| The New Jersey State AFL-CIO, Seafarers International Union (SIU) and the New York / New Jersey Maritime Port Council respectfully asks you to stand with America’s maritime workforce in opposing SCR-31 (Sen. Pou: D-35 / Sen. Cruz-Perez: D-5 / Sen. Ruiz: D-29), which has been posted for a vote in the Senate this Monday, October 17, 2022. The resolution urges Congress to permanently exempt Puerto Rico from the federal “Jones Act.” This would have a negative impact on the American maritime workforce.
The SIU represents tens of thousands of mariners in the United States. The Jones Act requires cargo being transported between two points in the United States be carried by American ships, built in America and owned and crewed by Americans. It supports thousands of good paying middle class jobs in New Jersey alone. It also supports national and homeland security by providing a mariner pool of American citizens needed to crew our merchant marine ships in times of national emergency.
The Jones Act does not simply require American crews on American ships, it also includes important standards for the maritime industry in regards to how it treats its workforce, such as workers’ safety standards, the elimination of worker exploitation, worker injury compensation standards, on board medical requirements, minimal equipment standards including lifeboats, crew training and licensing requirements. Finally, the Jones Act has strong environmental standards, requiring compliance with EPA regulations. Without the Jones Act application, all of these protections could be eliminated at the whim of foreign ship operators and revert back to a “floating sweatshops” model.
Although we respect the sponsors’ opinion that eliminating the Jones Act would expedite natural disaster assistance for Puerto Rico, this resolution goes far beyond addressing only emergency shipments due to hurricanes. In fact, it is maritime labor and American Jones Act ships that have provided the bulk of disaster relief to Puerto Rico.
Organized labor has never opposed legitimate, necessary waivers of the Jones Act during natural disasters and our number one priority is ensuring the expedited delivery of humanitarian aid when needed. However, the permanent elimination of the Jones Act for Puerto Rico will have strong adverse consequences for our members and will negatively impact American national security.
Linked here is a brief position paper further addressing this issue. Again, we respectfully ask you to stand with American workers and vote “No” on this resolution. |
