Reported by Jeff Berman for Logistics Managment
Feedback to initially waiving the Jones Act for 60 days was not well received by a coalition of U.S.-based maritime labor unions in March—including: American Maritime Officers; American Radio Association; International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots; Marine Firemen’s Union; Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association; Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Sailors’ Union of the Pacific; Seafarers International Union; and the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO—in a joint statement.
“America’s maritime labor unions are deeply concerned about the Administration’s broad Jones Act waiver, which undermines our national security, weakens military readiness, and hands critical maritime work to foreign vessel operators,” it noted. “Jones Act waivers are intended to meet a strict legal standard and are traditionally granted only in narrow, clearly defined national security emergencies where U.S.-flag capacity is unavailable. Maritime labor has supported narrowly tailored Jones Act waivers in the past when they were obviously justified in the national interest, but this sweeping action does not meet that standard.
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