'On the Raad ta • • • 1 llew Jabs Seafarers Gain • ~ ... lie .,, ... ~ . Hundreds of New /!:..:; :... :/• :~ . .cir. ...,,.• • . "'".. • .. Jobs as .. .. Military Sealift Command Awards Crewing to SIU­ Contracted Maersk. Eight New Prepositioning Ships Are Included In July 31 Seafarers are expected to go up the gangway of the USNS Bob Hope before Announcement the end of the year. The newly constructed prepositioning ship was christened in March. SIU-contracted Maersk Line Limited of Norfolk, Va. won the award for __________ Page 2 crewing this and seven other new Military Sealift Command vessels. President's Report 'On the Road to .. .'New Jobs Meeting the Vision SIU Will Crew B MSC ROIROs Thirty years ago this month, the gates of a former U.S. Navy tor­ In a development that will mean pedo base in Piney Point, Md. opened to receive the first trainees to hundreds of new jobs for Seafarers, the union late last month confinned attend the Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of that SIU members will crew eight Seamanship. roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) preposi­ That was a momentous occasion for those of us tioning ships being built for the who have been involved in this process from the U.S. Military Sealift Command beginning. The union was consolidating the train­ (MSC). ing and upgrading procedures for SIU members to As the Seafarers LOG went to one central location. And this site had the needed press, MSC announced the award­ benefit of being waterfront property, so training ing of a contract to Maersk Line could take place on working vessels as well as in Limited of Norfolk, Va. for the Michael Sacco classrooms. operation and maintenance of the The first Seafarers to attend Piney Point in 1967 eight vessels - four Bob Hope class must have wondered what they had gotten themselves into. The prop­ ships being constructed at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans and four erty contained old wooden military barracks, a two-story hotel, some Watson class vessels being built at piers and plenty of land. What was the union thinking when it National Steel and Shipbuilding acquired this tract in the middle of nowhere? Company (NASSCO) in San Diego. But at the helm of the SIU at that time was a man who had the Those vessels are scheduled for vision of what such a training facility should and could become. That delivery on various dates between man was Paul Hall, who knew that education played a major role in 1998 and 2000. They will join l any individual's advancement. MSC's Afloat Prepositioning Force Christened at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans in March, the USNS Hall constantly stressed the need for members to better them­ and will be fully loaded with Bob Hope is slated for delivery to the U.S. Military Sealift Command early selves, and education was the key to that process. During the 1950s, wheeled and tracked vehicles for next year. The prepositioning ship will be crewed by SIU members. he led the SIU in implementing its program of upgrading the skills of the U.S. Army. its members-as well as providing basic training for newcomers-at The USNS Bob Hope, christened comprehensive training for the sheer size. The T-AKR 300 ship is halls in New York, Baltimore, Mobile, New Orleans and Houston. By in March, is slated to be the first of crews and incentives for retaining 105.9 feet wide and displaces more the mid-1960s, with the buildup of American forces in Vietnam, Hall the eight ships delivered. SIU experienced crews." than 62,000 tons. The Bob Hope members will begin crewing the foresaw a central training location that could expand with the needs The new RO/ROs are part of a also features more than 300,000 950-foot vessel later this year. multi-ship package designed to square feet of cargo space, can of the U.S.-flag fleet. 'This announcement means one help rectify the shortage of transport up to 1,000 tanks and That was his vision of Piney Point when the SIU acquired it in thing: jobs for Seafarers," stated American strategic sealift capabili­ vehicles, and can sail at 24 knots. 1967. SIU President Michael Sacco. "It's ty identified after the Persian Gulf Hope, 93, was honored by the And that is still the vision of the Paul Hall Center for Maritime another example of how the SIU War. Also included are five convert­ Navy for his 55 years of entertain­ Training and Education. constantly looks out for the jobs ed RO/ROs already crewed by ing U.S. troops all over the world, While the grounds may not look the same, the goals set 30 years and job security of the member­ Seafarers and operated by Bay Ship in peace and war. "He always made ago remain true. The Paul Hall Center, which includes the Lundeberg ship." Management (the USNS Yano, the extra effort to be there at the School, is the premier training facility for merchant