Prospective Applicants

Time accumulated aboard MM&P Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) vessels as an applicant, as verified by USCG discharges, is used to determine your book status on being admitted to membership. If you are transferring into the Offshore Membership Group, sea time accumulated in a different membership group cannot be applied to book advancement. To advance to the next book status, membership points and days at sea on MM&P Offshore-contracted vessels are tabulated. To find out more about the point system, contact your MM&P Area Vice President.

MM&P Offshore Group Hiring Hall Process

MM&P uses a hiring hall process whereby you register to ship and bid your dated national shipping card for a particular job. Certain jobs require specific training or a specific level of license. To find out more, contact your MM&P Area Vice President. The oldest dated card with the highest status has the opportunity to acquire the job first. If a Class A/1 member does not bid on the job, bidding continues until an applicant has a chance to bid on the job if he/she is qualified.

To sail in a professional capacity aboard any U.S.-flag vessel, you must have a valid Transportation Workers Identification Card (TWIC). The TWIC card is issued by the Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration. To apply for a TWIC, go to the Department of Homeland Security’s official website.

Please keep in mind that training requirements must be met for every job. This includes members transferring to the Licensed Offshore Group, who must comply with STCW-95 requirements. An A-book or B-book member with an older card who does not meet the training requirements for that rating can lose the job to a lower book member or an applicant who does have the required training.

Also, please refer to your copy of the shipping rules (also posted in the Members’ Only section of www.bridgedeck.org) to determine the exact time of job call in the port you are shipping out of. Your shipping card is a national shipping card and is valid for use in any of the hiring halls. The applicant’s card is valid for two years from the date of issue. The member’s shipping card is valid for one year from the date of issue.

All Offshore registration shipping cards are valid for shipping in any of the ports where the organization maintains a union hall. Port Relief Officer (PRO) cards are valid only in the registered port. You cannot be registered simultaneously in more than one port.

Achieving full-book status in the MM&P Offshore Membership Group is based on a system in which points are earned based on the original date of application, as well as on employment aboard MM&P-contracted vessels. You must apply in person at an MM&P union hall.

LICENSED – Click here to access the Offshore Application for Membership Form and Membership Application Checklist.

UNLICENSED – Click here to access the Offshore Application for Membership Form and Membership Application Checklist.

Note: All fields on the form that are bold MUST be completed.

For any additional questions, please contact:
Membership Department
Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P)
410-691-8133
membership@bridgedeck.org

Members of MM&P’s Federal Employees Membership Group (FEMG) sail on vessels operated by Military Sealift Command, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) employs MM&P members who are civil service pilots at naval bases around the globe.

Members of other MM&P membership groups also work aboard ships in the government fleet. Regardless of MM&P membership group affiliation, all who work aboard government vessels are included in specific bargaining units and represented under the negotiated contracts.

While Federal law requires that all bargaining unit employees be represented under a negotiated contract whether or not they are union members, non-union employees may only claim explicit contract representation, which is, in some cases, limited. Dues-paying members of the organization, on the other hand, enjoy the full backing of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots.

Members of the FEMG are represented by the FEMG Vice President as well as by the MM&P Government Fleet Representative.

Licensed Masters, Mates & Pilots employed by the U.S. government constitute the Federal Employees Membership Group under contracts and agreements between MM&P and the following U.S. government agencies under Title 5, USC, Chapter 7100:

Department of the Navy

Military Sealift Command (MSC)

All Masters and Licensed Deck Officers employed by MSC comprise a bargaining unit under a contract negotiated in 1987 and renewed annually through an “evergreen” (automatic renewal) clause.

Chief of Naval Operations

All Civil Service Pilots employed by CNO at worldwide naval facilities comprise a bargaining unit under a three-year contract negotiated in 1995, which renews annually through an evergreen clause.

