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

MEBA TELEX TIMES       NOVEMBER 30, 2007

The Official Union Newsletter

NUMBER 48

In this issue...
Election tallying is Monday!...New Marine Officer...Important news from Plans Office...M.E.B.A. holiday party lowdown...Getting off the ground, we assist your ascension to maritime knowledge as we float out a lofty edition that'll have you walking on air. Never letting you down, we gain altitude and elevate above flat-footed industry weeklies that make you suspend your disbelief. We have liftoff! Always on the up and up, you'll get a rise out of the Telex Times!

M.E.B.A. ELECTION: BALLOTING ENDS! TALLYING ON MONDAY!
At long last, the M.E.B.A. is wrapping up its interminable election cycle as the 90-day ballot period expires at midnight tonight. An elected rank and file Tallying Committee will meet at Headquarters on Monday to oversee the vote count along with an Impartial Administrator.

The five-member, two-alternate rank and file Tallying Committee was elected at special meetings conducted at seven Union halls on Monday.

The Committee consists of Tom Birago (Baltimore), Brian Evjen (Houston), Steve Byerley (L.A./Wilmington), Jim Langmeyer (NY/NJ), Jon Anderson (Seattle), and alternates John Ebanks (New Orleans) and James Howard (S.F./Oakland).

The Committee will meet at Headquarters at 9:00 a.m. on Monday before going to pick up the ballots at the depository. They will then move to Room 383-285 on the third floor of the Headquarters Building (444 North Capitol Street) where they will begin the count. In compliance with the By-Laws, M.E.B.A. members in good standing, including candidates, may witness the count.

The tabulation will determine the victorious candidates for the 2007 District-wide Union election as well as the delegates for the National M.E.B.A. Convention in March 2008.

The Tallying Committee and Impartial Administrator must file their report within 24 hours of the ballot count. Once the report is finalized, it will be made available to members and the Telex Times will post results in next week's issue.

M.E.B.A. PUBLICATIONS WILL SHAKE OFF ELECTION-SEASON FORMAT
It's been fun, but M.E.B.A. publications will once again revert to their more familiar format once the election tallying occurs on Monday. Since July, following the announcement of candidates running in the M.E.B.A. District election, the Telex Times has referred to candidates for M.E.B.A. office only by position, when applicable, and not by name. This election-season policy is even more stringent than rules laid down in the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ("Landrum-Griffin"). Subsequently, the Marine Officer observes the same policy during this period and, in addition, avoids publication of photos of any candidate for M.E.B.A. office.

LATEST MARINE OFFICER HITS THE STANDS
Speaking of the Marine Officer, the latest issue is in the halls and has been mailed out to our worldwide readership. Even though it makes its appearance at the tail-end of the election balloting period, it still adheres to the aforementioned election-season rules. The names or faces of candidates for M.E.B.A. office do not appear in its pages. The next issue of the magazine due to launch in late January/early February will catalog the results of the Union election and reverts to its familiar post election format.

VACATION BENEFITS - 2007 YEAR END CLOSING
Apply for Vacation and Port Relief Benefits early to avoid the year-end rush.

- OUTPORTS: The deadline for issuing checks dated in 2007 in the Outport offices is Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

- BALTIMORE PLAN OFFICE: The deadline for issuing checks at the Plan Office in Baltimore is Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

Any member who requires that his/her check be dated in 2007 must file before these deadlines. Remember, December 25, 2007 and January 1, 2008 are holidays and the outports and the Plan Office will be closed. It is always wise to plan ahead, so you may want to verify your specific outport holiday schedule with the plan office representative.

Split Your Vacation Payments Between 2007 and 2008 You can submit an Application for Vacation Pay prior to the end of the year and request that the payment of your vacation benefits be split. Two checks will be issued to you, one in 2007 and a second in 2008. The vacation benefits paid in this manner MUST be a continuous vacation period.

Please contact the Vacation Plan staff in Baltimore at 800-811-6322 or 410-547-9111 if you have any questions.

TRENT LOTT ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) has announced that he will retire from political life at the end of the year. He has been a champion of the maritime industry throughout his career, a warrior on behalf of U.S.-flag ships and legislation benefiting American mariners. Among many other awards, he was honored with the AOTOS statuette in 1995 and the Propeller Club's "Salute to Congress" award in 1997.

Sen. Lott has been in a position of leadership in both House and Senate and rose to the post of Senate Majority Leader. He served in the House from 1973 to 1989. His Senate service began in 1989. He was reelected to a new six-year term in 2006. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (R) will appoint someone to take the Senate post for 2008. A special election to decide who will serve out the remainder of the term will likely be held in November 2008.

Lott hopes to spend more time with family and seek opportunities in the private sector.

The M.E.B.A., American Maritime Congress and the industry as a whole are grateful for his friendship.

TWO WWII-ERA SHIPS TO BE PUT DOWN
The Maritime Administration announced that two government World-War II-era ships, currently moored at a shipyard near Baltimore, MD., will be recycled at the Bay Bridge Enterprises facility in Chesapeake, VA. Both vessels were formerly anchored in the James River Reserve Fleet in Newport News, Va.

Bay Bridge will receive $95,000 to dismantle the HOIST, and $695,000 to dismantle the SPHINX. Both ships were originally awarded to North American Ship Recycling, Inc. Those contracts were terminated by the Maritime Administration after notification by North American Ship Recycling, Inc. that the company had terminated all operations at the Sparrows Point Shipyard.

The HOIST, a Navy rescue and salvage ship built in 1945, served with distinction for 49 years, and entered the James River Reserve Fleet in 1994. In 1964 and again in 1966, it participated in significant undersea searches: first for the lost attack submarine USS THRESHER and later for the recovery of a hydrogen bomb lost off Palomares, Spain, after the crash of a B-52 bomber. The latter events were depicted in the 2000 motion picture Men of Honor.

