Basic Union Question. Did thread get flagged?

I was unaware of that. I thought AMO used to be MEBA district 2 and broke away to form the AMO.

They did. The BME merged with the MEBA in 1959 after the BMO (Brotherhood of Marine Officers) and NMU merger pushed the MEBA and MM&P towards the SIU. They then became MEBA district II AMO

When I was on ship docking tugs it was always dispiriting to me when the line handlers showed up in Caddies, Lincolns, Lexuses, and bungled their way into getting the eyes over the bollards.

Man that would be nice!

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MEBA is more expensive and has a DB pension plan which shows up as a liability on the contracted company’s balance sheet.

The paper they send us every year says it’s fully funded…of course those calculations are dependent upon the assumptions made by the actuary firm hired by the union. Everything was rosy in 2011 too…new administration, new actuary and all hell broke loose.

But even if it is fully funded, my understanding is that the companies view it as a financial albatross around their necks because in a DB plan they are on the hook for unknown future amounts that shows up as a negative figure on their balance sheet (just what I’ve been told). As opposed to a DC plan where once they make their contributions (be it as 401k match or MPB or whatever), then it’s off their books.

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