Get ready: US port strike may snarl tech supply chains Dockworkers at American ports from Maine to Texas have gone on strike, and experts are warning it won't be long before the tech sector feels a supply chain pinch that could easily stretch into the beginning of next year. The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) went on strike at midnight on October 1, leading to …
I wonder if this affects Liquefied Natural Gas supplies.. Although hopefully only container ports are affected..
But with everything that's going on in the middle east, plus the two blown up gas pipelines, 3 downed electricity interconnectors out of 4 from France (IFA2 is in maintenance, ElecLink in the channel tunnel has a recent fault and a further 1GW is missing from IFA1) and the closure of our last remaining coal plant, the UK is going to be particularly susceptible to LNG prices this winter..
Well, if I can offer one piece of advice, commentards whose energy is standard variable price should (NOW AT THE TIME OF READING THIS) find the best 12 month fixed rate and sign up for it.
The best fixed rates will be pulled in the next few days as Israel hits Iran (and knock on effect).
Gosh. I have over 25 years of expertise in my field and I'm not making that kind of money. I'm guessing that those ILA members with that kinf revenue are the ones who are deciding the strike.
And why are you griping about a 50% increase for $20 an hour ? It seems to me that that is an appreciable increase.
Oh, you're expecting more.
Unfortunately, Big Business wants to maximize margins and you're at the bottom of the pecking order. Yep, a strike is just about the only thing that is going to help.
After forty years, I too am earning nothing like that... but I observe, that to earn that, you'd have to (a) be on the highest rate and (b) work in excess of fourteen hours a day, every day of the year. Which doesn't leave you a lot of time to spend this enviable bounty.
When you're earning that through hard labor, in a position that is looked down upon by a large part of society but is absolutely essential to the world, it doesn't seem like all that much. Much like janitors and schoolteachers, but they make even less. Then they all see the executives whose only job is sitting on their asses and deciding just how little the dockworkers, janitors and schoolteachers should be given, and it makes it even less tolerable.
Here in the UK things are no better, and the right wing tropes are as follows :
If you are a worker on poor pay, that is your fault, and should work harder, or get a better job.
The press vilify any worker going on strike. That includes teachers, doctors and nurses. With train drivers, the right wing are apoplectic.
Any worker getting a good pay rise is also vilified, with claims that they are not worth it.
The minimum wage is too high and is crippling business.
It is sad to see working people attack one another, and yet, nothing said about CEO's getting double digit pay rises.
The bottom 10% of workers are critical to any country, where the top 10% could go missing, and the world in general, continues to turn.
I think you are reading/watching different "press" to me. Mostly I've seen support for the various groups you list.
Generally, the "problem" with transport strikes is they somehow always seem to coincidentally land on the same day/weekend/week as a major event where 1000's of extra travelers are expected. Events which have been known about for a year or more, and yet a strike organised far more recently just "happens" to fall on that same day. I don't blame the workers or strikers for that, it's union bosses just being awkward bastards and causing extra disruption in a bid to get more in "the win" while holding there hands and saying "no, not my fault guv, it's just a strange coincidence" when obvious to all they are lying.
I don't think anyone thinks they're coincidences. The more pain that can be caused to the ones in charge, the more the hit to their profits (or their votes, in the case of government workers), the better in looks to the unions and the strikers and protesters because it should mean faster concessions, and fuck all the innocent people just trying to get through one day to the next.
I use noscript, ublock and privacy badger, and it is difficult to get comments to load for the daily express, but for others such as the daily mail, BBC and daily mirror, there are always the trolls (i assume) who are denigrating to working people as per my post above.These people also get the most upvotes too.(of course, the Guardian supports working people, and the Independent last time i looked was behind a pay wall).
"Hard labo(u)r"
Some employers and most governments don't seem to realise that what is hard labour at age 25 becomes impossible as retirement age is approached. Retirement for 'heavy' manual jobs should be earlier than for desk jobs - and consequently pay should be higher to take in the reduction in working years.
And while I don't dispute some (many?) do have hard physical jobs, the example the union gave was "$20 per hour for opening multi-million dollar equipment. In a modern container port, most of the containers are lifted on/off ships and trucks by specialised crane handling equipment by people sitting in comfortable seats twiddling a joystick. It's skilled and highly valuable job, but not "hard labour". I wonder how many people do actual hard labour in a port these days? I'm guessing the union demands for no more automation means fewer and fewer are doing so.
12 hour days 5 days a week, 40/hr, add 50% for overtime -> $145,600
12 hour days 6 days a week, 40/hr, add 50% for overtime -> $183,040
That's assuming they are not taking their holidays. Maybe there are some scenarios where some workers worked more than 12 hour days 6 days a week for a year, no holiday. That would be tough.
I wonder what the union "contract" says about workers paid holidays and working hours? Maybe they should not just be fighting for the money, but for quality of life improvements. I didn't see any reference to that in the article. US workers rights are generally shite, as is their paid annual leave entitlements.
Well, I can see this going one way and that's the workers getting a pay rise without the automation clause their union wants. The owners sound like they're rich enough to sit out any union action, after all, containers will still need shipping after it's finished.
Automation is coming, trying to stop it at all ain't going to work.
I’m certainly pro union and workers rights….BUT….. when you get scumbags like this voting to strike and disrupt supply chains during times of extreme need, such as when a hurricane comes through and blows away parts of multiple states, it makes you wonder.
I’m in North Carolina where there is still a massive search for bodies. Towns are gone, people are suddenly homeless and jobless, and life just sucks right now… But hey! Let’s strike and make it harder on them! Utilities and communications are still down/sketchy but that’s ok. It’s a good time to strike. We can really take advantage of their suffering to help our strike.
I bet a lot of those folks would gladly accept jobs at the docks right now if they could.
I understand that working conditions need to change...but c’mon….
I see that they are temporarily halting the strike for 90 days so I guess that’s one good thing…
Still doesn’t help the panic buying going on which makes it even more difficult for those folks who lost everything as well as drives up prices. But then again….I guess if I’m a member of their union I should just say screw the storm victims…
Sorry....rant off....
I'm pro-union for the most part (making it impossible to fire incompetent workers like teachers is bad) and certainly pro-worker in general, but a lot of them misuse their power. Shut down non-essential stuff because executives are getting disproportionate pay while workers get nothing, sure, stop making the movies and TV shows, whatever. Start blocking the streets so that other people can't get to their jobs? Cut off the highways so cargo can't be moved? Stop the ports so the country gets shut down and prices that are already high go even higher and we can't get essential stuff? Stop police/ambulance/hospital services? Fuck no, get your ass to work. There has to be some other way to screw the ones in charge but not screw the rest of us.
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