News / Senate appoints former Congressman and union man Max Vekich to the FMC

Former International Longshore Workers Union (ILWU) board member and US Democratic Congressman Max Vekich has been appointed to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).

Mr Vekich will replace outgoing Republican Michael Khouri whose five-year term at the FMC came to an end in June last year. Mr Vekich’s appointment as commissioner was confirmed in a 51-43 Senate vote yesterday.

The appointment will see the political balance of the regulatory body shift from a Republican majority to the Democrats.

Mr Vekich  has served four terms as a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, between 1983 and 1991, on the ILWU’s executive board as a senior supercargo, a union supervisory role known as a “walking boss”.