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Lawsuit against rival union proceeds in state court
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Dan Smith National Executive Vice President It may seem to many like a Great Lakes issue, but the ongoing controversy involving American Maritime Officers, the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association and Interlake Steamship Co. affects all members of AMO. There is much at stake in a dispute that will take at least one critical turn in the New Year. In August 2008, testimony will begin in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Western Division) in Toledo in the "tortious interference" civil case our union filed against MEBA, MEBA President Ron Davis, MEBA Vice President Don 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. The defendants have failed in every attempt to thwart the case. At issue is the 10-year contract Davis signed secretly with Interlake during a stay at Interlake chairman James Barker's home in July 2003. The contract established MEBA as the union of engineers and mates in the Interlake fleet of seven U.S.-flagged self-unloading Great Lakes bulk carriers. The problem for Davis and the other defendants is that the Interlake-MEBA contract was signed while a valid collective bargaining agreement between AMO and Interlake Steamship Co. was in full force and effect --"tortious interference" under Ohio law. In the six days between the signing of the Interlake-MEBA contract and the expiration of the AMO-Interlake collective bargaining agreement, Davis, Keefe and other MEBA and MEBA benefit fund personnel joined Interlake executives aboard the company's seven vessels off the coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where they told the engineers and mates that they would have to abandon AMO and accept MEBA membership as a condition of continued employment with the company. In an especially shameful twist, the MEBA-Interlake squads included the former AMO official who had brokered the backdoor Interlake-MEBA contract after his defeat for higher office in the AMO election in 2001. The Interlake engineers and mates never had the opportunity to decertify AMO as their exclusive collective bargaining agent, and they never had the opportunity to vote for or against representation by MEBA. They never had the chance to ratify or reject the concessionary and collusive Interlake-MEBA contract. In a weak steel market served by U.S.-flagged Great Lakes shipping, many Interlake engineers and mates remained at work aboard the Interlake vessels. But many left and eventually found employment elsewhere through AMO. Our union's immediate response was to file a class action grievance against Interlake Steamship Co. on behalf of the AMO members who gave up their jobs rather than give in to pressure from Interlake and MEBA. The grievance led to arbitration, which ended unequivocally in our union's favor. The arbitrator found that Interlake had violated the letter and intent of its labor agreement with AMO and that Interlake had eased coercion of the fleet's engineers and mates into MEBA membership. The proceedings also produced a record of sworn testimony confirming collusion between Interlake and MEBA --a scheme dating to at least October 2002. Who, what, where, when, why and how were spelled out by witness after witness. Meanwhile, I was reporting regularly and in complete detail to AMO members not only on the way in which the Interlake-MEBA contract was reached, but also on the nature of the contract itself. Wages, benefits and work rules secured over many years by AMO were gutted in the time it took Davis to sign an agreement that Davis may never have actually read. It did not take long for these reports to circulate through the Interlake fleet or through the MEBA halls, where officials had said little or nothing about the Interlake-MEBA arrangement. It did not take long for MEBA members to mock Davis's brazen claim that the Interlake-MEBA contract was the result of "organizing" by MEBA. Our union's formal complaint to the court said that, under the collective bargaining agreement between AMO and Interlake Steamship Co. Interlake was barred from meeting with MEBA, negotiating with MEBA and signing a contract with MEBA. In addition, interference by MEBA had caused Interlake to refuse to bargain in good faith with AMO on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement to take effect August 1, 2003 and to violate its "obligations" under the AMO-Interlake collective bargaining agreement in place at the time, the AMO complaint said. The complaint also charged that MEBA and Interlake "went through" the AMO-Interlake collective bargaining agreement "section by section" while they were negotiating unlawfully and used the agreement as a "template" for a possible contract between Interlake and MEBA. Collusion between the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association and Interlake Steamship Co. was "very meticulous," the complaint noted. Despite the close attention to detail, Davis was careless enough --I am being kind here --to sign the agreement prematurely. This was a likely factor in Davis's defeat by Keefe in the MEBA election early this month, and it could cost Davis a lot more than his job before the end of next year. In the complaint, AMO is asking for $340 million in damages --including $60 million from Davis and $60 million from Keefe --and court costs from the jury in this case. Davis and Keefe led the MEBA teams that swarmed the Interlake vessels after the Interlake-MEBA contract was signed. The MEBA benefit funds --already reeling from what appears to be multi-level mismanagement --are targeted because MEBA Plans personnel accompanied MEBA officials and Interlake executives during their fleet sweep. Fair compensation to American Maritime Officers for lost dues revenue traced to the Interlake-MEBA contract and reimbursement of all legal fees incurred by our union in this case would benefit each deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland waters AMO member. We are confident that AMO will prevail, and we are grateful for the patience and support demonstrated by the seagoing AMO membership down this long road. |
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