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

MEBA TELEX TIMES           AUGUST 15, 2008

The Official Union Newsletter

NUMBER 33

In this issue...
Corcoran memorial fundraiser set...Seattle hall moving... MarAd/TRANSCOM pact on RRF ships...TWIC news... 10-9-8...Cleared for launch, we shoot for the moon and deliver a full payload of maritime items in an astronomical, planet-sized edition. Don't crash back to earth with 'pain in the asteroid' competitors who aren't exactly rocket scientists! Light years ahead of them, we make those space cadets see stars as we shuttle you through an intergalactic news trek at warp speed. We have lift-off! Out-of-this-world, the Telex Times will send you into orbit!

CORCORAN MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT IS SET FOR SEPT. 19
M.E.B.A. members will be supporting a fallen brother in September for the 7th annual Jay Corcoran Memorial Golf Tournament. Jay was a popular M.E.B.A. member for 22 years who sailed out of the West Coast. On September 11, 2001, he was on his way back to catch his ship, the APL THAILAND, when his airplane was hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. Since then, a memorial golf tournament has been set up in his name to benefit Norwell, Massachusetts high school students. Norwell was Jay's hometown. The Foundation has awarded $200,000 in grants over the last seven years. This year's tournament takes place on September 19th at Bay Pointe Country Club in Onset, Massachusetts. You can sign up for the tournament and/or attend the dinner that evening. Members can also sponsor golf holes for the tournament at $100 apiece. To help support the event, organizers are asking for donations of goods or services for the raffle and silent auction that evening. The Jay Corcoran Memorial Scholarship Foundation is a non-profit organization, and donations are tax deductible.

Checks should be made payable to the Jay Corcoran Memorial Scholarship Foundation and mailed to Tom Piepenbrink, 46 Higgins Rd., Kingston, MA 02364. For more information call Tom at (781) 585-2667, Rick Lundstedt at (781) 585-3318 or M.E.B.A. Boston Union hall Rep. Bill Campbell at (617) 261-2338. Bill can be e-mailed at wcampbell@d1meba.org.

SEATTLE HALL MOVING TO NEW LOCATION NEARBY
As a cost-saving measure, the Seattle Union hall is relocating to a new space - just across the park - within the next three weeks. Branch Agent Karol Kingery noted that the new two-story building, which will house the Plans office on the first floor and the hall on the second, is located in the hopping industrial Georgetown neighborhood with plenty of businesses and good restaurants nearby including Stellar Pizza next door.

The move-in date hasn't been finalized but it appears that they will be up and running by early September. We'll keep you informed. The new address will be: 5527 Airport Way South, Suite 101, Seattle, WA 98108.

The phone and fax numbers as well as e-mail addresses will remain the same.

MARAD/TRANSCOM PACT ON USE OF RRF FOR CIVIL EMERGENCIES
The Maritime Administration has announced that it has signed an agreement with the U.S. Transportation Command to use National Defense Reserve Fleet ships, particularly the Ready Reserve Force, to support government response to civil emergencies at home, as well as for defense sealift and humanitarian response overseas.

The agreement was signed by Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton and former TRANSCOM boss Gen. Norton Schwartz shortly before he turned the agency reins over to Gen Duncan McNabb. The pact formalizes using the ships in ways that have already been tested under emergency conditions. During the hurricane season of 2005 in Beaumont, Texas, emergency vehicles and equipment were driven on board the M.E.B.A.-crewed CAPE VICTORY and CAPE VINCENT (Keystone Shipping), which were used as shelter from the storm. When Hurricane Rita subsided, the equipment was retrieved and utilized to respond to local emergencies. Other RRF ships provided food and shelter for recovery workers and first responders on the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The new agreement details the procedures the agencies will use for civil contingencies and national disasters such as the safe storage of emergency vehicles, providing fuel for local emergency services, or berthing and feeding of first responders.

EARLY TWIC START DATES FOR COTP ZONES SUMMARIZED
Over the past several weeks, the Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration have announced early Transportation Worker Identification Credential program compliance dates for owners and operators of facilities located within certain Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) Zones. With the exception of workers within these zones, all Coast Guard-credentialed mariners with an active Merchant Mariner's Document (MMD), License, and/or Certificate of Registry (COR), with or without an STCW endorsement, must hold a valid TWIC by April 15, 2009 in order to maintain their mariner credentials. Failure to obtain and continue to hold a valid TWIC may result in suspension or revocation of your marine credentials. After April 15, 2009, the Coast Guard will not issue a merchant mariner credential to an applicant who does not hold a valid TWIC.