Department of the Army

Army Corps of Engineers (Corps)

All Masters and Licensed Deck Officers employed by the Corps aboard floating plant (dredges, tugboats, etc.) in all Corps Districts comprise a bargaining unit under contract negotiated in 1983 and 1984 and renewed annually through an evergreen clause.

Department of Commerce

National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

All Masters and Licensed Deck Officers employed by NOAA aboard its survey vessels comprise a bargaining unit under a contract negotiated in 1972 and renewed annually through an evergreen clause.

Federally Mandated Information for all Bargaining Unit Members 

The MM&P Pilot Membership Group represents 98 percent of all state-licensed pilots on ships engaged in international trade entering and leaving U.S. ports. Included in the MM&P Pilots Group are pilots in all coastal states and Puerto Rico.

To be a member of the Pilots Group, you must be licensed as a pilot by a government agency (state or local pilotage authority) other than the U.S. Coast Guard.

Pilots participate in the MM&P health plan. Retirement plans are handled on a local basis.  Training is offered, at cost, through MM&P’s Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies (MITAGS). Members of this group are licensed as pilots by a state authority as well as by the U.S. Coast Guard. Each local region has its own president, branch agent or chairman.

On the national level, pilots benefit from the activities of the Maritime Institute of Research & Industrial Development (MIRAID), which represents MM&P in Washington, D.C., in contacts with members of Congress and the regulatory agencies.

For more information, please contact Captain George A. Quick at gquick@bridgedeck.org.

MM&P’s United Inland Membership Group (UIG) includes: the Pacific Maritime Region (PMR) and the Great Lakes & Gulf  Region (GL&G).

Pacific Maritime Region (PMR)

The Pacific Maritime Region represents professional mariners employed on passenger ferries and harbor and ocean tugboats working up and down the Pacific Coast.

Two of the largest ferry systems in the United States are crewed by the membership of the UIG’s Pacific Maritime Region: the Washington State Ferry System and the Alaska Marine Highway System. In addition, MM&P members crew San Francisco’s Blue and Gold Fleet, the Whatcom County Ferries (the Lummi Island Group), the Wahkiakum County Ferry System, and Black Ball Transport – to name just a few.

PMR members in the towing industry work with some of the newest equipment on the water. PMR is well-known on San Francisco Bay for its tractor tugs. Other PMR members crew passenger ferries, such as high-speed commuter vessels and excursion boats.

Great Lakes & Gulf  Region (GL&G)​

MM&P’s Great Lakes & Gulf Region represents men and women working on “Lakers,” tugboats and other specialized vessels on the Great Lakes, in inland waters and in the Gulf of Mexico.

The GL&G, which is based in Cleveland, includes mariners with limited licenses as well as unlicensed personnel.

In addition to Cleveland, the group has an office in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where MM&P members crew tugboats in San Juan Harbor for McAllister Towing and Transportation Co.

The Atlantic Maritime Group (AMG) includes 1,300 professional mariners who operate tugboats, dredges, tourist boats and ferries, mostly in the New York-New Jersey area. The AMG was ILA Local 333 until members approved a merger with MM&P. Affiliation with MM&P gives AMG members access to the MM&P credit union, legal services, lobbying support and state-of-the-art training facility in Linthicum, Md. 

Membership Dues

To be in good standing, a member must have paid dues for the current quarter and assessments and other indebtedness due to the organization, including any fees for late payment of dues. If at sea, applicants or book members, within 72 hours after returning to a U.S. port (Saturdays, Sundays and holidays excepted), must pay all indebtedness to the organization incurred during the time he/she was on the foreign voyage when he/she was unable to put himself/herself in good standing (see the MM&P International Constitution for more details).

Except where a valid dues check-off is in effect, an applicant or book member who is not paid up in assessments, dues and other indebtedness for the current quarter before the first working day of such quarter is in arrears and shall lose good standing until all financial obligations to the organization are met and he/she shall not be entitled to any benefits of the organization.

