MARINE ENGINEERS' BENEFICIAL ASSOCIATION (AFL-CIO)
         "On Watch in Peace and War Since 1875"

MEBA TELEX TIMES       FEBRUARY 20, 2009

The Official Union Newsletter

NUMBER 8

In this issue...
Beneficial Plans changes made...Union Safe program...Horizon, Matson win Guam bids...Moo! We head to greener pastures and herd up a USDA-approved, longhorn edition in a beefy, maritime cattle call. Don't bet the farm on overgrazing, cud-chewing newsletters that steer you wrong. They'll milk you for all you're worth! We make rump roast out of them and raise the steaks in a no-bull, maverick issue that'll make you jump over the moon. An udder delight, the Telex Times keeps coming 'til the cows come home!

M.E.B.A. TRUSTEES MAKE BENEFICIAL PLANS
M.E.B.A. Plans Trustees have instituted a series of changes for the benefit of the membership:

401(k) Plan - the Trustees amended the 401(k) Plan to add loan provisions. Fidelity will administer the program. Approximately 60 to 90 days are necessary to fully implement the program. The Plan Office will send further details as soon as they are available.

Medical Plan - the Trustees amended the Medical Plan to:
- Rescind the Rule of 75 for pensioner eligibility. This rule was to take effect on January 1, 2011.
- Increase the annual Dental Benefit maximum from $2,000 to $5,000 beginning with calendar year 2009.
- Change the six month requirement for a dental exam and prophylaxis to twice in any calendar year beginning with 2009.
- Add a Dental Benefit allowing for one dental implant per year, subject to the new $5,000 Dental Benefit maximum.
- Change the Pensioner optical benefit to mirror Active optical benefit with regard to the two year accrual ($120 in any calendar year, with any remaining balance carried over into the following calendar year). The dollar amount is still payable at 80%.
- Treat as a covered expense the charges for in-patient hospital expenses for care and treatment of nervous and mental disorders that exceed the current calendar-year three-day maximum benefit. The $5,000 maximum out-of-pocket limit will be applied to the care and treatment of nervous and mental disorders when the unpaid portion of such charges exceeds the $5,000 out-of pocket maximum.
- Eliminate the requirement that a physician provide medical documentation or supporting history for a diagnosis of impotence for erectile dysfunction prescriptions.

Look for official notices from the Plan Office and articles in the next issue of Benefit Watch for details.

Training Plan and Medical Plan Travel Reimbursement Programs

The Trustees of the Training Plan and Medical Plan have agreed to change the Plans' travel program and use an in-house travel arranger. The Plan Office has begun working on the details of this new arrangement and will advise the membership when the details are worked out.

MARCH INFORMATIONAL MEETING ANNOUNCED IN CLEVELAND
Our Cleveland Union hall will be hosting an informational meeting on March 4th after noon. This will be the culmination of several days of meetings in the area that annually precede the start of the Great Lakes shipping season. All active and retired members are welcome to attend. Contact our Cleveland Rep. Torey Zingales at the hall for specifics. You can reach him at (216) 579-6322 or by e-mail at szingales@d1meba.org.

OVERSEAS BOSTON DELIVERED
Aker Philadelphia Shipyard has delivered the OVERSEAS BOSTON - the sixth MT-46 Veteran Product Tanker to American Shipping Company. The vessel leaves the yard under the operation of OSG America with M.E.B.A. engineers aboard. It will then be time chartered by Tesoro Corp. which will use the ship to transport petroleum products. This product tanker is the first of four vessels planned to be utilized by Tesoro.

The next three ships in the series of twelve are in various stages of construction at the shipyard. They are the OVERSEAS NIKISKI, OVERSEAS MARTINEZ and OVERSEAS ANACORTES.

HORIZON, MATSON WIN BIDS TO RELOCATE MARINES TO GUAM
M.E.B.A. contracted companies Matson Navigation and Horizon Lines have won their bids to help relocate 8,000 marines from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam. The United States and Japan recently shored up an agreement for the move in which Japan will help foot the bill for relocation costs.

