Posted:
February 12, 2013
National President
One of my most personally satisfying professional achievements as national president of American Maritime Officers since January 2007 was the easing of traditional tensions between our union and the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots under President Tim Brown, who retired in January after 21 years at the MM&P helm.
The strain between our union and the MM&P was linked to jurisdictional disputes that dated in some cases to the early 1960s. At the time, our union was known as District 2 Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association - one result of the 1955 merger between the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Ray McKay, president of District 2 MEBA, had launched Associated Maritime Officers as a deck division that competed aggressively and successfully with the MM&P to represent captains and mates in the U.S.-flagged deep-sea and Great Lakes fleets. Under the circumstances, there was little if any constructive conversation between McKay and MM&P President Thomas O'Callaghan.
McKay outlasted O'Callaghan in office, and the fierce rivalry continued under O'Callaghan's successor, Bob Lowen. Tim Brown, a U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate who had sailed on his Captain's ticket in the Sea-Land fleet, was elected to the MM&P presidency in 1991, and Ray McKay died in office two years later.
From that point, dialogue between American Maritime Officers and the MM&P was limited generally to how and when to apply the "tripartite agreement" among AMO, the MM&P and MEBA during competitive bidding by U.S.-flagged shipping companies for government contracts. Under the three-party pact - proposed and promoted by AMO - each of the three unions provides identical total licensed labor costs, thereby shifting the competitive pressure to the bidding employer companies.
When I became national president of AMO, I made it a point to speak with Tim Brown at every opportunity. I had by then come to know Tim as a gentleman and as an honorable competitor who, like me, wanted nothing more than to protect the lasting interests of our respective constituents at sea.
Tim and I had many interesting conversations about the U.S. shipping industry, the struggle for seagoing jobs, maritime policy and national politics, the American labor movement and other diverse topics. In time, we developed mutual understanding and respect without compromising our strong commitments to the men and women we were privileged to represent.
The same can be said of Tim's right-hand man, the late MM&P Secretary-Treasurer Glen Banks, a hawsepiper who served three terms before cancer claimed him in December 2010. Like Tim, Glen was bright, often blunt and always honest. I lost a good friend when Glen passed, but Tim Brown lost a friend, a brother, a confidant and a trusted advisor.
"After 21 years as 'Captain' of the MM&P ship, I salute the membership and prepare to 'hand over the conn' to a new administration," Tim Brown said in his recent farewell statement to the seagoing MM&P membership. "I felt it was time to allow others with new ideas to lead this great organization."
Tim's successor as president of the MM&P is Don Marcus, who Tim said has "the experience, the foresight and the drive to navigate our ship." I have known Don for a long time, but not as a professional counterpart. However, I have always taken Tim Brown firmly at his word, and I trust his judgment here - I will do everything I can to work well with Don Marcus on all matters of common interest.
Meanwhile, I congratulate Tim Brown at the end of his classy tenure as president of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, and I wish Tim and his family well in all they do.
As always, I welcome your comments and questions. Feel free to call me on my cell at 202-251-0349.
Wishing a good man well in a well-earned retirement
AMO National President Tom Bethel welcomes Tim Brown to a meeting of the AMO National Executive Board in February 2007. Brown recently retired after 21 years as president of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots.
By Tom BethelNational President
One of my most personally satisfying professional achievements as national president of American Maritime Officers since January 2007 was the easing of traditional tensions between our union and the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots under President Tim Brown, who retired in January after 21 years at the MM&P helm.
The strain between our union and the MM&P was linked to jurisdictional disputes that dated in some cases to the early 1960s. At the time, our union was known as District 2 Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association - one result of the 1955 merger between the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Ray McKay, president of District 2 MEBA, had launched Associated Maritime Officers as a deck division that competed aggressively and successfully with the MM&P to represent captains and mates in the U.S.-flagged deep-sea and Great Lakes fleets. Under the circumstances, there was little if any constructive conversation between McKay and MM&P President Thomas O'Callaghan.
McKay outlasted O'Callaghan in office, and the fierce rivalry continued under O'Callaghan's successor, Bob Lowen. Tim Brown, a U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate who had sailed on his Captain's ticket in the Sea-Land fleet, was elected to the MM&P presidency in 1991, and Ray McKay died in office two years later.
From that point, dialogue between American Maritime Officers and the MM&P was limited generally to how and when to apply the "tripartite agreement" among AMO, the MM&P and MEBA during competitive bidding by U.S.-flagged shipping companies for government contracts. Under the three-party pact - proposed and promoted by AMO - each of the three unions provides identical total licensed labor costs, thereby shifting the competitive pressure to the bidding employer companies.
When I became national president of AMO, I made it a point to speak with Tim Brown at every opportunity. I had by then come to know Tim as a gentleman and as an honorable competitor who, like me, wanted nothing more than to protect the lasting interests of our respective constituents at sea.
Tim and I had many interesting conversations about the U.S. shipping industry, the struggle for seagoing jobs, maritime policy and national politics, the American labor movement and other diverse topics. In time, we developed mutual understanding and respect without compromising our strong commitments to the men and women we were privileged to represent.
The same can be said of Tim's right-hand man, the late MM&P Secretary-Treasurer Glen Banks, a hawsepiper who served three terms before cancer claimed him in December 2010. Like Tim, Glen was bright, often blunt and always honest. I lost a good friend when Glen passed, but Tim Brown lost a friend, a brother, a confidant and a trusted advisor.
"After 21 years as 'Captain' of the MM&P ship, I salute the membership and prepare to 'hand over the conn' to a new administration," Tim Brown said in his recent farewell statement to the seagoing MM&P membership. "I felt it was time to allow others with new ideas to lead this great organization."
Tim's successor as president of the MM&P is Don Marcus, who Tim said has "the experience, the foresight and the drive to navigate our ship." I have known Don for a long time, but not as a professional counterpart. However, I have always taken Tim Brown firmly at his word, and I trust his judgment here - I will do everything I can to work well with Don Marcus on all matters of common interest.
Meanwhile, I congratulate Tim Brown at the end of his classy tenure as president of the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, and I wish Tim and his family well in all they do.
As always, I welcome your comments and questions. Feel free to call me on my cell at 202-251-0349.