By Willie Barrere
National President
The summer is coming to an end, and football is cranking up across the nation.
The last couple of months have been busy as the AMO contract negotiation team has completed almost all of the tanker contracts, achieving excellent gains across the board.
Recently, the State of Maine training and National Security Multi-Mission Vessel was christened in Philadelphia and will soon be sailing north with AMO officers onboard.
The WTIV Charybdis recently got underway from Brownsville and is due into port on the East Coast in mid-September.
After a long wait, MARAD reallocated contracts for the Ready Reserve Force fleet among operating companies with numerous changes for operators and members of all unions manning these ships. The reallocation is requiring many to shift to different vessels or relocate to new docks or different states. At this time, we are still working through some of the personnel challenges, as well as working with the other unions to keep all positions occupied. While AMO gained one vessel in the allotment, in the near future we will lose a few ships designated for reduced status, such as layup or scrap. At the same time, we will gain vessels through the vessel acquisition management program as the RRF fleet is recapitalized over time. We expect more vessels to shift from MSC to MARAD as well, which should help our job numbers.
The T-AGOS and T-AGS contract numbers are being worked on at this point as the three officer unions have agreed to negotiate with our companies using the same wage packages so as to not undercut one another. We recognize the need to responsibly increase our wages in order to remain competitive with a still-limited mariner workforce, and to keep up with the commercial contract increases.
Some time ago, we announced a new contract with Osprey, which is operating a ship for CMA CGM. AMO officers are currently sailing onboard the CMA CGM Phoenix. MM&P has challenged our jurisdiction through the AFL-CIO and there has been a mediation, a hearing, and we are currently in the appeal process.
Maritime academy recruiting season is just around the corner and our officials will be attending various functions at the academies. We are also getting requests for outreach at the high school level and with civic organizations, along with maritime academy events and dinners for scholarship funding. Our membership is growing as applications continue to arrive.
The SHIPS Act was introduced earlier this year, and at the current time, many of the provisions are still going through the process of review in committees in both the House and the Senate. AMO Vice President of Government Relations Christian Spain, Legislative Consultant Brenda Otterson, and AMO Assistant Vice President Alaina Basciano continue to work with congressional leaders to support the different aspects of the bill and help solidify the plan for growth in cargo, ships, and personnel.
Additionally, we are hoping Trump nominee Stephen Carmel will soon be confirmed as Maritime Administrator.
Our next Executive Board and AMO Plans Board of Trustees meetings are just around the corner, starting September 22. If you would like to attend these or future meetings, please contact AMO’s Executive Assistant, Jackie Ghorbani, at .
As we head into Fall, our calendar preparations for 2026 are beginning and we are adding to our social media presence. If you have photos onboard vessels or from your vacations, please request a link to our DropBox upload site from the Editorial Department at . You can use these links to visit and follow our pages on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
I wish everyone the best – onboard and on vacation.