AMO, MMP reach cooperative agreement

AMO, MMP reach cooperative agreement

Pact ends longstanding jurisdictional dispute, paves way for AMO link to AFL-CIO

      American Maritime Officers and the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots have resolved a longstanding dispute over AFL-CIO sanctions that had served as an obstacle to AMO's reentry into the House of Labor.
      The agreement reached by the two unions will promote greater cooperation between the two organizations to further the interests of both memberships.
      "This agreement will allow our unions to move forward in harmony rather than discord and to dedicate our resources to securing better conditions and more job opportunities for our respective memberships," said AMO National President Michael McKay. "We're happy to be resolving our differences and putting the past behind us."
      The agreement-which was approved by McKay, MMP President Tim Brown and International Longshoremen's Association President John Bowers-contains provisions to protect each union from raiding and to promote cooperation between the organizations in collective bargaining.
      The AFL-CIO several years ago had issued sanctions against AMO for raiding. AMO was prevented from returning to the AFL-CIO after its withdrawal from the National Marine Engineers Beneficial Association in 1994 until these sanctions were resolved with the MMP, which is the international marine division of the ILA.
Provisions of the agreement include:

A mutual manning pass-through agreement, under which a member of one union can man a position held by the other under contract should a manpower shortage develop, allowing for all benefit contributions to pass through to the respective union's benefit plans
A commitment to the tripartite agreement among AMO, MMP and MEBA for bidding on government contracts, which prevents any of the unions participating in the agreement from undercutting the other in bidding upon certain requests for proposals
An alternative mechanism to the AFL-CIO Article XX provisions to resolve any allegations of raiding in an expedited manner, and to allow for liquidated compensatory and punitive damages for raiding
Monetary reparations for previous raiding violations

The agreement--negotiated over several weeks--was enacted in July and will remain in effect through the end of 2009.

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