The Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association (MEBA) is the oldest maritime

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

still currently in existence, established in 1875. MEBA primarily represents

licensed mariner A licensed mariner is a sailor who holds a license from a maritime authority to hold senior officer-level positions aboard ships, boats, and similar vessels. Qualification standards for licensed mariners are universally set by the STCW Conventi ...

s, especially deck and engine officers working in the

United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

aboard US-

flagged Flagging may refer to: *Running out of time on a chess clock *Flagging (tape) Flagging is a coloured non-adhesive tape used in marking objects. It is commonly made of PVC or vinyl, though wood fibre cellulose-based biodegradable flagging also ex ...

vessels. It is a member union of the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

. MEBA officers work in both the oceans and the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

in many settings, including on

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tank ...

(including

LNG carrier An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). History The first LNG carrier ''Methane Pioneer'' () carrying , classed by Bureau Veritas, left the Calcasieu River on the Louisiana Gulf coast on 25 January ...

s),

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

drillship A drillship is a merchant vessel designed for use in exploratory offshore drilling of new oil and gas wells or for scientific drilling purposes. In recent years the vessels have been used in deepwater and ultra-deepwater applications, equipped ...

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s and

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

, as well as in various capacities in the shoreside

ship transport Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throu ...

and marine industries and on government-contracted ships of the

US Maritime Administration The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation. MARAD administers financial programs to develop, promote, and operate the U.S. Maritime Service and the U.S. Merchant Marine. De ...

Ready Reserve Force The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...

and

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

. Merchant mariners deliver critical defense cargo to United States armed forces in times of military conflict. Members and their families benefit from MEBA's

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

agreements through the union's Medical Plan,

401(k) In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodical employee contributions come directly out of their ...

Plan, Pension Trust, and Vacation Plan.

History

The nation's oldest maritime union was formed out of necessity in the late 19th century. The introduction of

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

s in the early 1800s increased the demand of engineers needed to maintain them operating.

Steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

owners on the Mississippi and Great Lakes were competing with one another and demanding greater speeds from their vessels. However, the concept of steam engines powering these ships was still relatively new and the study of marine engineering was barely starting to develop as the engineers hired learned aboard the ship. The engineers hired to manage the steam engines were shore-side engineers since the

marine engineer Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circl ...

did not exist yet. It was a completely new kind of field compared to the shore-side work they were used to. The unfamiliarity with the specifics of what engineers were working with and the fact that the steam engine was in its earliest stages meant that the ships were boarded with engineers of minimal marine engineering knowledge and unreliable machinery. 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. The ongoing injuries and deaths from working on the steamships finally motivated engineers to demand a means of safety regulations from Congress in order to acquire protection and improve their working conditions. In 1838, the first Steamboat Act was implemented, however it was very inefficient because its legislation was vague and so the tragedies on steamships continued. The lack of improvement from the Steamboat Act led to and even greater demand to make the act stronger and more efficient. This continued until 1852 when Congress passed an enhanced version of the Steamboat Act which required engineers to have a license to work on steamboats and enforced an inspection system for the machinery. The first gathering of the Buffalo Association of Engineers in 1854 an essential role model for the unionization of MEBA. The Buffalo Association of Engineers implemented the topics of discussion such as wage which helped them fight wage cuts until they dismembered the association. When wages started to be cut again, cities such as Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit took after the Buffalo association and created organizations of their own. Individually, these city-wide associations were merely effective, therefore this brought on the idea to unite the one-city associations as a national movement. 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.) After Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association's formation, the union lobbied Washington legislators to pass bills in 1884 and 1896 that would make it law for all American vessels to only possess American officers, and to grant the ability for marine engineers to attain licenses, respectably.Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association. M.E.B.A history. Retrieved March 20, 2016, from mebaunion.org/, http://mebaunion.org/MEBA/m-e-b-a-history/ During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the need for more engineers called for the US government to quickly train marine engineers, however, after the war, such practices continued, and on January 20, 1919, the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association agreed to petition the use of "30 day engineers", believing there are enough resources to properly train the next generation of merchant marines. The Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, as did a wide variety of worker unions, supplied labor during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

for both naval and engineering spectrum. MEBA'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. Following the establishment of the US Naval Academy in the 1800s, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association established the Calhoon Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association Engineering School in 1966 in the Southern Hotel,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland. The maritime school offers over fifty courses to union members and outside engineering professionals (as of May 1, 2007) and provides living arrangements for attendees. MEBA_pic

