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Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association

History
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. The Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association, as did a wide variety of worker unions, supplied labor during World War II for both naval and engineering spectrum. During World War 1, the need for more engineers called for the U.S. government to quickly train marine engineers,  however, after the war, such practices continued, and on January 20th, 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. Following the establishment of the U.S. Naval Academy in the 1800’s, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association established the Calhoon Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association Engineering School in 1966 in the Southern Hotel, Baltimore, 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.

M.E.B.A. Rights as an Individual
On September 7th, 1990, an agreement was struck between the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish the rights the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association and its members possess. Members of the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association have the right to join and affiliate with any union or labor group as they please without any economic or legal repercussions. Members of MEBA have the right to petition and bargain for higher wages under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Any member of MEBA may remove themselves from the union as they so desire and cannot be forced involuntarily to give money to the  Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association. MEBA employees are required to openly communicate with union officials and the outside employer of the union member. If a MEBA member is working for an employer, the employer must communicate with the Union leadership at all times and offer the employee any promotion he/she rightfully deserves. If a MEBA employee is accused of a crime by an employer, the employee has the right to know any and all evidence and any incident must be one where the security and safety of the vessel was compromised. Even if the MEBA member is found guilty, the information on that occurrence cannot be used against them after two years for another similar occurrence. MEBA members are to be officially  considered on duty until they are no longer expected to be continuously active throughout the day. During a period of negotiation, the MEBA member will not face any form of discrimination from the employer. MEBA employees will be required to only work a forty hour work week, lasting throughout the weekdays. chief engineers who are part of MEBA will receive the same pay as day workers unless the ship is in port, in which case they will be paid on an hourly bases. If the chief engineer is forced to work more than eight hours a day, they will be paid overtime, as well as any work performed on the weekend. Any employee from MEBA working on New Year’s Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas Day will be paid overtime. Members can post bulletin boards on their vessels as long as the language posted is not vulgar. Any member of M.E.B.A. that believes that he or she has been a victim of a breach in contract or has evidence that their rights of as a union member have not been upheld, they have two weeks after the occurrence of such act to submit their complaints to the captain of the ship.

M.E.B.A. Rights as a Union
The leadership of MEBA cannot be ordered to hire a certain number of engineers or perform specific security measures by the United States Government. The organization of MEBA may fire any personnel and use any form of technology to perform their business. The union leadership of MEBA must recognize all member when speaking for their grievances and will not discriminate against any member for any reason. MEBA must hold a hearing officially stating the conditions of the unions and discuss matter of commerce, security, safety, recruitment and promotions  . On every ship in which there is a union member working aboard, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association will appoint one member on the ship as a representative of all those on board. Union officials will meet periodically with members on board vessels without docking the employees’ pay, the location of such meeting is decided by the first mate of the vessel. Any disagreements between MEBA officials and the employer must be handled in a way that will not affect the working order of the union members and their time at sea.