Let True Ballot be warned. Any shenanigans with this election will not be tolerated. I believe the Dept. of Labor will be all over this one if it goes south. Let us all keep our fingers crossed.
[QUOTE=jolly;22968]Our system is not made to suit working class needs. Its so obvious, that even mentioning this on forum, can be considered as spamming.[/QUOTE]
I hear you brother…the working seaman or officer has gotten the shiv from the shipowning companies now for almost three decades and that hasn’t been helped by the AMO who has been a handmaiden to those shipowners. Ask yourself how many new maritime companies have signed contracts with the MMP/MEBA and how many have contracts with the AMO? It is more than clear that the AMO up till now has pimped their members out to the shipowners and the “union management” class has pocket hansomely in the process.
I was in the D2-MEBA in the 80’s and saw then what they were and would not support the racket they were running. Does anybody here remember Bill Powers! If I had played along, I would have had my 20 years and pension now but couldn’t just keep my head down and mouth shut like so many others did. Did that cost me in the end? Hell yes it did, but inside I know I was right calling them what they were then and that is why I am very strongly behind Capt. Jack Hearn right now. If he wins, I will sign up to become a member of the AMO again even if I won’t qualify for a pension by the time I retire. Hell, as I am going I am not going to get a pension so what have I got to lose?
[QUOTE=c.captain;44400]I hear you brother…the working seaman or officer has gotten the shiv from the shipowning companies now for almost three decades and that hasn’t been helped by the AMO who has been a handmaiden to those shipowners. Ask yourself how many new maritime companies have signed contracts with the MMP/MEBA and how many have contracts with the AMO? It is more than clear that the AMO up till now has pimped their members out to the shipowners and the “union management” class has pocket hansomely in the process.
I was in the D2-MEBA in the 80’s and saw then what they were and would not support the racket they were running. Does anybody here remember Bill Powers! If I had played along, I would have had my 20 years and pension now but couldn’t just keep my head down and mouth shut like so many others did. Did that cost me in the end? Hell yes it did, but inside I know I was right calling them what they were then and that is why I am very strongly behind Capt. Jack Hearn right now. If he wins, I will sign up to become a member of the AMO again even if I won’t qualify for a pension by the time I retire. Hell, as I am going I am not going to get a pension so what have I got to lose?[/QUOTE]
As a old school union man I never thought of AMO as a union, they were more like an employment agency. The MEBA used to have some serious balls but even theirs have shrunk in the last twenty years. If the US Merchant Marine is going to survive there is going to have to be a combination of ALL the unions so that they present a united voice with the money to hire lobbyists to get the job done for the working man. Sadly, I don’t see the young folks [people less than 50 years of age] with the guts to fight like our brothers and those before us did. Thru the shenanigans of some of our own people, the well financed propaganda of the fat cats and the politicians they buy, organized labor became a dirty word.Historically employers don’t do any more for the employee than that mandated by law All workers forget or don’t realize that most of the rights and privileges they have now were fought and paid for [sometimes in blood] by unions in congress and the courts. But now the average mariner is scared to say union out loud so they stay on the plantation saying “yassuh boss” until the Chinese buy it and the owners retire to Grand Cayman.
Well it’s December 2nd…is the balloting over now?
Also for tengineer…truer words have rarely been spoken here…Amen to a brother merchant mariner!
thanks ,greate
Something is rotten in denmark!
[QUOTE=Kaiser Sosei;44627]Something is rotten in denmark![/QUOTE]
No, Denmark has fish and cheese, Dania has stuff that smells really bad.
Well, Anybody seen the new pension fund numbers? So much for the Bethel plan, they will never be fully funded, they are getting just enough to pay monthlys, with more guys going everyday.
This thread remains important. The trustees continue to redistribute AMO pension funds
according to their skewed rehabilitation plan.
The original post in this thread really nailed it. Now, nearly four years later, on AMO ships
the “buy out millionaires” are still laughing all the way to the bank, while their union
brothers are just “hoping their bodies hold out so they can get that used double wide
when they are 65”. This injustice, resulting from the pension redistribution, is
inexcusable, especially in a union.
The buyout recipients have a choice. Many have chosen to keep working, collecting a
second pension (having already received all of the first pension). Meanwhile, some of
their shipmates have no choice at all; they must spend all their remaining healthy years
at work, trying desperately to make up for the cuts to the first pension.
The rich still get richer, while, thanks to the trustees, the poor are getting cheated out of the
best years of their lives. They can’t ever get back those years.
It’s a betrayal. Union leaders are supposed to stand up for the rank and file, not just
for themselves and their cronies.
The loss of the eight big sealift ships will delay recovery even more.
I am amazed that with such a major issue as this facing the AMO membership the best that came forward for this election is Paul Doell and the incumbent (Whom Doell defended in this thread during the last election!) The union is BLEEDING membership, the people who should be there to replace the current leaders aboard ships…why? Because the Buy Out crowd continue to be allowed to maintain permanent jobs (Which are usually the Capt and CE positions) Change the shipping rules so that a person with a buyout must ship rotary or off the board thus allowing many other well experienced members to at least gain higher contribution rates based on higher base wages. Bethel seethes about the 20 and out crowd, too bad because there is NO incentive to stay beyond 20 years with the current contribution levels into the new retirement plan.
Mark my words…the bad news on the plans will start to surface after this election…stand by for lots of numbers in the red.
[QUOTE=mariner173;146528]…Change the shipping rules so that a person with a buyout must ship rotary or off the board thus allowing many other well experienced members to at least gain higher contribution rates based on higher base wages. Bethel seethes about the 20 and out crowd, too bad because there is NO incentive to stay beyond 20 years with the current contribution levels into the new retirement plan…[/QUOTE]
In light of the impending regime change, does anyone know Doell’s position on the buy-out vampires? As I’ve said before, this one issue fries my ass like none other.
i should probably figure out how to get my money out of their plan.
[QUOTE=Third Coast;149887]i should probably figure out how to get my money out of their plan.[/QUOTE]
you can’t…thousands have died trying but to no avail…
unless you are a buyout baby and then they hand you a briefcase filled with crisp, new Benjies…
i figured it was as good as gone.
[QUOTE=Third Coast;149892]i figured it was as good as gone.[/QUOTE]
sorry to be the bearer of bad news…I pray you don’t have too many years invested
Probably covers all the classes I took so no big deal
[QUOTE=c.captain;149890]you can’t…thousands have died trying but to no avail…
unless you are a buyout baby and then they hand you a briefcase filled with crisp, new Benjies…[/QUOTE]
Not saying’ where, not saying’ when, but it has already been done … In the interest of something that needed doing.
Now you just fire up the 501c3