Key Challenges

•     Protect and Expand Our Job Base

•     Sound Financial Management

•     Secure long-term Pasha container vessel new- build contract - Offshore

•     Renew quality Moran Towing contract –

Atlantic Maritime Group

•     Secure “Watson Class” LMSR government contract – Offshore

•     Resolve Health & Benefit Plan contribution rate dispute with Grand River Navigation – United Inland Group – Great Lakes & Gulf Region

•     Secure ongoing funding for Alaska Marine Highway System – United Inland Group – Pacific Maritime Region

•     Resolve “Gangway-Up” injustice, Military Sealift Command CIVMARS – Federal Employees Membership Group

•     Secure long-term McAllister Towing contract, San Juan, Puerto Rico - United Inland Group– Great Lakes & Gulf Region

 Institutional Issues

AFL-CIO Charter: On August 21, 2020, on the eve of our MM&P Constitutional and 88th Conventions

MM&P received the most welcome news from Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, that our original AFL-CIO Charter was recognized. In his August 21 letter, President Trumka stated: “[t]he MM&P is now and has been since its disaffiliation from the ILA, a direct affiliate of the AFL-CIO.” Further, President Trumka stated: “I congratulate you and the members of the MM&P for your 104 years of affiliation with the AFL and AFL-CIO and thank you for your continued support for the house of labor.”

 This just decision is momentous for MM&P. It cements our rightful place in the house of labor and removes critical threats to our job base that impacted us through no fault of our own as a  result of our affiliation with the ILA. I cannot express the depth of my gratitude to President Trumka. Even more so, my deepest thanks go to the 93% of our voting membership that kept faith in our decision-making and  voted  to  authorize our disaffiliation from the ILA. This enables us to steer an independent course as a member of the AFL-CIO. With regards to our  relationship  with the ILA, my administration will make every effort  to restore the fraternal goodwill that existed for many years between our unions, but these restored relations will be on the basis of mutual respect and consideration.

 Union Treasury: On the financial front, the Union Treasury is strong, with over $16.4 million in total assets. However, on a cash-flow basis, expenses have exceeded revenues for several years running. This situation has been exacerbated by the high costs involved in integrating the Atlantic Maritime Group into MM&P, the loss of the Crowley Ship Escort and Response Vessel contract with the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. which impacted the United Inland Group – Pacific Maritime Region and the loss of investment income over the last year.

Further, the high costs of litigation occasioned by the clean-up of the Local 333 Annuity Fund legacy, lobbying efforts in Alaska and  contract  disputes with Pasha, Grand River Navigation and McAllister have caused a net outflow from the Union Treasury.

I am gratified to say that our new Secretary- Treasurer, Don Josberger, is doing an outstanding job husbanding our Union Treasury and carrying forward the exemplary standards established by our retired Brother Steve Werse.

Don stepped in during a very difficult period. His quick intelligence, relentless application of effort and realistic approach will serve us well for the future. Belt-tightening is called for at Headquarters and in our membership groups, particularly as the outcomes with several key contracts remain uncertain. Brother Josberger is  running  a  tight ship. He is determined to keep us on an even financial keel. During the last two years significant dues restructuring and/or adjustments have been approved by our members in the United Inland Group – Pacific Maritime Region, the Atlantic Maritime Group and the Federal Employees Membership Group. These changes have laid a strong foundation for our Union’s future. We owe great thanks to all of our members in these groups who voted to increase and/or restructure their dues and we ask for your continued support. Economic sustainability is essential for success.

Offshore Membership Group

The Offshore Membership Group remains MM&P’s main engine. This is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future. Every effort is being made to ensure our job base is maintained and expanded wherever possible. Since the last Union election in 2016, we have been successful on several fronts. While working aboard ship in COVID-19 pandemic conditions has to be the most difficult challenge in peacetime memory, our contracts with our major Offshore employers are solid.

A landmark contract was negotiated by Vice President Lars Turner and his negotiating committee with Matson two years ago. This agreement will finally bring that company back to   a single, top tier contract for all of its liner vessels. This outstanding achievement was accomplished with tremendous rank and file support and was  one of the most notable contract successes in recent memory. Similarly, Brother Turner and his committee, supported (as with Matson) by Coast Agent Jeremy Hope, delivered a fine result with American President Lines under difficult circumstances.

An outstanding negotiator, Vice President Turner has demonstrated his mettle for many years in just about every sector of our Union: organizing with Weeks Dredging, developing successful labor rates for the initial “Watson Class” LMSR award, jointly negotiating first  and/or  renewal  contracts for the Federal Employees Membership Group as well as the United Inland Group. He nailed down an excellent contract for the Matson shuttle vessel M/V Kamokuiki, and he has been steadfast in supporting the rights of our members in every contract negotiation and in every region in which he has been engaged.

