A massive shutdown of America’s supply chain is now in progress because of a labor dispute between dockworkers and their employers. The average dock worker, according to Zero Hedge, makes about $145,000 per year plus some $80,000 per year in benefits, but apparently their overtime pay is insufficient, which has led to widespread strikes at the nation’s busiest ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The ports are now being partially shut down for at least the next four days, but the months-long dispute has already led to hundreds of container ships and tractor-trailers being left in limbo (see pictures below).
Though the strike has been off the radar for most, analysts suggest that the dispute is so severe that it could lead to widespread shortages of imported goods and mass layoffs in periphery industries, especially retail chains which will have limited amounts of goods to sell until a resolution is found.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association who, realizing that failure to reach an agreement between the dockworker union and their bosses, the Pacific Maritime Association representing port management would lead to devastating consequences for the US retail industry, had several very damning soundbites:
- “a work slowdown during contract negotiations over the past seven months has already created logistic nightmares for American exporters, manufacturers and retailers dependent on an efficient supply chain. A complete shutdown would be catastrophic, with hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk if America’s supply chain grinds to a halt.“
- “A west coast port shutdown would be an economic disaster.”
- “A shutdown would not only impact the hundreds of thousands of jobs working directly in America’s transportation supply chain, but the reality is the entire economy would be impacted as exports sit on docks and imports sit in the harbor waiting for manufacturers to build products and retailers to stock shelves.”
And the punchline: “The slowdown is already making life difficult, but a shutdown could derail the economy completely.“
The situation, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association, is dire:
“A work slowdown during contract negotiations over the past seven months has already created logistic nightmares for American exporters, manufacturers and retailers dependent on an efficient supply chain. A complete shutdown would be catastrophic, with hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk if America’s supply chain grinds to a halt.”
The shutdown is a sight to behold. Hundreds of transport ships with thousands of containers of cargo are not being allowed into ports to unload their goods.
Cargoes from around the world are backed up as evidenced by the following aerial photos from Mike Kelley:
It was one of the most exciting experiences I’ve had doing aerial photography – being that far out at sea, with the huge swells underneath you, and these massive, massive container ships everywhere was like living a scene out of Walter Mitty’s life.
The labor union and employers will eventually come to an agreement, perhaps with Presidential involvement, but a prolonged strike will, as noted above, have a disastrous impact on the economy.
We’re written before about what life will look like in the event of a transportation shutdown in Just In Time: When The Trucks Stop, America Stops. As we noted then, a transportation shutdown can lead to nearly immediate and catastrophic consequences.
It appears that this is what is happening now and the effects on a consumer-based economy could be devastating across the board.
We’ve often recommended to readers that they stock up on emergency supplies simply because sometimes unplanned events happen. The current port shutdown is a limited event, but given that even this could lead to serious economic problems and job losses, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to suggest that in a real emergency the shutdown of transportation systems on a national level would lead to a total breakdown and panic within days, perhaps even a few hours.
The reality is that 99% of Americans are not prepared for a sustained shutdown of transportation systems and supply lines. There would be no food or gas to be had. As The Prepper’s Blueprint author Tess Pennington highlights in Anatomy of a Breakdown, once peaceful streets and neighborhoods would quickly be besieged by looters looking for resources.
When the needs of the population cannot be met in an allotted time frame, a phenomena occurs and the mindset shifts in people. They begin to act without thinking and respond to changes in their environment in an emotionally-based manner, thus leading to chaos, instability and a breakdown in our social paradigm.
It is for these unforeseen circumstances that we urge Americans to prepare for the worst. The last thing you want to be doing is looking for food and other essential supplies after a supply shutdown has occurred.
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And guess who is part of tearing this country apart..? Too bad raping your own country is not a crime.
Unknown Suspect: “And guess who is part of tearing this country apart..?”
Obola and the Libs?
Mac: “The average dock worker, according to Zero Hedge, makes about $145,000 per year plus some $80,000 per year in benefits, but apparently their overtime pay is insufficient…”
Are you kidding me? What does a dock worker do that justifies that kind of pay? What kind of specialized training is involved to become a dock worker?
“What kind of specialized training is involved to become a dock worker?”
Drink excessively
Beat your wife daily
Be morbidly obese
Sit around and complain
Punch in, loaf, eat, smoke, punch out (repeat daily)
Hang out at nearby strip clubs
Be a member of a socialist collective bargaining unit .
How much ya wanna bet that all this BS is due to Cali raising the minimum wage by a buck last november ?
When people see articles like the above, the first thing they scream is: “TOO MUCH MONEY for these people!!!”
…and we want to drag them down to our current level of earning.
It is the REST of US who are NOT making enough, and WE are the ones who should be striking.
PWY –
I completely agree.
But union scale is based on % above minimum wage.
Their hissy fit only hurts the rest of us.
At $145K/yr, they make 3 times what a skilled non-union machinist makes. It’s pretty sad, and unjustified.
Over the past few years there has been all kinds of speculation as to what the SHTF EVENT would be. Nobody predicted that the decline in oil prices would occur. NONE of the experts saw it coming. After reading this article and getting a picture of how this dock shut down could undo our economy it once again occurred to me that NO EXPERTS saw this as being the SHTF catalyst. Maybe the decline in oil prices coupled with a dock workers strike, and a couple more as of yet unforeseen events will get the snowball rolling downhill. The heck with the experts and all of their posturing and pontificating. I’ll just keep storing and stacking as long as the money holds up and stuff is available.
I will add that if I were unemployed right now, maybe having been laid off from an oil field job, I’d be on my way to CA looking for a job. Hell yes I’d cross a picket line. Screw the unions.
Partly true. The motivator is the forty percent tax on so called Cadillac health care plans that kicks in next year. That would be forty percent of about sixty grand for most of these clowns. Lot of money. Maybe they could simply get the crap plans everyone else gets and get the difference in pay.
And weren’t unions promised that they would not be affected by the ACA? Now they will be by having to pay the tax for their Cadillac health care plans and are vastly unhappy. When the promise fell apart…well, we should closely watch what happens here. It could be very interesting if they don’t get their demands met. Payback is hell.
Remember, too, that no other union that raised a fuss would have had much impact outside their own locale. This organization recognizes the difference their strike will make. This could well be a power struggle in disguise.
This, in it’s simplest form, is the last gasp of collective bargaining or one of them…maybe more to follow…don’t know where though.
I only wish this is being undertaken, by the “workers”, to bring the zit to a head, so we can pop it.
It won’t be pretty, but we’ll all benefit in the end.
Nathen Hale comes to mind…
That qualifies for a hefty raise in the States…
My dad said a long time ago that unions will be the down fall of this country.
