In this issue...
MSP fully funded...LMSR resumes needed...M.E.B.A. officers begin crewing LNG vessels...AMHS negotiators back at work...The leader of  the pack, we throw you a bone in a fetching, four-legged edition that retrieves the maritime pick of the litter. Don't get hounded by sick puppy,  fleabag newsletters with more bark than bite. Treat them like a fire hydrant! We collar them and unleash a husky, tail-wagging issue for our rabid readers that'll leave you panting for more. Man's best friend, the purebred Telex Times is the top dog!

MSP FULLY FUNDED AS TRANSPORTATION BILL HITS PRESIDENT'S DESK
The Senate this week checked off on a Transportation Department funding bill that provides full funding for the Maritime Security Program among other provisions. The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act now heads to the President's desk for his signature.

The bill provides funding for the Maritime Administration and Federal Maritime Commission as well as many other agencies. The MSP will be fully funded at $156 million. This represents a victory for M.E.B.A. and maritime labor which stayed engaged with Members of Congress to raise the funding level up from the lower dollar amount recommended by the President in his budget. Among other provisions, the bill also provides money for ship disposal, Title XI and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

M.E.B.A. OFFICERS BEGIN BOARDING EXCELERATE LNG VESSELS
As reported previously, M.E.B.A. has reached an agreement with Armada Companies to supply Licensed Deck and Engine Officers of EXMAR, NV LNG Vessels. EXMAR is the ship-owner/operator for Excelerate Energy. M.E.B.A. began to supply officers last week.

"M.E.B.A. is at the forefront when it comes to providing qualified, trained and completely vetted marine officers for the LNG trade," said M.E.B.A.'s  President. "We have worked very well over the past year with Texas-based LNG importer Excelerate Energy and its business partners in the natural gas industry," he continued.

Construction is underway on Excelerate Energy's Northeast Gateway deepwater port. The new port, which is located 13 miles off the coast of  Massachusetts, is New England's first LNG deepwater port and will be the second operating LNG deepwater port globally. The first, Gulf Gateway, which is also owned by Excelerate, is located approximately 120 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

"Excelerate is proud to be leading the industry in this important initiative. And we very much appreciate the "can do" attitude exhibited by Exmar, Armada, and M.E.B.A. in implementing the program as quickly as possible," said Excelerate CEO Rob Bryngelson.

"This crewing agreement represents sound public policy and I commend Excelerate Energy for taking the steps to comply with the U.S.-mariner crewing arrangements outlined in their Deepwater Port license," U.S. Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton commented.

"Exmar is quite pleased to be involved in this important initiative. The integration of U.S. mariners into our fleet of LNG regasification vessels complements our existing staff of Belgium officers and helps us meet the growing demand for LNG qualified mariners well in advance of the pending manpower shortage facing the industry," said Captain Peter Raes, Exmar's Chief Operating Officer.

A first LNG regasification vessel (LNGRV), named EXCELSIOR, was delivered in January 2005. EXCELLENCE, the second LNGRV, was delivered in May 2005. The third, named EXCELERATE, was delivered in October 2006.

Exmar, in conjunction with Excelerate, has five more of the LNGRVs on order, each with a larger capacity than the existing class of vessels. The ships are expected to be delivered by the fourth quarter of 2009.

The contract for the LNG Officer crewing agreement is in the Union halls.

RESUMES NEEDED FOR WATSON-CLASS LMSR MSC SOLICITATION; TRI-PARTITE AGREEMENT REACHED
Military Sealift Command (MSC) is soliciting proposals from interested operators for the operation and maintenance of the eight Watson-Class LMSR vessels. M.E.B.A. is providing economic terms and conditions to its contracted employers who are responding to the LMSR Watson-Class MSC Solicitation. As part of the request for proposal (RFP), MSC is requesting that resumes be provided with each company's proposal.

