Document KGxpMBjbKrab9Oo41YpZbMRg6

DIVISION OF HUMBLE OIL Be REFINING CO. Vol. 2, No. 4 February 26, 1960 Esso Officer in Race To Son's Hospital Bed On Sunday afternoon, February 14, the Esso Washington was in the vicinity of Tortugas on a voy age from Baton Rouge to Everett. Jr. Third Mate James G. Key, Jr. received a radiotelephone call from his wife in Baltimore. She said that Jimmy, their sixyear old son, had been taken to Mercy Hospital and was in critical condition. About 1700 Sunday Mr. Key got a call through to Port Captain A. Larson in New Jersey. He asked if permission could be given and arrangements made for him to leave the ship to go to his son. Captain Larson started a chain of communications and was shortly able to call Mr. Key back and say that every effort would be made to land him at Miami. Subse quently, Captain William Mello, Agent at Jackson ville, arranged with the Miami pilots to have a boat meet the Esso Washington at the Miami Sea Buoy and bring Mr. Key ashore. The tanker hove to off the buoy about 0650, Feb ruary 15. Mr. Key transferred to the pilot boat 20 minutes later, was driven to Miami airport and boarded an 11 o'clock plane for Washington. Arriv ing there at 1416, Mr. Key was met by a representa tive of the Company and taken through the city to the Baltimore-Washington expressway with a police escort. He reached the hospital at 1530--eight hours and 20 minutes after he had left his ship. Meanwhile, little Jimmy, who had become ill on Saturday, was rushed to the hospital Sunday and found to be stricken with meningitis. His condition grew worse and when he went into a coma Mrs. Key, a former nurse, called her husband on the radiotele phone. With the aid of "miracle" drugs Jimmy re gained consciousness shortly before his father arrived. "Hi, Daddy. I came to the hospital," he murmured as Mr. Key came to his bedside. Mr. Key will prob ably never hear more poignant words than those. By the afternoon of February 16 Jimmy was re ported to be showing wonderful improvement, with great hope that he will pull through. Mr. Key, who has over 11 years' service in the Esso fleet, was deeply grateful for the consideration and assistance he had received from Company per sonnel. "They couldn't have treated me better if 1 was President of the United States," he said. Esso Havana on Transatlantic Voyage There was a considerable stir aboard the Esso Ha vana when crew members received the news of their next voyage as the vessel docked at Sewells Point, February 11. The orders read, in part: "Proceed Amuay. Load full cargo No. 2 heating oil. Discharge Germany. Discharge port later." Asked how this development had come about, L. D. Rowland, Traffic Division Manager, gave this explanation: "On February 11 we received an inquiry regarding a prompt lifting of 30,000 tons of heating oil, which had been sold by an affiliate to a North European customer. The Esso Havana, only available clean vessel that could deliver the cargo in the required time, was assigned to make the voyage." Under command of Captain Robert E. Evans and with Chief Engineer Gregor O. W. Collins in charge of her engineroom, the Havana left Sewells Point February 12, arrived at Amuay on the 17th and was due at a North European port about March 1. Rogers Rejects "Reckless" Charges By ETMU-SIUNA In a letter to the Company, dated February 2, Charles E. Gallagher, President of the ETMUSIUNA, stated that several Esso seamen had been told that unless they joined the Esso Seamen's Asso ciation they would be fired from their jobs. Mr. Gallagher's letter, addressed to J. D. Rogers, General Manager of the Marine Department, reads as follows: Dear Mr. Rogers: We have received several written communications from Esso tankermen on the Esso Washington and other ships making positive statements as to threats to their livelihood made by Mr. John Collins. Collins, on several occasions, in front of witnesses, has told the tankermen that unless they joined his socalled "Esso Seamen's Association", they would be fired from their jobs. (Continued on next page) EXX-MOR-006676 Naturally, the men in the fleet, ate ..concerned about these statements, in light of the faet that Collins is the representative of Esso supervisors in the Jersey Standard Tanker Officers Association; and in light of the fact that the NLRB regional office held that the so-called "Esso Seamen's Association" is supervisortainted. Clearly then, Collins could be in a position to have his threats carried out by company super visors acting under the authority vested in them by the company. In light of these serious threats to the security and livelihood of Esso tankermen, it is incumbent upon the company to instruct Collins to "cease and desist"' immediately from such threats, and to instruct all company supervisors to halt further interference in the tankermen's freedom of choice as to the organi zations they may, or may not, wish to join. Anything less than such positive action on your part can only be regarded by us as evidence of company support of Collins' statements. We await your immediate reply. Very truly yours, (Signed) Charles E. Gallagher President The following is Mr. Rogers' reply: Mr. Charles E. Gallagher E.T.M.U.