Then your dad was in Idiot! To Blame Unions for this is just Stupid.. Who you NEED to Blame is the 105 MILLION PEOPLE who didn’t vote in the last elections…
I voted and it didn’t do any good. Too many people on the dole that vote themselves gifts. It has to implode before it gets any better. Liberals deserve everything they get, it’s just a shame we get caught in the middle of it.
give this man support please
http://youtu.be/ThYMLMJp_nY
Euragone, elections never change anything. All you get to choose from is the Democratic turd or the Republican turd.
I guarantee that had Romney won things would be much better. You and millions of others with the same stupid attitude helped re elect the current stain in chief.
Like it was under Bush- either of them? Grow up and learn some critical thinking, which extends beyond images and propaganda.
what kind of gutless asshole are you to call that persons dad an idiot?, who are you to call someone names behind your key board? his dad was 100% right, a good worker doesn’t need a union to protect their job.
I am a union man EURAGONE
Vote for WHOM?? only one party was on the docket- the oligarchs. NO ONE should vote to ratify such a corrupt system. Instead the nonvoters should be seen for what they are: a REFUSAL to endorse corruption. Just as Iraqis etc didn’t vote for Saddam in their ‘elections’.
You need to wake up and get out of denial. USA under corp dictatorship for decades now, and its only enabled by fools who “vote” for the Ponzi; maintaining the ‘democracy’ sham.
I’ve been in four different unions,with exception of one Equipment Operators, the other three were nothing but “Organized Crime. The stole our pensions! Yea they got busted for it, but we never got our money back. This was back in the 80’s and 90’s.
UNIONS are no longer needed.
As far as the shipping….You mean that were going have to make our own stuff instead of importing crap from China? Imagine that!
I have never worked for a union and never will. I’ve had offers from a few union shops that looked pretty damned cush and payed out the bunghole but
unfortunately my morals kept me from taking it.I’m sorry your union experience was a bad one. IN 1937 ILWU split from ILA because the mob tried to use influence on the Union. I do agree all the job were traded away to the cheapest labor market. I want you to remember the people who sent those jobs oversea are the one the ILWU is a odds with. The ILWU didn’t ask or demand anymore money or benefits. The stick point is a corrupt arbitrator..
Does your dad know that unions support, lobby, and vote for Libs.
And does he further know that Libs protect unions as part of that political agreement?
YES
so, in short, the Libs will be the down fall of the country
Ever Seeing Eye, your Dad was right, but it goes way beyond unions.
Your dad is a motherfucker!
Ah yes skinhead, your education and breeding rise to the surface on all of your posts.
keep you mother home and you will not have to think about what she’s doing.
Keep your mother out of my yard and I’ll keep my yard out of your mother.
“The average dock worker makes about $145,000 per year plus some $80,000 per year in benefits”
BS, I don’t think so.
That figure is all over the place
Know a few stevadores locally who are over 200k a year,
Kula, how much do they have to give up in union dues? I’m sure that’s an interesting amount.
@Nobama; Here you go
http://www.wsj.com/articles/west-coast-ports-set-to-keep-humming-1404085631
$40/hr is $83,200/yr (average pay), if you add $8/hr for skill, that’s another $16,640/yr that’s $100k per year. Add to that sweet 1.5x for over 8hrs per day, Saturdays, and of course over 40 hrs/week, and then SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY, 2X and who knows what else. I’m sure they have minimum pay for unexpected callouts, 4 hrs min. at 2x pay. That, in and of itself is a full days pay. Add in some cush holiday pay and God forbid Christmas comes on a Sunday, which means New Years comes on a Sunday. Then don’t forget that more than 2 hrs over shift means you get a meal (cash voucher, no taxes). THEN there are the Cadillac health plans, the NON-contributory retirement and the retirement health plan, premium short term disability to full pay (non-taxable), 401k with matching funds……..YEAH, $145,000 EASY. Be Well.
Ill do it for half that pay. It’d still b twice what i make if not better than that!
About a 70 IQ and 40 hours of training and thus you are a dockworker.
I worked temp out of local UA 290 plumbers-steamfitters union when I was in my 20’s. I worked down in the guts of the ships, mostly. I hauled lines and hoses, scraped crud and put the welders out when they set themselves on fire. It was good money back in the late 70’s, better than what the laborers union was paying for temps.
It was cramped, dirty, smelly and dangerous work. If a disaster happens while you’re in the belly of that ship, you’ve got nowhere to go…I’d do it all over again if I could. I wasn’t sure at that point what I wanted to do for a career, so I bounced around different union halls, going out as temp labor. No regrets, and the experiences gave me a lifetime of memories.
Personally, I think this may have been orchestrated farther up the food chain. The average dock workers are just pawns, and like the Ferguson rioters, they are easily manipulated. Someone wound them up and set them loose, pretty much like wind-up toy soldiers.
More distractions, and divide and conquer.
DON’T FALL FOR THIS EITHER. Watch the other hand.
Sixpack, you need to write a book! 🙂
Not sure of the process of leaving a message for everyone to read, but as I read through the comments I could see that sixpack has summed it up quite nicely. I could go on and on about the 26 years of gained information relating to this aspect but time will not permit this… so here is a partial list of information individuals should read. These will be placed in a preceding order. (Tribal Rule, Kingdom and Kingdomship, Monarchs and Monarchies, Religions Mostly Jesuits and Vatican, The Magna Karta, Sovereignty, Secret Societies, Maritime Law or Military Law, Flags and their uses VERY IMPORTANT, Corporate Law which was derived from Maritime Law, Common Law,History of Banks, Feit Currency, Federal Reserve and the PETRO DOLLAR HEGMONY, CFR, Nafta, Gaat,SPP, False Flsgs,911, Military or Martial Law,GEORGIA GUIDE STONES. While seeing this play out in the course of my lifetime this is where I see we are. Russia plants a flag in the Canadian North and claims it. Caused international concerns but flag is still there. Not too good for me ( I’m Canadian)with Russia on my border. Since Canada and the USA are joined together by the NORTH AMERICAN UNION (Corporate Union)They are on your border. Remember to conquer a flag must be raised. If and when they arrive with the Chinese probably after the collapse most of us Canadians will have frozen and what Army do we have to protect us. Just seems easy to move right through to the USA. Remember the GEORGIA GUIDSTONES. This has been going on for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. It’s final plan stared in 1913 (Fed. Reserve) 1963 killing of your last true President and its final removal of the GOLD STANDARD 1974. Canada followed the same process with slightly different dates. This system is global and the ones that do not submit suffer the consequences (Iran, Iraq, Afganistan, Syria, Libia and a host of others. The USA is a super power and the controlling factions use this military to enforce their agenda. So if we happen to survive this action hopefully the CORPORAT FICTION YOU REPRESENT (you as the straw man)will be of favor to the new commanders or you may be tossed (useless cargo) off the captured corporate ship. If you don’t understand this I will try to explain in short. When Fed fiat money came into exsistence they needed an avenue to tax the common man ( is not allowed to be taxed on his wages) for the use of the borrowed money so they created the straw man that you signed for. Look at your Driver Licence or Pay stub for an example. Why is our (NAME BACKWARDS). It is your Corporate fiction you represent and your birth certificate is your numbered birth (bed) you reside in while on the corporate ship. So getting back to economics (feit money which is ment to collapse and has done so all through history. It is going to collapse again and someone is going to capitalise. The pheonix rises out of the ashes. So much to learn so little time.
and your dad, uncle and older brother had better be in the union or you will not get in
” What does a dock worker do that justifies that kind of pay?”
