Interview: Adam Vokac, President of M.E.B.A.

Let's start with you, Adam. Tell us about yourself – your background and education.

I was born in Erie, Pennsylvania and moved to Kansas City, Kansas in the sixth grade. My Dad worked for General Electric and my Mom was a school teacher. Both are retired now. I have an older brother and that made me very competitive, likely driving me to succeed. My brother and I played ice hockey from before we could walk, my Dad often being the coach of the team, and soccer as well.

After high school I went to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, majoring in Engineering Systems, and was valedictorian of the Class of 2000. I sailed for a year on steam-powered oil tankers and then went back to school at MIT where I earned two master's degrees. I originally enrolled for a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, a two-year program, but enjoyed it so much I stayed for another M.S. in Oceans Systems Management. I was captain of the hockey team all three years.

How did you find your way to the maritime industry?

It was totally random that I got into maritime and totally random that I got into maritime labor, but I found my home in both.

My high school soccer coach told me about Kings Point because he had sons that went to service academies, and I was looking for a free technical college. I chose USMMA despite the fact I had never seen a ship or even visited the school. Kings Point was great for me. I needed the discipline of the first year and was part of the pistol team, winning some championships. Sea Year had an enormous impact on me and my view of the world. It validated the self-sufficiency I had always striven for because on a ship there's not much help around. And seeing the world expanded my mind, my perspective, and made me hungry to see and learn more.

The day I graduated from Kings Point I drove to M.E.B.A.'s New York hall and signed up. Took the summer off and then flew to the Los Angeles Union Hall and caught my first job off the board with Alaska Tanker Company as a Third Assistant Engineer. After MIT, I worked for Norwegian Cruise Lines (also M.E.B.A.) and had a multitude of engineering positions onboard their vessels in Hawaii. I worked for NCL from 2004 to 2007 and then 2011 to 2013.

In between I was the Honolulu Hall Union Representative for M.E.B.A. That job, the beginning of my career in labor, found me. I was recently off a ship and someone unbeknownst to me had recommended me for the position. The union leadership reached out and asked if I was interested, and I decided to give it a try – who wouldn't want a job in Hawaii? I previously had no interest in union leadership (just never considered it), so this labor career, just like my maritime career, totally found me and I just happened to grab the opportunities when they arose.

In 2014, after securing my Chief Engineer's license, I was elected West Coast EVP, based in Oakland, California. I held that position for seven years, then ran for M.E.B.A. President and was elected, effective January 1, 2021. M.E.B.A. officer elections are in process right now, but I'm running unopposed – the first time that's happened since the year I was born, 1978.

Wow, what a great story! Did you ever think you'd be a union leader?

No, never, but now I can't imagine anything more rewarding. I was often captain of sports teams, but I never was interested in the political side of things like class president. I enjoy serving as an elected union officer enormously because I invest most of my effort improving the union and the lives of its members and their families. I really bought into the old maritime adage that you should always leave a ship better than you found it. I try to live my life that way and thrive on improving the things that I can.

I'm also blessed to be part of a solid and hardworking leadership team. We complement each other extremely well with each executive team member focusing on the chores he or she excels at.

Is M.E.B.A. the biggest U.S. maritime union? We know it's the oldest.

We're the premier sailing officers' union, but the longshore unions and SIU have more members.

The Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.) was historically known as a union representing marine engineers, and that remains the majority of its work. But through the years we've built a reputation for securing the best contracts, work rules and benefits in the industry. Our ability to negotiate favorable terms and provide robust support for our members has been a key factor in our growth.

So we have contracts that represent virtually every shipboard position onboard tugs, ferries, cruise ships, Jones Act vessels and deep-sea vessels of all kinds, but primarily deck and engine officers. Deck officers, recognizing the value of these benefits, have been drawn to M.E.B.A., finding it to be a union that not only meets but often exceeds their professional and personal needs, especially since it provides a much higher defined benefit pension than any other deep-sea union.

We continue to attract a diverse workforce – both deck and engine, officers and unlicensed, and related shoreside positions.

How many offices and training centers are there? Are there any international operations?

M.E.B.A. does not use a "local" system as we are "national union," but we have 14 union halls around the country as well as a headquarters in Washington, D.C. located across the street from the north lawn of the Capitol. In addition, we have benefit plan offices in Baltimore and a trade association with our employers – the American Maritime Congress – based here in Washington.