Vice President Turner has also been a high- profile, effective representative for MM&P on many different fronts. Internationally, he works closely with the International Transport Workers’

Federation and the Nautilus Federation. Nationally, he represents the Union with elected officials in Washington state and at the local level in the  Seattle maritime labor community.

 Please support Lars Turner for Vice President - Pacific Ports: his ability, intelligence and work ethic are essential to our success now and in the future.

On the Atlantic Coast, MM&P is similarly blessed with an outstanding Vice President. Fresh from sailing as master aboard the M/V APL Gulf Express in the Persian Gulf, Brother Tom Larkin jumped from one fire into another. MM&P is fortunate that he decided to do so. Without missing a beat, Brother Larkin most capably picked up as Vice President- Atlantic Ports when Don Josberger assumed  his new responsibilities as Secretary-Treasurer. Tom has proven to be an outstanding leader. His recent experience as master, his dedication to our members and his detail-oriented, mature and inquiring mind make him an ideal addition to our team. He has done a thorough and meticulous job administering the Maersk Line contract and the Schuyler Line Navigation Company contracts, while weighing-in judiciously and effectively with our Hapag-Lloyd/Crowley pass-through arrangements with MEBA. Key on his agenda have been workload and training issues and he has been at the forefront of our efforts in dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on behalf of our members.

A strong, intelligent and expert ship’s master, Tom could not be a better fit for the position of Vice President - Atlantic Ports.

 Brother Tom Larkin is an outstanding Vice President and has earned the support of our membership. Please vote for Tom Larkin in 2020. He is an essential member of the MM&P team for the future.

Early in the current administration, MM&P secured    a critical agreement with Seacor Holdings. This took place during the highly contentious bankruptcy proceedings of International  Shipholding Corporation at a time when  both  Seacor  and Liberty Maritime sought to take over what was left of the company. This agreement, while painful with regard to several of its provisions, preserved MM&P jobs aboard eight vessels. These vessels are now operating under Seacor’s affiliated companies: Waterman Steamship Corporation and Seabulk.

These important contracts, our MARAD RRF contracts, our eight-ship “Watson Class” LMSR contract with Patriot Contract Services, and our Hapag-Lloyd “pass-through” agreement with MEBA have been administered by Vice President - Gulf  & Government Affairs Klaus Luhta. Vice President Luhta has also been charged with supporting MM&P’s efforts in regulatory matters in Washington, DC, with the Coast Guard as well as in London with the International Maritime Organization.

 As this is being written, there are two well- qualified and capable candidates from the current MM&P administration running for Vice President- Gulf & Government Affairs. In addition to Klaus Luhta, Coast Agent Jeremy Hope has thrown his hat into the ring. As I have pledged to both candidates, I am remaining neutral in this contest. Brothers Hope and Luhta both have established track records, proven abilities and are known to our Offshore members. Please support the candidate you believe will deliver the most for our Sisters and Brothers.

Jobs provide the fuel that powers our Union.  Our leadership team will continue to champion the preservation and expansion of our job base. Further, protecting the hard-earned benefits of our members into the future—pensioners and those actively sailing—is tied directly to the strength of our job base. Despite the instability of the current stock market and uncertainty about what may happen to it after the upcoming U.S. Presidential election, our defined benefit pension plans remain sound. The new Adjustable Pension Plan is fully funded and our frozen original Defined Benefit Pension Plan remains in the “Green Zone” as established under federal law. Barring a catastrophic crash or decimation of our job base, these plans will continue to provide us with the retirement security that all Offshore members have earned.

Our pension plans and our Health & Benefit Plan remain solid under the watchful eyes of our Union Trustees, including pensioner trustees Scott Putty and, most recently, Tim Lyons, who has taken over the reins from Paul Nielsen after Paul’s many years of forceful and uncompromising advocacy for our members.

The MATES Program and our flagship training  school MITAGS, along with MITAGS West in Seattle, have faced the most severe damage to date from   the COVID-19 pandemic. Glen Paine and his staff, with the able assistance of Secretary-Treasurer Don Josberger, have been working together to keep the school on an even keel. Classes have resumed on a reduced class-size basis, but the elimination of the Conference business at the school has necessitated drastic lay-offs of many long-time staff, union Brothers and Sisters and friends who have been familiar faces supporting our training mission.

 A great thanks is owed to Glen Paine and Patrick McCullough and the staff and management at both MITAGS and MM&P Plans, many of whom are our members, for their efforts in  continuing  to  serve our membership throughout the present crisis.

The same thanks are due, of course, to the staff  in our Union Halls and offices around the country, including at MM&P headquarters, for remaining at their posts and carrying on with their jobs ashore as our members have done afloat.