AMO Currents - MEBA hit with sanctions for violating AFL-CIO Constitution on Interlake's M/V Stewart J. Cort

MEBA hit with sanctions for violating AFL-CIO Constitution on Interlake-operated M/V Stewart J. Cort AMO Currents - MEBA hit with sanctions for violating AFL-CIO Constitution on Interlake's M/V Stewart J. Cort

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AMO Currents - Posted: July 16, 2008

MEBA hit with sanctions for violating AFL-CIO Constitution on Interlake's M/V Stewart J. Cort

The AFL-CIO has again imposed sanctions on the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association (MEBA), this time for manning the Interlake-operated vessel M/V Stewart J. Cort in violation of Article XX of the AFL-CIO Constitution.

In a letter dated July 9 and sent to all presidents of national and international unions, all presidents of trade and industrial departments, all AFL-CIO regional directors and others, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney notified MEBA President Don Keefe that sanctions had been imposed on MEBA for his union's failure to either "terminate its representation" of the officers on the M/V Cort or to reach "an agreement with SIUNA to take alternative action."

The SIUNA (Seafarers International Union of North America), of which American Maritime Officers is an affiliate, filed the Article XX complaint for the M/V Cort on behalf of AMO with the AFL-CIO.

The AFL-CIO has already imposed sanctions on MEBA for its ongoing violation on the Interlake tug/barge Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder. Now under additional sanctions from the AFL-CIO, MEBA does not have protection or recourse under Article XX if its fleets are "raided" by rival unions.

"MEBA is sinking deeper into its collusive quagmire with Interlake and we are holding the high ground for the AMO membership," said AMO National Great Lakes Vice President Don Cree. "MEBA's conduct with the company is an affront to the standards AMO fought for decades to achieve on the lakes and has cost the MEBA its reputation in the House of Labor.

"The process of obtaining justice for the AMO members from the Cort, and for all the AMO members from the Interlake fleet, has been very long and involved," Cree said. "We will see this battle through to the end, and I am confident AMO will prevail and that justice will be served."

In his letter, AFL-CIO President Sweeney notified MEBA's Keefe, and all leading figures of American organized labor, that MEBA will be subject to the following provisions of Article XX of the AFL-CIO Constitution:

The non-complying affiliate (MEBA) shall not be entitled to file any complaint or appear in a complaining capacity in any proceeding under Article XX
The Federation shall, upon request, supply every appropriate assistance and aid to any organization resisting the action determined to be in violation of Article XX
The Federation shall appropriately publicize the fact that the affiliate is not in compliance with the AFL-CIO Constitution
No affiliate shall support or render assistance to the action determined to be in violation of Article XX

AMO represented the officers and stewards aboard the M/V Cort under a full-bodied agreement with Interlake Leasing III. The agreement expired in 2006 and was extended indefinitely while a successor agreement was negotiated. In February 2007, Interlake and AMO reached an oral agreement on a contract covering the M/V Cort.

Early in March of 2007, Interlake held a company meeting at a resort in Florida and had senior officers of the M/V Cort and their families attend. At the resort, Interlake executives told AMO members they would have to sever ties with AMO and join MEBA to keep their jobs on the ship. Interlake offered $10,000 bonuses to some AMO members to switch unions, and offered others more. In the end, all except one refused and were fired by Interlake.

In a letter dated March 5, 2007, Interlake notified AMO that it would not sign the agreed-upon contract.

AMO went on strike against Interlake Leasing III March 10, 2007, and MEBA sent its members to work on the M/V Cort behind the AMO and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers picket line.

In a report dated Jan. 7, 2008, Impartial Umpire Howard Lesnick determined MEBA had violated Article XX by manning the M/V Cort for Interlake Leasing III.

Lesnick cited MEBA's claim that "AMO could have made a different offer than the one it made" and "Interlake chose to go another route." Lesnick pointed out that "Section 2 (of Article XX) seeks to prevent a rival affiliate from making it possible for an employer to 'go another route' while remaining a union shop."

Separately, AMO has filed a lawsuit in the Lucas County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas charging MEBA and the MEBA benefit funds with unlawfully interfering with a valid collective bargaining agreement between AMO and Interlake Steamship Company—tortious interference.

In the complaint, AMO is seeking $60 million in "direct and consequential" damages, $280 million in punitive damages, attorneys' fees and court costs and "any further relief in law or equity to which plaintiff (AMO) is entitled."

MEBA has sought repeatedly but unsuccessfully to delay the case or shift it from the Ohio court to federal court. The trial on the tortious interference complaint is scheduled for next month. Named as defendants in the lawsuit are MEBA, former MEBA President Ron Davis, current MEBA President Keefe, the MEBA Medical and Benefits Plan, the MEBA Vacation Plan, the MEBA Training Plan, the MEBA 401(k) Plan and the MEBA Pension Trust.