Megacorp Union

Professional Mariner Forum
129

Here is something that will give you a better idea of what not being militant will get you. This is a link to the pay scale for an SMOU company. The actual 2016 pay scale in the link is on page 21.

To cut to the chase, Gross Pay (including all overtime, pension contributions, seniority pay, and 6 whole days a month of paid leave) is for a Master - $6,071, Chief Engineer - $5,526, Chief Mate - $3,944 (all sums in USD.) Is this what Ombugge considers doing good for their members, who live in what he has accurately described as one of the most expensive cities in the world? Is this what Norwegian licensed mariners expect to receive for compensation? Capital is not the only thing in this global economy that does not have defined borders so is maritime labor. Time for all of us to stick to together for our collective good.

130

The majority of mariners are not in the deepsea trade. The majority of mariners are not in a union. Unions have lots of room to grow their memberships without any new vessels being built. The existing maritime unions cannot cannot grow because they have toxic officials and a dismal track record of decline.

131

The only way for them to “create” jobs is to demand contracts above the COI minimum manning. That would be good for us in terms or jobs, but it would also be good for us in terms of safety and reducing workload.

132

SMOU has several different CBAs and members of many different nationalities, serving on both Singapore and foreign flag ships. Very few of the members are Singapore Citizens, or Permanent Residents (PR):
http://www.smou.org.sg/wps/portal/smou/home/maritimeemployers/industrialrelations/!ut/p/a0/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOI9PF09Xd08jAwsDMJMDTyNzd29_UJ9TIwdDfQLsh0VAfWaHrU!/

The sample agreement that you presented is for Handysize Bulkers below 20000 GT belonging to a subsidiary of the large South African conglomerate Grindrod and flying Singapore flag.

This company has a large fleet of ships operated out of their offices in Singapore, mostly over 20000 GT and flying Singapore flag, with different CBA through SMOU:
http://www.grindrod.co.za/Pages/Fleet-Profile
But not likely to have many Singaporeans, or Singapore PRs, on board.

What I meant with “doing good for their members” was not to compare wages with American or European officers serving on unionized ships under national flag.

The wages are competitive with those offered on vessels under other Open Registers, like NIS, DIS, FIS, IOM, GIB etc. as are other conditions. They are better than what is offered on many ships under FOC registers (there is a difference) and above min. ITF rates.

There are some Singaporean, European and Canadians, or even the odd American, Officers serving on Singapore flag ships. In most cases they will be paid above min. CBA rates.

I was Master on a Singapore ship for the first time in 1971, when the Seaman’s Union were still militant and influenced by the Cultural Revolution in Chine.
I had a crew of 22, mostly Singaporeans, and my wages were more than theirs put together.
A Sailorboy (OS eqv.) was paid SGD 80/mth. #1 Engine driver SGD 210/mth. flat rate, no OT.
At the time this was normal and accepted reality.

If I had told them that there would be no more wages, nobody would have signed off, since they made good money on the smuggling of all kinds of thing into Indonesia and live birds and animals back from Papua. (No drugs of alcohol)

Because the Unions in Singapore were brought under control and decided to cooperate instead of being militant, wages and conditions for Singaporean workers are on par, if not above that of most European countries.

The Tripartite Training scheme was set up jointly with the Singapore Government to attract more Singaporeans to a seafaring career and to ensure recruitment of experienced mariners to the thriving shipping hub:
http://tmta.com.sg/

That is how a small country with no natural resources, other than a well educated workforce has built up their Maritime business from nearly nothing at independence in 1965 to the world’s fifth biggest fleet:
https://www.mpa.gov.sg/web/portal/home/singapore-registry-of-ships
And to become a major shipping hub:

They have done this, not by closing the market to foreigners, but to attract foreign companies to set up shop there and attract foreign talents to work there, move there and establish bonds there.

Sounds like a stupid way to do things?? Well, you be the judge of that, based on the result, not on prejudice and preconceived opinions.

133

Given that union officials are elected by membership and that the contracts are voted on by the members there is a limit to how far leadership can diverge from membership.

134

Apply that logic to Congress and see how that works.

135

Brown water isn’t sexy. It isn’t “elite”. It’s beneath those that work on the blue water. Yet, there must be lots of opportunity for the unions to shine by providing professional, well trained, and well skilled officers to this trade. Leadership is living in the past when when jobs were aplenty and there was no competition or need to provide value to the “customer”. Yes, the unions have a customer…and it isn’t the members.

136

The current climate for organizing is not good, nothing to do with sexy or not.

Here is an article about Pilots Agree Association

The strike began April 4 against 98 barge companies that control 90 percent of the cargo shipped on the inland waterways, ports, and intracoastal shipping lanes.

As soon as pilots walked down the gangplank, the bosses retaliated with firings

In general an attempt to organize puts mariners at risk of being fired.

As far as the analogy of unions having customers, I can’t see how anyone would think it that the members are the customers? Since the union has a contract with the companies, as analogies go, it makes more sense that the companies are the customers. Since the members are the beneficiaries so to speak perhaps they would be shareholders?

137

As I recall, maybe about 7 years ago, Pilots Agree was a grassroots Mississippi River towboat association. I can see where that would be a very tough group of very specialized mariners to organize in an anti-union trade and region. While Pilots Agree failed in the midst of a severe recession, I believe it did spur significantly higher wages.

138

In terms of organizing harbor and coastwise tugs, I think that a decent union could do that if the union officials and membership were patient and willing to invest in it.

Start by allowing and encouraging mariners to join the union, but continue working either non-union or union jobs. Build a relationship with mariners before trying to organize employers. Allow mariners working non-union to participate in the union benefits plans, health, disability, and life insurance, and 401k. It might take legislation to allow mariners to get paid by the non-union employer, but still contribute to the union plans with all the same tax advantages. (I think this already possible tax wise, and is already being done by some non-maritime unions.) Allow these mariners to use the union schools for free, ship off the board as C books, etc. Be generous and it give it a few years to bring a large group of mariners into the union.

Also, allow the non-union tugboat companies to call the union with job orders on whatever the employers’ typical wages are. Make it easy for the companies to get good hands at no extra cost. Build relationships with employers.

Then advocate for a voluntary basic standard minimum wage in each trade or region. At some point, when most of the mariners in a region are in the union, start organizing employers one by one.

If this approach were followed, the union would have most of the mariners and employers organized within 10 years. Then negotiations could begin in earnest for top wages. Where necessary strikes could be used to force wages up.

It just requires a bit of long term thinking.

139

When I went to the GOM I instantly doubled my daily rate and went from even time to 28/14. The extra money more than made up for reduced benefits from the company.