The Companies are seeking qualified Senior Officers (Masters, Chief Mates, Chief Engineers, First Assistant Engineers, Port Captains and Port Engineers) interested in working these vessels.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please forward a current copy of your resume detailing your work history, USCG License and an itemization of all the training courses you have completed, including gas turbine if applicable. It is preferable to receive the information electronically via email to the M.E.B.A. Contracts Officer at mebahq@d1meba.org or fax to (202) 638-5369. Time is of the essence. The Companies are requesting they receive this information by Friday, September 21, 2007 in order to have it included with their bid submissions.

M.E.B.A. has entered into a Tri-Partite Agreement with the Officers' unions on this RFP. Therefore, the economic package total labor cost for each union will be the same, thereby putting the unions on a level playing field with respect to costs.

ALASKA MARINE HIGHWAY SYSTEM NEGOTIATORS BACK AT WORK
A crack M.E.B.A. negotiating team is back at the bargaining table with the State of Alaska trying to hammer out a new contract covering our members serving aboard the Alaska ferry system.

The M.E.B.A. negotiating team is working on a new deal, which is expected to be a three-year agreement covering all 11 vessels of the AMHS fleet, including two high-speed ferries M/V FAIRWEATHER and M/V CHENEGA. Alaska Representative Ben Goldrich and M.E.B.A. rank and file members Jeff Donohue, Gary Gilliland, Doug Wickre, Dave Barnes, Eric Downer, Chris "Tiny" Olson and Wayne Wilson, among others, are working diligently to bring home a solid contract.

OAKLAND BUILDING CONTRACTORS' COUNTERSUIT AGAINST M.E.B.A. EFFECTIVELY DISMISSED
On Wednesday, September 5, 2007, the counter claim filed by Steve Sutton of  Sutton & Associates, Sutton Construction, Michael Pontarelli and Cento Consulting against M.E.B.A. was dismissed by a California Superior Court. These individuals were the former architect and project manager for M.E.B.A. Oakland Union hall project and were fired by the M.E.B.A. President and Secretary-Treasurer.

The Honorable Judge Kenneth Mark Burr held the hearing to consider M.E.B.A.'s Motion to Dismiss Sutton and Pontarelli's lawsuit for lack of legal sufficiency, (demurrer). Judge Burr granted M.E.B.A.'s request to dismiss the cross-complaint against the Union.

Sutton and Pontarelli filed their initial cross-complaint against M.E.B.A. in 2006. That rudimentary filing contended that Sutton and Pontarelli had formed a joint venture/partnership, unbeknownst to M.E.B.A., and were operating as general contractors. The cross-complaint was later amended by Sutton and Pontarelli, dropping their fraud cause of action and references to bad faith claims on the part of M.E.B.A. Their remaining claims were against M.E.B.A. for breach of contract.

The Court ruled to sustain M.E.B.A.'s demurrer, essentially dismissing all of Sutton and Pontarelli's legal claims against M.E.B.A. Sutton and Pontarelli have fifteen days leave to amend their complaint against M.E.B.A. At this time, it appears that neither Sutton nor Pontarelli have active legal counsel.

M.E.B.A.'s case is set for a further meeting with the court during the first week of October, at which time Sutton's lawyer's motion to withdraw and the Union's motion for leave to file the Second Amended Complaint will be heard. The attorney for Steve Sutton of Sutton & Associates is seeking to withdraw from representing Mr. Sutton in the M.E.B.A. lawsuit. M.E.B.A. has filed a motion naming additional defendants based on the evidence learned to date, including several depositions that have taken place over the past few months.

M.E.B.A. SCHOOL HAS LATEST CG LICENSE UPGRADE CD
The Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School has an updated version of the Coast  Guard license upgrade CD. Anyone interested can contact Hope Dyott at (410) 822-9600, ext. 301.

