In response to the U.S. Coast Guard?s proposed interim rule that would exacerbate the issuance of merchant mariner document by placing further burdensome regulations on American mariners, the Sailors?
West Coast Sailors
In brisk weather on March 12, hundreds of Norwegians gathered in Asbygda, Norway at noon, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Sailors? Union of the Pacific?s crusading leader Andrew Furuseth.
With this special edition of the West Coast Sailors, the Sailors? Union of the Pacific proudly honors the memory of Andrew Furuseth who was born 150 years ago this month.
The American Union movement endorsed Senator John Kerry (D-MA) for president on February 19, at a meeting of the AFL-CIO General Board.
U.S.-flag ships crewed by U.S. citizen
merchant mariners have embarked on a new round of sailings to support the rotation of U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq and the postwar rebuilding of that nation, according to the U.S. Navy?s Military Sealift Command, which is headed by Vice Admiral David L. Brewer III, USN.
Admiral Thomas H. Collins, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard has called for the elimination of substandard ships on the world?s sea lanes.
Landmark legislation passed both houses of Congress this month which will be the successor to the Maritime Security Program (MSP).
In the wake of the introduction of three bills in the House of Representatives by Congressman Ed Case (D-HI) that would repeal the Jones Act, the SUP and the MFOW fired off a letter to Don Young (R-AK), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, urging that the proposed legislation be ?filed and flushed.?
At a Special Convention of the California Labor Federation in Manhattan Beach on August 26, 539 delegates representing two million organized workers, voted unanimously to reaffirm labor?s position for a strong NO vote on the recall of Governor Gray Davis, slated for October 7.
Representative Ed Case (D-HI) introduced three bills in the House of Representatives that would gut the Jones Act provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the cornerstone of U.S. cabotage and maritime policy.
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."