Organized 1885 Official Organ of the Sailors' Union of the Pacific Volume LXXI No. 10 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Friday, October 24, 2008 Economic stimulus needed now Protect & Defend Our Work! as job loss continues to grow ome 159,000 jobs were lost in September, the larg- est monthly drop in five years and the ninth straight Vote Obama for President S [Editors Note: On October 16, the presidents of the Sailors Union of the Pacific, Ameri- monthin all of 2008the U.S. economy lost jobs. The total job loss since January is 760,000 according to can Maritime Officers, Master, Mates & Pilots, Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, the Department of Labor. Marine Firemens Union, and the Seafarers International Union-AGLIWD/NMU, issued The Labor Department report released on October 3, the following open letter to all American mariners.] also shows the unemployment rate remained at 6.1 per- Dear Brothers and Sisters: cent, largely due to the large number of jobless workers s Presidents of who no longer are counted because they have given up A Americas seafar- looking for work. In addition to the 9.5 million workers ing Unions we may who meet the Labor Departments official definition of not always agree on every- unemployed, another 6.1 million are working part-time thing but on this the impor- because they cant find full-time work, and half a million tance of electing Senator have given up looking for a job. Barack Obama to the office Economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for of President of the United Economic Policy Research, says the unemployment rate States we stand as one. likely will exceed seven percent by early 2009 and notes We are, without exception, the jobs report should remove any lingering doubts that united in our conviction that the economy is in recession. the future growth and viabil- AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the jobs num- ity of the U.S.-flag fleet and bers should set off alarm bells at every level and indi- the jobs of American mari- cate the need to pass an economic stimulus and real re- time workers in all seg- Senator Barack Obama form for working people along with any bailout bill. Like ments of our industry de- financial institutions, the middle class is collapsing. Across pend heavily and directly on us to make sure the Maritime the country, more and more workers are facing long-term the election of Senator into looking at things that Security Program is funded unemployment with little hope for finding any job, let alone Barack Obama. are not important and rel- each year. We need a Presi- one that pays the bills. We ask that you and your evant. When all is said and dent like Barack Obama who done, this election is about Senator Barack Obama, Democratic candidate for presi- family think very carefully agrees that U.S.-flag vessels your job, your future and dent, strongly supports an economic recovery package. about how the outcome of and U.S. crews will be avail- your families future. We Following the jobs report, Obama said: Instead of Sena- this election will affect your able to support our troops ask that you do what we will tor McCains plan to give tax breaks to CEOs and compa- job and the jobs of all Ameri- can maritime workers. and to support our countrys be doing on Election Day: nies that ship jobs overseas, I will rebuild the middle-class economy and security, rather and create millions of new jobs by investing in infrastruc- Think about whether you VOTE YOUR JOB! want a President like Barack than a President like John ture and renewable energy that will reduce our dependence McCain who tried to change Obama who will work with In Unity, on oil from the Middle East. I also call on Congress to and weaken this program. us to keep the Jones Act Thomas Bethel, President, pass an immediate rescue Think about whether you strong and excluded from in- American Maritime Officers plan for our middle-class ternational trade negotia- want a President like Barack Timothy Brown, Presi- that will provide tax relief, tions. We need a President Obama who supports our dent, International Organi- save one million jobs, and like Barack Obama who cargo preference laws. We zation of Masters, Mates & save our local communities agrees that only U.S.