Posted:
March 6, 2009
By Tom Bethel
National President
No other U.S. merchant marine officers' union can claim the lasting and significant success American Maritime Officers has had in Washington, where the fate and fortune of the U.S. merchant fleet are determined.
Our union stands prominently on this front because deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members have long understood the direct connection between practical politics and job and benefit security for all AMO families. Seagoing AMO members have known for generations that there is no work on any kind of vessel in any trade under the U.S. flag without broad bipartisan support for our industry in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.
These truths have inspired strong and steady membership participation for many years in the American Maritime Officers Voluntary Political Action Fund, which is used to support the increasingly expensive campaigns of House and Senate members known to value U.S. merchant vessels and American merchant mariners as indispensable to the national economy and to U.S. national security. The fund opens doors to our union on Capitol Hill and hastens valuable opportunities for AMO to make its case to lawmakers on matters of immediate concern to each and every one of us.
How well does the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund work for all AMO families? The recent record documents long-term achievements that sustained existing jobs in our union or created new employment:
In addition, AMO is enlisting the aid of key House and Senate members to overcome regulatory, bureaucratic and administrative obstacles that make it more and more difficult for AMO members to work at sea - including the U.S. Coast Guard's backlog of merchant mariner documents and licenses awaiting renewal.
None of this would be possible without the consistent and generous support deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members have shown for the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund.
The American Maritime Officers Voluntary Political Action Fund is managed and administered in such a sound way that our union gets the maximum bang for its buck:
AMO members who have questions or comments about the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund can call me on my cell at (202) 251-0349 or speak directly to Paul Doell or Phree Baker at our union's office in the capital at (202) 479-1166. The legislative staff's e-mail addresses are included in the AMO directory, which is available on the AMO Web site.
VPAF - what it does, how it works, why it matters
By Tom Bethel
National President
No other U.S. merchant marine officers' union can claim the lasting and significant success American Maritime Officers has had in Washington, where the fate and fortune of the U.S. merchant fleet are determined.
Our union stands prominently on this front because deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members have long understood the direct connection between practical politics and job and benefit security for all AMO families. Seagoing AMO members have known for generations that there is no work on any kind of vessel in any trade under the U.S. flag without broad bipartisan support for our industry in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.
These truths have inspired strong and steady membership participation for many years in the American Maritime Officers Voluntary Political Action Fund, which is used to support the increasingly expensive campaigns of House and Senate members known to value U.S. merchant vessels and American merchant mariners as indispensable to the national economy and to U.S. national security. The fund opens doors to our union on Capitol Hill and hastens valuable opportunities for AMO to make its case to lawmakers on matters of immediate concern to each and every one of us.
How well does the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund work for all AMO families? The recent record documents long-term achievements that sustained existing jobs in our union or created new employment:
- During Congressional consideration of what became the Maritime Security Act of 1996, AMO pressed successfully to open the legislation's Maritime Security Program to companies that had not participated in regulated liner trades under the predecessor Operating Differential Subsidy program, or ODS. Our effort resulted initially in new AMO jobs on four ships in liner service, a number that has since climbed to 14 vessels - not bad for a union that had never had a collective bargaining agreement with an ODS vessel operator. Each year since the Maritime Security Act of 1996 was signed into law, AMO has helped secure the necessary appropriation to fund the Maritime Security Program at the authorized level.
- AMO was a prominent force behind the 10-year renewal and expansion of the Maritime Security Program from 47 ships to 60 ships under a defense appropriations bill in 2003.
- AMO is already leading discussions on the future of the Maritime Security Program, which is scheduled under the authorizing law to expire in 2015.
- In the mid-1990s, when a coalition of powerful agribusiness, energy, chemical and manufacturing interests launched a fierce but ultimately failed effort to sink the Jones Act, AMO assumed an acknowledged lead in defending the venerable domestic shipping law - prompting the leader of the hostile coalition to call AMO headquarters at one point to vent frustration over the "heartburn" our union had caused him. But the more important result was that AMO jobs were saved on scores of coastal container vessels, Great Lakes bulk carriers and inland tugs and barges.
- AMO is an acknowledged leader in year-to-year defense of U.S.-flag cargo preference laws, which represent jobs for AMO members on ships carrying cargoes financed by the federal government.
- AMO remains the principal source of licensed engine and deck officers for military support services under Military Sealift Command and Maritime Administration charters funded through the defense budget.
In addition, AMO is enlisting the aid of key House and Senate members to overcome regulatory, bureaucratic and administrative obstacles that make it more and more difficult for AMO members to work at sea - including the U.S. Coast Guard's backlog of merchant mariner documents and licenses awaiting renewal.
None of this would be possible without the consistent and generous support deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members have shown for the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund.
The American Maritime Officers Voluntary Political Action Fund is managed and administered in such a sound way that our union gets the maximum bang for its buck:
- No AMO officials, representatives or employees receive salaries or other compensation from the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund.
- The AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund is held in an account separate from the union treasury and other accounts.
- Nearly all of the money paid into the fund by deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members is disbursed directly to House and Senate campaign accounts. The small remainder covers the cost of checks and auditing by an independent certified public accounting firm.
- Disbursements from the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund are driven only by the specific candidate's record on U.S. maritime policy issues or - in some cases - the candidate's leadership position. Party affiliation, political ideology and the agendas of other interests are not factors.
- In the interests of transparency and honest accounting, I have directed that the official AMO Web site include a link to the Federal Elections Commission Web site, where AMO members can track the money spent on their behalf.
AMO members who have questions or comments about the AMO Voluntary Political Action Fund can call me on my cell at (202) 251-0349 or speak directly to Paul Doell or Phree Baker at our union's office in the capital at (202) 479-1166. The legislative staff's e-mail addresses are included in the AMO directory, which is available on the AMO Web site.