Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/452393
R E P O R T Vo l u m e I I , N o I December 2008 From The Chairman's Desk Early Negotiations As per our discussioi~ ~ at the special meetings of the USMX Board of Directors and General Membership on October 30% we are pleased to armounce that the ILA and USMX have agreed to start ear]y negotiations for the new Master Contract¸ The eun~ent contract is set to expire on September 30, 2010¸ It is vita] that we continue to protect the economic benefits gained by the industry because of continued labor stability on the East and Gulf coasts¸ Negotiating a contract is a challenging prccess, requiring patience, diligence, and a willing hess to compromise so that, m the end, the results are win win for all parties¸ ILA President Pachie Hughes and I are dedicated to achieving those resuhs We E x p e c t t o c o m m e n c e n e g o t i a hons in early 2009 Specific details regarding meeting dalen and IocatioI~ will be forwarded as they become available We thank you for your continued commitment to USMX, and would like to wish each of you a healthy and happy holiday season¸ > ]amesA Capo Chaionan & CEO Norton Sch~oartz, Michael Garoey and Jim Capo 2008 AOTOS The United Seamen's Service 2008 Adrenal of the Ocean Sea Awards were pre~ented to Jame~ A Capo, USMX chairman & CEO and to Michael D Garvey, Salt~huk Re~ourve~ founding partner and past chair man General Norton A Schwartz, US Air Force Chiel of Staff, received a special AOTOS USMX Carrier Member Tonnage Assessment Reduction Approved At the 2008 Am~ual Meeting, the USMX Membership approved a reduction in the USMX Carrier Member Tonnage Assessment from $0 05/ton to S0 02/ton, effective for vessels dosing on or after January I, 2009 It is fully expected that th~ reduction will remain in effect until the end of 2016, barring any extraordinary unforeseen circumstancen USMX Tonnage Assessment Invoices received on or after January I, 2009 will reflect the new tonnage assessment of $002/ton We would also like to remind all of the USMX Cartier members that this r*duetion is in addition to the $0 02/ton cr*dit that you are recmwng as a resul t of the termil~a tion of the VIM*KS program and the en tablish ment of the Carriers F~erow Fund (CEF) from the VIM*KS proceeds This means that if you still have a credit balance in the CEF as of January 1, 2009, a credit will be applied to the new assessment In effect, you will not be paying any tolmage assensment to USMX until your CEF balance is elimil~ated The amount of your credit balance will appear on the assensment invoice so as to allow you to calculate, based on your cmTent tonnage experience, the time r*mairang before you exhaust it and have to commence payment of the $002/ton If you do not have any balance left or were not part of the initial CEF program then you will pay at the S0 02/ton assensment rate commencing January 1, 2009