AFL-CIO's THOMPSON TO RETIRE
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson will step down from her post on September 21 to return home to San Antonio and be with her family. Chavez-Thompson was elected to the office of executive vice president in 1995. A second-generation American who is the daughter of cotton sharecroppers, Chavez-Thompson became the first person of color to hold one of the top three elected offices at the AFL-CIO. She had previously served on the AFL-CIO Executive Council as a leader in AFSCME. Traveling and speaking to union and community groups constantly, she has been the face of America's new union movement to millions. Chavez-Thompson has worked to strengthen state and local labor movements and has served as a strong voice on behalf of civil, human and women's rights. She also has been a national leader on the issue of immigration and immigrant workers' rights.

"In everything she's done over a lifetime of service, Linda has broken new pathways for the labor movement," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. "Countless working women and men, not only in the United States but throughout the Western Hemisphere, have a better life because of all she's contributed. She's inspired tens of thousands of people to contribute through their own action, and wherever she's gone, she's earned tremendous affection."

Under the AFL-CIO constitution, Chavez-Thompson, a native of Lubbock, Texas, will become the AFL-CIO's first executive vice president emerita. She will continue to chair the AFL-CIO Immigration Committee and serve as head of the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers (ORIT), the International Trade Union Confederation's (ITUC) regional organization for the Americas. She will also serve as an advisor to state federations and labor councils.

Sweeney has asked the AFL-CIO Executive Council to support his recommendation of Arlene Holt-Baker, who currently serves as assistant to the president, to fill the remainder of Chavez-Thompson's term. Holt-Baker has more than 30 years of experience in the labor movement and is a longtime member of AFSCME.

PANAMANIAN AFFILIATE IN TOWN
M.E.B.A. affiliate ABIM-Panama visited Headquarters several times this week while they were in town as part of a Panamanian labor delegation. Benefica de Ingenieros Marinos (ABIM), led by Secretario General Luis Yau Chaw, represents mariners working on the Panama Canal. Chaw and Gabriel B. Ayu Prado, an ABIM member who also serves as the Secretario General of the Panama Area Metal Trades Council, came into Washington D.C. earlier this week. They spent the week in town, along with the delegation, meeting with key figures at the AFL-CIO and on Capitol Hill. They are adamantly opposed to certain provisions of two U.S. trade agreements that they say would weaken laws protecting mariners working under the Panamanian flag. Congress is expected to review the agreements later this year.

M.E.B.A.'s President and legislative team met with the ABIM representatives, discussed issues of interest and advised them on several matters. M.E.B.A. continues to enjoy an excellent relationship with ABIM which became an autonomous affiliate of our Union in late 2002.

ABIM Secretario General Chaw and Seguridad General Rolando Arrue were guest speakers at the National M.E.B.A. Convention held in March 2005.

At press time, it was learned that the efforts of the Panamanian delegation along with a Peruvian contingent that also has concerns with U.S. trade agreements, won notice from the U.S. press. An item in the Congressional Quarterly newsletter, an insider Capitol Hill publication, ran an article spotlighting the Washington D.C. visit of the delegations and their efforts to draw attention to some of the negative implications of the trade laws.

MARAD ARRANGES FOR REMOVAL OF 100th RUSTBUCKET
The Maritime Administration has arranged for the removal and disposal of the  100th antiquated ship from government storage since the launch of the current ship disposal program in 2001. All Star Metals, has won the contract to remove and dismantle the World War II-era ship DUTTON from MarAd's Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas. The DUTTON, built in 1945 as the TUSKEGEE VICTORY, is one of 534 Victory ships constructed by the Maritime Commission during World War II. In 1958, the DUTTON was converted from a supply vessel to an oceanographic survey ship supporting America's Polaris Fleet of  submarines. It served well into the 1980s and was decommissioned in 1988.

NEXT REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Tuesday, October 9 - Baltimore, Boston, Houston, Jacksonville, San  Francisco, Seattle;
Wednesday, October 10 - Calhoon School, Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, October 11 - L.A., New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, October 12 - Honolulu.