About Us
Who We Are:
We are rank & file, union workers who used to work on the Alcatraz Ferry or at the Pier 41 docking facility when it was run by Blue & Gold Fleet. We are captains, deckhands, engineers, groundskeepers, ticket sellers, greeters, and more.
We are members of the Inland Boatmen's Union of the Pacific (IBU), the Marine Division of the ILWU (AFL-CIO) and/or members of the International Order of Masters Mates and Pilots (MM&P), the Marine Division of the ILA (AFL-CIO).
A Little History:
IBU and MM&P crews have worked the Alcatraz ferry for a long time. Some of us have done the work for over thirty years. During that time, the work has been performed first by Red & White Fleet and later by Blue & Gold Fleet.
In fall of 2005, the George W. Bush appointed bureaucrats who run America's National Park Service (NPS) awarded the exclusive and lucrative ferry contract, hitherto held by Blue & Gold Fleet (a union employer) to non-union Hornblower Yachts.
Although legal proceedings and challenges held up the changeover of service, Hornblower finally prevailed and began operation of the Alcatraz ferry on September 25, 2006, nearly one year after the NPS announced its selection.
Our Demands:
We plan to fight Hornblower Yachts and the National Park Service until the agree to the following conditions:
- (1) Agree to hire all predecessor (Blue & Gold Fleet) employees;
- (2) Recognition of the Unions under the successorship doctrine;
- (3) Restoration of the status quo terms and conditions of employment under the expired Collective Bargaining Agreement's;
- (4) Make-whole remedies of backpay, lost benefits and contributions to the Union funds;
- (5) A bargaining order under which the expired CBA's may be renegotiated or modified;
Why is it in everyone's best interest to support the union:
If you are a union worker - we needn't remind you that an injury to one is an injury to all. Hornblower's attacks on union workers will not stop at Alcatraz. In fact, Alcatraz is not the first blow. Hornblower Yachts has been setting up shop all over the world, paying workers less than living wages, and always thwarting the rights of employees to organize. If we lose this fight, the attacks on labor, especially maritime labor, will continue.
If you are a Bay Area resident - Hornblower's refusal to honor union labor is a blow to the Bay Area economy. If workers do not receive a living wage, they cannot contribute to the local economy. Lower wages mean less spending. Less spending means a weaker economy. Since the vast majority of Bay Area residents are workers, the attacks on workers weaken the overall economy. A weaker economy means an overall decline in the quality of life!
If you are a environmentalist and conservationist - Hornblower's refusal to hire experienced, trained workers increases the risk of accidents, sewage spills, fuel spills, mishandling of garbage, and potential health risks. Remember that over one million visitors experience Alcatraz every year. The stakes are very high!
If you are a potential visitor to Alcatraz - nonunion workers are less skilled and less trained. Union captains and deckhands are rigorously trained in safety practices, including man-overboard drills, fire suppression, and abandon-ship situations. Although such emergencies are rare, they can happen at any time. Furthermore, nonunion workers tend to have higher (and often illegal) demands placed on their workload. Keep in mind that over forty trips to-and-from the island can take place every day. You run the risk of being in the charge of an unqualified, untrained, and quite possibly overworked crew. In short, if you use nonunion Hornblower Yachts, Your lives are in danger!
How Hard Do We Work?
For many of you, union workers are (unfortunately and wrongfully) stereotyped as lazy, incompetent, unmotivated, and selfish boobs. This is a lie, no doubt spread by greedy employers like Hornblower.
The truth is that the Alcatraz run is one of the most difficult jobs on the waterfront.
Here is just a typical day for some of the union employees who hitherto do the work:
- Captains - Drive the Alcatraz ferries to and from the rock from San Francisco, as many as twenty times per day, ten minutes each way. They have to navigate through often choppy waters with a powerful, six-knot current, and steer clear of huge container ships, oil tankers, tugs and barges, hundreds of sailboats, kayakers, windsurfers, swimmers, and wildlife. Sometimes they have to do this in thick tule fog that frequently obscures their vision. They have to land the boat at least twenty times per day (no easy task on Alcatraz with the current). They are responsible for the safety of as many as 350 passengers per trip, 20 trips per day.
