Document 5LExB8Vz1revr4a0Lb925E0rD

PUBLISHED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT, ESSO STANDARD DIVISION OF HUMBLE OIL & REFINING CO. Vol. 2, No. 1 January 8, 1960 NLRB Dismisses Unfair Labor Charges In a decision handed down on December 30 by the Second Region, National Labor Relations Board, charges against the Company filed by the SIU affili ated ETMU on September 18, 1959 were dismissed as groundless. The Government agency, in its report of findings after careful investigation and considera tion, states: "As a result of the investigation it appears that, because there is insufficient evidence of any violation of the Act, further proceedings are not warranted at this time. I am, therefore, refusing to issue Com plaint in this matter." The former independent union's accusations, which have forestalled a Labor Board supervised vote by Esso seamen for a bargaining agent, charged that the Company "organized, formed, dominated and inter fered with Esso Seamen's Association and gave as sistance and other support to it. . . and also "refused to bargain in good faith with Esso Tanker Men's Union. . . . and engaged in unlawful activities and conduct to impair and destroy the representative status of the Esso Tanker Men's Union." A second baseless charge, claiming that employ ment was denied to George Sullivan, a Utilityman, because of membership in the ETMU-SIU, was with drawn several weeks ago. The Board's action in dismissing the ETMU-SIU charges should pave the way for a speedy election in the fleet to determine who shall have the right to bargain for the unlicensed personnel. As soon as a bargaining agent is certified by the NLRB, a new contract covering wages and working conditions for unlicensed personnel can be negotiated. O. V. Tracy Commends Esso Fleet, Sees Bright Prospects Ahead In a holiday message from O. V. Tracy, President of Esso Standard, to J. D. Rogers, General Manager of the Marine Department--copies of which have been sent to the homes of all seagoing personnel-- Mr. Tracy expressed the Company's thanks for the "loyalty and support of the fleet in 1959." "Top management in New York," he wrote, "is proud of the work that our marine people have done in moving millions of barrels of oil on a round-theclock basis throughout the year to supply the vast needs of the Company. "The fleet has earned high respect and esteem throughout the industry for the excellence of its per formance'and has adjusted to the many changes that have been necessary in fleet operations. Marine De partment employees both afloat and ashore have reason to be proud of these accomplishments. My congratulations." Mr. Tracy also gave a bright report of last year's operations and took an optimistic look into 1960. "The year 1959," he commented, "has been a good business year for Esso--a year in which we saw some of our best efforts pay off. Our sales were the highest ever and, to a marked degree, we regained our profit position of some years back. The Future "The look ahead for Esso Standard and the Marine Department is even brighter than in 1959. Many economists are predicting a boom year for 1960. The formation of the new Humble Company should put us in an excellent position to capitalize on these forecasts. As you know, our plans are to go to a nationally branded product. We will be moving into new areas. All of these will entail new and greater opportunities for our ocean tanker operations." EXX-MOR Esso Standard Merged with Humble Esso Standard Oil Company ceased to be a corpo ration on December 31, 1959 -and on January 1, I960 became Esso Standard, Division of Humble Oil & Refining Company. The new Humble com pany, incorporated in Delaware, will be composed of the former Humble Oil & Refining Company, Esso Standard, Carter Oil Company, Oklahoma Oil Company and Pate Oil Company. In a recent announcement, O. V. Tracy, President of Esso Standard, said that we will continue to do business as at present under our current manage ment and will continue to sell our products under the Esso sign. Eventually, however, Esso Standard will lose its corporate identity. As explained previously in the Fleet News, the principal purpose in merging the five U. S. affili ates of Jersey Standard into the new Humble com pany is to create a nationwide organization to operate in all 50 states of the Union under a unified management. Some interesting questions about the merger and other matters were asked at a meeting of Standard Oil Company (N. J.) employees in Town Hall, New York, on December 16. Among the questions (and answers by M. J. Rathbone, Jersey's President) were the following: Q. Why was the name Humble picked? A. We couldn't use Esso because of court deci sions. We didn't think much of Pate or Oklahoma as a countrywide name. Between Humble and Carter, we thought Humble was very much the better name. ESSO FLEET NEWS is published for the seagoing employees of Esso Standard, Division of Humble Oil & Refining Co., Marine Department: J. D. Rogers, Gen eral Manager; James E. Stoveken, Assistant General Manager; Sydney Wire, Assistant General Manager. W. E. Gardner, Editor; R. K. Bruce, R. M. Sheridan Editorial Assistants. ' Contributions and suggestions are invited and should be addressed to The Editor, ESSO FLEET NEWS, Room 1713, 15 West 51st Street, New York 19, N. Y. Q. What about a new brand name? A. We are looking for a nationwide brand. Studies are actively going on to find one. When and if we come up with the right brand, you'll see it flying from Maine to California. Q. What is the deadline for a new brand name for the new national marketing company? A. There is no deadline. We can put in a new brand name anytime if we find one we like. O. Will foreign affiliates use the new brand name? A. We expect to use Esso just as far down the road as the Company lasts and in the areas where we can use it. It's a wonderful trade name. We can't imagine we'll ever get a better one. Q. When does the Company expect to complete reorganization with New York and mid-west com panies? A. We hope to effect the merger of Esso Standard and Carter into the new Humble Delaware company by December 31 of this year. Pate and Oklahoma I l 4I | New Humble Board Board of Directors of the new Humble Oil & Refining Co. taken recently in Tulsa, Okla. From the left are: C. E. Reistle, Jr., Executive Vice