The U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) will spend up to $100,000,000 on its contract with Matson involving shipments between U.S. West Coast ports to and from Hawaii and U.S. West Coast ports to and from Guam. The contract with Horizon Lines (also worth up to $100,000,000) covers similar territory but also includes shipments between Alaska ports to and from Guam. For both contracts, work is expected to begin in mid-March and wrap up in November of this year.

Both companies, which already have shipping runs to Guam, are in better shape to carry out their new contracts after a cooperative move to upgrade the infrastructure in the Port of Guam. A few months ago, Horizon and Matson jointly purchased three gantry cranes from the Port of Los Angeles. The cranes were retrofitted and modified and will enhance the companies' productivity and handling capabilities in Guam once they are operational by the end of March.

WASHINGTON STATE LAUDS SUCCESS OF OIL TRANSFER RULES
In September 2006, Washington State lawmakers directed its Department of Ecology to adopt stringent oil transfer rules after 4,700 gallons of heavy fuel oil spilled during an oil transfer operation at Chevron-Texaco's Richmond Beach fuel terminal in December 2003. Since the rules went into effect, the Department has seen reductions in the amount of oil spilled. In 2008, only about 158 gallons were spilled to Washington waters during fuel transfers though nearly 15 billion gallons of oil were transferred over State waters by ship, fueling facility, tank truck or rail. State regulations require up to 24-hour advance notice whenever bulk oil transfers of more than 100 gallons occur over state waters from certain types of facilities such as refineries, refueling terminals, railcars, tank trucks and all vessels delivering oil. Last year the Ecology Department received 15,111 advance notices of fuel transfer reports, about twice as many as originally anticipated when the rules went into effect.

The rules apply to oil tankers and fuel barges; fishing, cargo, passenger ships, and other non-recreational vessels; Oil storage facilities and refineries; marinas fueling non-recreational vessels and all mobile fuel transfers from tank trucks and railcars.

NEW "UNION SAFE" BENEFITS ASSIST UNION MEMBERS HIT HARD BY ECONOMIC CRISIS
With many working families in financial distress as a result of the sharp downturn in the U.S. economy, Union Plus is launching a program of new and enhanced benefits to assist eligible union members facing hardships. Union Plus programs, which are available to all M.E.B.A. members and retirees, provide a vast range of money-saving benefits and services. M.E.B.A. is enrolled dozens of moneysaving U.P. programs ranging from life insurance to financing your children's educations.

The new benefits program, called Union SAFE - for Security, Assistance and Financial Education - provides a wide array of benefits, including help for those suffering from layoffs to soaring hospital costs to problems paying their mortgage to help saving for college. Unique benefits being offered under the Union SAFE initiative to help eligible members include:

- Credit counseling services, budgeting advice and no-fee debt management and bankruptcy counseling benefits. . Hospital Care Grants of $1,000 to help members who have been hit with large, unreimbursed hospital expenses who participate in the Union Plus Credit Card, Mortgage or UnionSecure Insurance programs.

- Job Loss Grants of $250 for Union Plus Credit Card holders who have been recently laid off for more than 90 days.

- Mortgage Assistance to help Union Plus Mortgage holders, who become unemployed, disabled or go on strike, make their mortgage payments. And, to help members finance their children's college educations, Union SAFE offers a College Savings Grant of $500 to members who open new 529 tax-free college savings accounts or pre-paid tuition accounts of at least $1,000 by June 30, 2009.

This $1 million initiative offered by Union Plus to eligible union members demonstrates that the labor movement is answering President Obama's call for a new era of responsibility to help those who have fallen on hard times, says Leslie Tolf, president of Union Privilege, provider of the Union Plus benefits.

"We are all hopeful today because President Obama is working to help middle-class Americans struggling in this worsening recession," Tolf says. "America's unions and Union Plus are doing what we can right now to assist members in trouble - especially those who participate in a Union Plus program."  In addition, the Union SAFE initiative expands and increases other Union Plus benefits, such as:

- Increasing the number of Union Plus Credit Card Disability Grants (which range from $1,000 to $2,000) available to cardholders who have experienced a significant loss of income within the past six months due to a recent disability that has kept them out of work for 90 days.

