Five Questions for John D. Baker Jr., Acting President, Great Lakes District Council, International Longshoremen’s Association
The Editors
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1) What is your opinion of the state of labor-management relations in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System? What things could be done to improve the labor-management environment?
Labor-management relations in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System can improve through better and more frequent communications. As things stand now, we really only get together for meaningful discussions when we are in contract negotiations. I firmly believe that we need to get together more often to air out our differences. One way to start that process would be to have quarterly meetings in different ports throughout the Lakes where we can talk through issues of substance and get those issues addressed before they become problems.
2) You’ve been working in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway maritime industry for your entire 
professional life. What have you enjoyed most about this industry and what do you see in terms of its future?
Speaking from my perspective as someone who represents organized labor, I really enjoy working with the people who actually do the work in our industry. They are hard-working people who have families that they are trying to feed, educate and provide for. As for the future, I think that short-sea shipping is an idea whose time may have finally come. As more people understand the benefits of moving goods by water and it becomes more difficult and expensive to move things overland, the maritime industry will be there to move the cargoes that will fuel the American economy for generations to come.
3) Your father is a very influential figure in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway maritime industry and also within the ILA internationally? What are some of the special challenges of being the son of such an influential figure in an industry where you now hold a leadership position?
My family is very close and I’m lucky to have the opportunity to work with my dad, my brother, my uncle and other members of the Baker family. I’m proud of my Dad and my family and hope to make them proud of what I do as well. My dad has always told me not to worry about trying to fill anyone else’s shoes but to do the best I know how. So that’s what I try to do. When you work for the benefit of other families whose livelihoods partly depend on how well you do your job, you have big responsibilty to your members. Doing a good job for our members has been my Dad’s focus and is it is for me too.
4) What are the biggest challenges facing the ILA nationally and here in the Great Lakes?
The ILA is facing the challenge of how we deal with new technologies in our workplace. We aren’t against technology as some people would have you believe. We’re for using technology to make our work better, safer and more productive but we have to have the training and experience to help our employers make there operations more efficient. We understand that if they don’t make money, we don’t make money. They just have to understand that if they don’t do their part to get us work, they can’t make money either.
In the near term, I should also mention that the master contract is coming up for renewal with our International and the Great Lakes District contract will be up for renewal in 2010. I’d like to see that improvement in communications I talked about take place so everyone can go into those negotiations without being blind-sided.
5) What are some of the things you would like to accomplish during your term as Acting President of the Great Lakes District Council ?
As I say, first I want to improve communications and have these quarterly meetings that I’ve talked about. I’d also like to see short-sea shipping become a reality in the Lakes. I think the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system is the perfect proving ground for this sort of thing and I’d like to see us become the model for short-sea shipping in North America. Maybe then we can take our rightful place as America’s Forth Seacoast.
U.S. Transportation Officials to be Interviewed by The Seaway Channel
In an unprecedented move The Seaway Channel has been granted rare access to interview a number of senior U.S. Department of Transportation officials tomorrow as part of an outreach effort to publishers of online news journals. Online journals such as The Seaway Channel have exploded in popularity in recent years as long-sheet and tabliod daily news publishers have fallen on hard times. Increasingly, public officials and other newsmakers have reached out to the online publishing community to get their message out and the U.S. Department of Transportation is making great strides under Secretary Mary Peters to do just that.
The Seaway Channel has interviewed a number of high-ranking industry and governemnt officials but Secretary Peters is the first cabinet-level official in the U.S. government to make herself available to us. We hope tomorrow's information sessions will make interesting reading for our most important constituency, you, our readers.
Senate Confirms Speck to Join International Joint Commission
Mr. Sam Speck of Ohio has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as one of the three U.S. members of the International Joint Commission (IJC). Under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty, the IJC prevents and resolves disputes between the United States and Canada over the waters they share and pursues the common good of both countries as an 
independent and objective advisor to the two governments. Among other matters, the IJC is currently studying whether and how water levels on the Great Lakes might be more effectively managed.
Previously, Mr. Speck had served for eight years as Ohio's Director of Natural Resources. Prior to that, he had been President of Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio for over a decade. He also served as an associate director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Ronald Reagan and as a member of the Ohio House and Senate for 13 years while on the Muskingum College faculty.
While in office as Ohio's Director of Natural Resources, Mr. Speck served as a member and chair of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission and Great Lakes Commission. He also served as chair of the Council of Great Lakes Governors and Premiers’ Water Management Working Group, which developed the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and Agreement. In July 2004, he was one of three state officials in the United States to receive the National Governors Association's Annual Award for Distinguished Service in State Government. Mr. Speck grew up on a farm in northeastern Ohio, graduated of Muskingum College and earned masters and doctoral degrees in government from Harvard University.
Mr. Speck’s confirmation along with the appointment of Pierre Trépanier to the Canadian Section in April gives the IJC a full compliment of six Commissioners.
Storms Worsen Mississippi River Barge Transport Problems
A storm front will dump more rain on the swollen Mississippi River system today as additional rains will continue to test the barge transportation system from Iowa and Illinois in the North to Mississippi and Louisiana in the South.
With the Mississippi River at its’ highest level in 15 years, flood conditions in the states along the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois and Arkansas Rivers have slowed southbound grain barge traffic since the middle of March. As many as four locks in the Upper Mississippi are closed due to high water. In the lower reaches of the Mississippi, the Bonnet Carre Spillway located roughly 28 miles north of New Orleans was opened for the first time in more than a decade to divert water away from the levees protecting the city and reduce damage inflicted by the heavy current. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still hopes that the spillway which has been open since April 11th can be closed within a few days.
For the week ending May 3, barge grain movements were down by 46% from the previous week and had decreased by 42% compared to the same period last year. Since the beginning of April the number of grain barges unloaded at New Orleans dropped by 21% compared to the same period last year.
This Week's Poll Question
Thanks to all of you participated in last week's poll. Looking at the results, we learned that 47% of you felt that the Coast Guard will issue a ruling in favor of Captain Menkes before the one year anniversary of the appeals court ruling. Now to this week...
The SLSDC and the SLSMC have proposed new regulations concerning the treatment of ballast water designed to reduce the likelihood that invasive species will enter the Great Lakes ecosystem via ocean ship.