Document Nexg2YRwQOxzwd8xLdb9Kv6GR

PUBLISHED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT. ESSO STANDARD DIVISION OF HUMBLE OIL & REFINING CO. Vol. 2, No. 2 January 22, 1960 WHEN DO WE GET OURS?" Many Esso seamen must be wondering why the Company doesn't increase wages or grant them the same one for two vacation schedule that the Officers have. A few, perhaps, may even go so far as to think that the Company is enjoying the present situation and saving a lot of money by not granting the increases. Nothing could be further from the truth. No sensible management would deliberately seek to create dissatisfaction among its employees or prolong such an unfortunate situation. Certainly Esso's record of paying good wages and providing the best in work ing conditions and benefit plans rules out any such notion. "Well, why don't they give an increase?" you may ask. The answer is simple. The Company is on a tight rope. It must navigate in a very narrow channel-- a channel bounded by the U. S. labor laws. Those laws set pretty definite limits as to what an employer can and cannot do in a labor dispute. In a contest for representation, such as that between the Esso Seamen's Association and the Esso Tankermen's Union, an affiliate of the Seafarers International Union, it is illegal for the Company to favor or dis criminate against either side. If wages or working conditions were changed now and an NLRB supervised election is held in a month or two, the. loser in the election might claim that the Company's action was unfair to them. That would probably lead to an appeal to the Labor Board to have the election set aside and the dreary treadmill could continue indefinitely. So, in the best interests of all concerned, the Com pany must avoid any action which might be con sidered discriminatory. The best we can hope and work for is a speedy NLRB election to determine whether the independent ESA or the SlU-affiliated ETMU shall have the right to represent Esso's un licensed men. Then we can sit down and negotiate a new labor contract. Esso Stewards Form New Union The Esso Stewards' Organization, a newly formed independent union, has requested a meeting with the Company to negotiate wages and working conditions. In a letter dated January 18 and signed by John J. Collins, its adviser, the new group announced its formation and claimed to represent a majority of Esso Stewards. Recently the New York Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board made an adminis trative ruling which indicates that Stewards probably are supervisors and do not belong in the same bargaining unit with other unlicensed men. This point came under dispute when the SlU-affiliated ETMU charged unfair labor practices against the Company because Lester M. Payne, a Steward, had been active in the organizing campaign of the in dependent Esso Seamen's Association. The NLRB dismissed the ETMU-SIU charges but also made the previously referred to administrative ruling concern ing the status of Stewards. As the Fleet News goes to press, no action has been taken on the request to bargain with the new Stewards' group. NLRB Hearing Set for January 28 The Second Region, National Labor Relations Board, has scheduled a hearing in New York on January 28 aimed at bringing about a vote by Esso seamen to elect a bargaining agent. Notices of the hearing have been sent to the Company, the Esso Seamen's Association (independent) and the Esso Tankermen's Union (SIU). Unless some new unfair labor practice charges are filed or NLRB action is blocked by other delay ing tactics, it is expected that Esso seamen will soon have a chance- to choose the union they prefer in an NLRB supervised secret referendum, using tamper-proof Government ballots. EXX- M O R-006668 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. Charles Smith Studio Former Esso Tanker Embarks on a Second Career This is the Martha Mac, ex Esso Manhattan, as she appeared after being extensively rebuilt at the Gibbs Corporation shipyard in Jacksonville. Now a self-load ing and unloading bulk dry cargo carrier, the Martha Mac is owned by the Gulf Transit Co. and is to operate between Tampa and New Orleans carrying coal on eastbound voyages and phosphates westbound. Fred Lewis is Chief Engineer in the ship, as he was for many years during her service in the Esso fleet. Fred has been an Esso annuitant for the past two years. Eric R. Blomquist, Jr., also an Esso Manhattan "alum nus", has his old berth again as first assistant engineer. New Type High Pressure Steam Valves Specifications for 900 and 1,500 psi. globe and "Y" steam valves, size !4 in. thru 2 in., have been changed to provide valves of an improved design. Some diffi culties have been experienced in removing the re taining bushing at the bottom of the packing gland of the present valves. The replacements are of a de sign that eliminates the bushing, making disassembly easier. The 600 psi. class valve will no longer