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quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
While it is entirely possible that the workers are being exploited -- someone should ask them how they feel about this...
As I understand some of the news stories, many of these workers have re-upped multiple times... do we need to ask them?
quote:
...the bigger problem is that the industry is exploiting loopholes to unfairly compete in the market: they don't have to pay minimum wage, or unemployment or worker's comp, or provide health insurance. How is that fair?
To paraphrase our past president Clinton (and, please God, may his memory fade ever faster) "Define fair..." Fair to whom? I would much rather see the money I spend go to a guy who is struggling to support his family than to a far more amply-paid guy struggling to make a payment on a new monster truck...
quote:
If it's okay to skip all the regulations "because offshore", then where's our exemption from the Jones Act? Freight barges are "offshore" too right?
Can't argue with that... it isn't fair to have a few coastal and island states be forced to pay the costs of maintaining a US-based maritime industry. Couldn't possibly argue otherwise. In this case, the unionized maritime industry has, for too long, been successful with their narrative, but the victim states don't have the clout to change things.
I take comfort in a quote, whose author I can't track down at the moment: "If the world was fair, few of us would escape hanging..." or some such.
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much rather see the money I spend go to a guy who is struggling to support his family ... it isn't fair to have a few coastal and island states be forced to pay the costs of maintaining a US-based maritime industry.
Pick your subsidy. Ideally keep the money as local as possible.
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Would someone please explain to me why we need to import fishermen?
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quote:
Originally posted by Kapoho Joe
Would someone please explain to me why we need to import fishermen?
So their bosses can make more money than if they had to pay reasonable "living" wages to locals. Or, someone else would say, so you can eat reasonably priced fish. But that second line, imo, would probably be covering up the more money to the bosses line. And then there is the 'because no one in Hawaii wants the jobs' line. Which one do you believe?
I think the idea that because we can import someone from a drastically lower economy to do our "dirty" work here at what is locally substandard wages is a no-no when all is said and done. Facing the actual costs of doing business and paying "honest" wages is the first step towards creating a sustainable economy. Otherwise we are heading in the same direction as farming, and other industries, on the mainland that has relied on illegal immigrants. As soon as those immigrants become persona non grata the industry has to adjust anyways. And, given enough pressure, I think that's where Hawaii's fishing industry is heading.
Of course my whole argument falls apart if the fact is no one in Hawaii wants those fishing jobs. Is that the case?
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Of course my whole argument falls apart if... no one in Hawaii wants those fishing jobs. Is that the case?
I don't know anyone who would work on a fishing boat.
“Facts fall from the poetic observer as ripe seeds.” -Henry Thoreau
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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So their bosses can make more money than if they had to pay reasonable "living" wages to locals.
Just like when we import bananas from Ecuador. Then complain that there's no local jobs.
If gas was priced high enough to cover its actual cost, things would get local quick.
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It's odd that this conversation is centered on the last two lines of the article which I almost didn't include in the quote because it seems irrelevant. I was much more concerned with the coral loss and the warming trends.
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A fuel break for fishing boat owners could be a nice state incentive to put more residents to work and off government assistance.
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They already get a fuel break, IF they are fishing legally and paying taxes. They get to file for the federal and local gas tax paid as that tax is road use tax, which boats are not...
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"Hawaii needs to protect their remaining coral reefs by not allowing tourists to swim, snorkel or dive in or around these precious reefs"
Let's make them wear a yellow star while we're at it, so they can be easily identified.
