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Satisfaction And Setback For AMO In MSC Charters |
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By MICHAEL R. McKAY | |
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Win some, lose some. Fortunately, AMO is far more familiar with winning in the difficult game of government contracts. Our union has picked up or kept most of the officers' jobs resulting from vessel operating charters awarded to U.S.-flag companies by the Navy's Military Sealift Command. But, in mid-July, AMO was on both sides of the divide. First, we learned that Dyn Marine Services, a Virginia-based AMO employer, will continue to operate eight T-AGOR oceanographic vessels. The T-AGORs are the USNS Henson, USNS Kane, USNS Silas Bent, USNS Little Hales, USNS McDonnell, USNS Sumner, USNS Bowditch and USNS Pathfinder. A ninth vessel is forthcoming. The award was satisfying not only because it meant continued work for AMO professionals, but because it gave us an opportunity to win wage increases, substantial benefit gains, and other contract improvements in the growing specialized fleet. The disappointment came later, when we learned that MSC had awarded a five-year charter to American Ship Management, or ASM, for the operation of 11 large, medium-speed roll- on/roll-off ships. ASM is the former American President Line, and the company does not employ AMO in any capacity. Included in the charter were five converted LMSRs now operated for MSC by Bay Ship Management and manned in all licensed positions by AMO. The ships--USNS Shughart, USNS Gordon, USNS Yano, USNS Gilliland and USNS Soderman--will be turned over to ASM in 2001. Also included were vessels under construction or on order at Avondale in New Orleans and National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., or NASSCO, in San Diego. AMO jobs on the newly built LSMRs already delivered from Avondale and NASSCO will not be lost. AMO will continue to provide the licensed officers on the USNS Bob Hope, USNS George Watson, USNS Sisler and USNS Dahl. The LMSR project began after Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. During the Persian Gulf mobilization and war, the Department of Defense learned that the U.S. was perilously short of roll-on/roll-off sealift capacity for the movement of heavy unit equipment, vehicles, and other rolling stock to overseas flashpoints. DOD determined that it needed a 19-ship LMSR fleet, and it launched a three-stage program to accomplish that--the acquisition and conversion of five existing ships, construction of eight more, and, later, construction of the last six. The operating charter for the five conversions went to Bay, and the charter for the first eight newbuildings--four in the Bob Hope class, four in the Watson class--went to Maersk. No bids had yet been solicited for the operation of the last six LMSRs when the Maersk award was made. Then the mix changed. MSC issued a single Request For Proposals, or RFP, for the five conversions and six newbuildings--including, apparently, some of the Hope and Watson ships first awarded to Maersk. As of Aug. 1, it was still uncertain how many LMSRs Maersk Line Ltd. will end up with. These developments confirm what we have said many times--competition for MSC charters is increasingly fierce, and non-union companies and ship operators who have collective bargaining agreements with other officers' unions are beginning to bid aggressively. That is important because, in a shift that began in the Reagan administration, MSC now accounts for most of the ocean-going jobs available to civilian merchant marine officers and crews. But the LMSR setback does not diminish AMO's status as MSC's largest supplier of engine, deck, and radio-electronics officers. It does not affect AMO's standing as the nation's strongest officers' union: we have jobs for members who want to work at sea, and there are many more on the way; our treasury and our benefit funds continue to grow; we have unrivaled opportunities in current and forthcoming trades. AMO will continue to review the LMSR charter twist and to monitor the entire complicated RFP process. I welcome your comments. |
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