Posted:
April 13, 2010
By Tom Bethel
National President
I spend a lot of time taking phone calls and replying to e-mail from seagoing members of American Maritime Officers. Many of the conversations and much of the correspondence these days are about the AMO Pension Plan and the lingering nationwide retirement crisis, but the topics vary - as do the tone and the mood on either end. But, in each case, I'm confident that I answer questions completely and truthfully and address legitimate concerns fairly and candidly.
People outside of AMO sometimes ask me if it's worth pursuing these one-on-one contacts or if they interfere with my day-to-day responsibilities as national president of our union. I tell them that I wouldn't have it any other way, and that I can't do my job as effectively as possible if I don't talk to the men and women I represent.
The pension issue provides current confirmation of the value of open and direct communication. When it became apparent that the combined impact of a steep, stubborn recession, the collapse of investment markets in 2008 and the unreasonable requirements of a 2006 federal law would force the defined benefit AMO Pension Plan into 'critical' status, I let all deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members know immediately about the problem and our strategy to address it.
Over the next several months, AMO Plans Executive Director Steve Nickerson and I fielded hundreds of calls from AMO families, answering specific questions about specific circumstances and discussing our options. Steve, AMO Vice President at Large and AMO Pension Plan Trustee Mike Murphy and I visited scores of vessels on all coasts to explain the crisis, and we addressed it in every detail during regularly scheduled monthly AMO membership meetings. We distributed every possible bit of relevant and critical information as quickly as possible through every available forum - moving so fast at times that we had to follow-up with clarification or correction. We invited AMO members to participate as observers in quarterly meetings of the trustees of the AMO Pension Plan.
As alternating chairman and secretary of the joint union-employer AMO Plans Board of Trustees, I worked closely with Steve, the trustees and the pension professionals (actuaries, counsel and investment managers) to craft a rehabilitation strategy for the defined benefit fund as required by federal law and to prepare for the AMO Pension Plan's eventual replacement with individual defined contribution retirement accounts.
And we kept the seagoing AMO membership informed at every point along the way. As a result, everyone in our union understands this complex issue. There may not be universal agreement on what was done or why, but at least everyone has the facts necessary to make informed decisions. The consensus emerging April 1 was that we - my administration, Steve and his staff, the trustees and the professionals - had acted quickly, cooperatively and responsibly to ensure the greatest possible measure of retirement security for every AMO family under unprecedented and harmful circumstances.
This was a conspicuous departure from past practice institutionalized in AMO over many years under previous administrations. Had the pension crisis hit while my immediate predecessor held office, the problem would likely have been left to the actuaries and attorneys to solve, and the outcome would likely have been an indefinite slog through the Pension Protection Act's 'red zone' and continued reliance on a defined benefit retirement plan destined only for real, relentless risk and crushing cost that would threaten the competitive positions of AMO employers - and AMO members would likely have known little or nothing about it.
In this context, honest dialog has helped us - the AMO administration and the seagoing AMO membership together - restore our union's image, reputation and credibility after too long and too dark a time.
When my administration assumed office in January 2007, we resolved not to close ranks, but to open doors. We were determined to make our union known worldwide for its commitment to better communication, transparency and full disclosure, greater participatory democracy, lively debate and dissent without fear.
One of my first acts as national president of AMO was to meet individually in the spirit of reconciliation with two of the three seagoing AMO members who had been defeated but who had finished strongly as candidates for the highest office in the especially contentious and bitter 2006 AMO election (a third unsuccessful candidate for national president declined my invitation to meet). Each of us learned that the divide between us was not nearly as wide as many had thought; we learned that there were common interests and beliefs, and that we could trust each other.
I opened our union further by encouraging AMO members to participate as observers in quarterly meetings of the AMO national executive board. This opportunity had long been provided for in the AMO National Constitution, but my administration was the first to put it into practice.
We began what is now a tradition - a policy I referred to as 'bringing meetings to the membership.' Acknowledging the difficulty many AMO members have attending the regularly scheduled monthly membership meetings in Dania Beach and Toledo, we take to the road at least once a year, scheduling informal meetings in key ports along the East, Gulf and West Coasts.
We reformed the way our union conducts its elections of officers and its policy referenda by making it easier for all AMO members in good standing to receive ballots - and to have their ballots count. We took election administration and balloting out of the hands of sitting AMO officials so that no one on the AMO payroll would ever again touch a ballot other than his or her own.
We let the seagoing AMO membership have the last word on important policy matters - streamlining and clarifying the AMO National Constitution and restructuring the AMO national executive board and the construction of our union's first-ever headquarters building - through two separate union-wide 90-day secret ballot votes. There were easier ways to accomplish both purposes, but the easy way is not always the right way.
We instituted a policy of rank & file participation on negotiating committees and in determining the application of annual Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) increases and annual Total Labor Cost (TLC) increases in AMO contracts.
We established strong policies governing ethics and professional standards, and we posted these policies on the official AMO Web site, along with the financial disclosure reports AMO and all unions are required to file each year with the U.S. Department of Labor. I know of no other labor organization that does that.
Today, AMO is a union renewed, with an image befitting its status as the nation's largest organization of licensed seagoing professionals. Ours is the only U.S. merchant marine officers' union positioned for new, sustainable growth.
AMO officials, representatives and employees are accessible, responsive and accountable to the men and women we represent. We believe in our work, and we believe in the people we do it for.
Is there room for further improvement? There always is, and I welcome suggestions from within the deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters fleets. Give me a call on my cell at 202-251-0349 and we'll talk about it.
