'57: BME, MEBA Agree On Merger

1957: Merger Resolution Approved Unanimously

     The following is the text of a resolution that met unanimous approval at the Brotherhood of Marine Engineers membership meeting at BME headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Nov. 19, 1957. The resolution called for support of a proposed merger between the BME and the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association.
     WHEREAS, the BME-MEBA merger plan has been described in our newspaper and thoroughly discussed at this and earlier meetings, and
     WHEREAS, the membership understands that approval of the plan will establish a trial period during which both organizations will work together for the benefit of BME and MEBA engineers and pave the way for a merger agreement, and
     WHEREAS, the measure would greatly secure job opportunities for the members of both unions by the establishment of reciprocal shipping rights, stabilization of manpower in the industry, and increased strength in organizing drives, and
     WHEREAS, the merger would also improve the bargaining position of BME and MEBA engineers in collective bargaining negotiations with employers on wages, working conditions, health, welfare, vacation and pension benefits, and
     WHEREAS, the plan safeguards the rights of both organizations and their members during the trial period and establishes principles for guaranteeing these rights after merger is completed,
     THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the BME membership at headquarters, highly endorse the merger plan and urge the entire BME membership to support it and give both unions an opportunity to strengthen our union and job security, and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we direct the president to present the merger plan to the general membership on a referendum ballot, and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we instruct the president to set the period beginning Dec. 1, 1957 and ending January 31, 1958 as the prescribed voting period.

     On Oct. 29, 1957, Brotherhood of Marine Engineers President Ray McKay met with Marine Engineers Beneficial Association President H.L. Daggett in Tampa to sign an historic accord intended to reconcile the two unions in the spirit of the 1955 merger between the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
     The setting was familiar and significant to McKay. As a newly licensed marine engineer after World War II, McKay shipped out of the MEBA hall in the port before becoming a charter member of the BME.
     The agreement signed by McKay and Daggett was the first of its kind in American maritime labor history. It was hammered out over long and sometimes difficult negotiations, with McKay and the BME insisting on complete autonomy in the MEBA fold.
      "The first question every engineer wants answered is, 'How will this merger plan affect me?'," McKay said after signing the pact. "The plan will benefit the members of both unions tremendously. The heart of the merger plan is equal treatment and job equity for the members of both organizations, both now and in the future.
      "We have also laid the groundwork for enormous benefits at the bargaining table in pension, welfare, and vacation benefits, and before Congress and other federal agencies," McKay continued. "With such a large range of advantages in sight, we can truly say that the merger plan represents a major step toward full job security for marine engineers."
     An editorial in BME Marine Engineer in November 1957 hailed the merger agreement as a "constructive step ... that the BME and the MEBA have just taken" and which "will be welcome to those who are interested in a united labor movement and strong, effective unions in the maritime field."
     In a conciliatory tone, the editorial added that both the BME and the MEBA had "racked up a long string of accomplishments for their members while on their own." These achievements, the editorial noted, "will be surpassed when the BME and the MEBA work together."
     The merger would also be an appropriate response to "union busting" and "anti-labor forces," the editorial said. "The merger plan is proof that unions have the good sense to get together for the benefit of the men they represent."
     The merger plan provided for "a trial period to establish the prerequisite relationships." During the one-year trial period, the BME remained affiliated with the Seafarers International Union of North America and paid no per-capita fees to the MEBA.
     The agreement--subject to ratification by the members of both unions--called for BME members and officials to be "integrated into the MEBA."
     The BME was to become a "division" of the MEBA, "retaining complete autonomy under its own Constitution and keeping complete legal and administrative title to and control of all its assets, property, contracts, welfare and pension plans, discipline and present affiliations."
     Each union agreed to help the other with ship servicing and to fill jobs on each other's contracted vessels as warranted.
      "The MEBA and the BME shall endeavor to adjust the rules and regulations of their respective pension, welfare and vacation plans so that members of both organizations will receive full credit for all employment regardless on which vessels performed," the agreement said.
     The agreement also called for each of the unions to "establish rules and regulations mutually agreeable" to balance membership counts with available jobs, "thereby stabilizing the industry."
     It further provided for cooperation "in connection with ... collective bargaining negotiations so as to accomplish the objective of a standard agreement for the marine engineers of the two organizations."
     The BME agreed to assign a full-time organizer to the MEBA, with the salary paid by the BME and expenses paid by the MEBA. "Future organizational activities on the part of the MEBA and BME shall be worked out by mutual consent ... with the objective being to organize all marine engineers within our jurisdiction into a single union."
     Under the agreement, the BME was entitled to one representative on the new National MEBA Executive Committee and to "representation at the National MEBA Convention on the same basis as the locals of MEBA under the National MEBA Constitution."
     BME and MEBA members were permitted to transfer membership from one union to the other, but only with the approval of both unions.
     The agreement called for a final merger agreement no later than Jan. 1, 1960.
     McKay presented the merger agreement to the BME rank and file during the union's regularly scheduled membership meeting at BME headquarters in Brooklyn on Nov. 19.
      "Your officials are convinced that the proposed merger plan can lead to additional security for BME and MEBA members, and we would be remiss in our duty if we didn't recommend it," McKay told the gathering. "The trial relationship we propose to set up protects both organizations and provides them with an opportunity to see if we can work together harmoniously to advance the interests of BME and MEBA engineers. We strongly endorse the plan and urge you to vote for it."
     The membership gave unanimous approval to a resolution urging "the entire BME membership" to support the merger as a way to "strengthen the union and job security."
     BME members also directed McKay to put the question to the rank and file in a two-month secret ballot referendum beginning Dec. 1, 1957.
     Members also heard a letter from Daggett, who granted the BME "a provisional charter as a division of the National MEBA."
     The members then voted to appoint McKay as the BME's provisional representative on the National MEBA Executive Committee and its subcommittee. The two panels had been designated as the MEBA's policy-making bodies between National MEBA Conventions. The appointment was effective Nov. 19.
      "BME representation on the MEBA executive committees will pave the way for a closer working relationship between the two unions," McKay said. "The BME ... will sit in and vote on policies affecting the MEBA and help formulate programs and strategy for coordinating the activities of both unions."

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