Seafarers International Union of North America - Episode 193

**Lesley Sullivan** (0:01)
Good afternoon, good afternoon. Thank you so much for joining me. This is the podcast, The Endurance of Labor Laws. I'm your lovely host, Lesley Sullivan. Today is episode 193, and today we're going to take a look at the Seafarers International Union of North America. Kind of an interesting one. It has the good, the bad, the ugly associated with it. But before we dive into this one, let me give a big shout out to our listeners, because as usual, you guys are awesome. We love to see you here online. Do check out our YouTube channel, and thank you so much for subscribing. Do leave us feedback, leave a comment, say hello, whatever the case may be. We love to see you guys there. So a big shout out to Oklahoma, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Florida. In terms of countries, the United States, the Russian Federation, and Australia. Good to see all of you. So this labor union was founded October 14th in 1938 However, their history goes back to around the turn of the century. And the reason why is because this union is a conglomerate of several different labor unions that deal with the oceans and the seas. And so their history goes back to the turn of the century, whereas this particular large union that has gobbled up these smaller unions, they only go back to 1938 But their members history in terms of their smaller labor unions goes back to the turn of the century. So this is nothing new in terms of occupation. They are headquartered in Camp Springs, Maryland. They have one location in terms of countries, even though it is an international trade union. Their one location is in the United States. But the reason why they are considered an international trade union is because of their other smaller labor unions that they have gobbled up. Some of them have locations in Canada. And Canada is not exactly a fan of this labor union. So, I always wondered if Canada actually likes being a part of America in terms of our labor unions. This is a perfect example of where they do not. Because typically Canada does not like the United States and Canadians typically do not have very nice things to say about Americans. Nothing new with that, that's just how it is. Now in terms of numbers and in terms of members, as of 2005, they had 35,498 members, which that's quite a few. I'm very impressed with that number. So they're going strong. In terms of people, they're key people. Michael Sacko, S-A-C-C-O, is their president. Unfortunately, he's been president for them since 1988 I think that's too long. I think that's kind of ridiculous. And I think it's becoming more and more like a bureaucracy. So the longer you have someone in a position of power, typically the more stagnant your organization becomes. Now here's the thing, that's in regards to trade unions, not private sector companies. Here's the thing, when someone actually owns a company, they own it and they are the CEO, unless they pass that responsibility on to somebody else. In terms of trade unions and labor unions, they do need to change management. They really do. Because they don't own, excuse me, I'm losing my voice. They don't own those jobs and they don't own the private sector. And the presidents of these labor unions do not actually own the labor union. So that's why you need to have a change of management. It's just like the presidency of the United States. That's why we vote for a new president. We vote again every four years. And then the maximum term is two terms, which is a max of eight years. Unfortunately, this guy has been in there since 1988 with this trade union. And I think that's one reason why they had problems with discrimination. So hold on just a moment. Let me get a drink of water. So we will just discuss the, I would say the age discrimination is what they went to court on or what they were taken to court about. This was back in 2005 and they lost. And they rightfully lost on that. So interesting about that. So I'm not surprised that they actually got taken to court. I'm just surprised they weren't taken to court sooner. Because more than likely, you know, what you have to remember with court cases is that the offense typically did not happen just recently. And especially in regards to workplace violations, typically those, usually they came to light a ways back, but management and HR did not want to handle it. So I'm not surprised that this organization was taken to federal court and they lost. And they rightfully lost. They deserve to be told differently about how they were operating their organization there. So needs to say, they are affiliated with AFL-CIO. It says, the Seafarers International Union, also known as SIU, is an organization of 12 labor unions of mariners, fishermen and boatmen working aboard vessels flagged in the United States or Canada. Michael Sacko, S-A-C-C-O, has been its president since 1988 My personal opinion is that is way too long. He should have a maximum of serving eight years. That's my personal opinion. Get some new blood in there. The organization has an estimate of 35,498 members and is the largest maritime labor organization in the United States. That's only because they have several smaller labor unions under their, I would say within the organization, underneath their umbrella. So it's like a conglomerate. And I don't like that because conglomerates and especially monopolies, let me rephrase that conglomerates do not always have the individual person's best interest at heart. It's always the group. And so whenever you're focusing on the group and not the individual, then that's when typically your rights get violated, which is exactly what happened within this trade union. Also monopolies are illegal in the United States. At least they are