MINNEAPOLIS — The Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO celebrated its 80th anniversary at its Quadrennial Convention June 4-5, where delegates re-elected the Department’s three executive officers and adopted a slate of resolutions addressing the Jones Act, artificial intelligence, attacks on federal workers, and other priorities facing the maritime industry and broader labor movement.
Convention delegates reelected David W. Heindel, Anthony Gonsiewski and Jordan Esopa respectively as president, vice president and executive secretary-treasurer to lead the Maritime Trades Department.
Thursday, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler delivered a keynote address, tying her remarks to this year’s federation theme, “With You.” Shuler praised the MTD’s solidarity with federal workers after the administration moved to cancel the bargaining rights of nearly a million federal employees, and pledged the AFL-CIO’s continued defense of the Jones Act.
“It’s our security and it’s our safety today for American workers, for our economy, for our country,” she said.
Delegates approved a resolution objecting to the administration’s recent Jones Act waiver, calling it “ineffective and dangerous,” while warning that repeated waivers erode investor confidence and undermine recruitment of the next generation of U.S. Merchant Mariners. James Weakley, president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, echoed those concerns in his address to the delegation, stating the waiver “is bad for our industry, it’s bad for our country, it’s bad for business,” urging support for the American Maritime Partnership and American Maritime Voices.
In addition to defending the Jones Act, Delegates ratified a resolution to ensure passage of the SHIPS Act, a comprehensive piece of legislation that not only preserves the industry but aims to expand the U.S.-flag fleet by 250 ships over the next decade.
Bill Hanson, Senior Vice President from Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, echoed similar sentiments of solidarity to enhance maritime’s strength.
“We’ll continue the partnership with Maritime Trades just because it’s extremely important that we have a common voice. We’re all in this together. We all have the same skin in the game…” he said.
In the wake of Executive Order 14251, which stripped collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of federal employees, Delegates also ratified a resolution to protect federal workers’ rights. Both IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson and AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus made pointed remarks about the impact of the Order, which has already affected many MTD-affiliated members:
“Our immigration judges, we have lost hundreds of them,” Henson explained with a recent story from an IFPTE member. “Judge Nemer. She was in the courtroom. She just granted asylum to a family, and she got a knock on her door behind her. It was her boss telling her to come outside for a minute. When she came to the back area, he told her, ‘I have to tell you, you’ve been fired….’”
DeJesus mentioned similar intimidation tactics being used against immigrant workers, urging the only way to move forward is to continue showing up for one another like has been seen in the past.
“Remember how in 2017 my union and the Seafarers International Union and your U.S.-flag shipping companies teamed up after Category 5 Hurricane Irma. A couple of weeks later, Category 4 Hurricane Maria struck my Puerto Rico,” she recalled. “Delivering water filters.. portable shelters, books,” DeJesus continued. “You showed up, when no one showed up. You showed up and helped us like never before.”
Delegates also adopted a resolution on workplace safety, citing AFL-CIO data showing roughly 140,000 workers die annually from job-related hazards and illnesses. Other resolutions reaffirmed support for cargo policies that sustain the industry, grassroots political organizing ahead of the November midterms and a unified pledge to fight any attempt to use artificial intelligence to displace union jobs. Maritime Administrator Steve Carmel, who addressed the delegates, framed the industry’s future around the relationship between cargo and labor. “The foundation of industry is cargo, the muscle that makes it move is labor,” he said, arguing that no technology has ever replaced the judgment, skill, and commitment of the American maritime workforce.
A separate resolution thanked DOT Secretary Sean Duffy and Administrator Steve Carmel for their support of the industry despite the broader friction with the administration.
SIU Secretary Treasurer Thomas Orzechowski held a moment of silence for labor leaders and MTD affiliate members lost since the Department’s last gathering.
The convention paused to remember Michael Sacco, who led both the MTD and the Seafarers International Union for nearly 35 years before his death in 2023. Delegates also held a moment for the very recent passing of SIU Vice President Dean Corgey, who Hanson described as someone who will be missed by labor leaders as well as industry leaders.
The full text of all resolutions adopted at the convention is available on the MTD’s Resolutions Statements page here: 94313_MTD_Resolutions_Proof.