Posted:
May 6, 2014
By Tom Bethel
National President
Recently, several members of American Maritime Officers who sail on the Great Lakes have expressed their concerns regarding AMO's future commitment to these vitally important trades. While this is a subject we as a union have been working on and talking about since 2011, I think now is a good time to review the changes that have taken place over the past few years and the decisions made that will soon be implemented, and to assure all AMO members working in every trade that our union's commitment to job and benefit security on the Great Lakes is greater today than it has been in many years.
In all of this, the first thing that must be acknowledged is very few of us like change, especially when change alters a set of personal or professional circumstances that have become both familiar and productive. It must also be acknowledged that clinging to familiar circumstances and practices - even those that have been productive - is usually insufficient to survive and prosper in a highly competitive environment.
The previous AMO administration did not like change, and particularly in our union's Great Lakes operation, became complacent. For years, AMO officials were content to take the easy road and make decisions that, while politically popular, did little or nothing to build or maintain productive working relationships with AMO-contracted operators or to safeguard the very strong position held by our union in the Great Lakes shipping industry.
This resistance to change, and the unwillingness to make difficult but necessary decisions, contributed to enabling the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association and Masters, Mates & Pilots to establish footholds in the Great Lakes trades. These unions used their footholds as starting blocks in a race to the bottom on the Lakes with substandard contracts covering the Interlake Steamship Company and Grand River Navigation Company fleets, respectively.
Their contracts with Interlake and Grand River had immediate and lasting negative impacts on AMO members, contracts and contracted operators, resulting in job losses, intense competition and reduced profits for the carriers.
Due in part to these relatively recent developments, and due in part to fundamental changes in shipping and industry on the Great Lakes over the course of decades, the number of AMO members actively sailing on the Lakes declined from a high of more than 2,000 to a low of less than 400.
Compounding the decline, and severely hampering any hope of recovery, was an antiquated seniority system, the time for and usefulness of which had passed. This system made it virtually impossible to attract young officers to the Great Lakes trades to sail with AMO-contracted companies. At one point, the average age of an AMO member sailing on the Lakes reached 59. And, unlike the union's deep-sea and inland waters divisions, AMO had no working relationships with our contracted companies on the Great Lakes.
We had arrived at a crossroads. As national president, I believed then as I do today that, unless our union completely changed the way we did business on the Lakes, AMO would be finished on the Lakes. Among other things, change would mean eliminating the seniority system, attracting young people to the Great Lakes trades, establishing relationships with our contracted companies and working to make them more competitive, and developing a downsizing plan to bring the finances and staffing of our office in Toledo into sustainable shape.
A different way of doing business
I am proud to say - with the support of AMO members on the Great Lakes, especially those working for American Steamship Company - AMO secured a contract that opened the way to accomplishment of many of these goals. It wasn't easy, not for anyone involved. The contract was the product of four months of on-and-off negotiations, and the negotiations were only made possible by the solidarity of the AMO membership during a brief strike that preceded the talks.
Our union's contract with ASC, the terms of which were adopted by our other major operators, changed the way AMO does business on the Lakes. Young people are once again signing on and sailing with our contracted companies, which are now in a stronger competitive position in all trades.
AMO's relationships with our contracted operators have improved immensely. Every AMO-contracted company from the Lakes has been to AMO Headquarters for a visit. These companies have scheduled officers' conferences at STAR Center, and have worked with the AMO Safety and Education Plan to schedule specific courses needed by the AMO members working in their fleets.
ASC and Key Lakes now invite AMO officials to attend their winter meetings and to conduct informational meetings with the AMO officers in attendance. This year alone, we met directly with more AMO members who sail on the Lakes than I can recall ever meeting with during any individual series of the informational meetings our union used to conduct throughout the Great Lakes region at great expense.
I understand the decisions that brought about this change in circumstances were not popular. But now that some time has passed and AMO members have had the opportunity to adjust and reflect on what has been accomplished, I am confident most can agree that these changes were necessary. Even so, I expect my approval rating with AMO members who sail on the Lakes is still about the same. As national president, I make decisions I believe will be best for our union based upon my 30 years of experience, regardless of whether or not I think the decisions will be popular.
A sustainable operation
Beginning in 2011, I have discussed and addressed the downsizing plan for the AMO office in Toledo in person and in writing many times. Among other things, the plan involved amending the AMO National Constitution to remove the Toledo office's status as a constitutional port and to eliminate the position of national vice president, Great Lakes, at the conclusion of the current term.
All members of the AMO National Executive Board - with the exception of AMO National Vice President, Great Lakes, John Clemons - supported these amendments, which were proposed and adopted in 2011 in accordance with the AMO National Constitution per Articles VI and XXV. The AMO National Constitution containing these amendments has since been directly distributed to the AMO membership several times.
