January 2024
The SUP joined with maritime labor again to demand from the U.S. governement better protections for merchant mariners in high risk waters such as the Red Sea. See the letter here.
December 2023
The SUP neither condones nor tolerates Sexual Assault or Sexual Harassment in any form. We aim for 100% compliance with the law, regulations and recently developed industry guidelines. See the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Bulletin on SASH policy as a starting point.
March 2021
President Joe Biden has so far lived up to his campaign promises to support the U.S. merchant marine and its Union workforce. See the Jones Act page of this site as well as recent editions of the West Coast Sailors for more. In late February, maritime labor joined together to thank the President, reinforce our agenda, and to pledge to continue to work together. Below is a link to a copy of that letter:
Joint Union Letter to President Biden
Seagoing Labor came together to express a unified message of appeal for prioritized access to the COVID-19 vaccine as essential front-line workers. Address to all the Governors of the United States, who hold the vaccine distribution authority, as well as the CDC working group that came up with the original and amended prioritization schedule, here is the Joint Union letter.
Note the latest in Coast Guard MMC extensions mentioned in the August President's Report on our Shipping Documentation page linked below.
SUP Shipping Documentation Reference page
See also the latest CDC recommendations for ships mentioned in the August President's Report on our COVID-19 reference page linked below.
Other documents related to the President's Report are listed below.
SUP Bulletin on APL Agreement October 2020
SUP Bulletin on APL RTS Agreement Renewal October 2020
Joint Maritime Union Letter to Members on APL restriction settlement
Letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi from Maritime Labor on Emergency MSP Funding
U.S. maritime labor recently came together in a unified statement intended for members, but also notifying industry and government of our ongoing COVID related concerns and demands. Here is an excerpt and the full letter is linked at the end.
MESSAGE FROM MARITIME LABOR ON COVID-19 SHIPBOARD OPERATIONS
It has become increasingly apparent the COVID-19 crisis is not going away anytime soon. Our members aboard ships in distant waters as well as aboard vessels of all types in inland waters remain in grave danger and the global supply chain is at risk.
Despite continuous appeals for meaningful assistance from both maritime labor and U.S.-flag vessel operators, the federal government has not mandated enforceable standards of shipboard health and safe operations. Further, our advocacy for a consistent, reliable, and rapid testing regimen for mariners remains without definitive support. As the supply chain and military security of the country are becoming increasingly at risk, we have demanded a more active role of government in support of mariners.
Each shipowner/operator has established its own diverging policies and protocol, and they vary greatly from employer to employer, even from ship to ship depending on shipboard culture. In the absence of uniform and government-enforced protocol during vessel in-port time with such critical evolutions as cargo operations, vendor/contractor access and shipyard repairs remain essentially unregulated and haphazard. This is a...
Unified Message from Maritime Labor on COVID-19 Shipboard Operations
Unified Message from Maritime Labor on Vaccine Planning and Priority
https://twitter.com/RichardTrumka/status/1366200820279242759?s=20
Dispatcher Forms Matson, APL, Patriot.