Sleeping Cobra
TB Fanatic
Watch Those Food Prices.
I find it interesting as to the timing of all these announcements.....many of us have no idea/had no idea of all the port litigation/wrangling/arm wrenching/etc.........we just aren't connected to any in the industry and thanks for all inside info.......but.......with explosions allegedly over Donetsk, Putin warning off EU/NATO/OBAMANATION.........I wonder if these slow downs are being instigated at this crucial time in order to empty the ports before any nuke exchange.........hope this is not the case nor will be..........but so many weird events going on....it's hard to decipher.........
West Coast ports shut down amid Obamacare dispute
Published February 13, 2015
Port-of-Vancouver-Report-Tansportation-Jobs-Image-of-Grain-Loading
Shift first reported on the West Coast port contract dispute between International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) back in June 2014. Eight months later, the labor dispute has reached a critical breaking point… for the U.S. economy.
A whopping 29 ports—critical entry points for billions of dollars in trade with Asia—will be shut down on the West Coast for four of the next five days, beginning yesterday. PMA is halting operations due to the fact that about 20,000 ILWU workers have deliberately slowed their work in order to cause congestion at ports, leaving food to spoil and products to sit idly in shipping containers. Continuing to remain open means PMA would have to pay union workers 50% overtime for Lincoln’s Birthday, which was yesterday, and over the three-day Presidents Day weekend, for work done at a crawling pace. The ports are open today.
The ILWU blames port slowdowns on “higher trade volume and some technical issues,” refusing to admit members have engaged any type of job action. Of course, this is the same union that threatened the lives of Washington State employees for daring to cross picket lines.
PMA has offered to raise the full-time average wages of ILWU, currently at $147,000 per year, by 14%. That, however, doesn’t appear to cut it for the union. Obamacare remains a primary obstacle to achieving a new deal. Simply put, ILWU does not want to assume the added costs of Obamacare’s “Cadillac” plan tax.
ILWU members receive extremely generous health benefits valued at $40,000 per employee. In 2018, Obamacare will impose a 40% tax on “Cadillac” health plans—those deemed too generous by the government—defined as plans exceeding $10,200 a year in value for individuals or $27,500 for families. Considering ILWU plans are worth $40,000, the union will begin to receive a hefty tax bill it is not willing to pay in 2018.
West Coast ports have been congested since November, wreaking havoc on the supply chain. According to CNN Money, “ships from Asia often need to anchor for 10 days or more outside of the ports, before they can unload their goods. That in turn is costing companies like retailers, billions of dollars.”
Retail and manufacturing groups project that a full, extended shutdown of West Coast ports would cost the U.S. economy $2 billion per day. They have “urged the Obama administration to intervene to keep the two sides at the bargaining table until a deal is done.”
In The Port of Los Angeles & Long Beach I can tell you what full speed is. I can tell you what half speed is because I can divide by two; but not because I have to agree with someone who parroted a sociopath CEO liar.
I can honestly tell you in 30 years down here I have only seen one speed; everyone's best performance. They even called our group "The new breed" when we broke in the industry in the early 80's. We earned that nickname because we took this job very serious. The competition for my job was about 22,000 applicants over four years for 25 jobs. Going to school 6 days and 4 nights a week for two years, and then taking a full time job while a casual longshoremen and following all the timely hoops required helped secure my position in hiring.
Since my introduction to the industry I have worked almost every job available to me. My perspective covers a wide field of experience. I'm not only paid to see smoke in an operation and put out those virtual fires; I know where the friction will occur ahead of time and eliminate the problem. Yet management maintains a castle under siege type of mentality, ignoring their long vetted assets and seems very content to plod along into the logistical abyss... Oh well?
If your referring to half pay for half performance that sounds like a Gulf Coast operation to me. We didn't become the backbone of cargo handling in CONUS because we put out a mere 50% effort. The employer's playing with technology and not maintaining their fleet of intermodal chassis is what has kept us from only moving 4% more cargo in 2014 than 2013 if you were aware of that?
Coulter, were you aware that I mentioned in earlier threads most posted terminal speed limits are 10 or 15 MPH and most longshore truck drivers drive two to 2.5 or 3 times that speed limit. Should they be paid twice as much for doing that?. Oh... I think your getting up to speEd on the nature of the give --> and <-- take inherit in the industry and the onerous of liability placed upon the shoulders of those longshore men who speed 99.9% of the time for the incentive of going home a bit early or finishing the ship.
Anything else?
OK, I may have missed it, L.A.B., but add this into the mix if no one has posted it before......I bolded the paragraph that I thought interesting. If this is true, are the ports going to close as one of the (intended/unintended) consequences of Obamacare ?
http://shiftwa.org/west-coast-ports-shut-down-amid-obamacare-dispute/
I don't anything about this issue.
You seem to be blaming this on management.
Others blame it on worker greed.
Everything you say may be completely correct - I don't know - but I do know that you didn't answer my question.
And that is IF the workers are working 1/2 speed should they be paid 1/2 wages? or fired?
If that's currently not the case in this situation why not just answer the question?
Your experience maybe that union workers are great, but, from my experience, union workers do not work as hard as non union workers.
I don't know who is to blame but if my gas prices go from $1.85 to $2.19 and it is worker greed - from my point of view - I want them fired.
Re: The Los Angeles Long Beach Ports
Quote Broccoli: "Just as you say L.A.B. another shutdown this weekend."
And from multiple sources both sides have settled all issues except for 'one company back pocket' mans job. I kid you not. This is what is hanging our economy out to dry right now. That person is that important to the long range agenda of The PMA.
I'll ask around to find out what Portland's 'beef' is all about with Hanjin.
I don't think the union has a problem with Hanjin (which is/was Portland's major shipping line until it announced it was pulling out, leaving Portland without a major shipper) but rather with the private company that took over running the container part of the Port of Portland. However, it seems to me that the conflict extends back much further than the private company taking over. I have no idea what they've been fighting about for over a decade (at least it feels that long or longer), but once Hanjin leaves there will be a hell of a lot less work for the unions to do and it might be multiple years before Portland can con (I mean "convince") another major shipper to call at Portland. I wonder what their plan is for when the rank and file are laid off for lack of work? It's going to be interesting if/when selected smaller and mid-sized businesses start closing in Oregon because they won't be able to compete globally (or even nationally) once the additional costs of moving their stuff to Seattle/Tacoma are factored in. Fun times all around! (Not!)