October 01, 2024, 07:02 PM
RogueJSKquote:
Originally posted by shoevb:
We grabbed one of the big size bundles that were left just in case.
"OMG! Look at all those idiots hoarding toilet paper! Well, I guess since we're here we better grab some too just in case..."And thus, another pointless panicky shortage is perpetuated.
Hint: Your toilet paper isn't shipped in on container ships from overseas. It's produced domestically and transported overland.
Chance of foreign automobile supply disruption? High.
Chance of cheap Xmas decorations from China supply disruption? Very high.
Chance of domestic toilet paper supply disruption? Real, real low.
October 01, 2024, 07:16 PM
Ronin101CHARLESTON — After failing to reach a final-hour agreement, some 45,000 members of the International Longshoreman Association went on strike Tuesday, shutting down 36 seaports from Maine to Texas, including in Charleston.
Union members set up picket lines at three S.C. State Ports Authority shipping terminals just after midnight, according to Charles Brave, president of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1422.
The strike marks the first in almost 50 years for the East Coast union workers who load and unload cargo from container ships. That 1977 strike lasted more than six weeks and ended in a deal for raises, increased pension contributions and provisions addressing automation new at that time.
Eastern ports handle about half of the United States’ annual cargo trade. West Coast ports remain open as longshoremen there belong to a different union and agreed last year on a new contract, which also included pay hikes.
The union is seeking wage hikes of $5 more per hour annually for six years, which represents a 77% pay increase over the length of the contract, reports the New York Times. The union also wants a ban on the use of automated cranes and container-handling equipment that require fewer workers.
Talks with the U.S. Maritime Alliance, known as USMX, which represents major shipping lines, broke down in June. The last day of the union’s previous working contract with the alliance was Monday, expiring before a new deal was reached.
“ILA longshore workers deserve to be compensated for the important work they do keeping American commerce moving and growing,” the union said in a statement Monday morning.
Under the union’s now-expired contract, negotiated in 2018, dockworkers start at $20 an hour. Employees with at least six years of experience receive a base pay of $39 an hour, which translates to $81,120 a year for a regular 40-hour work week. But longshoreman often work much more, sometimes earning over $200,000 annually with overtime, weekends and extra shifts.
The union’s pre-strike request would raise base pay for experienced dockworkers to $69 an hour by 2030.
Hours before the midnight deadline, the alliance said it was offering 50% raises and seeking a contract extension for talks to continue.
In South Carolina, said the local president, computerization, more than increased wages, is the greatest concern to his members. He pointed to the impact automation can have on local economies.
“Robots don’t raise families. They don’t pay taxes. They don’t shop at the grocery store. They don’t buy cars,” Brave told the SC Daily Gazette.
Two container ships were scheduled for loading and offloading Tuesday at the Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant, according to the South Carolina Ports Authority’s calendar.
While the strike is on, the union will still work cargo ships containing materials for the military, perishable goods and cruise ships, according to Brave. Beyond that, he said, “there ain’t nothing moving on the port.”
Brave said his local chapter alone has about 1,400 members who work at South Carolina’s port terminals. About 80% of them have the experience needed to be paid at top scale, and most work more than 40 hours every week, he said.
There are two other local longshoreman chapters representing clerks and mechanics that also have members working in the state’s ports, he said.
Historically, the roughly 270 employees who operated state-owned equipment, primarily the large cranes, worked for the ports authority as state employees who could not unionize. But that was before the union won a federal lawsuit challenging those split duties. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the state’s appeal, ending the case.
A month earlier, Gov. Henry McMaster vowed to fight the union to the “gates of hell.” His reaction to the strike Tuesday was far less fiery, as he called the potential impacts unknown. He’s confident suppliers and shippers did what they could to prepare. But ultimately, there’s nothing the state can do to settle a strike between the carriers and the union, he said.
Port Authority officials issued no statement after the strike started.
But in anticipation of it happening, they pledged Sept. 20 to restore supply chains as quickly as possible once it ended.
“Following any break in operations that might occur, SC Ports and our maritime industry partners would marshal every resource possible to facilitate the swift recovery of business,” they wrote in a statement.
South Carolina has the lowest rate — 2.3% — of unionized workers in the country, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Ahead of the strike, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of North Charleston called on the union to hold off on its plan, citing ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene, which ravaged the Southeast.
“At least 100 Americans have died, millions have been without power, and flooding continues to devastate homes and communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” the South Carolina Republican wrote in a statement Monday. “As Americans, it is our duty to help those in need access shelter, food, water, and electricity. A strike would greatly disrupt our supply chain and economy, only worsening the pain of those who have already lost everything.”
Brave said he experienced some pushback firsthand: While buying food at an area grocery store to feed picketing workers, a shopper who saw the union logo on Brave’s clothing approached him and told him to “get back to work.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Retail Federation called on President Joe Biden to intervene, using his emergency powers under the Taft-Hartley Act to seek a court injunction to send longshoremen back to work for an 80-day cooling-off period.
The White House urged both sides to negotiate but so far has said it would not step in.
“Collective bargaining is the best way for workers to get the pay and benefits they deserve,” President Biden wrote in a statement Tuesday. “Ocean carriers have made record profits since the pandemic and in some cases profits grew in excess of 800 percent compared to their profits prior to the pandemic. Executive compensation has grown in line with those profits and profits have been returned to shareholders at record rates. It’s only fair that workers, who put themselves at risk during the pandemic to keep ports open, see a meaningful increase in their wages as well.”
As the Nov. 5 presidential election nears, Democrats are counting on union workers to deliver voters, particularly in the swing states, which include Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania on the East Coast.
Estimated costs to the U.S. economy vary from $540 million per day predicted by a global think tank, The Conference Board, to $5 billion a day predicted by analysts with JPMorgan, the New York Times reported.
The state port extended its hours in the preceding weeks and months as retailers upped their inventories in preparation for a strike. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, when long waits and higher shipping costs drove up inflation, the federal government also has installed tools to better monitor supplies.
Editor’s note: This article has been changed to correct the number of union members working at South Carolina’s port terminals, to include members employed in cargo handling as well as those categorized as direct port workers.
All I can say is fuck them them all.. Fire the entire industry and start over..Plenty of people would love to make 40 a hour plus benes!!!!!