be supplied. The 900 psi. class valve, which is superior, should be used when replacement is necessary. It is expected that the greater service life of the 900 lb. valves will offset the slight additional cost. Instructions on how to take the new valves apart are being sent to vessels. Steward's Department Notes Several months ago direct current ice making ma chines were put aboard the Esso Annapolis and Esso Raleigh on a test basis. The machines proved satis factory and now the three remaining dc. ships in the fleet--Esso Bethlehem, Esso Chattanooga and Esso New Orleans--will have ice cube makers put aboard. Two new items on the standard provisions list are frozen fresh peaches and frozen fresh kernel corn. ... A cream style canned com has been supplied to a few vessels for trial, as has "Frymax", a deep frying oil. . . . Coming in the near future is a new dry cereal, Kellogg's "OKs", made of oats, and a devil's food cake mix. Crystal Ball Gazing In Petroleum's Future Synthetic food from oil, a device to turn oil directly into electricity without burning it, asphalt to hold moisture in farm fields and a system for keeping northern waterways ice-free in winter were among developments predicted by the American Petroleum Institute for the second century of the petroleum in dustry. The API predictions said a zooming demand was in prospect for oil and oil products despite competi tion from "space age" fuels. Petroleum, it was con- eluded, would power automobiles and airplanes and heat homes for years to come. Dr. Edward Teller, noted nuclear physicist, was quoted as telling a Columbia University Oil Centennial Seminar that atomic power might be quite practical for such large machines as the stationary generators of electricity but cars and planes would be driven by gasoline for centuries to come. As the industry enters its second 100 years, the API said, even heavier emphasis on research is planned. Surveys made by McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. indicate oil companies have slated 1962 research expenditures of $328 million, for example. In 1959 the industry's research bill was around $300 million. Research work is already underway on the fabulous fuel cell, the device which could create electricity directly out of oil without combustion. The melting of snow by discharging the exhaust gases from oil burners under water has important ^implications for cities where the snow- removal problem is acute. The futuristic method of snow re moval is already in operation at a Massachusetts parking lot where the snow is bulldozed into a pit for melting instead of being hauled away. Another possi bility is radiant heating under streets and parking lots. On the API's list of possibilities is the creation of synthetic protein from oil to help feed underde veloped areas. Manufacture of fats, sugars and other carbohydrates from oil is already possible. The Ger mans made butter from oil in World War II. Even without startling agricultural developments, petroleum-powered machines and petroleum-derived fertilizers and insecticides will vastly expand farm production in underdeveloped countries. Moisture could be retained and "dust bowl" con ditions alleviated by a covering for farm fields made from asphalt. Seed beds would be covered with an asphalt film that would last the five or six weeks re quired for germination and breakthrough and would prevent evaporation of moisture. Far from worrying over atomic competition, in dustry people foresee the use of nuclear explosions to free oil from shale and tar sands and to create huge underground caverns for the storage of oil and natural gas. Such waterways as the St. Lawrence Seaway could be kept open year round by "bubbling" warmer water up from the bottom to the colder surface by air from Diesel or turbine-driven compressors powered by oil. "Bubbling" experiments are already underway. Direct heating of the water with oil burners is a possibility, but a remote one. Asphalt will turn up increasingly in home con struction for shingles, siding, flooring and insulation. It will even appear in upholstery in quantity, the API said. Petrochemicals, produced from oil, are already re sponsible for various plastics, drip-dry shirts and synthetic rubber. They will play an even bigger role in the industry in the future. The world's oil will last for 50 years at present rates of use. But, the API notes, even uranium and other fissionable material will eventually be exhausted and in the murky future men may have to depend on such inexhaustible sources of energy as the tides and the sun. In the meantime, there will.be no lack of oil, but the search will become costlier. There are visions, however, of astonishing new ways of drilling, such as a jet flame that would burn its way down through the earth, eliminating the need for drill pipe and casing. Pipelines might be put down by a machine that digs the ditch, manufactures and lays the line, closes the