Posted:
October 2, 2008
By Tom Bethel
National President
We’ll have a lot to talk about during the upcoming American Maritime Officers area informational meetings, which will begin in Baltimore later this month. Each topic will be of direct and immediate importance to AMO members and their families, and will address issues with a lasting impact on our union.
In these unofficial and unrestricted settings, the developments we’ll discuss include:
The expansion of our union’s employment base, which has most recently been represented by the addition of the re-flagged tanker Maersk Michigan and the articulated tug/barge Galveston/Petrochem Producer to the AMO fleet.
We’ll also report on the AMO LNG manning program, which has resulted in the placement of additional AMO members in senior positions aboard liquefied natural gas tankers operated by Teekay Shipping Corp. and Shell Ship Management Limited.
Our union’s recent LNG and DL observation agreements—these new programs give AMO members the ability to sail as observers aboard tankers and LNG carriers to earn required endorsements. Last month, we signed the first independent AMO LNG observation agreement with BGT Limited, giving AMO members exclusive access to observer billets on two of the company’s LNG carriers. We also extended the AMO DL PIC observer program into the international tanker fleet through a new exclusive agreement with TORM, establishing observer billets for AMO members onboard TORM tankers.
The new agreements ensure AMO’s ability to supply qualified officers to our contracted companies and provide additional job opportunities for the AMO membership. We’ll address these programs and discuss agreements AMO is now negotiating with other companies to expand options and opportunities for the membership in this emerging extension of the union’s job base.
The union’s implementation of the online CHART program and integration of the ZeeBORN system—combined, these services provide the membership with a convenient method for providing important professional information and documents electronically.
A related subject will be our union’s continued employment aboard eight large medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ships under a new Military Sealift Command charter, and aboard eight fast sealift ships transferred from MSC charter to the Ready Reserve Force fleet overseen by the Maritime Administration in the Department of Transportation.
The increasingly difficult nature of competitive bidding by U.S.-flag vessel operators for government charters—these charters account for a majority AMO deep-sea jobs.
Employment opportunities in development for AMO members in commercial markets worldwide
AMO finances, properties and assets
Deep-sea contracts and collective bargaining
The AMO Medical, Pension, Vacation, Safety and Education and 401(k) Plans and the AMO Pension Plan Money Purchase Benefit—AMO Plans Executive Director Steve Nickerson and Larry Goldstock, the Smith Barney vice president who manages the AMO 401(k) Plan and MPB accounts of individual AMO members, will report in detail on the funds.
The AMO Coast Guard Legal Aid Program, explained completely by attorney Michael Reny
Federal regulations affecting AMO employment and related issues, discussed by Captain Mike Murphy, a seagoing AMO member now serving as our union’s government relations director in Washington, D.C.
This is only an outline. The agenda will be wide open in each meeting. There will be no time limit on open discussion. All questions raised by AMO members will be answered completely, and AMO officials and AMO Plans executives will be on hand each time for as long as it takes to address specific matters.
These AMO area membership meetings in East, Gulf and West Coast ports are a new tradition in our union. They are especially helpful to AMO members who cannot participate easily in regularly scheduled membership meetings at AMO headquarters in Dania Beach or at our Great Lakes base in Toledo, and they provide every AMO member the opportunity to speak up and speak out freely and comfortably.
These meetings promote honest dialogue and accurate understanding of what’s going on in American Maritime Officers, and I urge everyone to participate.
Job and benefit security issues to be in focus during area informational meetings
By Tom Bethel
National President
We’ll have a lot to talk about during the upcoming American Maritime Officers area informational meetings, which will begin in Baltimore later this month. Each topic will be of direct and immediate importance to AMO members and their families, and will address issues with a lasting impact on our union.
In these unofficial and unrestricted settings, the developments we’ll discuss include:
We’ll also report on the AMO LNG manning program, which has resulted in the placement of additional AMO members in senior positions aboard liquefied natural gas tankers operated by Teekay Shipping Corp. and Shell Ship Management Limited.
The new agreements ensure AMO’s ability to supply qualified officers to our contracted companies and provide additional job opportunities for the AMO membership. We’ll address these programs and discuss agreements AMO is now negotiating with other companies to expand options and opportunities for the membership in this emerging extension of the union’s job base.
This is only an outline. The agenda will be wide open in each meeting. There will be no time limit on open discussion. All questions raised by AMO members will be answered completely, and AMO officials and AMO Plans executives will be on hand each time for as long as it takes to address specific matters.
These AMO area membership meetings in East, Gulf and West Coast ports are a new tradition in our union. They are especially helpful to AMO members who cannot participate easily in regularly scheduled membership meetings at AMO headquarters in Dania Beach or at our Great Lakes base in Toledo, and they provide every AMO member the opportunity to speak up and speak out freely and comfortably.
These meetings promote honest dialogue and accurate understanding of what’s going on in American Maritime Officers, and I urge everyone to participate.