Justification has nothing to do with anything in the USA. The Big Banks get bailed out with taxpayer money and hand out bonuses far in excess of that and they literally stole the money. Corzine’s firm illegally raids and cleans out peoples IRAs in complete violation of the law and he testifies with a straight face, “I don’t know where the 1.2 billion went”. Wachovia Bank launders between $300 and $400 billion of drug money only to be fined $160 million and no one was prosecuted.
Its a winner take all. Where does everyone think these union guys got the idea?
many a times I set in those lines at the docks over in Jersey to pick up a container, I’d get there at about 4AM and if I was lucky, I might get out of there by 4:30 at night. I even stood in line while a customs agent polished his shoes before he would open his window to ck our papers and there was nothing we could do about it. those pricks in Port Elisabeth and port Newark weren’t human and the ones over in Brooklyn were worse than them, back then we were probably making three bucks an hr and they were making about twelve.
Not to mention the truck hi-jackings in the NY area which is why so much shipping moved away.
FS, you mean the African virus and the commies.
Keep in mind, many of these Dock workers and truckers are in Unions and also influenced by the Mafia or crime bosses who get a slice of the action. Pay up or else.
Bought a bag of oranges the other day in Sams Club, they were from California. Seriously Cali oranges being sold in Florida? Sheesh. Food moves pretty fast across America.
WWTI, I’ll take FLORIDA oranges over commiefornia oranges any day. No commiefornia oranges for me, EVER!
Most of the Florida oranges are being affected by a citrus disease and lots o groves have been removed. Out here the water Nazis are doing the same thing. We hate it too but since the Stupid party cannot run a good candidate we are stuck with the Marxists.
Wwti’ what part of Fl? Citrus county here.
most oranges in fl are juice oranges. Trucks bring oranges to eat from Cali, then bring juice oranges back to Cali for processing.
Compensation from an employer to an employee does not have to be justified in your mind or mine….it only requires agreement between those involved, which in this case does not involve you or me.
I think it is disgusting and mind boggling what athletes make, but there is nothing I can or should be able to do about it….other than contribute to it or not.
But if anyone should bitch about anyone, it would be those who are over paid with stolen resources and wealth. And those would be the people who people like you continue to vote into public office and those whom those evil scum work for….THE BANKSTERS and CORP BASTARDS!
Absolutely.
BJ, I agree about banksters and corporate turds.
@Free Slave; First, you get down on your knees, then lean……….hahaha. Yeah.
Yeah they are kidding (lying) you do the math $33 dollars an hour X 40 hours is how much?
we move the world, what kind of specialized training did you get for your job which most likely involves fucking people over?
This could also be the perfect cover for an “invasion” force…since we’re on the verge of global war and all…
Oh…it’s a crime alright. Just not one that is prosecuted by the current PTB.
At some point, that will change. When it is, those responsible will be hunted down like dogs and strung up on the nearest tree or light pole.
History bears witness to this.
It’s just a matter of time.
No not all of them just the lower ones on the ladder maybe. The big boys will be long gone before that, trust me on that one. We are going to wait till it’s to late and miss opportunities!!
“The big boys” were never within reach. They pull the strings from a safe distance away.
This year is not starting out very well!!! ;(
Anon-I have a feeling that it will be mostly downhill from here this year.
Dock workers striking is just a diversion to hide the truth that we are in a world wide depression and no one has any money to purchase this crap. All you have to do is check the Baltic Shipping index or your own empty pocket.
Baltic Dry Index
Phucking unions….
Union=communist collective bargaining unit.
ERRRRM! The government & Co you fucking bellend.
Used to be only afew decades ago, that everyting one needed came from the general area they lived in.Fresh eggs, fresh fruit and meat. Used to be the electricity was generated was a city-wide plant. Electricity was also proportional cheaper then also. Few years ago the internet was bread-boards. We may very well need to go back to bread boards. Every city had its own water supply.
Now we live in a fools paradise where we are in control of nothing! Even bullets were made locally for the most part.
The Ipod, Smart phone addicted group have no real talents, with the exception of playing video games.
Things can go from good, to bad at no more than a drop of a hat.Emergency food are fine, but they will run out in year or two. If you help others your food of course will run out quickly. However since we have been taught to be totally selfish food sullys should be safe till someone by force takes it from you. The much desired reason to declare Martial Law can now take place for no moe reason than someone pushed a domino over!
Funny how America’s supply lines can be cut like that without the government stepping in. Does some union bargaining agreement really supersede the nation’s economy and well being? I can understand a union dispute with a private company, but not with an entire access port where much of the nation’s goods enter to the rest of the country. There is too much power in that port to affect the rest of the nation. I would think “national interest” would make the government demand that port be opened back up.
As my employment wellbeing is heavily dependant on the West Coast ports moving goods, I have been wanting to see your first question get answered in short order! This crap is bordering on treason!
More fear mongering. Yeah, they’re striking.
Again.
Not the first time. Won’t be the last.
HERRRRRRE WE GO …………
The End Is Near! How will we get our Chinese Junk. Trekker Out.
They’ll be sending it over by missile soon, Trekster.
Well my Rebel Brother, if its as good as the rest of their junk, it won’t make all the way over here, but we may have to worry about KulaFarmer. Trekker Out.
THE END IS NEAR! BUY MY SURVIVAL GUIDE AND SUPPLIES!
Im sick of hearing about these union crybaby bitches stricking every time for NO reason! Fine, they wanna strike, FIRE them all and hire other NON UNION workers. Problem solved. Fuck the unions .
I guess the rail union for west coast to Canada is possibly going out on strike sunday as well, they also have no contract and negotiations have broken down
Cant paste the link so google railway strike sunday and you will get dozens of hits,
Kula, we’re still in winter and this is a helluva time for these overpaid douchebags to go on strike. I’m making another prep shopping trip this weekend. I smell something and it ain’t nice.
The government has unionized TSA and the dems would like to unionize the rest of government and every other business out there. We’d be like France in no time and have nationwide strikes. I never saw anybody in my union until union elections and they acted like your best friend. Dues went up and they got themselves a big pay raise and benefits that we didn’t. Contracts were a done deal before they were voted on. Now 20 years later the union shops are dying against non union competition and the new hires in the union get no better than the non union shops.
