Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Finding Aid to the Robert E. Durkin International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, Local 90 Collection
larc.ms.0131
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Robert E. Durkin International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, Local 90 collection
Creator:
Durkin, Robert E.
Date (bulk): 1944-1989
Date (inclusive): 1863-1989
Collection number: larc.ms.0131
Accession number: 1992/056
Extent:
2.5 cubic ft.
(2 cartons)
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English.
Abstract: Consists of material collected by Robert Durkin during his years in the Masters, Mates and Pilots. Durkin was extensively
involved in union politics and as a result the bulk of the collection deals with administrative and election related topics;
the material in the collection both implicitly and explicitly helps to detail the struggle for survival that labor has engaged
in during the 20th century. In the case of the Masters, Mates and Pilots, it deals with how both automation and modernization
have impacted the maritime industry. Materials include minutes, membership material, contracts and negotiations for Masters,
Mates and Pilots, Local 90, files on the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, shipyard rules from 1863 and 1868, articles on maritime
associations, pension and welfare funds and health and safety issues.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Robert E. Durkin International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, Local 90 Collection, larc.ms.0131,
Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University.
The Robert E. Durkin Collection is divided into eleven series:
- Series I: Personal Information
- Series II: Masters, Mates and Pilots International
- Series III: M.M.P. Local 90
- Series IV: M.M.P. Local 88
- Series V: I.O.M.M.P. Offshore Division
- Series VI: Miscellaneous M.M.P. Locals
- Series VII: Safety
- Series VIII: Exxon Valdez
- Series IX: Legal Materials
- Series X: Maritime Associations and Organizations
- Series XI: Research Materials
The collection was donated to the Labor Archives by Dr. David McWilliams; accession number 1992/056.
Processed by Labor Archives and Research Center staff.
National Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots of America.
National Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots of America. Local 90.
International Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots.
Merchant mariners--Labor unions--Pacific Coast (U.S.)
Merchant mariners--Labor unions--United States.
Merchant mariners--United States.
Robert Edward Durkin was born December 25, 1912 in Paterson, New Jersey. He enlisted in the Navy in November 1934 in New York
and received an honorable discharge in December 1938 in Seattle. He married Helen Cleo Jones in Lakewood Village, Los Angeles
on April 1, 1948. He did not have any children.
Durkin became a member of the Masters, Mates and Pilots, Local 90 in 1942. In 1949, he was elected Trustee and served on the
Executive Committee of Local 90. He was appointed as the Wilmington Branch Representative in 1952 and served out the remainder
of a term that had been left vacant by a predecessor. Durkin was subsequently elected for two more terms and served as the
Wilmington Branch Representative until 1957. In 1953, he was elected as a shareholder Trustee for Local 90's Building Association.
He served three more six year terms and was elected President of the Building Association in 1958 and reelected annually 13
times. He was elected as chairman of the Board of Trustees for the MMP- PMA Pension, Welfare and Vacation Plans and remained
chairman until December 1971. Durkin was elected President of Masters, Mates and Pilots, Local 90 in 1957 and was consecutively
reelected for six more two year terms until 1971. At the same time that he served as the Local 90 President, he was also elected
President of the International in July of 1958. He served as International President until January 1961.
During his tenure as International President, he presided over a major restructuring that transformed the position of International
President into a full time job. Previously, the International President had been elected from among the delegates at the IOMMP
biennial convention and served concurrently as both Local and International President. Despite the fact that he led the restructuring,
Durkin decided not to run for the new job. However, he remained a member of the International Executive Committee from 1958
until 1971. During this time he served as a member and or chairman of the International Constitution and Finance Committees.
In 1970, all of the locals of the IOMMP merged into a single International Offshore Division and Durkin served as Vice President
from October 1970 until December of 1971. He retired on December 31, 1971 but remained a Shareholder Trustee of the Masters,
Mates and Pilots Building Association.
Consists of material collected by Robert Durkin during his years in the Masters, Mates and Pilots. Durkin was extensively
involved in union politics and as a result the bulk of the collection deals with administrative and election related topics;
the material in the collection both implicitly and explicitly helps to detail the struggle for survival that labor has engaged
in during the 20th century. In the case of the Masters, Mates and Pilots, it deals with how both automation and modernization
have impacted the maritime industry. Materials include minutes, membership material, contracts and negotiations for Masters,
Mates and Pilots, Local 90, files on the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, shipyard rules from 1863 and 1868, articles on maritime
associations, pension and welfare funds and health and safety issues.
The first box of the collection contains personal material including an array of commendations and licenses, and correspondence
on both personal and union related matters. The first box also contains material related specifically to the International
and the Locals, particularly Local 90. The second box contains material related to specific locals as well as the Offshore
Division. However the bulk of the second box contains material related to more general maritime and union topics, including
information on worker safety issues and practices, maritime associations, various legal files, and research materials. The
final two folders in the second box contain numerous clippings related to both specific Masters, Mates and Pilots' issues
and also to more general issues.
Materials related to the Exxon Valdez disaster in Prince William Sound in March of 1989 include documents created by Durkin
in relation to the accident and also research materials including the legislation that was produced as a result. The captain
of the ship was a member of the Masters, Mates and Pilots and the Union offered a slightly different interpretation of the
events than those put forth in the media.