Update on the status of things for the rest of the Jones Act industry (all fifteen of you who visit this forum, at least): OSG has now been unanimously found - Four times! By the Republican-majority NLRB! - to be in open violation of US labor law in refusing to bargain with MM&P. Following regional elections, company objections, regional certifications, more company objections, national review and approval of the regional certifications, even more company objections, now the NLRB has ordered OSG to seriously, for realsies now, cease and desist its illegal stalling and bargain with MM&P as has been required by law since January of 2024 in Alaska Tanker’s case, and October 2024 for OSG as a whole.
The company’s expensive lawyers even threw in some Hail Mary level arguments about the whole NLRB being an unconstitutional usurpation of the Constitution’s Articles I, II and III as well as the 7th Amendment, to which the NLRB observed:
The Respondent has not, however, offered any explanation or evidence to support these bare assertions. We therefore find them insufficient to warrant denial of the General Counsel’s Motion for Summary Judgment [in favor of the Union]. - Decision and Order of 4 August 2026
Hah.
Of course, OSG has once again given the NLRB and its own deck officers the finger and is contesting the decision in the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on the basis of, mostly arguments that the Seattle, Tampa and Washington DC NLRB offices are all wrong about labor law and they’re a bunch of ninnies and doodooheads being so mean to them I guess. So now it’s more waiting for either the 11th Circuit to make a decision which has a nearly zero percent chance of being in the company’s favor, or Saltchuk hopefully coming to the conclusion that maybe instead of spending probably millions on lawyers to spite their workforce, they could just sit down and talk to them. Sad that it’s almost certainly going to take the threat of US Marshalls showing up at the office with handcuffs at the ready to make OSG leadership stop spending money to fight their own employees.
Hey MEBA, if you want support in your negotiations for a new contract, I guarantee a majority of OSG and ATC deck officers would be glad to help out in any way they can.
Can the unions really do anything in this day and age? Trump has waived the Jones Act over and over as well. Might be the end of the Jones Act if this is allowed to continue.
Who’s running their equipment now? Scabs or individual union members who crossed the line to work for the pay & conditions Saltchuk is offering? It seems whomever is running their equipment is in on the plot to undermine the MM&P union.
Which would be great, if that tool had any sort of enforcement mechanism… Alas.
Offshore44 So much for handing out all those A Books ASAP huh!
I don’t think anybody thought ASAP was going to be anything less than two years, but it’d have been nice if the current administration hadn’t turned the lights out at the NLRB for a year on top of all that as well…
The mates from what I understand have to fall in line and be yes men or risk getting fired while the MEBA Engineers can tell the upper management where to go. Must be a rough dynamic working on a ship were your counterparts have the union backing them.
What I witnessed was years of OSG mates getting raises matching those negotiated by MEBA. So would it be more accurate to say there’s been years of OSG mates enjoying the fruits of MEBA’s labor while contributing nothing to that labor?
[quote=“DirtSailor, post:1, topic:76802”]
Hey MEBA, if you want support in your negotiations for a new contract, I guarantee a majority of OSG and ATC deck officers would be glad to help out in any way they can.
[/quote
No thanks. They picked their bed so now they can go lie in it.
The negativity in every post is why our industry is in the state that it is. The whole “F” them because it doesn’t effect us, has always been the mindset of the small. This is why NY Harbor has trash wages now. Each union should back the other, as there is plenty of meat to feed us all. As far as OSG not bargaining, that means there are no rules against a wildcat strike or sickout. There isn’t a 1-800-Chief Mate w/PIC Hotline to call. There are no large amount of scabs to cover the deck positions, and that would force OSG to answer to the oil companies that their vessels are on charter to.
You’d rather bend over to the company than accept cooperation? Wow. Glad I don’t have to sail with petty pricks like that. Fine then, a lot of OSG and ATC officers will do what they can to help the other MEBA folks who want a better contract more than they want to nurse grudges, and you can turn down whatever benefits come from that on principle. Deal?
