 In 1953 at the SIUNA Convention, the Brotherhood of Marine Engineers gained autonomy, allowing it to adopt a constitution and elect officers.The first constitution was drafted by Edward Reisman, Rudolph Wunsch, James Wilde, Everett Landers, Peter Geipi, and William Lovvorn, who "wanted to craft a document that would provide for free and fair elections, set the terms of office for official positions, specify the duties of union officials, provide for charges, trials, and appeals, permit rank and file membership inspection of the union's financial records, and permit amendments by rank and file vote".The constitution was adopted, with 96 percent of membership voting for adoption.