This is the latest from the MEBA website:
[B]Statement of Michael B. Jewell, President of the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association
Now is not the time or place for dissension in the US-Flag maritime fleet[/B]
At midnight on Friday, September 30, 2011, Liberty Maritime Corporation locked out the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.) from its bulker fleet which is tasked predominantly with delivering Public Law-480 Cargo (PL-480). M.E.B.A. and Liberty Maritime Corporation worked diligently together in this PL-480 niche market delivering Food for Peace cargo world-wide to starving nations.
Effective this afternoon, October 7, 2011, M.E.B.A. is pulling down the picket lines at Liberty ships in Texas and Louisiana. This doesn’t change the fact that Liberty has locked out the M.E.B.A. and its members. The Union will continue to publicize this dispute and may decide to picket these Liberty ships in the future. However, the cargo on these ships is scheduled for delivery to feed starving nations. M.E.B.A. is not going to stand in the way of Food for Peace. Our goal is to support this industry, not pull it apart.
The full name for Public Law 480 is the Agricultural Trade Development Assistance Act, signed into law on July 10, 1954, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy renamed it as “Food for Peace,” stating, "Food is strength, and food is peace, and food is freedom, and food is a helping hand to people around the world whose good will and friendship we want.”
Times are changing quickly; Food for Peace and other foreign aid are in the spotlight and considered a budgetary cost cutting target. Today’s budget crisis in the United States is forcing the first significant cuts in overseas aid in nearly two decades. Congress is exploring deep cuts in food and medicine for Africa and in relief for disaster-affected nations.
We face many challenges in the maritime industry.
Our cargo preference laws, regulations and policies are not understood, are being ignored or are under attack. The Cargo Preference program works to promote and facilitate a U.S. maritime transportation system. It oversees the administration of and compliance with U.S. cargo preference laws and regulations. Just this week labor and industry testified in Washington, DC before the Maritime Administration. Industry and labor made the case for strict enforcement of the Cargo Preference program.
With the war efforts winding down, there is less and less military cargo available. Some shipping companies based their entire business model on the war effort. With little or no cargo available for certain types of ships, the U.S.-flag fleet is looking at every new business opportunity.
The Jones Act container fleet needs to be rebuilt. The average age of the fleet is 41 years old. Many ships burn 70-140 tons of fuel per day. With fuel approaching $1000 per ton, this cost per vessel is astronomical. We need new and more fuel efficient U.S.-built vessels.
Plans are being discussed to scale down the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) fleet. There are many ship operators and mariners who rely on the RRF fleet for their well-being. Moreover, the RRF fleet has performed exceptionally well during recent military operations overseas.
The Panama Canal expansion is set to open in 2014. Once it does, it is estimated that 8.5 million more containers per year will be placed on the east and gulf coasts. The goods will need to get to consumers and the roadways are not the best source of transportation. Interstate 95, for instance, is chock-a-block full as it stands today. The best way to get these goods moving will be through an American Marine Highway.
Let’s all pull together and find ways of expanding the U.S. flag fleet instead of fighting with each other.
Regards
Mike Jewell
MEBA President