Now that the American crew members of the Maersk Alabama haveretaken the ship from four Somali pirates (USA! USA! USA!), it’s important to note that likeall the people involved withthe safe landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January, the crew members of the Maersk Alabama are union members. (Thanks toMarcy Wheeler for the blog title and the meme.) The unions in question are theSeafarers International Union, which represents 12 of the 20-person crew, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA), and the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P). As former safety chairman of the Airline Pilots Association, Chesley Sullenberger, the hero pilot of Flight 1549, fought to make sure his colleagues got the training they needed to do what he did in January. And as I just heard on Fox News (and confirmed with the SIU), crew members of the Maersk Alabama received anti-piracy training from (where else?) their union. You can see an SIU member at small arms training at the union’sPaul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education in the photo to the right (more photoshere). In addition to small arms training, the Hall Center offers anti-terror, basic safety, first aid, and other security-related courses.