Recently joined AMO as LW (Looking For Work) and have been thinking about joining MMP to open more doors. Was just wondering what the current state of jobs are in each union for my rating.
I currently work at a Petroleum Terminal and with my current schedule I wouldn’t be able to get to a hall frequently. This job fell into my lap when I graduated from the Academy so I took it so I still need sea time/experience to build upon.
If I sign up with Boston MMP Union Hall, am I limited to only getting jobs from that union hall or could I go to NY or Charleston or Hawaii and sit there to look for jobs?
Should I stick with AMO and hound them or reach out to MMP and get to a union hall every chance I get?
MM&P is a national shipping card that you can take to any union hall in the country and bid on open jobs. You can pay them the opening initiation fee (I believe currently $450 or $500), register your shipping card as an applicant, and start building time on it. The key to catching ships in the MM&P in my opinion is to be at the hall every day for job call and then about thirty minutes after on the off chance a job goes “open board” from another port. The other is to not be picky about the jobs. If you have a PIC, I believe there are a couple tankers kicking around that are not exactly top level contracts, but jobs with sea time nevertheless.
You are going to need to get out of Boston though. That hall basically serves only one purpose and that is to service vacation applications and clearances for sea for members in the New England area. New York and Charleston are decent applicant halls.
I’m sure this will piss off a lot of people here, but I would join both as applicants and which ever one gets you a job first, go with that one.
If you can’t get to a hall every day it’ll be near impossible to get a job with MMP and as DamnYankee said, the Boston hall is a dead end. I know of applicants getting work out of Charleston.
AMO is much easier from a financial standpoint but if you’re not badgering them daily for a job you’re gonna be waiting just as long as you would at MM&P, maybe longer because the “list” isn’t exactly a list.
True, I guess it would be best to get my application in and let it age. With my work schedule I currently have Wednesday/Saturday/Sunday off so I was thinking every other week run over to the New York hall on a Sunday and sit in the hall Monday morning/afternoon till I have work later on at night. I’m located in SW CT so close to NY so might just be best to get a rental and air bnb and grind out what I can when I can.
That’s exactly what I’m looking for right now, sea time and experience.
I did manage to wiggle my way into a GL job as an AB with a fairly reputable company and somewhere I can build off of.
shhh no worries, that’s my current plan
Unions shouldn’t be surprised and I guess I’m “lucky” to not be locked into a union currently because I can open two doors.
New York and NJ same hall?
570 Broad Street, Suite 701
Newark, NJ 07102
AMO has been super easy to set up and everyone I know shipping out with them haven’t had problems, but with covid its been difficult to even get a “hi” from dispatchers before they say “nothing is available” just waiting for the automated machine one of these days…yikesss
Yeah AMO LW (Looking For Work) does seem to be a list and I don’t have access to their job board till I do ship out with them, as well as their classes.
So it’s nice to have this Terminal Job now but I’m doing my best to be optimistic and find a shipping job come spring.