What makes M.E.B.A. different from other maritime unions?

We're different in how we're adapting to generational changes in the workforce. We still maintain our tried-and-true, transparent union hall system for obtaining most work, but we're simultaneously laser-focused on providing what the next generation wants: a multitude of varying opportunities that mesh with individuals' and families' evolving needs.

For example, most newly-licensed officers are unwilling to commit to sailing deep sea for the next 30 years. Instead, after maybe five years at sea, they might want to fill a home-based billet (with a ferry system, say) for a few years in order to start a family, or they may need to take an extended leave to care for a family member. We've been aggressively securing maritime-related shoreside work to achieve this, opportunities like shipyard work, port engineering, port captains, sea trial officers, facility engineers and so on.

We're also uniquely positioned as perhaps the only entity in existence that has skilled deck and engine officers on standby, located throughout the country, ready to work today just about anywhere.

That's a very attractive option to offer to a company. Nobody else has the surge capacity we have (half our workforce is routinely on leave and available). We're able to convert this feature into mutually beneficial contracts with employers who need it.

Eventually, many who move through these alternate paths return to the seagoing life, which benefits them, the union, the industry and our country. Without the flexibility M.E.B.A. provides, many of these highly skilled and experienced engineers would likely have left the maritime industry entirely. And when you leave the industry, you almost never come back.

I find that the new generation of officers greatly values these various career opportunities, all of which expand and grow their knowledge, thereby upgrading their market value while at the same time enhancing their quality of life and that of their families.

There's a generational change taking place in the U.S. merchant marine with older members retiring and not too many new ones coming in.

It's something you've talked about a lot. Tell us more about it and what can be done to change it. How do you attract young men and women to a life at sea?

There's still plenty of adventure in traveling the world although, admittedly, not nearly at the level of prior generations, who had longer port stays, larger crews and more accommodating shore leave rules. The life of a sailor today is very isolating and more pure work than play. On the other hand, the Internet has greatly reduced the crushing isolation to some degree, and improved safety and comfort standards are welcome.

However, the simplest way to increase interest in maritime careers is to reestablish a healthy pay differential between a sea career versus one on land to compensate for the dangers and sacrifices of a life at sea. Since none of us has the ability to do that overnight, M.E.B.A.'s initiative to provide diverse work options is the next best thing. We're hopeful it will drive new recruits and lengthen the careers of mentors. We'll continue to improve quality of life where we can, of course, but the bottom line is, like anywhere else, the bottom line.

You've been hailed as a new and young leader, more in tune with the next generation of seafarers, and you and your team at M.E.B.A. have been credited with a "new vision" for the future of maritime. Tell us more about that.

Thank you. We are indeed a younger group of leaders, which perhaps leaves us naturally in better position to understand the mindsets of potential recruits. Gone are the days when highly educated and skilled people work quietly for the same company for 30 years. We're in an era of job-hopping every few years, social media and more accessible options. Understanding how to market and recruit in the new environment will, we hope, keep us relevant.

It takes a long time to make a seasoned deck officer or engineer. M.E.B.A. is working hard to give our members several paths to become one.

What's your biggest challenge right now?

Growth. It's the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity, particularly during a maritime labor shortage.

What's a typical day like for you? Are you on the road a lot?

I've got three young kids, so I restrict my travel to essentials as I can. I'm glad we found virtual meetings during the pandemic as that has saved me and the world a lot of travel time for short meetings. I'm also glad I have very capable officials working alongside me. It allows me not to have to be everywhere at once.

How would you describe your management style?

Team-and consensus-based. I listen very intently to every opinion and incorporate them into my thinking. I much prefer making logical arguments, inspiring action and change, as opposed to giving orders or making demands without proper explanation. I don't mind if people make mistakes as long as they're putting in the effort and have the right intent. This mindset works for me, as a high-morale team will always outperform a beaten-down team over time.

It's a similar approach with the companies. I know both the union and company must be successful if the relationship is going to work long-term. Sometimes companies get too focused on account codes but don't see how they relate to each other. My approach is to share our perspective and detail how improving this cost item will generally decrease that other cost item more, saving money in the long run and resulting in a better product.

We demand the best contracts, and we therefore must deliver the best product to our companies. It's a win-win model.

Tony Munoz is the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Maritime Executive.