President and Director; Morgan J. Davis, President and Director; E. D. Reeves, Vice President and Director; L. J. Weigle, Secretary; C. S. Overmiller, Secretary, Humble Division; H. W. Ferguson, Vice President and Director; William Naden, Executive Vice President and Director; John W. Brice, Executive Vice President and Director; H. W. Haight, Vice President and Director. The eighth member of the Board, D. Woodson Ramsey, Jr., who is a Vice President and Director, had not yet been named when this photo was taken. EXX- M O R-006665 to Directors of Esso Standard Esso Standard's present Board, clockwise: J. J. Winterbottom, Vice President and Director; F. P. Hagaman, Controller and Director; J. P. Warner, Vice President and Director; R. H. Scholl, Executive Vice President and Director; O. V. Tracy, President and Director; B. L. Ray, Vice President and Director; R. O. Goodykpontz, Vice President and Director; T. W. Moore, Vice President and Director. companies will come into the picture later on, prob ably within three months. Q, As a result of the Humble merger, will the benefit plans be reviewed? A. Benefit plans are being reviewed. The ones that have applied to the five companies in the merger are being studied with a view to their being har monized. 0. Has the Company considered the idea of eliminating the mandatory retirement age? A. We've considered it, but we have definitely decided against it. We feel very strongly that the mandatory retirement age is a fine thing for the organization. It gives the younger people a chance to move ahead. The Board hasn't the slightest idea of changing the mandatory retirement age now. Q. There are more and more cases of tie-ups between oil companies and rubber companies such as Goodrich and Gulf. Why doesn't Jersey try to make similar arrangements to promote and protect future sales of butyl and other petrochemicals? A. We have several of the major rubber com panies interested in the manufacture of butyl tires. While they are not marketing these tires now, there's a good chance that they're going to see the benefit of these tires and that they will want to market butyl tires sometime in the future. Q. As a result of the Humble arrangements, how many fewer employees will be needed to perform the same work? A. The chances are that the Humble consolida tion will not have any fewer employees because of the expansion program that's inherent in it. All of the companies that are involved in this consolidation have gone through the painful process of personnel reduction. We think that the personnel is in good shape in the various components. When you put them all together and put an expansion program into the picture too, we're not going to need any less people. We're going to need more. Q. In the face of declining returns on the sale of petroleum, what consideration is being given to major diversification? A. We're giving a great deal of study to this question. We feel that we are diversifying, to a sub stantial degree, in our great interest in petrochemicals. This is not nearly the end of where we expect to go with respect to diversification. New Loading Mark at Baton Rouge Set by Esso Gettysburg A new loading record at Baton Rduge for 37,800 dwt. ships--more than 1,000 bph. above the previous mark--was made by the Esso Gettysburg on Novem ber 30. The vessel loaded 233,213 bbls. of South Central Louisiana crude and Bunker "C" in 8 hrs. 35 min. for an average rate of 27,181 bph. The old record, 26,101 bph., was made by the Esso James town on June 24, loading Essoheat Medium. The Esso Gettysburg's record cargo was pumped aboard through five 8-in. and one 6-in. hoses from one 14-in., one 10-in. and four 12-in. shore lines. The ship was at the dock 12 hrs. 42 min. and her time from seabuoy to seabuoy was 2 days 48 min. Both of these times are considerably shorter than the best previous ones, which were posted by the Gettys burg on September 9. i i EXX- M O R-006666 4 A Quarter-Mile of Tankers The sisterships Esso Gettysburg and Esso Lexing ton held a "family reunion" at Harbor Island on November 7--the first time two of Esso's 37,800 tonners had been docked there simultaneously. The big ships loaded over half a million barrels of cargo --254,238 bbls. of Mirando crude by the Gettysburg (left) for delivery to New York and 256,086 bbls. of Sweden and Southwest Texas crudes by the Lex ington, which she discharged at Everett. Even dis counting the space between them, the two ships occupied more than a quarter of a mile of the Harbor Island dock. We congratulate Ralph E. Langan, Third Mate in the Gettysburg, for recognizing a newsworthy event and taking photographs of same, one of which ap pears herewith. (Ed.) Hospital-Medical-Surgical Benefits Renewed, No Increase In Rates The Company has renewed a contract with Health Service, Inc., to provide hospital-medicalsurgical benefits during 1960 for members of the fleet and their families. Coverage will be the same as last year and there will be no increase in costs. Seagoing personnel who participate in the Em ployees Thrift Plan but not in the hospital-medicalsurgical program may join during the months of May and November. Those who are not in the Thrift Plan may apply for h-m-s coverage when they enroll in the Plan. Employees' share of Health Service, Inc. premiums are paid from Thrift Plan cash balances. Monthly costs are as follows: Employee Share Employee $3.39 Employee and one dependent 6.11 Family, including maternity benefits* 7.32 Company Share -- $2.73 3.94 Total $ 3.39 8.84 11.26 * Maternity benefits are .provided only under this classi fication. Applications for both the Thrift Plan and hospitalmedical-surgical benefits can be obtained aboard ship, at Agency offices or in the Seagoing Personnel Section of the Port of New York Office. I k Special Inland Waterways Barge This nearly completed 16,300-bbl. barge is the "front half" of Esso Tow No. 1, an integrated unit that will enter service in the New York area this spring. Built in Nashville, Tenn., the barge is 190 ft. long, has a beam of 38 ft. and depth of 15'/2 ft. Of particular interest are its modified spoon bow, notched stern and controllable skegs. All these features will give the barge and its 1,280 hp. towboat increased maneuverability in the narrow, congested waterways for which the unit was primarily designed. EXX- M O R-006667