The following letter was intended for publication to the San Francisco Chronicle in response to this op-ed piece [1] by Hornblower CEO Terry Macrae:

I was born in San Francisco 68 years ago. As children, my brother Frank and I played on the shores of San Francisco Bay. We both grew up and went to sea and spent our lives sailing out of and upon San Francisco Bay. Two years ago, I retired as a Captain at Blue and Gold Fleet. Frank is a member of the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association. I feel that the history of the Maritime Industry in the San Francisco Bay Area, in general, and the history of the “Old San Francisco Waterfront”, specifically, can be told in the context of its’ Labor Unions. During my long career in the Industry, I belonged to many of those Unions and benefited from my membership in each one of them. When I first went to sea, I sailed for the “Military Sea Transport Service” and belonged to the Seafarer’s International Union.”

Later, I began to sail cargo ships and passenger liners and was a member of the “Sailors Union of the Pacific.” In 1965, when I began to work as a deckhand on ferry boats and tugs, I joined the “Inland Boatman’s Union.”

In 1969, after I passed the exam for my first Captain’s License and got a job in the wheelhouse, I joined the “Marine Engineers Beneficial Association.”
In 1997, Blue and Gold Fleet bought Red and White Fleet, the company that I had worked for for many years, and I became a member of the “Masters, Mates and Pilots Union.” I served as a Captain aboard the Alcatraz ferries for quite a few years. It is service that I recall with great fondness.

Terry MacRae’s letter to the Chronicle, dated 12/4, is a self serving pastiche of half truths and obfuscations. MacRae runs a non-union company and simply does not want to negotiate, in good faith, with the Maritime Unions, which, previous to his acquisition of the Alcatraz Contract, had represented the Captains and Deckhands on Blue and Gold Fleet boats.

I know two things, for sure. First, that my retirement years will be happier and more comfortable because my work years were spent working for companies that had good union contracts. And, second, that the “New Waterfront” that MacRae is attempting to fashion will, in no way, be an improvement over the “Old Waterfront” that I remember.

I wish all of you the very best in your struggle for a just resolution in this matter.

Captain Russ Hoburg

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