President Biden walked the line with Union workers on strike and a debilitating government shutdown was delayed a few weeks. Sen. Diane Feinstein died in office, leaving a tremendous legacy. Dangerous maritime brinkmanship continued in the South China Sea, while political dysfunction in Congress degraded readiness. The outbreak of another war in the Mid-East put national maritime policy back in the spotlight and the SUP in LA crewed up the re-flagged Allied Pacific and it's all there in the West Coast Sailors.
West Coast Sailors
The UAW launched an historic strike against the Big Three automakers, fighting for middle class pay raises, respecting new workers, and better job security in a time of record profits. Patriot won an important new MSC contract, and relief efforts in Hawaii gained support from members and the local maritime economy. Workers benefited from NLRB legal interpretations, COVID boosters are analyzed and wage raises at APL and Patriot are covered in full.
More than a hundred Hawaiians perished in a sudden wildfire in Lahaina, and the shocked and homeless coped in the aftermath. Matson and its labor Unions helped form the first line of relief logistics. President Joe Biden again backed the Jones Act at the Philly Shipyard, declaring the economic benefit of "American crews" for "American ships." The Government Accountability Office's released a report on Merchant Mariner Credentials, and U.S. Marines may soon be on commercial merchant ships. There's hot weather working advice, PAX wages, and Capt. George Quick is remembered in this issue.
ILWU Canada walked off the docks, forcing employers back to the table, and a first settlement evolved. In the U.S., senators opposed to labor floated anti-stike legislation aimed at maritime workers. In London, the IMO declined to be definitive on ship emissions and alternative fuels and a terrible ship fire caused the tragic deaths of two New Jersey firemen. The Coast Guard backlog on MMC credentials improved as passport delays worsened. This issue remembers Bloody Thursday, looks at the sub Titan disaster, and honors the Union band members of Titanic.
Aboard Matson and APL ships, SUP crews were among the first to deliver much needed supplies to typhoon-devastated Guam. A new MSP ship called APL Eagle joined the fleet, and longshore workers struck a six year tenative deal as the West Coast Sailors went to press. We celebrate both the birthday of U.S. merchant and national Memorial Day recognition, as well as the transformational first year of Pres. Liz Shuler at the helm of the AFL-CIO.
Iranian military vessels swarmed and seized three tankers as the belligerence against unarmed merchant ships prompted the U.S. to increase security in the strategic waters of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. Back at home Hawaii Congressman Ed Case kept waging war on the Jones Act, even as Honolulu SUP members engaged in community action there to renovate a middle school. A new report found widespread exploitation of international seafarers.
The U.S.-flag maritime industry gathered forces to educate and inform all of Congress in a single day on issues critical sustain the American Merchant Marine. At the same time, testimony at House Readiness subcommittee confirmed that both MarAd and TRANSCOM backed the President's budget and called out the mariner shortage. The Coast Guard warned of credentialing delays, and this issue reports on LNG conversions, U.S. maritime strategy, Food for Peace, and a recent NLRB ruling on terminal jurisdiction in Seattle.
After a long career as President of the Seafarers International Union and the Maritime Trades Department, President Mike Sacco retired and Dave Heindel was elected to succeed him. President Biden approved a drilling project in Alaska as he sent to Congress a budget that fully funds the MSP. This issue also reports on TRANSCOM recognition of mariners, Coast Guard manning shortfalls, Russian oil trading, and Chinese spy cranes. It also honors a stalwart champion of maritime workers' rights -- Capt. George Quick -- and celebrates 138 years of SUP history.
The SUP Negotiating Committee reached a tentative milestone agreement with Chevron Shipping boosting compensation in many forms. In Congress, TTD President Greg Regan testified in support of the Jones Act at the first House Transportation hearing on supply chain reslience. Matson's first post-pandemic financial outlook comes out, and there are reports on military developments, train derailments, tax tips, and a crew that legally seized a ship. And AFL-CIO Sec-Treas. Fred Redmond gives a stirring op-ed on Unions and civil rights.
With vast ramifications China removed most of its travel restrictions, including for seafarers, tossing out its zero tolerance policy on COVID-19. Cases rose quickly however, and much remains uncertain. In Washington the Supreme Court heard arguments about the basic right to strike with a decision pending in June. Crew condition in shipyards were called out by two Senators and the ILWU Local 19 President Herald Ugles argued for a balanced preservation of Seattle's precious working waterfront. The Ready Reserve got a raise and the SUP celebrated MLK day.
Among the Union's objectives is "to support a journal which shall voice the sentiments of the seafaring class, and through its columns seek to maintain the knowledge of and interest in maritime affairs." The first issue of the West Coast Sailors, in June of 1937, noted that "Common sense, fearlessly applied, brings success to a Union."