Well my friends, it’s time to put up or shut up. I have started a decertification petition and need all the help I can get. We need 30% of the employees to force a vote that will be managed by the NLRB. If you are a Moran Towing NY/NJ employee and wish to sign the petition, please go to justsaynoto333@yahoo.com and request a copy of the petition. All your info will be kept confidential. We need about 80 brave employees to sign to vote out the trash that plagues us. Any help passing out petitions would be even more appreciated. - Spike Marlin
I’m for signing it!
We are literaly in the same boat as you guys. Local 333 could be better, the upper level leadership has let us all down for a longtime. The question is, what, or who after you leave 333, because no one over here has the same idea for a longterm solution. Everyone is quick to forget our 9-8-9 years, yes the industry was short and things where great, but just throwing the towel in with no plan sounds like a dumb idea. I hear alot of talk over here, but i dont see it happening, because the minute we are under no contract, the gloves come off and the company will cut the dead weight and the trouble makers without question. Thats just my 2 cents.
Is cutting the deadweight and troublemakers a bad thing? Hell, I’ll be glad to see them go! The problem with NY harbor is, everyone thinks the union establishes your wages. Demand for skilled/licensed labor establishes the pay scale. Ask the OSV guys in the gulf if a union establishes their wages. The 9%, 8%, and 9% contract was good but that was only after multiple contracts falling behind the cost of living averages. Did the union have anything to do with that huge bonus the Reinauer guys got for Xmas a few years back? NOPE! Personally, I don’t want to belong to a deckhand/tankerman union, we have no leverage and we’re outnumbered by morons who think grub receipts and wifi should be the two major negotiating items. Every month we pay dues to a union that does nothing to protect/lobby for the Jones Act. Instead we get our elected officials removed illegaly from office, an appointed trustee, and delegates who have sured up their future by being board members for the UMD. I love receiving notice that we’ll have elections when they “fix” things, so democratic!
As far as direction, it seems everyone wants to head to MEBA or MMP. I would be all in for MEBA, they have schooling for both deck and engineroom. As far as wage reductions and dirty deeds by the company, let them try. They’ll just create a negative image and won’t get the licensed people they have to have to run their equipment.
Is Local 333 UMD a “dead” union?
I’ve heard and read about a slew of problems over there, but I don’t work/reside in the NYC harbor area…
I also tried the Local 333 website the other day and it said the domain name was expired…
They have a new website. www.333umd.com
As far as a dead union, I’ll let you decided:
- Hiring Hall - 99%-99.5% of 333 union members got their jobs by calling the companies directly
- Elected Officials - There are none, in an attempt to take back a union that voted him out twice, John Healey (Healy) used his ILA-UMD connections to remove our elected officials, and replace them with cronies.
- Delegates - All former deckhands, that simply check dues.
- Benefits - All handled through the companies
- School - Yeah Right
- Union Seniority - See #5
- Shop Steward - What’s that???
All in all, you’ve got a group of mariners that keep paying a corupt union because they “establish high wages” and should you get fired and try arbitration, they don’t even want to hire a lawyer to do so anymore, opting instead for delegates to handle it.
So sum it all up and use your own opinion. Personally, I’m ashamed and embarrassed that I keep paying!
So what’s the skinny with Richmond Terrace Bargaining Unit? They filled the spot 333 held at KSEA/KIRBY. I’ve heard NOTHING since the take over - Good OR Bad.
I think The RTBU has their own website. There’s not much info/gossip being spread about them and negotiations with Kirby. I’m cheering for them because any raises they get is leverage towards our own contract. Maybe there’s someone on this forum that can shed some light on their situation.
RTBU made a tentative agreement with Kirby. I haven’t heard much about what union there going to affiliate with. Last I heard i was the teamsters, but that was a while ago. I hope the go with MEBA. There the better union in the maritime industry.
It’s no longer tentative. We are working under a two year contract.
