AMO marks 73rd anniversary

Today, May 12, marks the 73rd anniversary of the union we now know as American Maritime Officers.

Maritime labor legend Paul Hall - Atlantic Coast Vice President of the Seafarers International Union of North America in the American Federation of Labor in 1949 - chartered our union as the Brotherhood of Marine Engineers with the help of a handful of World War II merchant marine veterans. The new union operated as an SIUNA affiliate out of the SIU hall on Beaver Street in New York City and eventually moved its headquarters to Brooklyn.

When the AFL and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged in 1955, the BME became Great Lakes Local 101 of the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, expanding its operation to include organizing and representation of engineers and mates in the Great Lakes "Steel Trust" fleets and with independent bulk cargo carriers.

The BME's first Executive Board in 1955 was composed of President Wilbur Dickey, Vice Presidents Raymond "Red" McKay and John Regan, Treasurer Raymond Doell and Executive Board Members William Verwilt, Leon "Lee" Berlage and Gordon Small. All were U.S. Coast Guard licensed marine engineers.

By 1960, the union's name had been changed to District 2 MEBA-Associated Maritime Officers. In a union-wide referendum in 1994, District 2 MEBA-AMO members voted to sever the tie to the Marine Engineers and rename the union American Maritime Officers. AMO reaffiliated with the SIUNA on November 7, 2003.