The proven value of open communication in AMO
By Tom Bethel
National President
I spend a lot of time taking phone calls and replying to e-mail from seagoing members of American Maritime Officers. Many of the conversations and much of the correspondence these days are about the AMO Pension Plan and the lingering nationwide retirement crisis, but the topics vary - as do the tone and the mood on either end. But, in each case, I'm confident that I answer questions completely and truthfully and address legitimate concerns fairly and candidly.
People outside of AMO sometimes ask me if it's worth pursuing these one-on-one contacts or if they interfere with my day-to-day responsibilities as national president of our union. I tell them that I wouldn't have it any other way, and that I can't do my job as effectively as possible if I don't talk to the men and women I represent.
The pension issue provides current confirmation of the value of open and direct communication. When it became apparent that the combined impact of a steep, stubborn recession, the collapse of investment markets in 2008 and the unreasonable requirements of a 2006 federal law would force the defined benefit AMO Pension Plan into 'critical' status, I let all deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO members know immediately about the problem and our strategy to address it.
Over the next several months, AMO Plans Executive Director Steve Nickerson and I fielded hundreds of calls from AMO families, answering specific questions about specific circumstances and discussing our options. Steve, AMO Vice President at Large and AMO Pension Plan Trustee Mike Murphy and I visited scores of vessels on all coasts to explain the crisis, and we addressed it in every detail during regularly scheduled monthly AMO membership meetings. We distributed every possible bit of relevant and critical information as quickly as possible through every available forum - moving so fast at times that we had to follow-up with clarification or correction. We invited AMO members to participate as observers in quarterly meetings of the trustees of the AMO Pension Plan.
As alternating chairman and secretary of the joint union-employer AMO Plans Board of Trustees, I worked closely with Steve, the trustees and the pension professionals (actuaries, counsel and investment managers) to craft a rehabilitation strategy for the defined benefit fund as required by federal law and to prepare for the AMO Pension Plan's eventual replacement with individual defined contribution retirement accounts.
And we kept the seagoing AMO membership informed at every point along the way. As a result, everyone in our union understands this complex issue. There may not be universal agreement on what was done or why, but at least everyone has the facts necessary to make informed decisions. The consensus emerging April 1 was that we - my administration, Steve and his staff, the trustees and the professionals - had acted quickly, cooperatively and responsibly to ensure the greatest possible measure of retirement security for every AMO family under unprecedented and harmful circumstances.
This was a conspicuous departure from past practice institutionalized in AMO over many years under previous administrations. Had the pension crisis hit while my immediate predecessor held office, the problem would likely have been left to the actuaries and attorneys to solve, and the outcome would likely have been an indefinite slog through the Pension Protection Act's 'red zone' and continued reliance on a defined benefit retirement plan destined only for real, relentless risk and crushing cost that would threaten the competitive positions of AMO employers - and AMO members would likely have known little or nothing about it.
In this context, honest dialog has helped us - the AMO administration and the seagoing AMO membership together - restore our union's image, reputation and credibility after too long and too dark a time.
When my administration assumed office in January 2007, we resolved not to close ranks, but to open doors. We were determined to make our union known worldwide for its commitment to better communication, transparency and full disclosure, greater participatory democracy, lively debate and dissent without fear.
One of my first acts as national president of AMO was to meet individually in the spirit of reconciliation with two of the three seagoing AMO members who had been defeated but who had finished strongly as candidates for the highest office in the especially contentious and bitter 2006 AMO election (a third unsuccessful candidate for national president declined my invitation to meet). Each of us learned that the divide between us was not nearly as wide as many had thought; we learned that there were common interests and beliefs, and that we could trust each other.
I opened our union further by encouraging AMO members to participate as observers in quarterly meetings of the AMO national executive board. This opportunity had long been provided for in the AMO National Constitution, but my administration was the first to put it into practice.
We began what is now a tradition - a policy I referred to as 'bringing meetings to the membership.' Acknowledging the difficulty many AMO members have attending the regularly scheduled monthly membership meetings in Dania Beach and Toledo, we take to the road at least once a year, scheduling informal meetings in key ports along the East, Gulf and West Coasts.
We reformed the way our union conducts its elections of officers and its policy referenda by making it easier for all AMO members in good standing to receive ballots - and to have their ballots count. We took election administration and balloting out of the hands of sitting AMO officials so that no one on the AMO payroll would ever again touch a ballot other than his or her own.
We let the seagoing AMO membership have the last word on important policy matters - streamlining and clarifying the AMO National Constitution and restructuring the AMO national executive board and the construction of our union's first-ever headquarters building - through two separate union-wide 90-day secret ballot votes. There were easier ways to accomplish both purposes, but the easy way is not always the right way.
We instituted a policy of rank & file participation on negotiating committees and in determining the application of annual Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) increases and annual Total Labor Cost (TLC) increases in AMO contracts.
We established strong policies governing ethics and professional standards, and we posted these policies on the official AMO Web site, along with the financial disclosure reports AMO and all unions are required to file each year with the U.S. Department of Labor. I know of no other labor organization that does that.
Today, AMO is a union renewed, with an image befitting its status as the nation's largest organization of licensed seagoing professionals. Ours is the only U.S. merchant marine officers' union positioned for new, sustainable growth.
AMO officials, representatives and employees are accessible, responsive and accountable to the men and women we represent. We believe in our work, and we believe in the people we do it for.
Is there room for further improvement? There always is, and I welcome suggestions from within the deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters fleets. Give me a call on my cell at 202-251-0349 and we'll talk about it.