-Seafarers International Union of North America-AFL/CIO 53 Park Place New York 7, New York Dear Mr. Gallagher: We refer to your letter of February 2 containing your latest charges; namely that coercion is being attempted by the Esso Seamen's Association in order to force Esso seamen to join the new independent union. We have received no substantive reports or com plaints that would give credence to your claim. Never theless, it is reassuring to us to learn that you stand opposed, as we do, to threats and intimidation as a means of compelling men to join a union not of their own choosing. As to your charges, we have little choice but to as sume that these are merely typical of your many earlier baseless accusations leveled at the Company. For example, on various occasions you have made the false assertion that 300 to 400 Esso seamen are going to be laid off (refuted by the Company in our letter to employees dated August 4, 1959); that the Company signed a "Sweetheart Agreement" with E.T.M.A. (disproved in court); that the Company committed various unfair labor practices (dismissed by the Regional Director of the NLRB); that crew members of the ESSO WASHINGTON were potential carriers of the Asiatic Flu (disproved by competent medical authority). In view of your impressive record of reckless charges, we believe you will agree that we can hardly be ex pected to take your letter of February 2 seriously. Yours very truly, (Signed) J. D. Rogers 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. M. Sheridan, Editorial As sistant. 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. ETMU-SIU Moves for "One Union" Choice in Balloting If the SlU-affiliated ETMU has its way, Esso sea men will have only a single union choice in the forth coming NLRB election. In a brief filed on February 11 with the Govern ment labor agency, the one-time bargaining agent for Esso seamen has proposed that the independent Esso Seamen's Association not be allowed to appear on the ballot. We will not comment in any detail on the validity of this maneuver to deny Esso seamen freedom of choice. We think the NLRB will see it for what it is --frivolous and without merit. Are Your Checks Going to Correct Address? Some men in the fleet are under the impression that when they notify the office of a change of address on the "W-4" form the office will automatically change their Thrift Plan address. This is not the case. Thrift Plan and draw check order addresses are main tained separately because many men have these checks sent to a different address than the one on their W-4 form. To change an address to which Thrift Plan checks are sent, it is necessary to notify the Port of New York Office on a special form. This is entitled "Change of Name, Date of Birth and/or Member Mail Address" and will soon be available aboard ship, along with convenient envelopes. New draw check orders, if applicable, should be submitted at the same time. OBITUARY Steward Lester C. Nelson. Funeral services were held November 16 at Parlin, N. J., for Steward Lester C. Nelson, who died November 12, in New Brunswick, N. J. He is survived by his wife and three children. Mr. Nelson had been a Steward in the fleet since January 1, 1943, except for five years--19481953--when he was Port Steward for Lago Oil & Transport Co. at Aruba, N. W. I. Captain Hugo R. Zeuner. Death came to Cap tain Zeuner in his home town of Irvington, N. J., on January 26. He is survived by his wife. He started his seagoing career at the age of 15 in a four-masted EXX-MOR-006677 Danish ship and sailed for over 22 years as a Deck Officer in Company ships before his retirement on December 1, 1953. Annuitant Albert P. Foote. Funeral services were held in Malden, Mass., for annuitant Albert P. Foote, who died on January 28. Mr. Foote was born in Newfoundland and went to sea for over 50 years after his "schooling" on the Grand Banks in his early teens. He had sailed in the fleet for over 27 years. New Mariner's Documents For Old Specially Validated Merchant Mariner's Docu ments that are in bad or mutilated condition due to age, normal use or faulty lamination will not be accepted by the U. S. Coast Guard Shipping Commis sioners after January 1, 1961. You may apply for a new document on an exchange basis, without cost, by presenting the old card and necessary photographs at any Coast Guard Marine Inspection Office. 't# ' <, Stricken Third Asst. Engineer Transferred Ashore From Esso Jamestown Able Seaman Gumaro Elizondo, of the Esso James town, sent us the accompanying photos, showing the transfer of Third Assistant Engineer Arthur P. Morrison, Jr. from the ship to a Coast Guard boat off the Miami Sea Buoy on February 4. Mr. Morrison was suffering from pneumonia. He de veloped a high fever that morning and Captain Edward M. Berry, after talking with the U. S. Public Health Service in Miami, arranged with the Coast Guard to take the sick man ashore. The Jamestown was enroute from Boston to Baton Rouge. Making a good recovery, Mr. Morrison remained at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, for two days, was an outpatient until February 15 and then was able to travel to his home in Stoneham, Mass. Mr. Elizondo identifies the Esso Jamestown