Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association

M.E.B.A.
Full name Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, AFL-CIO
Founded February 23, 1875
Members 23,400 (2014)[1]
Head union H. Marshall Ainley
Affiliation AFL-CIO
Key people

H. Marshall Ainley, President

Bill Van Loo, Secretary-Treasurer
Office location Washington, D.C.
Country United States
Website mebaunion.org

The Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.) is the oldest maritime trade union in the United States still currently in existence, established in 1875. M.E.B.A. primarily represents licensed mariners, especially deck and engine officers working in the United States Merchant Marine aboard U.S.-flagged vessels. It is a member union of the AFL–CIO.

M.E.B.A. officers work in both the oceans and the Great Lakes in many settings, including on container ships, tankers (including LNG carriers), cruise ships, drillships, tugboats and ferries, as well as in various capacities in the shoreside ship transport and marine industries and on government-contracted ships of the U.S. Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force and U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command. Merchant mariners deliver critical defense cargo to United States armed forces in times of military conflict.

Members and their families benefit from M.E.B.A.'s collective bargaining agreements through the union's Medical Plan, 401(k) Plan, Pension Trust, and Vacation Plan. The M.E.B.A. Training Plan provides further technical training at the Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School in Easton, Maryland.[2]

History

The nation's oldest maritime union was formed out of necessity in the late 19th century. Steamship owners on the Mississippi and Great Lakes were competing with one another and demanding greater speeds from their vessels. This increase in speed greatly reduced safety in the engine room due to fires and boiler explosions. Even with increased risk, the wages remained the same.

In 1874, the Buffalo Association of Engineers began corresponding with other marine engineer associations around the country. In February 1875, the leaders of five steamship unions out of Buffalo, New York, Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois and Baltimore, Maryland, convened in Cleveland, Ohio to join together. This organization called itself the National Marine Engineers Association and chose Garret Douw of Buffalo as its president. (The word Beneficial was not added until 1883.)

M.E.B.A.'s membership, like that of all American maritime unions has varied widely over the years. At the end of World War I, they had more than 22,000 members, but by 1934, their membership was down to 4,848. Membership ballooned during World War II, with job opportunities for about 200,000 seamen.[3]

Presidents

See also

References

  1. ↑ US Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. File number 000-140. (Search) Report submitted 24 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "MEBA Plans". Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  3. ↑ Author Unknown (1975). Worthy of Our Heritage, A Brief History of America’s Oldest Maritime Union, A Centennial Anniversary Publication of the National Marine Engineers Beneficial Association AFL-CIO, 1875-1975. New York, New York: Maurer Fleisher Zon & Anderson, Inc. Washington, DC.
  4. ↑ Author Unknown (1975). Worthy of Our Heritage, A Brief History of America’s Oldest Maritime Union, A Centennial Anniversary Publication of the National Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association AFL-CIO, 1875-1975. New York, New York: Maurer Fleisher Zon & Anderson, Inc. Washington, DC. p. 39.

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