[QUOTE=“ForkandBlade;102122”]Is cutting the deadweight and troublemakers a bad thing? Hell, I’ll be glad to see them go! The problem with NY harbor is, everyone thinks the union establishes your wages. Demand for skilled/licensed labor establishes the pay scale. Ask the OSV guys in the gulf if a union establishes their wages. The 9%, 8%, and 9% contract was good but that was only after multiple contracts falling behind the cost of living averages. Did the union have anything to do with that huge bonus the Reinauer guys got for Xmas a few years back? NOPE! Personally, I don’t want to belong to a deckhand/tankerman union, we have no leverage and we’re outnumbered by morons who think grub receipts and wifi should be the two major negotiating items. Every month we pay dues to a union that does nothing to protect/lobby for the Jones Act. Instead we get our elected officials removed illegaly from office, an appointed trustee, and delegates who have sured up their future by being board members for the UMD. I love receiving notice that we’ll have elections when they “fix” things, so democratic!
As far as direction, it seems everyone wants to head to MEBA or MMP. I would be all in for MEBA, they have schooling for both deck and engineroom. As far as wage reductions and dirty deeds by the company, let them try. They’ll just create a negative image and won’t get the licensed people they have to have to run their equipment.[/QUOTE]
I’m over at Reinauer and the shit is hitting the fan over here too. I personally don’t think decertifying is going to do any good without a solid plan. How about we all move to make 333 an independent union from the UMD?? Is that an option? It’s about time the members took back control of 333. We all need to start supporting each other no matter what company you work for. We are all brothers/sisters/mariners/boatman/ and shipmates that need to look out for each other. Your employer certainly
[QUOTE=“ForkandBlade;102122”]Is cutting the deadweight and troublemakers a bad thing? Hell, I’ll be glad to see them go! The problem with NY harbor is, everyone thinks the union establishes your wages. Demand for skilled/licensed labor establishes the pay scale. Ask the OSV guys in the gulf if a union establishes their wages. The 9%, 8%, and 9% contract was good but that was only after multiple contracts falling behind the cost of living averages. Did the union have anything to do with that huge bonus the Reinauer guys got for Xmas a few years back? NOPE! Personally, I don’t want to belong to a deckhand/tankerman union, we have no leverage and we’re outnumbered by morons who think grub receipts and wifi should be the two major negotiating items. Every month we pay dues to a union that does nothing to protect/lobby for the Jones Act. Instead we get our elected officials removed illegaly from office, an appointed trustee, and delegates who have sured up their future by being board members for the UMD. I love receiving notice that we’ll have elections when they “fix” things, so democratic!
As far as direction, it seems everyone wants to head to MEBA or MMP. I would be all in for MEBA, they have schooling for both deck and engineroom. As far as wage reductions and dirty deeds by the company, let them try. They’ll just create a negative image and won’t get the licensed people they have to have to run their equipment.[/QUOTE]
I’m over at Reinauer and the shit is hitting the fan over here too. I personally don’t think decertifying is going to do any good without a solid plan. How about we all move to make 333 an independent union from the UMD?? Is that an option? It’s about time the members took back control of 333. We all need to start supporting each other no matter what company we work for. We are all brothers/sisters/mariners/boatman/ and shipmates that need to look out for each other. Our employer certainly isn’t looking out for us. There is always alot of talk on the boats, but nobody ever fuckin does anything. How do we get employees from all different companies together and move forward in a positive direction? Is that even an option?? What is happening with the Kirby Penn acquisition? If Reinauer and Moran move to make 333 independent…will others follow? Or do we move to join the RTBU? I think Moran carries alot of weight in the harbor. I am up in Westchester, so if any of you guys want to get together and have a pow wow I’m in…seriously. PM me.
I agree 100%. Division of the company has already started, and is getting worse. Ive been here 7 years, and i will be dammed if some WHINY CRYING HARBOR MATE, YUP I WENT THERE, is going to effect my livelyhood because they dont feel they are being pampered enough. Im all for change, or at least drastically improving what we have. What happens if 333 gets voted out, we go without a contract for 1 year? Theres alot of if’s that no one wants to talk about, or how about the guys who work down south, are we going to have a harder time with crew changes, because we have no contract, alot of unanswered questions. This is supposed to be a union, not tankermen VS wheelhouse, or any of the other drama that usually starts come negotiation time. I have a family, and they come first, like alot of guys out here, thats why we do this job. But if we go non union, or something like that, the gloves come off, i have enough paperwork and time i wont go hungry, alot of others wont be so lucky, just my 2 cents.