Presidents

*1875 : Garret Douw *1876–1881 : Abner L. Foote *1881 : Thomas H. Nelson *1882 : Edward D. Bateman *1883 : James H. Reid *1884 : William E. Russell *1885 : Andrew Ritter *1886 : Andrew Payne *1887–1888 : Aspinwall Fuller *1889 : Ambrose L. Boyce *1890–1892 : John H. Galway *1893–1903 : George Uhler *1904– 1906 : Frank A. Jones *1907–1914 : William F. Yates *1915–1916 : A. Bruce Gibson *1917–1926 : William S. Brown *1926–1930 : William F. Yates *1930–1934 : C.M. Sheplar *1935–1936 : William S. Brown *1937–1949 : Samuel J. Hogan *1950–1959 : Herbert L. Daggett *1960–1963 : E.N. Altman *1963–1984 : Jesse M. Calhoon *1985–1992 : C.E. (Gene) DeFries *1992–1994 : Gordon Ward *1995 : Joel Bem *1996–1998 : Alex Shandrowsky *1999–2001 : Larry O'Toole *2002–2007 : Ron Davis *2008—2010 : Don Keefe *2011—2013 : Mike Jewell *2014—2020 : Marshall Ainley *2021— : Adam Vokac

Union benefits

By becoming a MEBA member, MEBA provides a medical plan includes prescription drugs, dental, mental health, disability, life, accidental death, and dismemberment benefits for MEBA members and their dependents by completing what they call a ''Permanent Data Form''. They also offer four kinds of MEBA Pension Plans. The “Regular Pension Plan” means members can retire with a regular pension plan if members have twenty years of accredited pension years, regardless of what age they retire. The “Reduced Pension Plan” is for those who have less than twenty accredited pension years and have reached the normal

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

age of sixty-five years old or the fifth anniversary of the start date of the pension plan. The “Early Retirement Pension” is for those who choose to retire early when members reach the age of sixty and have a minimum of fifteen accredited pension years. Lastly, there is the “Disability Pension” in which members can retire early if they have become permanently disabled and have a minimum of ten accredited pension years. There are also ways these pensions can be distributed in situation of marriage, children, and death. MEBA also provides a

plan in which members have the option enroll for and if they do they can name a

beneficiary A beneficiary (also, in trust law, '' cestui que use'') in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example, the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is the person ...

. A Vacation Plan is also provided in which is determined by the collective bargaining agreement with the employer, the type of vessel members work on, number of days of Covered Employment, and their rating.

Directory information

Headquarters: 444 North Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20001-1570 * ''Current President:'' Adam Vokac (2021–present) * ''Current Executive Vice President:'' Claudia Cimini (2021–present) * Current Secretary-Treasurer: Roland "Rex" Rexha (2021–present) * Current Atlantic Coast Vice President: Jason Callahan (2017–present) * Current

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

Vice President: Adam Smith (2021–present)

Associated port locations

* Seattle, Washington * San Francisco/ Oakland, California * Los Angeles/ San Pedro, California * Honolulu, Hawaii * Houston, Texas * New Orleans, Louisiana * Tampa, Florida * Jacksonville, Florida * Charleston, South Carolina * Norfolk, Virginia * Baltimore, Maryland * New York/ New Jersey * Cleveland, Ohio * Boston, Massachusetts

References

External links

*
MEBA PlansMarine Engineers
from the

Waterfront Workers History Project The Waterfront Workers History Project is a program of the University of Washington, which serves to document the history of workers and unions active on the ports, inland waterways, fisheries, canneries, and other waterfront industries of the wes ...

Calhoon MEBA Engineering SchoolElection contributions at OpenSecretsMEBA on Facebook