Even more convincing evidence that tptb are attacking our supply lines. Consider what life will be like if all supply lines end up hindered by strikes at the same time. It will be the shtf that we’ve been prepping for, but it will be blamed on THE PEOPLE OURSELVES, not tptb or the govt.
It’s the perfect crime, where tptb reap the benefits and the victims take the blame.
Sixpack, I thought about that earlier when reading the article and right when we’re still in winter. Oh yeah, a LOVELY time for TSHTF. [sarcasm]
Winter? What’s that? In the eighties here and getting better everyday. Sure could use some rain though.
I work in rail and the Canadian Pacific (CPRS) railroad issued a 72 hour notice yesterday, meaning the strikes will occur by 02/15/15. The Canadian National (CN) railroad is also pretty tense right now. Both of these railroads are the only rails that connect the US and Canada. The CN has a lot of track in the US as well.
Fire every last one of them and replace them with people who are willing to work. You have to be extremely brave to volunteerily strike in this economy with those kind of wages and benefits on the line.
…or perhaps just conned into thinking it’s a good thing to do right now. People with low IQs are easily manipulated.
Low IQs? They make 200k plus a year. What do you make? So who’s stupid?
Unions = Legalized Extortion
Why complain.. You should be Applying for a Job there! Instead you complain about people who make more money than you….
Oh in a SHTF situation, I’d put my faith in a Union man over White Collar Trash any day!
Euragone,
in a SHTF situation, you would be the first to go, people around you must realize what a loser you are.
What an idiot!
Spoken like a true union man. You send them your dues and do as you are told. Kinda like renting a set of balls.
Kula this is the CP-Canadian Pacific this souldn’t affect the Lower 48 to any degree. And I’m sure the Canadian Government would soon order them back to work. Trekker Out. HiBall!
I thought CP carried most of the freight from west coast up through western Canadaand Pacific NW?
Great Lakes and the Mid-West.
ht tp://www.acwr.com/economic-development/rail-maps/canadian-pacific
All that traffic can easily be rerouted on American railroad. Those areas are all ready served by the BNSF and the Norfolk Southern.
Great Lakes and the Mid-West.
ht tp://www.acwr.com/economic-development/rail-maps/canadian-pacific
So Chicago and many of the Great Lakes ports will be affected, among many others
I say replace the overpaid union blokes with immigrants, 147k average pay is a little much for someone who runs a crane or forklift and barely made it out of highschool,
Am just sayin,
They must all be taking the gubments numbers and rosy outlook real serious,
Those truck drivers stuck there not able to drop their boxes must be about ready to shoot some union bums
Kula some of those jobs actually have skills. Not saying the job is worth that kind of money but those jobs aint burger flipping.
I know you meant to say replace the union strikers w/ illegals, not immigrants Right? You aint gone full PC on us now have you?
No, not PC, just know thats bullshit for these fuckers to keep demanding more and more, management offered em 3%, how many people do you know who got a raise in pay lately?
If the economy was booming i could go along with it, but it isnt, and nobody is holding a gun to these guys heads to work OT, its discressionary,
Look at the line of trucks backed up, most of those guys get paid by the load, the Union going to cover their lost wages?
KULA ,
I couldnt agree more , I know alot of independant long haul guys who live and die by their odometer.
If that truck is sitting for days on end to be unloaded , they are loseing money.
Those big trucks come with big payments.
Kula and Hammerhead, I agree. Having 2 retired truckers in my family, I sympathize with those drivers who don’t get anywhere NEAR what those dock workers get. Fire all of those union scum and replace them with people who are willing to work. Do away with unions.
Do away with unions and fire all of the union scum. I sympathize with those drivers having 2 retired OTR drivers in my family.
Yeah.. fuck the people that actually have to work for their wage. I’d rather the executives take that money as a bonus and snort coke off of hookers ass and shit all over the constitution with their offshore bank accounts.
Kula thanks for explaining. Cant disagree w/ you at all. No I dont know anyone who has had a raise in a few years. I do know quite a few people whove had full time hours cut back to 30 or less. Thanks Obamacare. Also have a few old worker buddies who lost their jobs and theyve called me asking how were managing. Maybe Ill go into small farm consulting. Aint that a kick!
Job market should be left alone but unions need their fix and those workers want their add ons. If someone hates their wages, they can quit. Theres probably a thousand or more whod jump at the chance to make that kind of cash.
Truckers and suppliers getting screwed by this union holdout. Might not take long before non union crosses the line and does the job instead. Wouldnt that be a hoot.
Yea… replace them with illegals so they don’t pay taxes like the 1% we all slave to make rich. I cannot wait till we are all illegals and get slave labor. Wooho! Good ideas..
Let’s see now. Some of those containers can have ten million or more worth of stuff in them being moved by crane a hundred feet in the air. That might be why they get paid so much.
These people should be replaced! My 7 year old needs a job! He is a lazy dem. he says how much he loves sharing. Need to learn em young!!!!
replace them with americans that want to work for a fair living wage. a lot of them left no matter what you hear on the television,we have given away enough of our good jobs!
@Kulafarmer; Not to pick on you but the skill for “stabbing” a container is real and takes a while to get. They have a schedule of how many containers an hour they have to stab and load and loading is the reverse of stabbing the container and their “skill” is based on that, hence their pay. Containers on the ground have to be moved with a Terex and it is not that easy to do. If you snatch one too fast before the load registers AND THE LOAD IS TOO big, you’re buying a new container crane. As far as the schedule, it will be kept. The shipping companies CONTRACT with the ports for times to get in and scheduled time to finish and load and go back. If the ship is late, they miss their slot. If the time is busted on the docks, it costs the docks (the port authority business) money, real cash money. Now I’m not defending them or their pay, but I know some of them, personally, and they’re not dumb and uneducated. One guy I went to HS with, wore slacks everyday, wore slacks till he was 30 something, never had a pair of jeans, even playing pickup football. He is one, but on a different dock system. Outstanding golfer and is the best poker player I know, besides me, and he’s quite smart. But I don’t like unions, and I think they are over paid at those west coast docks and that is why the shipping companies are going to Mexico and Canada. See my post above on their pay, where you and I are both replying to Nobama and check the link there. Be Well.
Do you know how to play Omaha hi low 8 or better? That game just fries my brain.
I wonder if Reagan were here, if he would fire the lot of them for slowing down the country?
Lets see if our President ORDERS them back to work?
I wonder if he would FIRE them all like REAGAN did to the
Air traffic controllers when they went on strike ????????
HOMEY-
Obama wont touch a union thug , no way.
Unions order their hapless followers to vote straight Democrat in every election .
Kinda indentured servitude to the DNC.
So Obama will dutifully protect his own.
