A letter was sent to President Trump by USA Maritime Chairman James Henry. USA Maritime emphasizing the importance of Food for Peace.
West Coast Sailors
United States Secretary of Transportation-designee Elaine Chao reaffirmed her longtime support for the U.S.-flag maritime industry during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on January 11.
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-California), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, sent a letter dated December 2, to President-elect Donald Trump highlighting the importance of the Jones Act.
Like it or not, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the nation’s 45th president on January 20. With the Republicans retaining control of the Senate and the House of Representatives and now gaining the White House, the road ahead for organized labor will be challenging.
World-wide container volumes are on track for zero growth this year, which would mark the sector’s worst performance since the 2009 economic crisis and a likely catalyst for further bankruptcies and possible shipping-industry consolidation.
SUP-contracted Matson Navigation Company that it had signed an agreement with San Diego’s General Dynamics NASSCO to build two new combined container and roll-on/roll-off (Con-Ro) vessels for its Hawai’i fleet.
The platform adopted by the Republican Party at its convention in Cleveland calls for gutting the Jones Act which requires that vessels trading between American port be U.S.-built, U.S.-flag and crewed by American mariners. If Trump is elected and his platform is enacted, American seafarers will be on the beach permanently.
Speaking in Brussels, Belgium, on July 13, before negotiators involved in crafting the U.S.-European Union (E.U.) TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade pact, the London-based International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) stated forcefully that cabotage laws should not be included.
The latest assault on the Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920) was thwarted on June 8, when an amendment to the Puerto Rico relief bill to exempt the U.S. commonwealth from the Act was ruled “out-of-order” in the House of Representatives Rules Committee.
The Sailors’ Union of the Pacific overwhelmingly endorsed a true champion of labor and the U.S. Merchant Marine for the open United States Senate seat in California – Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.
Among the Union's objectives is "to support a journal which shall voice the sentiments of the seafaring class, and through its columns seek to maintain the knowledge of and interest in maritime affairs." The first issue of the West Coast Sailors, in June of 1937, noted that "Common sense, fearlessly applied, brings success to a Union."