Might be possible soon… rumor has it a certain individual at the top of MMP responsible for a lot of the contract failures and inability to work with the other union is considering stepping down (aka retire) rather than risk a loss in the next election.
MEBA and AMO are both run by younger guys now. MMP is still be dragged through the mud by an individual from an old generation that is stuck in his ways and whose time is long past.
MMP needs a new generational leader.
The I asked the sea, she said you’re unemployed, come back and sail 3/M at $580/day, we need you captain John. Hope you remember how to properly document in NS5 and edit a PDF.
Not so sure about way down, but from personal experience it should not be number 1.
I go to work/sea to get rest.
Is this a riddle? If i ask myself, I’m a money whore…hence why money isn’t ‘way down on my list.’ If I ask you? Let me tell you, if i was a woman, buzzed up and you fed me this poetic line of bs at a bar, the panties would be coming off. Bravo, cappy.
That should be plural. I can think of a few at the top who are in it for the title and paycheck more than for the good of the members.
Me personally, after reading that, I signed up for a Filipino seafaring union. I figure I’m tired of stressing about the Jones Act going away, and I don’t mind making many times less than an American OS although I have an unlimited license. Job security and love for the sea > pay. I was wrong this whole time, I’m now enlightened.
Don’t forget the expense account
Don’t forgot all the black tie galas and awards plaques and magazine write-ups.
Does the head of MMP still get an honorary VP slot in the AFL-CIO along with a very real full pension from the same along with the massive MMP pension and that nice free house across the lawn from MITAGS? I’d be slow to give that up too.
Better put a stop to that! Don’t want the top union officials getting the notion they are the social equals of the people they’re negotiating with. Maybe the commoners need a pay cut as well least they start getting ideas above their station. 
The solution is simple: pay off the obstructionist union boss thugs and slugs with very generous retirement packages and new mansions someplace far away.
Choose new union administrators that are committed in good faith to trying to merge the unions, and stop the race to the bottom.
The thing that makes the longshoremen’s unions so effective is that they have no competition.They can slow down or shut down an entire port, or any entire coast. Shipowners and carriers have nowhere else to turn. This is how 8th grade dropouts can make $200,000 a year plus benefits.
Hmm yess, the poors 
…I mean dues paying members.
These people need to take an actual leadership in pushing forward maritime policy, not just letter writing to congressmen.
Explain, because available pay scales for ILW workers don’t come close to $200,000/yr. At any rate the average CEO pay is 14 million dollars a year. So which is overpaid? If the ILW can get money out of these greedy CEOs, more power to them. I have no love for either but the ILW in my opinion is the slightly less of the two
Take a look at what the ILWU longshoremen are making in Anchorage. Remember to include overtime.
I believe different ports have different pay scales…but longshoremen in LA/LB be it from the bottom up to a crane operator can make anywhere from 90k to well over 200k depending on how ambitious/hungry they want to be.
The parking lot in Port Newark is full of enormous lifted trucks, muscle cars and luxury vehicles. Waiting for an Uber I’ve seen lashers and straddler operators hopping in and roaring off.
On more than one occasion I told the shipmate next to me “they’re home every night too and have to murder someone to get fired… I picked the wrong end of the biz.”
They also occasionally have to murder someone to get the gig…
We work 21/21 and I’ve had guys go shoreside for a year and beg to come back. IF you are going to be successful shoreside you will work 60 hrs a week EVERY week! When I’m home I’m off 24/7. I was ALWAYS the field trip dad when I was home, because EVERY other dad had to work all week every week. Yes we miss some events, but all tolled I know I spent more time with my kids at school functions and events than the working stiffs did.
But you’ll get to sleep at home each night if that is any consolation!
The guys at MMP inland do have the same health benefits as the MMP Offshore guys. Most inland companies are not part of the pension though. But I think 10% of my base income to an IRAP, without having to contribute a thing, might be better than MMPs offshore pension in the long run. That’s an extra 10k+ a year that goes strait to a retirement account and doesn’t come out of my paycheck. That’s at Crowley on their MMP ATBs. At Weeks Marine it was 7.75% to the IRAP, still damn good.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate here. No disrespect intended.
Times have changed, that 60hr a week number fully depends on where you work/what you do and is not the standard. Part of the benefits package for a job I was offered ashore is 40hrs paid time off per year, specifically to attend school events for your children.
The job is Mon-Fri, 0630-1500. Assuming 260 (national average days worked per year) 8hr days worked a year you’d be at work 2,080hrs in a year. Even on your 21/21 schedule working 183 days and excluding travel days, you will be at work and away from home 4,392hrs in a year (24hrs x 183days). This is over double the time you’ll spend at work, on average, if you work shoreside.
Now if you factor in 8hrs sleep and 8hrs off time for the working day stiffs during the 260 days they work, here’s what the time off comparison looks like:
Time off shore side, 105 days (weekends) x 16hrs = 1,680hrs in a year + 2,080hrs (8hr x 260days) = 3,760hrs in a year
Time off sailing 6 months accounting for 8hr sleep/day, 183 days x 16hrs = 2,928hrs in a year
The stiffs come out ahead by 832hrs. Sure I didn’t subtract time for things like commuting. But I’m already deeper down this hole than I wanted to be. At the end of the day if you like your stretches off and the separation from work, keep sailing. If you want to be home, be home.
Good luck with that! I hope it works out for you.