trench and replants the right-of-way. In oil, the API concludes, imagination in no more visionary than the facts. Where Some of Esso's "Wonders with Oil" Will Be Worked An aerial view of the rtewlyopened Esso Research and Engi neering Co. center, which occupies a 675-acre site in Florham Park, N. J. The center's multi-winged main building and the process re search building (upper left in photo), and services building (upper right) will provide laboratories, test facili ties and office space for about 800 employees of Esso Research, the scientific affiliate of Standard Oil Co. (N. J.). EXX-MOR-006670 Company Rejects ETMU-S1U Bid to Bargain In a message sent to the ETMU-SIU on January 11, the Company denied the SIU affiliate's request to meet, reminding the union that its claim to bar gaining rights is in dispute. Quoted below are the communications exchanged between the Company and the former independent union. The Company received this telegram on January 5: "J. D. ROGERS, ESSO STANDARD OIL CO. REGARDING STANSHIP WIRE TO SHIPS. THIS IS TO REMIND YOU THAT BY VIRTUE OF NATIONAL LABOR RELA TIONS BOARD ADMINISTRATIVE FIND ING OF TAINT FORCING ESSO SEAMENS ASSOCIATION WITHDRAWAL OF ITS PETITION, ESSO TANKERMENS UNION STILL REMAIN (sic) THE ONLY UNION WITH A LEGITIMATE REPRESENTA TION CLAIM IN THE ESSO FLEET. YOU ARE THEREFORE FREE TO NEGOTIATE WITH US AND WE DEMAND IMMEDI ATE RESUMPTION OF TALKS YOU BROKE OFF WITH THIS ORGANIZA TION. CHARLES E. GALLAGHER, PRESIDENT" The Company's reply: "Mr. Charles E. Gallagher, President Esso Tankermen's Union, S.I.U.N.A. 53 Park Place New York 7, New York Dear Sir: The following message was sent on January 8, 1960: `CHARLES E. GALLAGHER ESSO TANKERMENS UNION SEAFARERS INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, AFL-CIO 53 PARK PLACE NEW YORK, NEW YORK IN VIEW OF THE FACT THAT A NUMBER OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS CLAIM THAT THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO BARGAIN ON BEHALF OF UNLICENSED PERSONNEL IN THE ESSO FLEET, WE BELIEVE THAT THE QUESTION OF REPRESENTATION SHOULD BE DE CIDED BY SECRET BALLOT CON DUCTED BY THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD. IF YOU AND YOUR ORGANIZATION ARE INTERESTED IN SUCH AN ELECTION WE SUGGEST YOU REQUEST APPROPRIATE ACTION BY THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD. Yours very truly, J. D. ROGERS" 1959 CYI Round-Up Forty-three Marine Department employees shared a $4,335 Coin-Your-Ideas "pie" in 1959 and the slices ranged in size from $10 to $2,500. According to year end figures compiled by the New York head quarters CYI office, all but nine Marine recipients were members of the seagoing fleet. Chief Engineer Donald Dunbar was the year's sole three-time winner, collecting $85 for his ideas. Seven persons submitted two winning suggestions. Radio Officer Joseph S. Casey earned $280 for his pair, in cluding $250 for developing new radio message pro cedures. Lester A. Dutcher, Operating Division, was second highest double winner with $215. $200 of his total was for recommending revisions to the deck log. The average value of each CYI accepted in 1959 was $83.37. However, this is a deceptively high figure because of the awards to Messrs. Casey and Dutcher; a $140 grant to E. C. Fischer, Chief of the A&B Section, and $2,500 to P/PM D. D. Heller, the largest award ever given by the New York office. If you'd like to see your CYI award included in the 1960 totals, send your idea to: The Secretary; Coin-Your-Ideas Committee; Esso Standard, Divi sion of Humble Oil & Refining Co.; Room 2619; 15 West 51 Street; New York 19, N. Y. Ship ' Passes Still Passable Don't discard your 1958-1959 ships' pass yet-- they will be valid until new ones are issued, according to a recent Marine Department announcement. At the same time, seagoing personnel were cautioned against allowing unauthorized persons aboard. Pass holders include members of the fleet, their wives, shore employees and people whose business requires them to board our ships. Esso Sirte Acquires Libya Oil Concessions Following approval by the Libyan government, Esso Sirte, Inc. has acquired from Libyan American Oil Company and W. R. Grace and Company an undivided half interest in concessions 16, 17 and 20 in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania provinces of Libya. Libyan American Oil Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Texas Gulf Producing Company. Esso Sirte is a wholly owned affiliate of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), which also owns Esso Standard (Libya) Inc. Esso Sirte will be operator of the concessions, which include two completed wells capable of pro ducing about 2,000 bbls. daily in concession 17 in Tripolitania province. Oil has also been found in a third well in the same concession, which is now being completed. Announcement of the Libyan acquisitions was made by Jersey Standard on January 11. i ip i EXX-MOR-006671