The decision to remove Toledo's status as a constitutional port was long overdue. Failure to achieve a quorum at monthly membership meetings in Toledo was a regular occurrence, making it impossible to consistently conduct union business.
The decision to eliminate the position of national vice president, Great Lakes, was part of a larger downsizing plan, which included a total reduction of three AMO officials and two employees, as well as the transfer of one employee. The plan also involved the sale of two AMO properties in Toledo, Maritime II and the old dorm building. The three officials identified in the downsizing plan were AMO National Vice President, Great Lakes, John Clemons; Great Lakes Special Assistant to the National President Don Cree; and National Representative Stan Barnes. The two employees identified in the plan were Ernie Peters, maintenance at Maritime II, and Lori Bellaire, receptionist at Maritime I. As part of the plan, Maria Burgess was transferred to Dania Beach.
The reasons for this plan were simple and obvious. The AMO office in Toledo was operating at an annual deficit. The number of members being serviced by the office in Toledo had fallen dramatically, yet the staffing had not been reduced. Rather than focusing on securing our union's job base and building the membership in the Great Lakes trades, AMO has been devoting its resources to unnecessary overhead and meeting an excessive payroll.
I am pleased to report the downsizing plan is on schedule to be completed by the end of 2014.
Recent developments
On or about March 14, 2014, Great Lakes Dispatcher Bruce DeWerth informed me that he would be putting in for retirement in July. This was unexpected. I called John Clemons on March 24 and offered him the dispatcher's job, which would become his full-time position when he completed his current term in office. John turned down the job. Following John's decision, I offered the job to Michelle Moffitt, a long-time AMO employee in Toledo who currently works as an administrative assistant.
As a result of these unanticipated personnel changes, AMO will have sufficient funds in the budget to hire a national representative at the end of this year. As a courtesy, I offered John Clemons the job of AMO national representative. I explained he would receive the same wages and benefits he is receiving at the present time. Once again, John turned down the job.
As national president, under Article VIII Section 5 of the AMO National Constitution, I plan to designate Senior National Assistant Vice President Brian Krus as the AMO official in charge of our Great Lakes office in Toledo effective January 1, 2015. I believe Brian is the most qualified official and the best choice for this position. AMO will provide Brian and the Toledo office any support needed in terms of servicing AMO members on the Great Lakes and assisting with contract negotiations.
Going forward, AMO members who sail on the Lakes will still be able to file for vacation directly with the Toledo office. Michelle is training with Bruce to take over as Great Lakes dispatcher when he retires. And I have asked Brian to keep a lookout for a relatively young deck or engineering officer to serve in the position of AMO national representative on the Great Lakes.
Eyes on the future
While our union has been focusing on reform, we have also been working to build participation in the Great Lakes trades and acting to ensure the manpower needs of AMO-contracted operators on the Lakes are met in the present, and for years to come.
In January of 2013, I met with our contracted companies to address the shortage of Great Lakes pilots. Through a collaborative effort involving AMO officials and company representatives, a Pilot Trainee Program was developed to address the shortage. Through the program, each company will be able to recruit at least two graduating third mates from the Great Lakes Maritime Academy each year. The number of candidates can be increased or decreased as needed. While enrolled in the Pilot Trainee Program, each participant would be a permanent employee sailing ONLY as a relief third mate or as an extra mate (not assigned to a boat).
Additionally, the AMO Pension Plan's Board of Trustees has agreed to approve retired Great Lakes pilots to return to work in the event of a shortage.
In order to maintain an influx of new AMO officers to the Great Lakes trades, our union has stepped up its regular recruiting efforts at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, and we also plan to recruit three candidates each year from the school to participate in the Stipend Program for maritime academy cadets. AMO's Stipend Program provides for three students at each maritime academy to receive a monthly stipend beginning at the end of their second year of school. The cadets will receive $150 per month during their junior year and $200 per month during their senior year. Each cadet must commit to a minimum of three years in a regular sailing rotation as a member of AMO.
Through these initiatives, we are increasing the number of AMO members sailing on the Lakes, and the changes made to the way AMO does business have corrected the course on which our union had been sailing for too long - a course I believe would have led to the end of the AMO membership's participation in the Great Lakes trades.
We have set in motion the establishment of a sustainable operation in Toledo that will allow us to focus our resources on capitalizing on any new opportunities that may present themselves. This is an effective model our union can support going forward and build upon in the future.
Rather than a lack of interest in these important trades, AMO is intent upon thriving in the present circumstances of the Great Lakes shipping industry. Our union is making changes that demonstrate an enduring commitment to supporting the job base we have, continuing to secure the best wages and benefits possible with each contract, and sustaining the job and benefit security of all AMO members sailing on the Great Lakes, and in every trade.
As always, I welcome your questions and comments. Please feel free to call me on my cell phone at (202) 251-0349.
