AMO VERSUS MEBA the saga continues

AMO VERSUS MEBA the saga continues

Posted 3-16-07 From AMO web site
M/V Cort complaint charges MEBA with second violation of Article XX of the AFL-CIO Constitution

A formal complaint charging the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association with a second violation of Article XX of the AFL-CIO Constitution, this time for manning the Interlake vessel M/V Stewart J. Cort, was filed this week on behalf of American Maritime Officers.


The Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (MEBA) already has a standing Article XX violation with the AFL-CIO for claiming representation of the officers aboard the Interlake tug-barge Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder. Article XX prohibits one federation-affiliated union from encroaching upon the jurisdiction of another.

The Article XX charge pertaining to the M/V Cort was filed with the AFL-CIO March 12 by Michael Sacco, president of the Seafarers International Union of North America, with which AMO is affiliated.

The M/V Cort is operated by Interlake Leasing III, a subsidiary of Interlake Steamship Co. The president of Interlake Steamship, James Barker, recently told officers of the M/V Cort that they would have to sever their ties with AMO and join MEBA, and offered them large bonuses to do so.

The AMO-represented officers refused and were terminated by Interlake. They are currently picketing the ship at its winter berth at the Clure Public Marine Terminal of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, where the M/V Cort is undergoing maintenance and repair in preparation for the 2007 season. Union shipyard workers who were doing fit-out work onboard the M/V Cort walked off the ship and are honoring the AMO picket line.

Interlake brought in engineers represented by MEBA, who have crossed the picket line and are working onboard the ship.

AMO had been the exclusive collective bargaining agent for ship officers and stewards working aboard vessels operated by Interlake Steamship until 2003. At that time, Barker and the president of MEBA, Ron Davis, secretly signed a contract to replace AMO members with officers represented by MEBA and removed the captains and stewards from the collective bargaining agreement.

The Interlake Steamship contract with MEBA was signed before the company's collective bargaining agreement with AMO had expired and is now the subject of ongoing lawsuits in Ohio charging MEBA with tortious interference.

Separately, the full-term contract between AMO and Interlake Leasing III covering the officers and stewards aboard the M/V Cort expired in 2006 and was extended indefinitely while a successor agreement was negotiated. In February of this year, Interlake and AMO successfully reached an agreement upon a contract for the M/V Cort.

However, during a subsequent company gathering in Florida, Barker told AMO-represented officers from the M/V Cort they would have to switch unions to continue working on the ship. In a letter dated March 5, Interlake notified AMO that it would not be signing the agreed-upon contract.

"Interlake's conduct and tactics in this matter are outrageous," said AMO National Executive Vice President Dan Smith. "Both sides invested a lot of time and effort negotiating in what we thought was good faith. Interlake walked away from a contract they had agreed to and bluntly attempted to compel AMO members to abandon their union.

"Interlake's written admission that it won't accept the fair terms other operating companies have already signed, and the refusal of AMO members to accept the conditions the company tried to foist on them, says a lot about Interlake's motives, and about the integrity and resolve of AMO officers," Smith said.

"AMO is committed to achieving a fair contract for our members who work on the Cort," said AMO National President Tom Bethel. "AMO will picket the ship for as long as it takes. Our members on the line have the full support of their union."

In November 2006, an impartial umpire considering a separate complaint pertaining to the Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder determined that MEBA had violated Article XX of the AFL-CIO Constitution. The impartial umpire, Howard Lesnick, said MEBA had "unquestionably displaced AMO" as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the officers aboard the vessel.

Lesnick also noted "credible" evidence of collusion between MEBA and Interlake Steamship Co. He said the collusive pattern that led to a 10-year contract between MEBA and Interlake in July 2003 "was repeated three years later in relation to the Dorothy Ann."

In January 2007, a subcommittee of the AFL-CIO Executive Council upheld the impartial umpire's determination.