Reagan had balls, Obama ? Juries still out…
Yea… Reagan stuck up for the corporations… not the people!
When are we going to learn that the right way is to bow down to our corporate overlords. We should all be in sweatshops and be damn glad we have jobs!
The 1% job creators should be in office and tell us how to run our government. Cheap labor is the best labor!
Oh… I see. Fire them and hire for less! That will teach them to want a decent wage. All that money could go to the CEO!!!!
That poor, poor CEO with all that missed money in HIS/HER pocket.
Man I hope they fire those workers so the CEO can take all that money and pay illegals that do not pay tax to our government.
Homeboy, lol lol lol. Thanks for the laugh. Community organizer ordering a union…. lol lol
BigB
ANYTIME BRO. I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT GET A KICK OUT OF IT.
@HOME BOY; Well, he can order the strike to stop and impose mediation. However, he can’t fire them. They don’t work for the government. The ATCs were federal employees, and had a “no strike” clause in their contract. All Reagan did was uphold the contract. They bluffed, he called it. Done. Be Well.
Sorry but try and keep the story straight. The Air Traffic Controllers had a “No Strike Clause” in their union contract. The longshoremen have no such clause. Trekker Out.
The Air Traffic Controllers were govt. employees. Reagan was their boss. Striking right after the baseball strike was just stupid. My mailman many tears ago had been one of those strikers. He said it was the dumbest thing he ever did and regretted it greatly.
CORRECT MOUNTAIN TREKKER
WHICH MEAN THE FEDS CAN CALL A STATE EMERGENCY AND HIRE NONE UNION PERSONAL PROTECTED BY THE FEDS.
So if the longshoremen Did get that pay good for them .Better than letting them corporate pigs getting all of that money … Unless you want the corporate pigs to keep raping everyone and giving us scrapes off their plates
We hear a lot of talk about ‘sticking it to the rich’ these days. I admit I wish I were rich enough to have to worry about Fedgov taking everything I own and I’m sure there are a lot of guys just like me but has anybody ever gotten a decent-paying job from a poor man? We need those rich guys to keep us employed.
Anonymous: Sorry I disagree with you. Those rich guys have bypassed their limits and are bunch of corporate fascist now.
@stolz; Which rich guys? Every rich guy? Have you never met someone successful, ever? I mean all on their own, not a single person that earned what they’ve got. You’ve never met a single wealthy person that earned what they have through innovation, intelligence and hard work? I’m not sure, but I think I’ve isolated the problem. You’re hanging out with the wrong people. Remember “arbeit macht frei”. I begrudge no one that makes money. If there are no people that have money, that are wealthy, then there are no people to share that money by investing it, by hiring people, by creating more businesses and continuing to pay good wages to hard working people and all the while making more money. They harness ideas, take the risk and carry the dream to completion. THESE people appreciate hard work more than another hard worker does, because they know what it is and offer opportunity for it. Every wealthy person that buys a yacht or Gulfstream, pay a lot of peoples salaries. I guess you want them to not have good jobs, that require skill and talent and pay well. Would that make you feel better, showing those old rich bastards a lesson. I suppose you go with the middle German of proud ancestors, as opposed to stiff old ones? Must be where the Aryan comes from. You should have someone named Heinrich Imler for a forebearer….ha, I do. Don’t you get tired, of being grumpy about shit. Smile, have a happy day, grüß Gött, von Bayern!
TripodXL….. We simply don’t have enough space on this blog to write a book so to clarify my post here you go:
Example of good wealth: Surgeons, Engineers, smart inventors creating tools/ideas to help the humanity.
EXCLUSIONS: Hedge funds managers of the cesspool named wall street. In general the money changers. You know who I am referring to since you are part of their tribe.
So don’t give me the tribal BS since you can see their daily crimes and the bloodshed today. They’ll pay for it soon.
Also, even lower middle-class people are considered “rich” by those who make less – even though most of the middle-class “did without” while they went to college (and while they paid for it afterward) or got skills in a trade (usually a 4-year low wage apprenticeship – not necessarily union wages after certification either) or went to college while they worked their way up to a better paying job. This kind of mindset is how CRIMINALS justify to themselves that it is okay to steal from the “rich” which is usually not a “rich” person at all but just another WORKING SLOB like the rest of us. This is also why many on public assistance feel it is okay to take away from the rest of us (through higher taxes) because they aren’t willing to do the work that the rest of us did to get where we are. They take the Saul Alinsky approach and make whining and bitching their job in order to make the successful person feel guilty for working their way into being successful. I am a person who has known DOZENS of public assistance people and heard and seen for myself the way they lie and cheat the system for more benefits. I even had a full-time, drug-dealing, non-tax-paying friend of my brother mock me for working – I was a working, single parent of two at the time and had worked myself into a job that paid a couple of dollars over minimum wage and got no public assistance. At least four other women with kids I knew were on welfare and food stamps, and thought it was too much work (or didn’t know how and didn’t want to learn how) to try to grow a garden OR can their own food OR even cook from scratch OR sew on a lost button OR teach THEIR OWN child to read (“That’s the teachers’ job, not mine.” UM, I’d like to know: just what is “THEIR JOB”?) It was beneath them to buy lower grade (higher fat) ground beef and they “couldn’t imagine” living in an apartment where their son and daughter had to share a bedroom like mine did. Three of them bought cars and/or new furniture with their welfare money. They all had medical and dental coverage for their children while I did not and nearly all of them had a live-in boyfriend that they drank and/or did drugs with frequently. Now, not only do we give them an EBT card to buy groceries with – WE FEED THEIR CHILDREN TWO MEALS PER DAY. My father raised ALL of his children to know how to work and that it was SHAMEFUL to accept charity or “welfare” unless you ABSOLUTELY HAD NO OTHER CHOICE, not because you were just plain LAZY or it was the easy way out. This mindset is going to be a plague on them if the economy tanks because: 1.) They don’t know how to “do without” or with less. 2.)The gov. won’t be there to help (unless you consider how the “lost” were taken care of after hurricane Katrina as “help”) AND 3.) They HAVE NO (usable or barterable) SKILLS.
Right now Mexico is putting the finishing touches on some new ports. More American jobs lost not just in the crane operators but the truckers will be Mexican as they can now drive anywhere in the US with a load where they used to be restricted to the border crossing areas. We are already a third world country that can still cash checks and give the illusion of prosperity. That will be ending before Obola leaves office.
It appears that the “house of cards” is about to fall.
Confederate, I agree. If anyone has any prep shopping trips planned, better do it ASAP. I’m shopping again this weekend. I’m getting what I can while I can.
Amen to that. I’ve spent close to $1000 in the past two weeks. Figured I’d better go ahead and do it while the dollar is still somewhat viable.
I’m sure illegals would work for a 1/4 of that amount.
And actually WORK.
