I know nothing about how ports operate. One of the major sticking points seems to be “automation”. What exactly are they talking about here? Robot cranes run by AI or ??

The port of LA/Long Beach already has some forms of automation. It's been a few years since I moved freight, but I know they had unmanned vehicles/tugs that would move the cans once they were picked off the ship. They'd get moved to various staging areas on the yard. Kinda cool.

They may even have automated cranes that are picking the cans off the ship at this point.

The sooner we get to full automation the better we will be.
We can’t have industry and commerce held hostage by an insiders club of nepotist Democrats with an over inflated sense of worth. They are f’ing with other people’s jobs by causing supply chain interruptions and artificial shortages.
Same with automotive production. Have robots build them, if they can build electronics by robot they can build vehicles or off load vessels

quote:

Originally posted by HK Ag:
The sooner we get to full automation the better we will be.
We can’t have industry and commerce held hostage by an insiders club of nepotist Democrats with an over inflated sense of worth. They are f’ing with other people’s jobs by causing supply chain interruptions and artificial shortages.
Same with automotive production. Have robots build them, if they can build electronics by robot they can build vehicles or off load vessels

A much better idea would be to outlaw unions.

Watching the news. They are asking for 50% pay raise.

The idiot we have in the White House is going to let it happen.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
Watching the news. They are asking for 50% pay raise.

The idiot we have in the White House is going to let it happen.

50% ? That's it? I was a Teamster for 35 years. We fought to get 3 per cent.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
Watching the news. They are asking for 50% pay raise.

The idiot we have in the White House is going to let it happen.

I believe one of the compromises that the West Coast union has made was, the overall workforce can shrink (to accommodate automation & modernization) but, individual pay is hiked-up and retirement/pension-fund contribution is enlarged.

I can tell you 100% we need to automate every port we have. We are the only major industrialized nation without some form of automation at most of our ports. This bullshit that 40,000 union workers can hold the country hostage for insane demands is ridiculous. This is going to spike inflation and wreck the supply chain for the whole country.

For every day it goes, it will take 5-7 days to clear the backlog. Every week will take a month to clear. Remember Covid, same principle and will be like a 100 car pileup. It will be quick to happen, but can only clear it 1 car at a time. Ocean freight will spike, and inventories will fall. Guess what that is a formula for? Inflation will go into overdrive. Food prices will spike as well. Fresh fruit and veggies will be scarce and expensive, while containers full will rot on the docks and on ships piling up off the east and gulf coast. This will also cause all inbound container ships to divert. So now the west coast will be in a huge traffic jam, from ships, to ports, to rail and trucks.

Fuck Biden and Harris, and fuck the greedy unions that don’t give a rats ass about what this is going to do to the economy. Unions no longer have a benevolent purpose in this day and age. We need to automate the ports as much and as fast as possible.

quote:

Originally posted by sig226fan:
This bullshit that 40,000 union workers can hold the country hostage for insane demands is ridiculous.

I agree, wholeheartedly. I keep thinking of Ronald Reagan and the PATCO strike.

Knowing little of what goes into making competent port workers, though, I'm not suggesting a mass firing of those guys.

Still...

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
Watching the news. They are asking for 50% pay raise.

The idiot we have in the White House is going to let it happen.

The ILA negotiates 6 year contracts. The previous 6 year contract is ending, and the union and the US Maritime Alliance have been negotiating a new 6 year contract. They were offered something like 32% over 6 years, but the union is asking for something more like 70%.

So compensation is one big item and the other is automation. As far as I know, they are nowhere near a deal on either. The strike will go forward starting tonight at midnight.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
Watching the news. They are asking for 50% pay raise.

The idiot we have in the White House is going to let it happen.

I believe one of the compromises that the West Coast union has made was, the overall workforce can shrink (to accommodate automation & modernization) but, individual pay is hiked-up and retirement/pension-fund contribution is enlarged.

"The union is demanding higher wages and a total ban on the automation at ports regarding cranes, gates and moving containers in the loading and unloading of freight."

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
Watching the news. They are asking for 50% pay raise.

The idiot we have in the White House is going to let it happen.

No that was the ports counter offer. The unions want a 77% raise over several years. Plus guarantee no port automation, plus no cameras that watch the work flow. Plus double contributions to their retirement. These guys are smoking some potent shit to think this up.

Oh forgot about the “Premium” health benefits.

quote:

Originally posted by sig226fan:

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
Watching the news. They are asking for 50% pay raise.

The idiot we have in the White House is going to let it happen.

No that was the ports counter offer. The unions want a 77% raise over several years. Plus guarantee no port automation, plus no cameras that watch the work flow. Plus double contributions to their retirement. These guys are smoking some potent shit to think this up.

Both sides are stoned. Wanting a 77% raise and the counter offer was 50%?

We have new workers flowing over the border by the thousands daily. Give their jobs to illegal immigrants, they will do it for 1/4 the price.