Workers in over 40 COTP zones are facing earlier compliance dates that must be met to allow unescorted access. TSA and Coast Guard will place COTP specifics for related ports in the Federal Register 90 days in advance. So far, the phased-in COTP zone compliance schedule is as follows:

- October 15, 2008: Northern New England; Boston; Southeastern New England.

- October 31, 2008: Buffalo; Duluth; Detroit; Lake Michigan; Sault Ste. Marie.

- November 28, 2008: Corpus Christi; Port Arthur; North Carolina; Cape Fear River.

- December 1, 2008: Long Island Sound; Charleston; Savannah; Jacksonville; Baltimore; Delaware Bay; Mobile; Pittsburgh; Ohio Valley; Lower Mississippi River; San Diego; Hampton Roads; Morgan City; New Orleans; Upper Mississippi River; Miami; Key West; St. Petersburg.

- February 2009: Honolulu; South East Alaska; Prince William Sound; Western Alaska; Puget Sound; Portland, OR; San Francisco Bay.

- March-April 2009: New York; Guam; Houston/Galveston; Los Angeles/Long Beach; San Juan.

As our members know, to apply for a TWIC, you must first enroll at any TWIC enrollment center. Pre-enrollment through the TSA website, www.tsa.gov/twic, will expedite processing time at the center. You will need to pick up your TWIC, after being notified that it is ready, at the same enrollment center where you applied. In order to ensure the information on your TWIC application is forwarded to the U.S. Coast Guard for the processing of your merchant mariner credential application, you must identify yourself as a mariner at the TWIC enrollment center. You must also provide proof of citizenship and/or alien status and your Social Security Number. So far, at least 474,554 transportation workers have pre-enrolled for their cards with 431,737 fully enrolled. 253,336 cards have been issued to date.

Houston just recently opened a second TWIC enrollment center, both of which are within five minutes of our Houston Union hall. If you would like to see which TWIC Enrollment Centers have been opened lately visit www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/twicquarterlydeploymentschedule.pdf. To get enrollment center addresses go to http://twicinformation.tsa.dhs.gov/twicinfo/schedule.jsp.  If you would like to check the status of your TWIC or schedule a pick up go to https://twicprogram.tsa.dhs.gov/TWICWebApp/StatusCheckPrep.do.

MARAD SHIPPING ADVISORY NEAR GEORGIA
The Maritime Administration has issued an advisory following the recent outbreak of hostilities between the countries of Georgia and Russia. A travel warning issued by the State Department earlier this week updates information on the armed conflict in South Ossetia. MarAd advises vessel operators to check the current warning status from the State Department, task force 1, telephone (202) 647-6611, or email taskforce-1@state.gov, before approaching seaports in Georgia. For further information regarding the advisory, contact Owen Doherty, Maritime Administration, Office of Security, Code: MAR-420, Room W23-312, 1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20590, Telephone (202) 366-1883, Fax: (202) 366-3954 or email owen.doherty@dot.gov.

M .O. NEEDS WORKING PIX
The Marine Officer needs your photos of life aboard ship and especially of our members hard at work. The last two Marine Officers featured members from the ALLIANCE ST. LOUIS and the ENERGY ENTERPRISE splashed on the cover. Since then, the attention these members have received from their shining moments has tempted many a Hollywood producer and fashion magazine editor to consider them for additional model work. So far nobody has called. However, it still would be a great idea to snap a few photos of M.E.B.A. members at work and send them off to the Editor at Headquarters. Digital photos can be e-mailed to editor@d1meba.org.  Make sure you take them at the highest resolution your camera can support. Regular photographs can be mailed to: M.E.B.A. Marine Officer, 444 North Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington D.C. 20001. In all cases, make sure you I.D. the vessel and people in the photo.

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday, September 8 - Boston, Jacksonville, Seattle;
Tuesday, September 9 - Baltimore, Houston, San Francisco;
Wednesday, September 10 - Calhoon School, Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, September 11 - L.A., New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, September 12 - Honolulu.

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