[QUOTE=“BargeMonkey;102209”]I agree 100%. Division of the company has already started, and is getting worse. Ive been here 7 years, and i will be dammed if some WHINY CRYING HARBOR MATE, YUP I WENT THERE, is going to effect my livelyhood because they dont feel they are being pampered enough. Im all for change, or at least drastically improving what we have. What happens if 333 gets voted out, we go without a contract for 1 year? Theres alot of if’s that no one wants to talk about, or how about the guys who work down south, are we going to have a harder time with crew changes, because we have no contract, alot of unanswered questions. This is supposed to be a union, not tankermen VS wheelhouse, or any of the other drama that usually starts come negotiation time. I have a family, and they come first, like alot of guys out here, thats why we do this job. But if we go non union, or something like that, the gloves come off, i have enough paperwork and time i wont go hungry, alot of others wont be so lucky, just my 2 cents.[/QUOTE]
I agree with you. I too am tired of barge vs wheelhouse bullshit. It seems to run rampant at Reinauer. We are all a team.
Why is there a barge versus wheelhouse battle? Tankerman as part of the deck crew, fall under whatever wheelhouse licensed officer that’s on watch. For some reason, there’s alot of “plausible denial” about their positions among tankerman. The title “Barge Captain” is as fictitious as a Grimm fairy tale, In fact it’s a slap in the face to every seaman that’s worked his/her butt off with schooling and training to become licensed. As far as being without a union for one year, what’s the fear? If that year without paying dues scares you, then I suggest you pick out a nice stump/barrel and add lube to your shaving kit, because that’s what’s gonna keep happening if we stay with 333. As far as splitting 333 away from UMD/ILA, why would you? Is 333 gonna magically produce schooling, retirement or benefits for you? Is the same 333 gonna have actual elections again? If the tankerman/deckhands want to stay with 333, let them. The licensed should make smart decisions that benefit them.
There theory with leaving the UMD/ILA would be to keep the existing contracts we have and go to a completely different union. A better union with schooling and a pension. When you decertify you run the risk of losing the contract completely and starting from scratch. Which may or may not be a bad thing. But if 333 broke away from the UMD/ILA we could join another union right away with not waiting a year with no representation. And also have elections asap.
By trying to break 333 away from ILA, that’s how Harrigan, our actual elected president, got screwed! I would be gung-ho for transitioning over to to MEBA or MMP (preferebly MEBA) but if we allow another contract to be signed with 333, we’re gonna be stuck with the UMD/ILA for years to come.
Your right. But this break away from the ILA is aready in the works. A hearing was held in january about this and its waiting on a response from the ILA its self to see if they let 333 break away. This hearing went over the heads of the UMD. If the ILA grants this we wont be with UMD. I prefer MEBA also. My father was in MEBA and it was great.
[QUOTE=“NYBoatman;102227”]Your right. But this break away from the ILA is aready in the works. A hearing was held in january about this and its waiting on a response from the ILA its self to see if they let 333 break away. This hearing went over the heads of the UMD. If the ILA grants this we wont be with UMD. I prefer MEBA also. My father was in MEBA and it was great.[/QUOTE]
I agree. Lets get out from under the UMD and start fresh with another affiliation. This trusteeship has to stop and elections must be held. We need to somehow unite the whole fuckin harbor. Grassroots style pavement pounding communication. We are all NY/NJ/CT North East mariners. But…how in the heck do we get the harbor on the same page? A meeting should be held sooner than later. People need to show up and either support each other or go somewhere else. I have a family to feed…we all do! No more tankerman vs wheelhouse vs deck vs engineers bullshit. A team is a team.
[QUOTE=RubberRhib888;102245]No more tankerman vs wheelhouse vs deck vs engineers bullshit. A team is a team.[/QUOTE]
Good luck with that!
There’s some kind of law that when a union is voted down or out, there is a waiting period, 18 or 24 months before talks can even start with another union. not sure if it’s all unions or just the ones affilated with the AFL-CIO. You need to check that out.