Seriously, why don’t the mariner unions ever dabble with strikes?
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cause “blah blah blah anit-strike clause in contract” etc etc. Or whatever.
More realistically, union bosses don’t give a shit about the contracts because it doesn’t affect them. And they get to expense the drinks.
Heard a great idea: each union boss should get paid based on the shittiest contract in his jurisdiction. You just signed a shitty contract with OSG? Enjoy the shit pay!
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I was at the transcom conference early this year and senior reps from each if the unions were talking.
I butted in and asked this very question
They literally laughed at me
But I wasn’t joking and told them
They didn’t have a good answer. I told them they could at least hold a meeting to discuss the possibility of future strikes. I think that would out them in a much better negotiating position than literally laughing at anyone who asks.
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And do forget all the black tie award dinners where they win participation trophies and where everyone tells them what great citizens they are
They do/ have but it’s risky.
One reason is because all the companies have their contracts expiring at different times. It’s not like the ILA that has one contracts for multiple ports and can strike at once. Also half the ships would be overseas and people wouldn’t be able to effectively get off the vessels. And there are enormous legal and logistical hurdles. Going on strike isn’t easy nor is it cheap. It should be used and always has been used as a last resort. But I agree there are times where it should be done.
Idk what union reps you went up to but if you went up to the three officer Unions I am not surprised they laughed at you.
AMO, MEBA and MMP have rotated throughout their history of who is going to undercut and who is going to walk by the other’s picket fence.
AMO and MEBA had been fighting in years past now they are in good terms unfortunately MMP has decided it’s their turn in history to be the undercuters and to not play nice.
Better question to ask is why hasn’t MMP put Patriot’s feet to the fire and forced a strike if they are refusing to sign the tripartite agreement regarding wages for the MARAD RRF ships?
All AMO and MEBA top to bottom companies sign on to the new MARAD wages. If MMP is going to undercut, destroying the tripartite agreement is not a good move for our industry. I suggest doing a story that.
There’s stories to be written about the unions with some digging. For example, the MEBA president is running unopposed a first in a long time. A younger AMO president has recently taken the reigns and I have heard made some positive changes. The MMP president is stepping down. Etc etc etc
I would also like to see anti-strike language taken out of the contracts. It should automatically expire when the contract expires and the company won’t sign a deal, even though the guys keep showing up to work.
Where I am, we are now nearly 14 months past our last contract expiration. The company did a 3% raise 14 months ago, and another 3% raise last month. When the original contract was proposed with straight 3% raises, it was voted down at a nearly 100% rate. If a strike was on the table, it would be strongly considered.
I feel like only a week would put such a squeeze on their revenue that a 4 or 5% raise wouldn’t look so bad in comparison. But it’s not even a possibility, and we are left to wait for the scraps that our toothless union picks up from the company.
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We no longer have a big surplus of credentialed, but unemployed and underemployed mariners.
These days, the employers won’t be able to find enough scabs to break a strike or do a lock out.
It’s been 40 years since Moran and MacAllister crushed Local 333 in NY with scabs from the South. Times have changed. But the maritime unions never managed to grow back a pair of balls.
We need at least the same deal as the airline pilots, 10% per year for five years in order to regain the buying power that we have lost. 10% should be the minimum annual increase.
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What you say is absolutely true today, without a doubt with some southern OSV/Gulf Tug mariners making twice as much as NY harbor tug mainers. But never underestimate the fickleness of the oil & gas sector & the US economy in general. In 2, maybe 3 quarters, half of all GoM mariners could be laid off. I’ve seen it happen too many times before to think otherwise.
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"This marks the first time in the history of the RFA that officers will undertake strike action.
“Our members are fed up. For too long, the RFA, the Royal Navy, and the Ministry of Defence have relied on the goodwill of our members to carry out essential operations. The pay offer for 2023/24 and the real term pay cut of over 30% since 2010 has made this goodwill no longer tenable,” said Martyn Gray, Nautilus director of organising."