supposed to be illegal. So I don't understand why these labor unions are not broken up. Because we have seen time and time again, whenever these labor unions get too big for their britches, so to speak, that's when they have a lot of problems. That's why, you know, if I am in favor of a trade union, I prefer that they stay small and that they remain local, because then they can protect local workers' rights. It's only when they get really big that they start having problems, and then they start donating possibly millions of dollars to the Democratic Party, which is not right to do that. So that's a very fascist communist thing to do. Goes on to say, organizers founded the union on October 14th, 1938, but again, their history goes back to the turn of the century. The Seafarers International Union arose from a charter issued to the Sailors Union of the Pacific by the American Federation of Labor, as a foil against loss of jobs to the Congress of Industrial Organizations, also known as CIO, so they're having a turf battle basically, they're having a TIF, and it's communist party-aligned factions. So what's interesting is that a lot of these labor unions have a problem with communism, which is not surprising considering that they typically cannot stand capitalism, but yet they want to make a lot of money, and yet they don't understand economics, they don't understand supply and demand, but yet they want a lot of money to do the exact same type of work. It's like that doesn't really make sense. But anyway, it says, today the SIU represents mariners and boatmen who sail aboard US flagged vessels in deep sea, the Great Lakes and inland waterways. Membership includes workers in the deck, steward and engine departments. SIU members are represented aboard a wide variety of vessels operated by the United States Department of Defense's Military Sealift Command, also known as MSC, which provide a key source of jobs for seafarers. MSC operates from 110 non-combat ships that support US forces around the world. SIU membership includes eligibility for access to health care, retirement and education benefits. But it is predominantly about health care and retirement. And considering how large the baby boomer generation is, I bet this labor union is being sucked dry by the baby boomers in regards to retirement. But they were promised that they were promised that retirement benefit. So they should receive it. But I doubt that they can actually afford it. You know, it kind of sounds like Medicare and Medicaid, which is exactly what it is. It's almost like a social welfare program. It says, educational facilities include the Union's Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education at Piney Point, Maryland. The training center started in Brooklyn, New York, and is named after a former SIU president, Paul Hall. The school opened in 1967 and has trained more than 100,000 mariners. Highly active in the political arena, which I do not agree with, the SIU states that its primary focus is to maintain safe working environments for men and women, working aboard vessels. I'm all for that, but I just don't agree with the politicalness. I think that's ridiculous. And to ensure very high standards of training among its membership. So I'm all for training. But what's funny is that this union discriminated against anybody over the age of 35 That's why they were taken to court. So I guess they consider anyone over the age of 35 to be an old hag or an old bag. And I'm like, wow, that's really horrible. So needs to say, very interesting stuff there. Let me get a drink of water. So it says, in terms of their history, again, it goes back to 1938 But again, it's actually back to the turn of the century. And a lot of their jobs were created, well, I shouldn't say created. The union was founded during the difficult times of the Great Depression and the world economic slowdown. And unfortunately, communism was on the rise back then. So that's why a lot of these labor unions were founded, was because we had a lot of communists that immigrated over here to the United States and did not agree with democracy, liberty or freedom. So that's why they founded a lot of these labor unions. Now, here's the thing, I'm not going to go into every single little tiff that they've had, but needless to say, it's one of those things where they get affiliate and disaffiliate, affiliate and disaffiliate. And so I'm going to list off the unions that they are currently affiliated with. And this, this changes. It just changes so much. It's ridiculous. Like they get in a little tiff and they leave and then they come back. So it's dumb. Okay. So the first one that is involved in this labor union is the Seafarers International Union of North America, Atlantic Gulf Lakes and Inland Waters District National Maritime Union. And their total assets is $19,368,333 and that is as of 2005 report. The next one is American Maritime Officers. Their total assets is $15,228,913 and that is as of a 2006 report. So, these people are not broke is what I'm trying to make a point here. They have millions of dollars that they collect from their members and they try and infiltrate our elections and that's not right because the elections belong to the American people. It does not belong to any particular trade union. That's why these trade unions are very communist in how they operate because they think that they should be in charge of who becomes president. Well, that's a dictatorship and we don't have that. The next one on the list is Fishermen's Union of America, Pacific and Caribbean. Their total assets as of 2005 is $10,525. Next one is Industrial Professional Technical Workers International Union. Their total assets in 2005 was $416,930. The next one is Marine Firemen's Union. Their total assets in 2005 was $3,675,662.