-flag need a President like Barack Periodicals postage paid at San Francisco, CA (USPS 675-180) Pilots from harmful budget cuts vessels built in American Obama who agrees that and painful tax increases. shipyards and crewed by American vessels should Donald Keefe, President, Senator John McCain op- American mariners will carry U.S. government car- Marine Engineers Benefi- poses a stimulus package for carry commerce along our goes, rather than a President cial Association working families and did not coasts and on our rivers and like John McCain who has Gunnar Lundeberg, Presi- take part in the Senate vote Great Lakes, rather than a consistently voted against dent, Sailors Union of the on the first stimulus bill last President like John McCain cargo preference so that for- Pacific spring. who wants to repeal the eign vessels with foreign Anthony Poplawski, Presi- As bad as the new jobs Jones Act, a move that crews would carry U.S. tax- dent, Marine Firemens data are, the underlying pic- would give our jobs away. payer-funded commodities. Union ture is even bleaker because Think about whether you There is too much at stake Michael Sacco, President, the number of long-term un- want a President like Barack in this election for any of us Seafarers International employed workers (those Obama who will work with to be misled and sidetracked Union continued on page 3 VOTE NOVEMBER 4! ESU News: Pages 6 & 7 Labor Endorsements: Pages 10-12 Page 2 WEST COAST SAILORS Friday, October 24, 2008 Jeremiah OBriens Tom Patterson dies SUP Honor Roll Retired Rear Admiral Thomas Patterson, who was key to saving the Liberty Ship Jeremiah OBrien, died on October 1. Voluntary contributions from the membership to the following funds: Patterson was born in Philadelphia in 1924 and attended the U.S. Merchant Ma- rine Academy, graduating in 1944. During the war he sailed as a mate on tankers Organization/ West Coast and then as skipper of the U.S. Navys Guardian, a Liberty Ship that had been converted to a radar picket vessel in the Atlantic. General Fund Sailors After the Navy, Patterson worked for the Maritime Administration, eventually becoming Western Regional Director in San Francisco. One of his jobs was to Knud Andersen............... 100.00 Archie Aki ...................... 25.00 select Libertys for scrapping. In 1966, with the Liberty Ships fast disappearing, Danny Colton .................. 10.00 Mike Arceo ..................... 10.00 Patterson lobbied Washington to save one of the vesselsthe s/s Jeremiah OBrien, Mark Hurley ................... 50.00 Douglas Crute ................. 25.00 built in 1943. Gunnar Lundeberg ........... 50.00 Thor Eriksen ................... 10.00 After 30 years anchored in the mothball fleet at Suisun Bay and after hundreds Douglas Taylor ............... 100.00 Manoru Fukano ............... 25.00 of hours of volunteer labor by SUP members and those from other maritime Unions directed by Admiral Patterson, the OBrien sailed under her own power to Bethlehem Joe Gladstone .................. 25.00 Shipyard in San Francisco on October 6, 1979. After extensive work she sailed Rex Harper ..................... 25.00 from the yard on May 21, 1980 to make her first Maritime Day memorial cruise. James Hearn ................... 25.00 In 1994, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the allied invasion of Europe, Political Fund Romero Jalomo ................ 10.00 Patterson sailed her to Britain, France and back. SUP member Rich Reed was Brandon Keopukiwi .......... 20.00 Bosun on that trip along with other SUP volunteers. The OBrien returned to a Knud Andersen................ 76.28 Ronald Pittman ................ 25.00 rousing welcome to San Francisco in September of that year, and has sailed on San Danny Colton .................. 20.00 Mariam Rillo ................... 25.00 Francisco Bay and makes occasional Pacific coastal voyages every year since and is Nick Cooper .................... 30.00 still maintained on deck by several SUP volunteers. John Drolla ..................... 40.00 The Jeremiah OBrien, berthed at Pier 45 in San Francisco is a living memorial to Mike ElMobdy Jr. ............ 20.00 Dues-Paying all those who served in the merchant marine in World War II and a testament to the Tom Fate ........................ 30.00 tenacity of Tom Patterson who saved her and gave her new life. Joseph Ginez ................... 10.00 Pensioners Robert Greene ................. 60.00 Robert Copeland Book #4763 Final Departures Dustin Grobschmit ........... 20.00 Romaine Dudley Book #2593 James Hall ...................... 20.00 Duane Hewitt Book #5748 George Tieking, Book No. 2008. Born Chuck Lum, Book No. 3366. Born in Rex Harper ..................... 40.00 Knud Jensen Book #3940 in Michigan in 1921. Joined SUP in Hawaii in 1920. Joined SUP in 1940. Noel Itsumaru ................. 50.00 John Jewett Book #4291 1944. Died in Raymond, Washington, Died in Honolulu, Hawaii, September JanPeter Johnsson ............ 30.00 Tony Jones Book #4305 September 3, 2008. (Pensioner) 21, 2008. (Pensioner) Brandon Keopukiwi .......... 20.00 Kaj E. Kristensen Book #3120 Gino Segreti, Book No. 7494. Born Nis Madsen, Book No. 5139. Born in in Michigan in 1953. Joined SUP in Denmark in 1922. Joined SUP in 1943. Jereld Komoto ................. 50.00 Eli Lalich Book #4062 Gunnar Lundeberg ........... 50.00 1983. Died in California, August 16, Died in Stoneybrook, New York, Sep- Stanley Lane Book #4106 2008. tember 25, 2008. (Pensioner) Raoul Macalinao .............. 20.00 James K. Larsen Book #4055 Nicholas Solonski, Book No.