Meba

The Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association ( ) is the nation’s oldest maritime union. was born out of necessity on the Great Lakes and Mississippi River in the 1870s.

Back in 1875 a collection of local marine engineers’ association representatives, fed up with the intolerable working conditions of the day, banded together. Boiler explosions aboard steamboats and unfair working conditions coupled with measly paychecks drove these trailblazers to unite for the protection of mariners. In February of 1875, the leaders of five steamship unions met in Cleveland and the National Marine Engineers’ Association was born.

Early on, the forefathers battled for beneficial legislation to certify and license waterborne engineers. They also prevailed in securing officers – both deck and engine – aboard displacing foreign seamen. Those early struggles and many others paved the way for the worker protections and benefits members have today.

As moved into the new century, it began to look less like a professional society and more like a labor union. The grew stronger on all coasts as international shipping took on a new focus in American commerce. The desire to commit to the goals of organized labor caused the to affiliate with the AFL for the first time in 1919. For the next few decades, the would peak and fall with the global demand for shipping. Maritime business would skyrocket with each of the two World Wars but suffer during the Great Depression. American maritime labor would recognize the higher calling of the nation’s defense and served the country admirably in both wars. The merchant marine continues to serve as a vital expression of American military power.