Bethel selected for Paul Hall Award

Bethel selected for Paul Hall Award

The Maritime Port Council of Greater New York and Vicinity has named American Maritime Officers National President Tom Bethel for its 2007 Paul Hall Memorial Award.

The honor is conferred each year upon an individual who exemplifies the values and ideals of the late Paul Hall, president of the Seafarers International Union of North America and of the Seafarers International Union Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes and Inland Waters District from 1957 until his death in June 1980. Hall established the Maritime Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor in August 1946 and served as its president for 34 years.

"We are very honored that you agreed to accept this year's Paul Hall Award of Merit," said Joseph Soresi, president of the Maritime Port Council of Greater New York and Vicinity, in a letter to Bethel dated April 23.

"The Council consists of 53 affiliated unions, representing some 500,000 members in the Greater New York area," Soresi said. "You will be honored along with Jerry Welsch, president of American Steamship Company, who will be receiving this year's Management Man of the Year Award, and the Honorable Sean Connaughton, administrator of the United States Maritime Administration, who will be receiving the Government Man of the Year Award."

Bethel is the first AMO official named for the Paul Hall Memorial Award since the late President Raymond T. McKay, who was honored by the Maritime Port Council of Greater New York and Vicinity in November 1982.

"Paul Hall was a labor legend whose efforts on picket lines, at the bargaining table and in the political arena brought dignity and respect to generations of U.S. merchant mariners," Bethel said. "He also chartered our union as an autonomous affiliate of the SIUNA in 1949, encouraging our ascension as the nation's largest, strongest and most secure union of licensed seagoing professionals."

Bethel said he would accept the award "on behalf of the AMO membership, the men and women who make it possible for AMO to keep faith with the Paul Hall tradition."

The Paul Hall Memorial Award will be presented to Bethel in New York City October 20, 2007.

The Maritime Port Council of Greater New York and Vicinity is one of 19 Maritime Trades Department councils nationwide. With 24 affiliated unions, the Maritime Trades Department is the largest constitutional unit of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations.

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