Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association

M.E.B.A.

Full name	Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, AFL-CIO
Founded	February 23, 1875
Members	5,851 (District 1, 2005)
Country	United States
Head union	Mike Jewell
Affiliation	AFL-CIO
Key people	Mike Jewell, President<bt>Bill Van Loo, Secretary-Treasurer
Office location	Washington, D.C.
Website	mebaunion.org

The Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.) is the oldest maritime trade union in the United States still currently in existence, established in 1875. M.E.B.A. primarily represents licensed mariners, especially deck and engine officers working in the United States Merchant Marine aboard U.S.-flagged vessels. It is a member union of the AFL–CIO.

M.E.B.A. officers work in both the oceans and the Great Lakes in many settings, including on container ships, tankers (including LNG carriers), cruise ships, drillships, tugboats, ferries, and fireboats, as well as in various capacities in the shoreside ship transport and marine industries and on government-contracted ships of the United States Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force and United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. Merchant mariners deliver critical defense cargo to United States armed forces in times of military conflict.

Members and their families benefit from M.E.B.A.'s collective bargaining agreements through the union's Medical Plan, 401(k) Plan, Pension Trust, and Vacation Plan. The M.E.B.A. Training Plan provides further technical training at the Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School in Easton, Maryland.^[1]

History

The nation's oldest maritime union was formed out of necessity in the late 19th century. Steamship owners on the Mississippi and Great Lakes were competing with one another and demanding greater speeds from their vessels. This increase in speed greatly reduced safety in the engine room due to fires and boiler explosions. Even with increased risk, the wages remained the same.

In 1874, the Buffalo Association of Engineers began corresponding with other marine engineer associations around the country. In February 1875, the leaders of five steamship unions out of Buffalo, New York, Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois and Baltimore, Maryland, convened in Cleveland, Ohio to join together. This organization called itself the National Marine Engineers Association and chose Garret Dow of Buffalo as its president. (The word Beneficial was not added until 1883.)

M.E.B.A.'s membership, like that of all American maritime unions has varied widely over the years. At the end of World War I, they had more than 22,000 members, but by 1934, their membership was down to 4,848. Membership ballooned during World War II, with job opportunities for about 200,000 seamen.^[2]

Presidents

• 1875 : Garret Dow
• 1876-1881 : Abner L. Foote
• 1881 : Thomas H. Nelson
• 1882 : Edward D. Bateman
• 1883 : James H. Reid
• 1884 : William E. Russell
• 1885 : Andrew Ritter
• 1886 : Andrew Payne
• 1887-1888 : Aspinwall Fuller
• 1889 : Ambrose L. Boyce
• 1890-1892 : John H. Galway
• 1893-1903 : George Uhler
• 1904- 1906 : Frank A. Jones
• 1907-1914 : William F. Yates
• 1915-1916 : A. Bruce Gibson
• 1917-1926 : William S. Brown
• 1926-1930 : William F. Yates
• 1930-1934 : C.M. Sheplar
• 1935-1936 : William S. Brown
• 1937-1949 : Samuel J. Hogan
• 1950-1959 : Herbert L. Daggett
• 1960-1963 : E.N. Altman
• 1963-1984 : Jesse M. Calhoon^[3]

• 1985-1992 : C.E. (Gene) DeFries
• 1992-1994 : Gordon Ward
• 1995 : Joel Bem
• 1996-1998 : Alex Shandrowsky
• 1999-2001 : Larry O'Toole
• 2002-2007 : Ron Davis
• 2008—2010 : Don Keefe
• 2011— : Mike Jewell

Union Halls

• Baltimore, Maryland
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Charleston, South Carolina
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Houston, Texas
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Los Angeles/Wilmington, California
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• New York/Jersey City, New Jersey
• Norfolk, Virginia
• San Francisco/Oakland, California
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Seattle, Washington
• Tampa, Florida^[4]

District 1 Contracted Companies

This is a partial list of companies under contract with M.E.B.A., D1.

• APL
• Horizon Lines
• Interlake Steamship Co
• Keystone Shipping Co.
• Maersk Line, Limited
• Matson Navigation Company
• Military Sealift Command
• Overseas Shipholding Group
• Washington State Ferries
• The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority
• Alaska Tanker Company
• Alaska State Ferries
• Liberty Maritime
• Waterman Steamships Line
• Central Gulf Shipping Line

See also

	Nautical portal
	Organized labour portal

• International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots
• The Maritime Trades Department AFL-CIO
• United States Merchant Marine
• United States Maritime Administration
• American Bureau of Shipping
• International Maritime Organization
• Paul Hall
• Michael Sacco
• National Maritime Union

References

1. ^ , http://www.mebaplans.org, retrieved March 31, 2010 
2. ^ Author Unknown (1975). Worthy of Our Heritage, A Brief History of America’s Oldest Maritime Union, A Centennial Anniversary Publication of the National Marine Engineers Beneficial Association AFL-CIO, 1875-1975. New York, New York: Maurer Fleisher Zon & Anderson, Inc. Washington, DC. 
3. ^ Author Unknown (1975). Worthy of Our Heritage, A Brief History of America’s Oldest Maritime Union, A Centennial Anniversary Publication of the National Marine Engineers Beneficial Association AFL-CIO, 1875-1975. New York, New York: Maurer Fleisher Zon & Anderson, Inc. Washington, DC. pp. 39. 
4. ^ Cannistraro, Marco. "M.E.B.A. Directory". Marine Officer (Washington, DC: District No. 1-PCD, Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (AFL-CIO)) Winter 2010: 25. ISSN 10759069. 

External links

• District 1 M.E.B.A.
• M.E.B.A. Plans
• Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School
• State Maritime Academies
• Election contributions at OpenSecrets

Archives

• The National Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association Records, 1926-1939. 10 cubic feet. At the Labor Archives of Washington State, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.