Looks like ‘dozens’, not ‘hundreds’ of ships. But, I wasn’t there. All this, and the ‘Baltic Dry Index’ at its lowest level ever? By the way, making the wages and benefits listed in this article, puts these ‘skilled!’ workers living in a major coastal city in California, squarely in the middle of the middle-class for that area. And that is, if they work every day and are not called-out of their union hall on a temporary basis, which would then classify them as ‘temporary full-time employees’, like myself. Which means they would be earning far less than what is eluded to by the article. This is true for many union members. I mean its not like they’re making these wages in Mississippi! Right?! What do you think the cost of living and raising children would be in a city such as San Diego or Portland!? People want to champion the middle-class, but then get jealous when someone makes more than someone else thinks they ought to make. By the way, just another thought here, but could this situation be a cover for the fact that the BDI is in fact at it’s lowest level ever and TPTB want to side-track people from the economic realities we are facing?
Let the purge begin please
What little is left of the American middle class is being gang raped by crony capitalists and big labor.
Dem it! Stop! It hurts!
I wouldn’t mind a couple of storage containers – even empty…
Too funny!!!!!
It’s pathetic that our politicians allow unions in what amounts to a monopoly situation to have such control over what the citizens have to pay for these greedy goons’ semi-skilled jobs. Time to build in some competition, including non-unionized workers, so that the market rate prevails, driving down the wages by about half, with all the ensuing savings to taxpayers and elimination of strike threats.
“ensuing savings to the tax payers”. 🙂
At one time unions were a great and necessary thing. Now they have developed greed in great measure just like the one per-centers they espouse to loathe
Judging by all the red thumbs all over the place , the socialist democrat collective is showing its unified opinion as dictated by their union slave holders.
Wouldnt you guys rather work based on merit and skill instead of hideing behind the skirt of the DNC ?
Skirt of the DNC? How about quotas and set-asides?
This is what happened when everything is made over seas. When will ever learn?
Sgt.
This is by design, but it is now too late to prevent the great debate from being settled:
https://orach24463.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/the-manchurian-candidate/
All my THANKS be to the F’N UNIONS of the United States for being a major part of our down fall. Thank You!!!
Hey Mac, why didn’t you post my comment?
The Commie Socialists will never read this article, as they are busy watching Rosie Odonnell’s last taping of “The View” she is quitting cause she is stressed out, cause she is going through a divorce with her gay bitch wife. Probably will have to pay up hefty alimony so she quit her day job. lol
I want Brian Williams Job, as he gets paid $10 Million a year to read a 15 minute daily script full of lies to 10 million daily Commie viewers. Seriously $10 Million dollars? He got suspended for 6 months so he looses half of his annual salary or $5 Million this year in compensation to lie daily. Other news: CNN admits the US Government pays them to sway and lie about news stories.
On the plus side, relative to jobs, they are currently hiring like CRAZY for travel agents for Michelle-Marie Antoinette Obama, people to help Obama crony Jonny-Boy Corzini find that “lost” $1.6 bn, and for caddies for Obama.
Also, a GREAT market for pilots to fly Air Force One to exotic destinations.
Are NFL quarterbacks paid for how much Chaucer they can recite? No. They’re paid for how much revenue they generate for the franchise owners. Lots of guys can throw a football. But the ones who can throw it that well … are on the field.
Those stevedores are gatekeepers between billions of dollars of trade flowing between two continents. I know what let’s do. Let’s hire 500 unemployed sociology majors to run those cranes. Supervisory types can give the liberal arts people a two-week course in what they need to know.
When millions of dollars of other peoples’ property begins crashing down all over, possibly with loss of life, we can look the other way and crow about how pampered those stevedores were and how they didn’t deserve what they were paid.
This is outside my experience so I’m asking … Do union contracts contain clauses forbidding retaliatory firing if a union strikes for what they consider valid pay or working condition issues?
The popular hue and cry for someone to treat the crane jockeys as slaves to other peoples’ interests bothers me. Also bothers me that they are paid more than most office physicians but that’s a separate issue.
Airline pilots only need to know how to do two things: take off and land. Autopilot flies the plane in between. Why pay international pilots $200 K when airlines could hire those $10 an hour sociology majors and run them through flight school. Think of all the money we’d save. And lives that would be lost.
Calling for someone to FORCE those guys to work for less means someone else’s idea of what your productivity is worth matters more than the market’s judgment.
That’s just another name for statism.
“Also bothers me that they are paid more than most office physicians but that’s a separate issue.”
NO , Frank as i see it that IS the issue.
But WTH do i know ?
But is the real problem that the stevedores and crane operators are paid too well, or is it that the office physicians are paid too little?
There has been a race to the bottom for quite a while — just look at the previous article here about the decreased demand for skilled workers. That isn’t just something that suddenly happened the day before yesterday, it is something that has been building up for decades. And all these people who don’t get to work for a decent pay won’t have that much money to spend either and so everything else will slow down as well. Chances are the slowdown will be more like an aircraft decellerating to stall speed, then something unpleasant will happen, rather than a car with its engine stopped coasting to standstill at the side of the road.
Say what you will about Henry Ford, but he had this insight, that unless his workers were sufficiently paid, there would not be any market for the cars that he built and sold. Same logic applies elsewhere: sales of anything ultimately depends on the public’s ability to spend.
Something happened so that this insight was lost, maybe it was as simple as “we’ll move production offshore since it is better for the bottom line; this will be OK as long as the competetion do it like they’ve always done”, and of course then the competition did that as well, and everything to do with production and design that could be shifted away to elsewhere would eventually be so. Leaving the consumers behind, who in turn, eventually would run out of money to continue consuming.
How come Sears and JC Penneys are in trouble? It isn’t just that their lunch is being eaten by Amazon and other online merchants. Or that they made bad business decisions like Radio Shack. Their customers can’t afford their merchandise anymore.
As for unions — back in the days they had a useful role in making sure workers got paid and had decent working conditions. Like other such entities, however, when their original purpose was fulfilled, instead of scaling back so as to effectively maintain the improved status quo, they remained large and became more business-like, while not producing anything.
So can this be fixed? Maybe re-start the productive engines would do, but that would require big changes… Or rather let the system hit stall speed, stay outta the way of the fallout, and then pick up the pieces afterwards.
John Allen;
I worked in the trade unions on the west coast prior to spending most of my working life self employed. At least in the 70’s if you went out of the hall and didn’t know what you were doing or otherwise weren’t performing you got you’re ass sent down the road and back to the hall. Even then I heard stories about the Longshoremen. I just don’t know how much is true and how much is bullshit.
Federal labor law prevents “retaliation” by an employer. The one time I came up against this I was a manager when a union tried to break into our company. First I heard of it, all managers were required to attend a training session to make sure we complied with the law. Basically, we could not say ANYTHING to any of our employees about the upcoming election. NOTHING. One word and the law would allow the union to claim coercion, and the union could become certified without the election.
