP
The Maritime Administration is planning to dispose of the obsolete vessel SS PIONEER COMMANDER, an old U.S. Lines ship that was crewed with M.E.B.A. officers in its heyday. The vessel is currently located at its Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Beaumont, Texas. MarAd, in consultation with the Texas Historical Commission, determined that the ship is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places due to its role in a pivotal moment in U.S. history; the evacuation of more than 44,000 Americans, Vietnamese military and refugees from South Vietnam in 1975. This operation signaled the close of America's long involvement in Vietnam.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, Section 3512 of Public Law 108-136, authorizes the Maritime Administration to afford qualified public and non-profit organizations the opportunity to obtain, via donation, obsolete ships from the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) for use as memorials and/or in other non-commercial enterprises.

MARAD will accept completed donation applications for the SS Pioneer Commander from qualified organizations in accordance with the Ship Donation Program Requirements for a period of 45 days beginning June 1, 2009. For more information visit the MarAd Ship Donation Program at http://www.marad.dot.gov or contact Mr. Kevin Smith at 202-366-3798 or via e-mail at kevin.r.smith@dot.gov.

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday, June 8 - Boston, Jacksonville, Seattle;
Tuesday, June 9 - Baltimore/Calhoon School (at CMES), Houston, San Francisco (Oakland);
Wednesday, June 10 - Charleston, New Orleans;
Thursday, June 11- L.A. (Wilmington), New York (New Jersey), Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, June 12 - Honolulu.

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