A late fee of $5 per day shall be levied for each day a member or applicant on any shipping list is in arrears in dues, assessments or any other indebtedness. This late fee shall be payable before the member or applicant can bid, ship or clear for an assignment and shall be payable regardless, whether the individual re-registers or not. Members or applicants who become more than 30 days in arrears in dues, assessments or other indebtedness to the union, shall have the option of:

1. paying an unlimited late fee of $5/day and having their Shipping Card advanced 30 days or
2. re-registering for shipping as a new registrant and paying $150 in late fees.

An applicant or book member, upon completion of an assignment of employment, must register within 15 days on one of the Offshore shipping lists. A late fee of $5 per day shall be levied for each day an applicant or book member is late registering after 15 days, up to a maximum of $75. An applicant or book member who is in arrears for 12 months or more in dues, assessments, or other indebtedness shall automatically be suspended from MM&P.

A check or money order for current quarter’s dues, plus an amount equal to 10% of the current initiation fee, is payable at the time application to MM&P is made.

If an applicant elects to pay 10% of the initiation fee in lieu of paying the initiation fee in full, authorization will be made by completing the appropriate form allowing the union to deduct 25% or more, if the applicant so chooses, from his/her vacation pay to pay off the remaining balance of the initiation fee. An applicant will not be considered for membership until the remaining initiation fee balance is paid in full. It is required that the entire initiation fee be paid within 360 days of working (shipping aboard MM&P contracted vessels and PRO work).

The MM&P Plan Office is located at MM&P Headquarters in Linthicum Heights. The benefits for which each member is eligible depend on the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that exists between the union and each company.

MM&P Health Benefit Plan benefits may include:

• Medical
• Prescription drugs
• Annual physical examination
• Vision care
• Dental care
• Death and AD&D
• Long-term disability
• Insurance for wage payments
• License insurance
• Coast Guard legal aid

Benefits under MM&P Retirement Plans may include:

• Defined contribution retirement plan paid for by the employer pre-tax and Roth
• 401(k) paid for by the employee (pre-tax or Roth)
• Defined benefit plan (pension plan) and/or
• Adjustable pension plan.

For more information, please visit the MM&P Plans page.

INITIAL Eligibility for Health Coverage:

To establish eligibility you need 30 days of shipboard employment on an MM&P contracted vessel. Your coverage under the MM&P Health and Benefit Plan starts after you complete 30 days of shipboard covered employment (excluding vacation, disability and PRO days) within any period of six consecutive calendar months with one or more contributing employers. However, if you sign on a vessel before you become eligible for benefits and you then go to sea on a foreign voyage expected to last more than 30 days, you become eligible on the day you go to sea.

CONTINUED Eligibility:

Once you meet the initial eligibility requirements, your coverage continues provided that you complete at least 30 days of covered employment with one or more contributing employers during any period of six consecutive calendar months and you continue to make your co-pay contributions.

Covered Employment for Continued Eligibility includes shipboard employment and days of vacation, as well as PRO time.

PRO time can be used to extend health eligibility up to six months (40 hours PRO = one month extension) once 30 days of shipboard employment have been established and the PRO time is earned during the Health Eligibility Period. You may extend your health eligibility to include vacation and PRO time, depending on the CBA between the union and the company you sailed with.

At the time application is made, a copy of the organization’s International Constitution, Work Rules, and Shipping Rules will be made available to the applicant.

Upon completion of all forms, payment of quarterly dues, and payment of 10% of initiation fee, the applicant may register for shipping.

Applicants and book members are eligible for employment as a PRO through the organization’s hiring halls between periods of offshore seagoing employment. You must be registered on the Offshore list in order to register on the PRO List. Your PRO card is valid only for the port registered in.

You can view a national shipping list, or a shipping list for any port, at any MM&P hiring hall. The shipping list can also be viewed by logging into the Members’ Only portion of www.bridgedeck.org.