Makes my blood boil just remembering it.
Ill bet theres more than a roomful of towel heads whod take the job for free.
As a dual US/Canadian citizen, I found this article on Workopolis.com DISGUSTING. Same thing in the US. I have a sister who works for the US govt and retired at 4-freaking-9 years old. Vacations to Greece, Egypt, Jordan, NZealand, China, massive 4,000 sq foot home to live in alone, personal horse farm… you get it. I saw this a MILLION times over when living in Ottawa, ON. (the capital). Read it and weep
Want to retire rich? Better join the public sector
Melissa Allen| Feb 9, 2015 11:18 am
The rest of us? Not so much. Welcome to the multi-tiered retirement system in Canada. A two-tiered system
A while ago, I read an article discussing Canada’s evolution into a two-tier class system. No, we’re not talking about the 1% and everyone else, the class system referenced in this article is between public and private-sector workers. We Canadians appear to enjoy a decidedly comfortable middle-class existence, even post-recession, especially compared to our friends around the world. However, within this middle class society, there lurks an elephant in the room: the future of retirement, and our individual places within it.
According to a report entitled Canada’s Two-Tier Retirement by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), there are “stark discrepancies” between Canadian employees in the public and private sectors when it comes to retirement benefits. The report also provided two case studies comparing the employer pension plans of a public and private sector worker. Apparently, the gap in retirement nest eggs for these two types of workers is huge. Really huge. Over 35 years, these two workers, earning the exact same salary, will see a pension gap of $776,000. The private-sector worker will have $605,000 upon retirement, while the public sector worker will have a cool $1.38 million.
Defined-benefit vs. defined-contribution
Many people credit unions for the generous retirement benefits that public-sector workers enjoy, but that’s only part of the story. Employer-sponsored pension plans are either defined benefit (a DB plan) or defined contribution (a DC plan). DC pension plans depend on the accumulated value of invested funds, whereas DB pension plans guarantee you a monthly income amount up front, regardless of how the markets are doing. Guess which type of plan most public sector workers have? The DB plan.
Public-sector DB plans essentially guarantee a retirement income based on your years of service and income (often in your highest earning years), but those of us with DC plans? We’re at the mercy of how much we’re actually able to contribute over years of service, and market cycles and fluctuations.
When you guarantee a retirement income based on salary, the government (and therefore the taxpayers) are the ones ultimately responsible for making up the difference between what was promised and what was actually earned in these DB plans. This gets exacerbated by fact that we’re all living longer, including those with DB plans. The implications of this will be huge as the baby-boomer cohort of public-sector workers retire (with some retiring as early as 50 years old), and Canada’s shrinking population are left to pay for it. We are already beginning to feel the impactof these public-sector retirement policies.
Why it’s actually a three-tiered system
While the disparity between public and private-sector pension plans is discouraging enough, one could further argue that Canada has a three-tier retirement system because 60 per cent of the Canadian workforce has no access to a workforce pension plan, and will rely solely on their personal savings, investments and the government to pay for their retirement. Plus, the coverage rate for the registered pension plans in the private sector is only around 25 per cent. So there are public sector workers with their golden pensions, private sectors who are lucky enough to participate in any sort employer-sponsored pension at all, and everyone else.
What tier do you fall into? How do you plan on funding your retirement?
\
My union had us in 4 tiers. Now the companies have high turnover because the newbies can’t get full time or benefits. The unions were responsible for letting it happen.
A family member who works at a saw mill in Lewis County WA has just had his hours cut in 1/2 for the “unforeseeable” future due to the Longshoremen strike. It’s a good thing we’ve been “preparing” for the last couple of years.
http://www.chronline.com/article_931e3da4-b2e2-11e4-ae45-2fd49f76c566.html
Here in Florida we earn sunshine pay. And when I hook up my solar package, it will really pay me back big time. ha!!
This is a labor dispute not the end of the world.
The pictures look familiar, can they be dated?
“They begin to act without thinking and respond to changes in their environment in an emotionally-based manner, thus leading to chaos, instability and a breakdown in our social paradigm.”
The above quote must be from someone that thinks the common man is no more than animalistic and is dictated by uneducated mannerisms. If we are that stupid there is no hope. I don’t think so. Don’t fall for liberal theses.
To all you people who hammer on the unions, fine. Keep hammering. I belonged to a meat packing union for 40 yrs in the upper midwest and there were a lot of things about the union that I did not like or care for, but it was a living and paid the bills. And another thing, you hollar about the libs and democrats. Well, did you know that the unions support the Democrats lock, stock and barrel, when the union said to vote a certain way in an election, I did.but the older I got, the more I questioned the leadership, to the point I was told that I wasn’t a very good union man and they probably were right.Then after the 87 strike, we found out that the head of the international leadership and united brands cut a deal that left the local union rank and file out in the cold.that’s when I switched to independent voter status, didn’t do much good, but it made me feel better. Yes unions did help the laboring man yrs ago, but now with the corp big shots calling the shots with the clowns in D.C. It’s anybody’s guess.Do I know what I’m talking about, probably not.
The union is the only reason anybody makes a living wage people your company don’t want to pay shit they have to be forced to adhere to a contract . If you wanna work without a contract your a fool . Oops sorry we shorted your check ever heard that one . Ya I don’t want time and a half after 8 hours I’d rather wait till after 40 oh seniority sucks too who needs it. Anyone who bashes the union is jealous and a hater because they are not even in the same league.the reason for strikes is to get better wages so fuck all you scabs all the other brothers and sisters are taking the hit too stop thinking it’s all about you that scab shit don’t fly with the guys I work with they are hostile towards suck pumps who eat the bosses shit you know if you are one stop being such a good employee your making other guys look bad. What the hell are you smiling for look where we are these are some of the things that are said to spares. Oh if you rat on someone it gets around fast no one will help you or tell you anything. If you complain as a spare you will not come back ever again. Oh pay for your own health care too . I’m getting it for the bubble and it’s the Cadillac plan baby. I love it . But I agree it’s a socialist program but hey it’s good to me and I won’t do anything to ruin a good thing. Don’t hate me for refusing to work non union. I’ve done it you get fucked big time by your employer . I pay dues $60 month I get free lawyers and accountants too . There are not too many union jobs because dummy’s are worried about $60 in dues a month it’s a drop In the bucket when your Benny’s are free. Ya I might have to strike someday oh well no biggie. Why should an office physician make more$ than a crane operator that crane operator is unloading ships all day overtime if needed and if he makes a mistake it can be fatal or costly believe me it’s not a glam job like a doctor wearing a white lab coat not getting dirty at all what do doctors do really nothing and then they send a bill for $800 I saw him for 20 mins wanna talk about overpaid. The worker built everything in America folks not the morons in the office.