- Engineers and Maintenance Workers - Maintain the very heavily used boats, a constant, 24-7, round-the-clock task. They are responsible for making sure boats work properly and safely so that they do not break down in the middle of the bay, or catch fire, especially with hundreds of passengers on board!
- Deckhands - Secure and let loose ropes and lines that hold the boat to the dock (which is the case half of the time), a potentially very dangerous job with many safety risks. They also pump sewage off the island and on to the boats and pump water on and off the boats. They clean the boat from top to bottom after every trip (at least 20 trips per day sometimes). They count passengers to make sure that Coast Guard safety regulations are adhered to. They assist passengers in cases of emergencies, including man overboard situations, fires, or in the case that the boats must be abandoned.
- Ticket Agents and Customer Service - Make sure that tickets are sold and passengers are treated in the most professional and courteous manner possible, despite the constant rush of thousands of guests each day. They also answer questions about transit connections to and from the ferry terminal, places to eat, places to lodge, and so much more.
Often these jobs can involve 11-1/4-hour days! We, the workers who are trained and qualified to do these jobs deserve to keep them, but Hornblower Yachts and the National Park Service refuse to hire us! They'd rather hire nonunion employees with little or no experience doing these jobs whatsoever!
Official Statement - Boycott Hornblower!
Support Inlandboatmen's Union Deckhands!
Support Masters, Mates and Pilots Union Captains, Engineers, Maintenance, and Ticket Agents!
Wanted - from Hornblower a.k.a Alctraz Cruises - Jobs and Living Wages
We are between the Rock and a Hard Place!!
Hornblower (Alcatraz Cruises) has gotten the 10 year contract with the National Park Service to take 1.5 million visitors out to Alcatraz island each year.
Why won't they hire the union workers who have done this work safely on the Bay since 1973??
Alcatraz has become one of the most successful and lucrative destinations in the National Park Service (NPS). Since the island opened up to the public, the IBU and the MMP have represented the Alcatraz Ferry Workers. The highly skilled workforce has been there for over 30 years. These members have performed their duties competently and professionally.
The NPS chose the notoriously anti-union Hornblower Company to operate the Alcatraz ferry route starting on September 25, 2006. The company has vigorously opposed union organizing effort of Bay Area workers in the past. They follow a policy of employing mostly parttime workers with a minimum of full-time staff.
The route to Alcatraz can be treacherous, and passenger safety will be compromised if Hornblower hires inexperienced and untrained Captains and Deckhands. Despite the concerns of the San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Board of Supervisors about the new Alcatraz Ferry Operator's impact on local neighborhoods, Hornblower has not given the public an opportunity to comment on the impacts of bringing almost 5,000 people per day to Pier 31 1/2. Both maritime unions sued the National Park Service to enforce the prevailing wages and benefits act and won. After almost a year of effort to ensure our members keep their jobs, both the IBU and MMP Alcatraz Ferry Workers have as yet NO ASSURANCES THAT THEY WILL BE ALLOWED TO KEEP THEIR JOBS. The loss of these jobs will result in devastating personal losses for our members.
The IBU and the MMP have the support of the California Labor Federation and all of its Unions in their effort to convince Hornblower that it should retain the proven services of skilled Union workers. Due to the seriousness of the situation, the California Labor Federation is sending a strong message to the public by placing Hornblower Cruises and Events and its affiliate company, Alcatraz Cruises LLC on the "Do Not Patronize List".
SUPPORT OUR WORKERS IN MAINTAINING THEIR JOBS, THEIR LIVING CONDITIONS, AND DIGNITY BY NOT PATRONIZING THESE COMPANIES!
Union workers and their families need your help
- Email the mayor of San Francisco - at this site.
- Email the National Park Service - at this site.
- Questions or Comments? - boycotthornblower@ilwu.org.