The SPHINX was originally built in 1944 as a tank landing ship, but was converted into a landing craft repair ship in 1945. The SPHINX had a long career in the Navy, earning 10 battle stars - two in the Korean conflict, and eight in Vietnam - before being placed in the James River Reserve Fleet in 1989.

COME ONE, COME ALL! HOLIDAY PARTIES: THE LOWDOWN ON THE THROWDOWNS
Yes, it's that special time of year again. Work be damned, it's time to bust loose and party down! Here's your key to enjoying the M.E.B.A.-sanctioned festivities:

Boston is the first hall to get their groove on and they launch into the holiday season this Monday following the Union meeting. Curious partygoers are eager to see if Red Sox fans at this affair will be showcasing their Riverdance moves. Baltimore gets their Union meeting out of the way on Tuesday, December 4th so they can get to the important stuff - a free-form fiesta that kicks it up a notch in Charm City. Members are anticipating the cameo appearance of the M.E.B.A. Editor at this event. Don't expect them to be let down. Veteran partiers will attend the Boston and Baltimore functions then immediately head down to our hall in South Carolina the following day, December the 5th, where the Charleston meeting will graduate into full-blown holiday revelry. It'll be tight, but thanks to the three-hour time difference on the West Coast, Charleston merrymakers may still be able to take part in the Portland party that happens the same day after their own meeting. Perhaps attending both is too much to ask, but as consolation you can hit one of the two scheduled holiday shindigs on Thursday December 6. The holiday cheer at the New York and Norfolk Union halls will be legendary. Statisticians from the Guinness Book of World Records will be on hand to verify whether longstanding records for partying will be surpassed that day. After the breakneck pace of those first four days of fun, things get slow for a few days until Sunday, December 9 when members converge on the Honolulu Sailors' Home, in the same building as our Union hall, and hang loose in a blow-out that begins at 10 a.m. In Fort Lauderdale, Sherry Keefer will have a festive atmosphere all month long with cookies and snacks endangering the diets of local members.

Things get funky on Wednesday, December 12th at our Cleveland hall and that pattern will be repeated the following day in Oakland (Dec. 13th) when Bay area members demonstrate the proper way to celebrate the season as they make merry at the Union hall right after job call. Members and guests will again get to enjoy the M.E.B.A. Editor on Thursday, December 13th beginning at 3 p.m. That's when Headquarters rocks out the show - D.C. style. Get there early before Marco ingests all the food.

December 14th is a banner day around the M.E.B.A. world. That's when no less than six M.E.B.A. Union halls paint the town red. Unofficial sources are insisting that this unprecedented amount of concurrent festivities could create a new record high for 'number of M.E.B.A. members celebrating simultaneously.' Not much work will be getting done that day at our halls in Houston, Jacksonville, L.A. (Wilmington), New Orleans, Seattle and Tampa. The Wilmington party will be held in conjunction with our brothers and sisters of the MM&P. The more the merrier! In addition, the Plans Office will be hosting its end of the year affair that same day from 1-5 at a local restaurant in Baltimore. Whew! However, that day will prove to be the zenith of M.E.B.A. holiday revelry as the subsequent week hits the brakes on the frantic partying pace. From then on, there are only a few isolated outbursts of M.E.B.A. holiday revelry.

Members will turn up the heat in Juneau, Alaska on December 19th around 3:30 at the hall. This will double as a legislative reception that will surely draw many glamorous Alaskan politicians. Finally, on December 21st, the Calhoon School moves off campus for a night as staff and guests enjoy the season at a local restaurant. Members will then be released on their own recognizance enabling individual partying on their own time as the holiday season wraps up. Be safe! And just when members are getting the post-holiday blues, POID comes to the rescue with their oddly-timed holiday party in Denver to take place at a yet-undetermined date in January.

In all seriousness, these celebrations are an opportunity to get together, swap sea stories and thank our hardworking members and staff for another great year. Happy holidays!

COAST GUARD CENTRALIZES MARINER LICENSING PROGRAM
Next month, the National Maritime Center will move into a new specially designed credential-production facility in Martinsburg, WV. Since 2005, the NMC has been managing a project to consolidate the functions of 17 independently operating Regional Exam Centers (REC) into one credential-processing facility. The goal of this effort is to improve customer service, decrease credential processing time, and improve the consistency of Coast Guard products and services.

Mariners will continue to use the existing RECs in various ports across the nation for face-to-face customer service and to ensure their applications are ready for evaluation by the NMC. Once an application is accepted at an REC, it will be sent to the NMC for processing. The NMC will send issued credentials directly to mariners.

Captain Stalfort, the Commanding Officer of the NMC said, "We have huge opportunities to reengineer the credentialing process by embracing technology to improve customer service and reduce the time it takes for mariners to receive their credentials. One day mariners will be able to upgrade or renew their credentials on demand from any location in the world, much like you can access your bank account from an ATM or pay your taxes on line."

Centralizing has already made it possible for mariners to check the status of their credential application online via a Coast Guard website; http://homeport.uscg.mil/.  (From the home page, select Missions > Merchant Mariners > Merchant Mariner Application Status) A new toll free call center is also available (1-888-IASKNMC / 1-888-427-5662) to answer questions and provide information.

NEXT REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday, December 3 - Boston, Seattle;
Tuesday, December 4 - Baltimore, Houston, Jacksonville; San Francisco
Wednesday, December 5 - Calhoon School, Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, December 6 - L.A., New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, December 7 - Honolulu.

--------FINISHED WITH ENGINES---------