Our union's continued commitment to job, benefit security for AMO members on the Great Lakes
By Tom Bethel
National President
Recently, several members of American Maritime Officers who sail on the Great Lakes have expressed their concerns regarding AMO's future commitment to these vitally important trades. While this is a subject we as a union have been working on and talking about since 2011, I think now is a good time to review the changes that have taken place over the past few years and the decisions made that will soon be implemented, and to assure all AMO members working in every trade that our union's commitment to job and benefit security on the Great Lakes is greater today than it has been in many years.
In all of this, the first thing that must be acknowledged is very few of us like change, especially when change alters a set of personal or professional circumstances that have become both familiar and productive. It must also be acknowledged that clinging to familiar circumstances and practices - even those that have been productive - is usually insufficient to survive and prosper in a highly competitive environment.
The previous AMO administration did not like change, and particularly in our union's Great Lakes operation, became complacent. For years, AMO officials were content to take the easy road and make decisions that, while politically popular, did little or nothing to build or maintain productive working relationships with AMO-contracted operators or to safeguard the very strong position held by our union in the Great Lakes shipping industry.
This resistance to change, and the unwillingness to make difficult but necessary decisions, contributed to enabling the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association and Masters, Mates & Pilots to establish footholds in the Great Lakes trades. These unions used their footholds as starting blocks in a race to the bottom on the Lakes with substandard contracts covering the Interlake Steamship Company and Grand River Navigation Company fleets, respectively.
Their contracts with Interlake and Grand River had immediate and lasting negative impacts on AMO members, contracts and contracted operators, resulting in job losses, intense competition and reduced profits for the carriers.
Due in part to these relatively recent developments, and due in part to fundamental changes in shipping and industry on the Great Lakes over the course of decades, the number of AMO members actively sailing on the Lakes declined from a high of more than 2,000 to a low of less than 400.
Compounding the decline, and severely hampering any hope of recovery, was an antiquated seniority system, the time for and usefulness of which had passed. This system made it virtually impossible to attract young officers to the Great Lakes trades to sail with AMO-contracted companies. At one point, the average age of an AMO member sailing on the Lakes reached 59. And, unlike the union's deep-sea and inland waters divisions, AMO had no working relationships with our contracted companies on the Great Lakes.
We had arrived at a crossroads. As national president, I believed then as I do today that, unless our union completely changed the way we did business on the Lakes, AMO would be finished on the Lakes. Among other things, change would mean eliminating the seniority system, attracting young people to the Great Lakes trades, establishing relationships with our contracted companies and working to make them more competitive, and developing a downsizing plan to bring the finances and staffing of our office in Toledo into sustainable shape.
A different way of doing business
I am proud to say - with the support of AMO members on the Great Lakes, especially those working for American Steamship Company - AMO secured a contract that opened the way to accomplishment of many of these goals. It wasn't easy, not for anyone involved. The contract was the product of four months of on-and-off negotiations, and the negotiations were only made possible by the solidarity of the AMO membership during a brief strike that preceded the talks.
Our union's contract with ASC, the terms of which were adopted by our other major operators, changed the way AMO does business on the Lakes. Young people are once again signing on and sailing with our contracted companies, which are now in a stronger competitive position in all trades.
AMO's relationships with our contracted operators have improved immensely. Every AMO-contracted company from the Lakes has been to AMO Headquarters for a visit. These companies have scheduled officers' conferences at STAR Center, and have worked with the AMO Safety and Education Plan to schedule specific courses needed by the AMO members working in their fleets.
ASC and Key Lakes now invite AMO officials to attend their winter meetings and to conduct informational meetings with the AMO officers in attendance. This year alone, we met directly with more AMO members who sail on the Lakes than I can recall ever meeting with during any individual series of the informational meetings our union used to conduct throughout the Great Lakes region at great expense.
I understand the decisions that brought about this change in circumstances were not popular. But now that some time has passed and AMO members have had the opportunity to adjust and reflect on what has been accomplished, I am confident most can agree that these changes were necessary. Even so, I expect my approval rating with AMO members who sail on the Lakes is still about the same. As national president, I make decisions I believe will be best for our union based upon my 30 years of experience, regardless of whether or not I think the decisions will be popular.
A sustainable operation
Beginning in 2011, I have discussed and addressed the downsizing plan for the AMO office in Toledo in person and in writing many times. Among other things, the plan involved amending the AMO National Constitution to remove the Toledo office's status as a constitutional port and to eliminate the position of national vice president, Great Lakes, at the conclusion of the current term.
All members of the AMO National Executive Board - with the exception of AMO National Vice President, Great Lakes, John Clemons - supported these amendments, which were proposed and adopted in 2011 in accordance with the AMO National Constitution per Articles VI and XXV. The AMO National Constitution containing these amendments has since been directly distributed to the AMO membership several times.