- Expanding the availability of $500 Disaster Relief Grants to participants in the Union Plus Credit Card, Mortgage and UnionSecure Insurance programs.

"The new Union SAFE benefits expand the Union Plus Safety Net to help and support union members and make the union-backed Union Plus benefits an even better value," Tolf says.

More information and grant applications are available at UnionPlus.org/UnionSAFE.

M.E.B.A. SHIP MAKES HISTORIC SERVICE STOP IN BROOKLYN
The HORIZON PRODUCER, a 720-foot containership crewed with M.E.B.A. engineers recently completed drydock maintenance on the East River at the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard. The PRODUCER, operated by Horizon Lines Inc., is the first containership in dry dock on a New York river in more than 15 years.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard (BNY), once known as America's premier shipbuilding facility, was founded in 1801 and has a storied past. BNY workers over two centuries have built and serviced some of the most historic and innovative vessels for commercial and military use; continually repairing barges, tankers, bulk carriers and breakbulk vessels. Containerships represent the newest technology afloat and the workers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard can certainly handle drydocking on these vessels. Despite the cold and wintery weather challenges over the past several weeks, the Brooklyn Navy Yard completed work on the PRODUCER in time for the vessel to cross New York Harbor into Port Elizabeth, N.J., to load cargo promptly for another run to Puerto Rico.

"The Brooklyn Navy Yard was the ideal maintenance partner for the PRODUCER because of its location, proximity to the vessel's Puerto Rico trade lane, cost and upstanding reputation," said Joe Breglia, V.P and General Manager of Ocean Transportation Services. The PRODUCER caught the current and sailed under the Brooklyn Bridge last month, bringing into view on the East River an important tool of globalization. "We realize the HORIZON PRODUCER is the first containership to be drydocked here in more than 15 years and we appreciate the potential and future opportunities this location may represent. Servicing an American ship in an American shipyard has always been our goal when possible," Breglia said.

CREW ON LIBERIAN-FLAGGED SHIP COVERED UP POLLUTION
A federal grand jury in Newark, N.J., has returned an eight-count indictment charging a Liberian company that manages the oceangoing bulk carrier vessel, M/V MYRON N, along with the ship's Chief Engineer and 2nd A/E for covering up discharges of oil-contaminated waste at sea.

Dalnave Navigation Inc., a company incorporated in Liberia, Chief Engineer Panagiotis Stamatakis and 2nd A/E Dimitrios Papadakis, were each charged with conspiracy and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships by failing to maintain an accurate ship record concerning the disposal of oil-contaminated waste. They were also charged with making false statements to U.S. Coast Guard authorities regarding the pumping of oil-contaminated waste overboard and five counts of obstruction of justice concerning the statements made to the Coast Guard.

The indictment alleges that between 2004 and September 2008, Dalnave, and more recently through its two senior engineers on the M/V MYRON N, Stamatakis and Papadakis, directed subordinate crew members to use a metal pipe to bypass the ship's oil water separator and instead discharge the oil-contaminated waste directly overboard. Thereafter, on Sept. 8, 2008, in the port of Newark, N.J., the defendants presented a fabricated oil record book that failed to disclose prior discharges into the ocean of oil-contaminated waste by the M/V MYRON N. The indictment alleges the defendants knowingly maintained the oil record book that failed to disclose the overboard discharge of oil-contaminated waste without the use of the ship's pollution prevention equipment and further alleges that the defendants falsely stated to Coast Guard authorities that, among other things, they never ordered the pumping of oil-contaminated waste overboard.

If convicted, Dalnave faces a statutory maximum fine of $500,000 on each of the eight counts or, alternatively, twice the gross gain resulting from the offenses. If convicted of the conspiracy, obstruction of justice and false statement charges, Stamatakis and Papadakis face up to 5 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine per count. If convicted on the APPS charge, the two face up to 6 years in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
Monday, March 2 - Boston, Jacksonville, Seattle;
Tuesday, March 3 - Baltimore, Houston, San Francisco;
Wednesday, March 4 - Calhoon School; Charleston, New Orleans, Portland;
Thursday, March 5 - L.A., New York, Norfolk, Tampa;
Friday, March 6 - Honolulu.

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