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Home > Topics > Organized labor Pilots Agree |
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Organized labor on the waterwaysThe Pilots Agree movement1 - BackgroundThere have been unions on the river since the steamboat era. Mark Twain himself was a union man. In the 1850s, he and his fellow river pilots formed the Pilots' Benevolent Association. With the help of insurance underwriters, they brought some measure of safety and sanity to an industry reckless in its pursuit of profits. By the mid-20th century, modern unions like the AMO, MM&P, NMU and SIU represented many men and women on the rivers and canals. Typically, the larger and better capitalized marine companies were the ones with union contracts. The Professional Rivermen's Organzation, or "PRO Pilots," was a grass-roots effort in the late 1970s to organize trip pilots (pilots who are not permanently employed by one company). Their goal was more "money and respect." Their tactic was to stop "tripping back" and working over. But by the 1980s, the inland barge and towing industry effectively "killed" the unions and the fledgling PRO movement. This was partly because of the grain embargo and the Reagan-Volcker recession. But it was also due to incompetent union leaders and weak-kneed Coast Guard regulators, who had given the companies a cheap, complacent labor supply. For insight into incompetent union leadership, buy a copy of Michael Moore's Downsize This! and read the chapter called "Why Are Union Leaders So F@#&ing Stupid?" (Or read the chapter on-line.) For insight into how weak-kneed the Coast Guard has been, just look at how inland towboats are classified: "uninspected towing vessels." And towboat pilots, once known as proud descendents of steamboat pilots and river pioneers, are licensed as Operator(s) of Uninspected Towing Vessels. The Coast Guard's laissez-faire partnership with industry has produced Inland Waters mariners who don't understand latitude and longitude and can't use a simple magnetic compass. The Coast Guard's lack of focus on river seamanship has produced many Western Rivers mariners who lack the experience, temperament and respect needed to safely tackle river navigation. By the late 1990s, the typical towboat mariner earned half, in real terms, what the previous generation earned. Respect for inland mariners -- in government and in company offices -- was as low as it could get. Enter Captain Dickey Mathes...
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