Global InformationSeafarers International Union of North America information
Seafarers International Union | |
 | |
| Founded | October 14, 1938 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Camp Springs, Maryland |
| Location |
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Members | 35,498 (2005) |
Key people | David Heindel, president |
| Affiliations | AFL–CIO |
| Website | www |
The Seafarers International Union or SIU is an organization of 12 autonomous labor unions of mariners, fishermen and boatmen working aboard vessels flagged in the United States or Canada. Michael Sacco was its president from 1988 until 2023. The organization has an estimated 35,498 members and is the largest maritime labor organization in the United States. Organizers founded the union on October 14, 1938. 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 (CIO) and its Communist Party-aligned faction.[2]
Today the SIU represents mariners and boatmen who sail aboard U.S.-flagged vessels and Canadian- 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, including: military support, commercial trade, tugboats, passenger ships, barges, and gaming vessels. Military support vessels operated by the U.S. Department of Defense's Military Sealift Command (MSC) provide a key source of jobs for seafarers. MSC operates some 110 noncombat ships that support U.S. forces around the world.[3]
SIU membership includes eligibility for access to healthcare, retirement, and education benefits. 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.[4]
Highly active in the political arena, the SIU states that its primary focus is to maintain safe working environments for men and women working aboard vessels, and to ensure very high standards of training among its membership.
- ^ "SIU Profile". Retrieved March 16, 2008.
- ^ Brotherhood of the Sea: A History of the Sailors' Union of the Pacific, by Stephen Schwartz. Published 1986 by Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-88738-121-9.
- ^ "SIU - Military Sealift Command accepts USNS Richard E. Byrd". Seafarers International Union. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
- ^ "Mariner Education and Workforce," Capitol Hill Hearing Testimony. Statement of Augustin Tellez, Executive Vice President, The Seafarers International Union, Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes, and Inland Waters District/NMU. CQ Congressional Testimony. October 17, 2007.