crew mem bers in the photo above as follows: (I. to r.) Bos'n John G. Soderlund, First Assistant Engineer William T. Peace, Chief Mate Roland E. Parkhurst, Deck Maintenancemen Gilbert L. Gilmore and Henri D. Brin, Machinist Arthur H. Eidinger, Deck Maintenanceman Alexander Armadi and Wiper Alexander Simpson. In the views at right Mr. Morrison is shown being lowered away, and safe aboard the Coast Guard boat heading for shore. EXX- MOR-006678 Labor Developments Reviewed Since July of last year Esso seamen have been working without a collective bargaining agreement. It is true that wages, seniority pay, paid leave and benefits as they existed in the past have continued unchanged. However, our unlicensed men have not been receiving the benefit of many improvements that the Company offered during contract talks last spring and summer. Everyone in the fleet should know exactly what the Company offered. A word for word copy of the pro posed agreement was mailed to each man. Unfortunately, the leaders of the ETMU-SIU never gave our seamen a chance to vote on the Com pany's offer. The reason for the failure by the SIUaffiliate to take such a vote has never been explained. Instead, a vote was pushed through to affiliate Esso seamen with an outside organization. Despite a storm of reaction from Esso crews, protests against the tissue-thin ballot envelopes and the label of "sell-out" placed on the action of ETMUSIU leaders, the vote to affiliate was hastily forced on the fleet and was announced to have been carried by a wide majority of those voting. Reports in the New York press cast grave doubts on the integrity of the voting procedure. A new union, the Esso Seamen's Association, on August 6 claimed to represent a majority of Esso unlicensed seamen and asked to meet with the Com pany to negotiate a contract. Upon receiving this notice the Company ceased bargaining with the SlU-affiliate because doubt existed as to which group, if any, represented a majority of the unlicensed personnel. It was expected that a prompt vote would be taken last September to settle the disputed claims. Regrettably, things did not work out that way. The ETMU-SIU on September 18 filed unfair labor prac tice charges against the Company. The SIU group claimed that the Company had formed, dominated and assisted the ESA, had re fused to bargain in good faith with the ETMU-SIU and interfered with, restrained and coerced its em ployees in the exercise of their guaranteed rights. The Company emphatically denied these charges. Under NLRB rules, investigation of unfair labor practice charges and disposal of the charges must be completed before the Board will conduct an election. Action on petitions for a Labor Board vote in the Esso fleet was therefore put off while the Govern ment agency investigated the charges filed by ETMUSIU. The charges proved to be baseless. On Decem ber 30 they were dismissed by the NLRB Regional Director at New York for lack of evidence. Now we are awaiting a decision by the NLRB to conduct an election among our unlicensed seamen. It is our earnest hope that the election will be ordered and completed promptly so that we may soon see an end to the present unsettled condition in the fleet. TAFFRAIL TALK ASA J. LaGROW, Jr., Radio Officer in the Esso New York, has returned to the fleet after an Educa tional Leave during which he completed the require ments for a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Tulane University. He joined the Com pany on June 21, 1945. #% Stewards LESTER M. PAYNE and LESTER E. Eckert, representatives of the new Esso Stewards Organization, and JOHN J. COLLINS, Adviser, met with the Company on February 19 to begin negotia tions on wages and working conditions. ** * An Esso crew will be one of the contestants in the 1960 International Lifeboat Race to be held in the Narrows of New York Harbor on Sunday, May 22. Anyone in the fleet interested in trying out for a place in the boat should get in touch with Port Captain A. Larson at the PortofNew York Office. ** * The cooperative paid leave schedule, an experi ment which has been in effect for a year on the Esso Gettysburg, Esso Havana, Esso Jamestown, Esso Newark, Esso Suez and Esso Washington, will be discontinued the end of February. Effective March 1, the Port Staff will administer the Rotating Relief Plan for officers assigned to these vessels, the same as for the rest of the fleet. ** * The U. S. District Court in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ac quitted 29 major oil companies (including Esso Standard and the Jersey Company) of conspiring to fix prices during the Suez crisis in 1956. In the February 11 decision, Judge Royce H. Savage de clared: "I think I should say simply that after giving consideration to the evidence I have an absolute conviction, personally, that the defendents are not guilty." *** The Ships' Bulletin has been discontinued. After publishing both the Bulletin and the Fleet News for the past year, it was decided that the latter paper better served our seagoing communications needs. However, men in the fleet will not lack for Company literature. As a result of the Esso-HumbleCarter merger it is expected that they will soon receive The Humble Way.