Major U.S. Port Strike Looms as Midnight Deadline Approaches
Mike Schuler

A dockworker strike at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports appears imminent with both sides unable to reach a deal just hours ahead of the midnight deadline.

In a last-minute effort to avert the strike, port employers represented by the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) announced that both sides have exchanged wage-related offers. However, reporting quickly indicated that the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union had already rejected the offer.

The current contract, which covers approximately 45,000 port workers across 36 ports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, is due to expire at midnight tonight.

“The USMX increased our offer and has also requested an extension of the current contract, now that both sides have moved of their previous positions,” the USMX said in a statement issued late Monday afternoon. “We are hopeful that this could allow us to fully resume collective bargaining around the other outstanding issues – in an effort to reach an agreement.”

The USMX’s new proposal includes a nearly 50% wage increase, doubled employer contributions to retirement plans, and improved healthcare options. It also maintains “the current language around automation and semi-automation.”

Despite these efforts, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) appears poised to initiate a widespread strike starting at 12:01 am Tuesday, and reporting indicates that the union has already rejected the USMX’s latest offer.

In a statement earlier on Monday, the ILA accused the USMX of continuing “to block the path toward a settlement” by refusing the ILA’s demands over wages and automation, and alleged the employers’ group seemed “intent on causing a strike at all ports from Maine to Texas.”

The ILA statement cited USMX’s refusal to meet demands for a “fair and decent contract” as the primary reason for the strike. It also reiterated its criticism of ocean carriers represented by USMX, stating, “They want to make their billion-dollar profits at United States ports, off the backs of American ILA longshore workers, and take those earnings out of this country and into the pockets of foreign conglomerates.”

The union also accused the ocean carriers of “gouging their customers,” pointing to a dramatic increase in container shipping costs. “They are now charging $30,000 for a full container, a whopping increase from $6,000 per container just a few weeks ago,” the ILA said.

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations told CNBC that the ILA rejected USMX’s offer of a nearly 50% wage increase. This was the same proposal the ILA had earlier described as an “unacceptable wage package” in their Monday morning statement.

The potential work stoppage threatens to worsen already strained ocean supply chains, which have faced significant disruptions in 2024 due to conflicts in the Red Sea, drought in the Panama Canal, and the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Despite the high stakes, the Biden administration has indicated that the president does not plan to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows presidential intervention in labor disputes that create a national emergency.

The Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO, on Monday expressed solidarity with the ILA, stating, “Rank-and-file ILA members have made many sacrifices, particularly in recent years, and they deserve a collective bargaining agreement that reflects their importance to our nation’s ports and to the U.S. economy.”

https://gcaptain.com/last-minu...s-port-strike-looms/

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
We have new workers flowing over the border by the thousands daily. Give their jobs to illegal immigrants, they will do it for 1/4 the price.

Get the fuck out of here with that.

MANNERS

Speak your piece, but do so in a polite manner.

I don't agree with what he said, but I also don't think he's serious. You could- and here's a radical idea- ask him to clarify, and if he says he's serious, then you can break out the Wiffle bat.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:

quote:

Originally posted by sig226fan:

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
Watching the news. They are asking for 50% pay raise.

The idiot we have in the White House is going to let it happen.

No that was the ports counter offer. The unions want a 77% raise over several years. Plus guarantee no port automation, plus no cameras that watch the work flow. Plus double contributions to their retirement. These guys are smoking some potent shit to think this up.

Both sides are stoned. Wanting a 77% raise and the counter offer was 50%?

Yes, total F’n bullshit. I could right a book about the supply chain nightmare my company has gone through since covid.

What’s sad, no one even knows what going on. For example, in June the steamship lines that ship every container on the ocean, for no reason said they were imposing GRI general rate increases of $1000 per container on top of the going rate as of July 1st. Then add an additional $1000 every 15 days after that until further notice. Then in August on top of these GRI they added PSS Peak Season Surcharge. These were anywhere from another $1000 up to $3200 per 40’ container. They did this for no other reason than greed. There was no tangible reason, other than cause a panic and space shortage to then justify the increases.

These increases caused a panic for importers to get as much as possible on the water early that they could. This in turn caused a shortage again for space on the vessel. This shortage fed on itself and artificially created a shortage.

So importers either eat the cost increases or pass on to customers as either freight surcharges or in higher prices in the next season to try and recover loss. My company and the others in my industry decided to eat it because people are so sensitive to inflationary pressures. We price our goods 9 months out, so have to be psychic to see shit like this coming. You guess wrong or get caught by a mean left hook, when you’re looking for a right you lose. Hard to go back to a customer and say my bad, I’m raising prices on that shit you bought 6 months ago that is just now shipping. Today was my fiscal year end, and we posted a substantial loss for the year. Before July we were on track for a good year end and payday. I just worked a year for free, so I am a little sensitive and pissed about this kinda stuff.

I don’t care if they run out of flip flops at Walmart but I kinda want my drug store to have my prescription drugs available.

Yes, in anticipation of this strike, I have stocked up on my prescription meds. I have no idea if the strike would affect me in this way, but I am prepared either way.