The decision to remove Toledo's status as a constitutional port was long overdue. Failure to achieve a quorum at monthly membership meetings in Toledo was a regular occurrence, making it impossible to consistently conduct union business.
The decision to eliminate the position of national vice president, Great Lakes, was part of a larger downsizing plan, which included a total reduction of three AMO officials and two employees, as well as the transfer of one employee. The plan also involved the sale of two AMO properties in Toledo, Maritime II and the old dorm building. The three officials identified in the downsizing plan were AMO National Vice President, Great Lakes, John Clemons; Great Lakes Special Assistant to the National President Don Cree; and National Representative Stan Barnes. The two employees identified in the plan were Ernie Peters, maintenance at Maritime II, and Lori Bellaire, receptionist at Maritime I. As part of the plan, Maria Burgess was transferred to Dania Beach.
The reasons for this plan were simple and obvious. The AMO office in Toledo was operating at an annual deficit. The number of members being serviced by the office in Toledo had fallen dramatically, yet the staffing had not been reduced. Rather than focusing on securing our union's job base and building the membership in the Great Lakes trades, AMO has been devoting its resources to unnecessary overhead and meeting an excessive payroll.
I am pleased to report the downsizing plan is on schedule to be completed by the end of 2014.
Recent developments
On or about March 14, 2014, Great Lakes Dispatcher Bruce DeWerth informed me that he would be putting in for retirement in July. This was unexpected. I called John Clemons on March 24 and offered him the dispatcher's job, which would become his full-time position when he completed his current term in office. John turned down the job. Following John's decision, I offered the job to Michelle Moffitt, a long-time AMO employee in Toledo who currently works as an administrative assistant.
As a result of these unanticipated personnel changes, AMO will have sufficient funds in the budget to hire a national representative at the end of this year. As a courtesy, I offered John Clemons the job of AMO national representative. I explained he would receive the same wages and benefits he is receiving at the present time. Once again, John turned down the job.
As national president, under Article VIII Section 5 of the AMO National Constitution, I plan to designate Senior National Assistant Vice President Brian Krus as the AMO official in charge of our Great Lakes office in Toledo effective January 1, 2015. I believe Brian is the most qualified official and the best choice for this position. AMO will provide Brian and the Toledo office any support needed in terms of servicing AMO members on the Great Lakes and assisting with contract negotiations.
Going forward, AMO members who sail on the Lakes will still be able to file for vacation directly with the Toledo office. Michelle is training with Bruce to take over as Great Lakes dispatcher when he retires. And I have asked Brian to keep a lookout for a relatively young deck or engineering officer to serve in the position of AMO national representative on the Great Lakes.
Eyes on the future
While our union has been focusing on reform, we have also been working to build participation in the Great Lakes trades and acting to ensure the manpower needs of AMO-contracted operators on the Lakes are met in the present, and for years to come.
In January of 2013, I met with our contracted companies to address the shortage of Great Lakes pilots. Through a collaborative effort involving AMO officials and company representatives, a Pilot Trainee Program was developed to address the shortage. Through the program, each company will be able to recruit at least two graduating third mates from the Great Lakes Maritime Academy each year. The number of candidates can be increased or decreased as needed. While enrolled in the Pilot Trainee Program, each participant would be a permanent employee sailing ONLY as a relief third mate or as an extra mate (not assigned to a boat).
Additionally, the AMO Pension Plan's Board of Trustees has agreed to approve retired Great Lakes pilots to return to work in the event of a shortage.
In order to maintain an influx of new AMO officers to the Great Lakes trades, our union has stepped up its regular recruiting efforts at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, and we also plan to recruit three candidates each year from the school to participate in the Stipend Program for maritime academy cadets. AMO's Stipend Program provides for three students at each maritime academy to receive a monthly stipend beginning at the end of their second year of school. The cadets will receive $150 per month during their junior year and $200 per month during their senior year. Each cadet must commit to a minimum of three years in a regular sailing rotation as a member of AMO.
Through these initiatives, we are increasing the number of AMO members sailing on the Lakes, and the changes made to the way AMO does business have corrected the course on which our union had been sailing for too long - a course I believe would have led to the end of the AMO membership's participation in the Great Lakes trades.
We have set in motion the establishment of a sustainable operation in Toledo that will allow us to focus our resources on capitalizing on any new opportunities that may present themselves. This is an effective model our union can support going forward and build upon in the future.
Rather than a lack of interest in these important trades, AMO is intent upon thriving in the present circumstances of the Great Lakes shipping industry. Our union is making changes that demonstrate an enduring commitment to supporting the job base we have, continuing to secure the best wages and benefits possible with each contract, and sustaining the job and benefit security of all AMO members sailing on the Great Lakes, and in every trade.
As always, I welcome your questions and comments. Please feel free to call me on my cell phone at (202) 251-0349.