Rank & File Statement - Shafted Alcatraz Ferry Workers Demand Justice and Jobs
On September 25th of this year Alcatraz Cruises, part of the notoriously anti-union Hornblower Yachts, took over the contract to run the Alcatraz ferry service using non union crews for the first time since the service began in the early 70's. The unions representing the captains, deckhands, mechanics, ticket sellers and collectors, the Inlandboatmens Union-ILWU(IBU)and the-Masters Mates and Pilots (MMP); have been negotiating in good faith with Hornblower owner Terry Macrae for several weeks foll owing months of mostly unsuccessful legal actions. The arrogant Macrae, a friend and supporter of George Bush, insists he will not allow the captains or "senior" deckhands , representing half the workers to be union members. And Macrae insists there will be no union hiring hall or organizing of other Hornblower workers. He also demands that all health and welfare and pension contributions go into his substandard plans rather that the union's solid defined benefits plan.
Hornblower was awarded this contract by Bush-appointed bureaucrats in the National Park Service who are determined to destroy living wage jobs at any cost. This is part of the heightened assault being waged against workers in industries that have been privatized. It can be seen in the rapidly growing gap between rich and poor and the increasing millions without health insurance. There's a general fear that anyone at anytime could be jobless and on the street. But maritime unions have the power to turn this tide employer terror.
For Solidarity Actions to Defend Maritime Workers.
The Hornblower empire is vast and growing rapidly. They have a non union ferry operation in San Diego, right down the coast from the largest port and biggest longshore union in the country. Hornblower is planning a "Super Ferry" inter-island service in Hawaii carrying passengers and cargo. If the Hornblower threat isn't stopped by maritime unions NOW nonunion operations will spread throughout the maritime industry. The only way to fight this onslaught is through united actions of maritime workers in defense of the Alcatraz workers and against this viciously anti-union employer. Waiting for the courts and politicians to deliver justice is suicidal. Employers have ripped up labor contracts guaranteeing pensions and health care with impunity as judges and politicians rubber stamp these robberies!
Workers must mobilize on the streets and docks to defy unjust laws that are stacked against us. It is the only weapon that we can bring us justice. To this end we call on all workers, union and non union, but particularly those in the maritime unions, to assemble at pier 33 on the Embarcadero (near Fishermen's Wharf) at 9 AM Sunday October 8. The Alcatraz workers are calling for a picket and direct action to demand union recognition and the hiring of ALL displaced ferry workers. San Francisco became a union town during the militant 1934 maritime workers strike right here on the Embarcadero. Let's keep it union.
An Injury to One is an Injury to All!
Robert Irminger, IBU-ILWU
Dushan Crawford, MMP
Linda Hallford, IBU-ILWU
Ezra L. Hunter, MMP
David Heran, IBU-ILWU
Jumoke Hortan, MMP
Robert Gregg, IBU-ILWU
Mike Crehan, MMP
Resolution of Support from the San Francisco County Central Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
The following resolution was passed by the SFCLC Monday, October 23, 2006, with the amendment that affiliated unions organize support committees for mass picketting at Pier 33and 1/2. The motion was put forward by Robert Irminger, and spoken in favor of very well by fellow a IBU member Bob Estrada, and a captain in the MM&P.
Whereas, San Francisco is a union town, and
Whereas, the IBU and MMP have represented the crews on ferry boats to Alcatraz Island for the last 24 years, and
Whereas, anti-union Hornblower Yachts with close political connections to the Bush administration has been given the Alcatraz run by the National Park Service and began their nonunion operation on September 24, 2006 , and
Whereas, the San Francisco labor movement was forged through militant class struggle on the waterfront in the 1934 Maritime Strike, and
Whereas, today unions can not allow a viciously anti-union operation to get a foothold in the heart of our labor citadel, lest in spread throughout the San Francisco Bay Area,
Therefore Be It Resolved that in the wake of the recent Hotelworkers’ victory, the S.F. Labor Council will mobilize the whole of the labor movement for mass picketing at Pier 33 and the San Francisco waterfront to defend the IBU/ILWU and MMP against the Hornblower attack.