mariners in this SIU Vice President Contracts USNS Shughart, USNS Gordon, most difficult time of the year, country, and I dare say, the world. Augie Tellez pointed out that as USNS Soderman and USNS when separation from family is the While ratings for mariners like able seaman, electrician and stew­ part of the SIU's bid to crew the Gilliland). toughest," Navy Secretary John ard are still used today, the jobs performed by Seafarers with these vessels, the union "put together a In addition to the that fact that Dalton said. titles are far different than they were 30 years ago. Automation, con­ package designed to efficiently the Bob Hope is the first MSC ship Hope and his wife of 63 years, tainerization, computerization, government regulations and interna­ meet the requirements of this named for an entertainer, another Dolores, attended the christening important contract. That includes notable aspect of the vessel is its tional treaties have meant new job skills for merchant mariners. Yet March 15. through it all, the Paul Hall Center has been meeting-and ex­ ceeding-the new demands placed before our members. In the last several years, the center has introduced courses Seat arers Join Hundreds to Demand designed to help SIU members aboard tankers meet the challenges set forth by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA '90). Seafarers now receive special training in the prevention and containment of oil spills Justice for Fired Sprint Workers and other hazardous materials. In order to meet Environmental SIU members joined hundreds est. However, the company has Protection Agency standards also stemming from OPA '90, the center of other trade unionists and inter­ appealed the ruling, thereby fur­ offered classes in different parts of the country to teach members how national labor officials July 14 in ther delaying the workers from to properly handle refrigerants. front of Sprint Corp. headquarters receiving their jobs as well as the Just in the last 12 months, the Paul Hall Center has prepared in Washington, D.C. to demand more than $12 million owed them. Seafarers for the onset of amendments to the International Convention justice for Latino workers who on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) by were illegally fired three years ago International Support expanding its curriculum, including the additions of new courses for when the telecommunications AFL-CIO President John bosuns, ABs and pumpmen. giant shut down its San Francisco Sweeney informed the crowd In getting the membership ready to meet the new requirements operations to thwart a union orga­ assembled in Washington that aboard U.S.-flag vessels, the center also looked out for them in anoth­ nizing drive. similar demonstrations were tak­ er way. Just three months ago, it began issuing the first U.S. Coast On July 14, 1994, only eight ing place at 15 different Sprint Guard-approved training record books, which were designed by the days before the workers were locations around the country as center's staff to help Seafarers comply with existing and upcoming scheduled to vote for union repre­ well as in Mexico, Canada and international regulations. These books take the place of carrying an sentation by the Communication Europe. assortment of documents, certificates and papers required by interna­ Workers of America (CWA), "Sprint is a corporate criminal tional port-state control inspectors. Sprint closed its San Francisco because it discriminates against And the center has not stopped there. It recently restructured the Latino telemarketing operation, workers, steals their dignity and overall steward training program and revised the entry-level course to Sprint/La Conexion Familiar, and cheats them out of wages and include apprenticeship instruction aboard SIU-contracted vessels. fired all 177 workers, who were benefits. Sprint is a corporate As we celebrate Paul Hall's birthday this month, all Seafarers have mostly Hispanic women. criminal because it has violated SIU members Lee Frazier (left) reason to be proud of the center named for the late SIU president and (Ironically, La Conexion Familiar the right of workers to have free and Kenneth Whitfield protest its record of excellence. SIU members have benefited greatly from translates to English as "The speech, freedom of assembly and outside Sprint headquarters in Paul Hall's dream and from the dedicated efforts of everyone associ­ Family Connection.") the right to form or join a union," Washington, D.C. on July 14. ated with the facility. "Defending an American stated the president of the nation­ Thirty years ago, Piney Point was the beginning of Paul Hall's worker's right to join a trade al labor federation, to which the a member of the SIU-a union that vision to provide Seafarers with the training needed to be competitive union is critical," stated SIU belongs.