Sooo, how come the NON-union workers at the Honda Marysville (Ohio) plant make a better wage than the UAW workers in Toledo? And how come the UAW hasn’t been able to break into any Honda plant in the USA for what, 20 years? Employees don’t want ’em.
Meanwhile, the “fresh start” Saturn plant in Tennessee is closed. The one thing that wasn’t a fresh start was…….(wait for it)……they brought the UAW along.
I wonder if you’d like to go get medical care in Cuba, where doctors make the same as laborers? Wouldya? Huh?
(crickets)
It takes a lot to get fired I can tell my boss to go fuck himself in front of other people and I’m not going anywhere. Been through 2 managers in 2 years though. You have to steal something or kill someone to get canned . It’s never the workers fault shit got screwed up its the managements always . People you have been fired wrongly 90 percent of the time. So your wife needed emergency surgery and your boss didn’t like that and fired you. This is wrong folks we are human beings not some piece of machinery to be used up. People have things come up in life and they should get the benefit of the doubt. This is not a green light to screw off . If you are gonna run your mouth back it up .
I’m not surprised you’ve gone through two managers in two years. What competent manager wants to put up with the union crap? I was 15 years working with GM/Ford manufacturing engineers and managers, and to be honest I knew maybe TWO that were any good. One was an old “mustang” who’d been an hourly guy in the ’60s. Somehow he jumped to a low level salary job as a “tooling coordinator”, and because he knew so much they never let him rise any higher. He had a very thick skin, so the BS never really bothered him. The other was a really sharp younger guy who could have done the GM Gen 3 Engine program a world of good. He lasted 18 months. The rest couldn’t engineer their way to the toilet even if you gave ’em a map with “you are here” marked on it.
If any of you are in the OR/WA area, regarding the port of Portland… This is a BIG hit.
http://www.golocalpdx.com/news/hanjin-shipping-leaving-port-of-portland
http://www.katu.com/news/local/South-Korean-container-carrier-Hanjin-says-its-leaving-Portland-291469491.html
The story opens with how much money the longshoreman make and how they want more…Although this is most likely true I have to point out that no where in this”version” of whats going on is there any such numbers of the folks who make money off of the longshoremen’s labor….What is their profit?….without this side of the story….I have to come to the obvious conclusion that the story is slanted and biased…I have no love or hate for either side….but this is honest journalism 101…which I don’t see here….
Can’t speak for Uaw but for teamsters in my area big difference Saturn is dead they don’t make them no more workers can go down to the hall and see who’s hiring auto makers is this a skilled job or can anyone be trained to do it easily . Non union in the trucking business is not the way to go . Teamsters where I live is they way to go. My company is under the national master freight agreement just like ups.even with the concessions we took still the best paid in the industry here. Some of the non union company’s make a little more an hour but no time and a half after 8 hours it’s after 40 for them and they don’t get over 40 hrs what drivers tell me oh and they pay their medical insurance mine is free . The union guys have a better overall compensation package . I get pension they get 401k I guess it’s what you like but the difference is night and day to me .
The union leadership is an elected position if you don’t like the slate you can vote them out it’s how it works. If you don’t like your non union leadership too bad they are in charge. I know the union does some questionable shit. Nevertheless it’s still better where I live .
Sooo, what is it that comes through these west coast ports that we can’t do without for……oh, say, a decade? Nikes? iGadgets? Crappy Walmart-grade clothing and housewares?
And oh, BTW….I read this morning that the main issue on the table is….they don’t wanna pay medical insurance price increases due to Obamacare. Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it?
I used to import blankets n container loads to sell for a living and if this happened to me, I would be livid. This Union may have power to cripple the shipping yards, but they know they intentionally hurt others by their actions. In fact they count on destroying businesses for power.
I would never use these ports again and dock at a port further north. If everyone who lost their imports due to this mob and got together to change ports, they could show them who has the power.
@ Woogie
I read your comment as, “Competent private parties are free to negotiate to a mutually agreeable conclusion.” If you used ports further north that’s the market in action. Which is a far sight different than the federal government FORCING a person to sacrifice his interests in favor of somebody else.
First of all let me start off by saying I am not a dock worker, I own and operate my own business which is non union. For all of you who are complaining about how much these men and women make last time I checked we live in America where you are free to make as much money as someone is willing to pay you it has nothing to do with skill level, ambition or even work ethic. I don’t here any of you complaining about how much the pro athletes make but you still watch the tv and still go to the games and still pay 10 buck for a beer at these games. To the dock workers I say good for you, to the owner of the business who runs the dock you are the one who put yourself into this position by giving into the demands of the employees in the first place. Had you held your ground many years ago you would not be in the position you are in with strikes and/or shut downs. If you would have stood up to the unions well before this country was importing everything we have you would have broke the union and would not be fighting them today. With that said I do believe that every person who works has the right to be paid a fair wage for the work, it is up to the worker and the owner to hash that out.
So if I they don’t bring any of that crap from China, then maybe someone will start making shoes here in America? And sell shoes to people here? How is that bad? Let them stay on strike and let all that shit sink. Maybe someone will open up a TV manufacturing company here, God knows I could use a job at TV manufacturing job here. Maybe they will give it a name like Magnavox? Or Phillips? Or Zenith. God knows we need good decent jobs here, let the unions die and let the rest of us get a shot at having a simple job that pays the bill and leave us out of the government political bureaucrat crap that you have for so long been trying to get us all embroiled in. Fuck the unions, fuck the government, all the same as far as I know.
How does the lowest Dry Baltic Index EVER play into all of this??
$140k /yr + $80k in benefits?!?! Why are they complaining? Seems like high pay for unskilled/semi-skilled labor…
A build up of supplies before the invasion ?
You have got to be kidding me! Over $200,000 including benefits, is OUTRAGEOUS! AND, yet it isn’t enough for these workers! It’s not like they have had years of a college education! This is INSANE! LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS: “THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL”, AND this is just another example of that sad fact!
This might not turn out too bad for a lot of people looking for work. If the dockworkers won’t off load cargo, quick thinking Americans may jump into the gap and begin to manufacture goods sitting on those ships thereby creating jobs for American workers. (Look for empty shelves at WalMart though.)
If the strike goes into years a side benefit may appear in crippling China’s economy a bit and creating dissent within their population leading to a change in leadership.
Maybe just pie in the sky or another way of perceiving the problem.
I think we should keep those dock workers idle.
This nation is toast without implementing the IVAMU.com
The “Money” is FAKE, the DEBT is FAKE, and it is a collapsing Ponzi Scheme.
What could possibly go wrong?
These impoverished workers, making a lousy $145,000.00 plus another $80 G’s in Bennies deserve our support. Right?
Let’s give it to them!
CHANGE out the FAKE money for the REAL Money. Worldwide!
http://www.ivamu.com