Shipments of coal and limestone on the Great Lakes in 2003 fell below totals for previous years, despite a spike in coal cargoes during December.
Last month, I commented on the reported inability of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association to provide relief officers for the engineers and mates in the Interlake Steamship Co. fleet on the Great Lakes. The column apparently struck a sedated nerve at MEBA headquarters, which offered something of a response in the Jan. 30 edition of Telex Times, MEBA's on-line weekly publication.
In its Jan. 30 Telex Times report on relief jobs dispatched to the Interlake Steamship Co. fleet on the Great Lakes between Aug. 1, 2003, and Jan. 30, 2004, the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association referred once more to its raid of the Interlake vessel officers' jobs from American Maritime Officers as an "organizing drive."
