AMO set for return of monthly membership meetings
By Paul Doell
National President
We're fast approaching November 8 - the 61st Anniversary of the election of John F. Kennedy as President of the United States and National Cappuccino Day 2021.
At some level of real significance in between, November 8 this year marks the return of live, on-site regularly scheduled monthly membership meetings at Headquarters here in Dania Beach, Florida.
As we all know too well, the national health emergency declared at the advent of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 caused the AMO Executive Board to cancel the April 2020 meeting and each meeting since - an aggravating development linked to what federal and state physicians, virologists and epidemiologists referred to routinely as especially disturbing COVID-19 infection rates, hospitalization and death in Florida, despite state, county and municipal safeguards that included bans on gatherings of 10 or more. This summer's deadly surge in the COVID-19 Delta variant caseload made conditions even worse.
But now the crisis appears to have eased sufficiently to allow the return of our monthly meetings with minimal risk. On October 9, the State of Florida reported the lowest level of new contagion since June, putting the statewide "positivity rate" at 4.8 percent - compared to 20.5 percent in mid-August. This rate on October 9 was 4.3 percent in Broward County, 5 percent in Palm Beach County to the North and 2.9 percent in Miami-Dade County to the South. A rate of five percent or below is said to be safe for large gatherings.
A very large gathering is what we anticipate here on November 8, and the agenda will include open, honest and lengthy discussion centered on the politically polarizing and most vexing matter of the day - COVID-19 vaccination mandates imposed through both a White House Executive Order covering all federal government employees and all private sector personnel working under government contracts, including those awarded by Military Sealift Command and the Maritime Administration - and an arbitrator's ruling against the Seafarers International Union, which sought to thwart plans by nine employer companies to require inoculation of all vessel officers and crews in all government and commercial trades as a condition of continued employment.
But the agenda will also cover important ongoing AMO business and new developments - including a proposed amendment to the AMO Constitution to allow electronic voting by all deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members on major policy initiatives.
In June 2020, the AMO Executive Board invoked the Savings Clause of the AMO Constitution to set online voting to allow membership ratification of the Trial Committee findings in seven internal impeachment cases - the only practical way to meet the ratification mandate in Article XXIII of our union's governing document in the absence of a membership meeting.
On June 30, Federal Court for the Southern District of Florida upheld the online voting procedure without knowing the outcome and the decision to cancel the June 7 membership meeting as both appropriate and fair under the unusual, unprecedented circumstances.
This electronic voting was well received by the AMO membership as a further administrative commitment to democratic principle, and it will be written into the AMO Constitution as a permanent practice.
In addition, the November 8 meeting agenda will include official reports on this year's important developments in the Pasha Hawaii fleet and others, contract negotiations, AMO's participation in MARAD's "Turbo Activation" of 49 stand-by strategic sealift ships, other defense shipping issues, new and disturbing allegations of sexual abuse of U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and state maritime academy cadets at sea and on campus, and the financial states of AMO and AMO Plans.
Our union's vessel boarding reps will report on their work and on the topics raised most often by AMO members during onboard conversation.
Legislative developments - the Jones Act, cargo preference law enforcement, the tanker and cable security fleet initiatives modeled after the demonstrably successful Maritime Security Program, the construction of a second large lock to accommodate thousand-foot Great Lakes bulk carriers - will be covered as well.
Speaking of the Great Lakes, much time will be devoted to the increasingly scandalous situation involving American Steamship Co. - a major Great Lakes employer of AMO engineers and mates for many years - under ownership since May 2020 by Rand Logistics Inc., an outfit known more for bankruptcy, poor management and failed market analysis, relentless debt and one-man rule than for safe, efficient service.
November 8 will be a long but ultimately informative and mutually rewarding day, a time to vent and verify, and we on the AMO Executive Board look forward to seeing you and talking with you.