Threat of 29 port shutdown

[opihikao]

FYI: (*Update - Snipped - More at link)



Don't hoard toilet paper yet: maritime shipping to Hawaii continues to flow despite a significant worsening of the labor-management faceoff on the West Coast.

"We are working today in Long Beach and Seattle without any problems," says Jeff Hull, a spokesman for Matson Inc., the largest maritime shipping line to Hawaii. Matson, which has operatonal headquarters in Oakland, Calif., has its own terminal at Long Beach.

The Pacific Maritime Association, representing West Coast terminals, escalated its dispute with the International Longshore & Warehouse Union by announcing that weekend vessel loading and unloading would be "temporarily suspended" this weekend.

"After three months of union slowdowns, it makes no sense to pay extra for less work," said PMA spokesman Wade Gates.

PMA exempted Jones Act carriers, however. And that exempts all the Hawaii shipping lines - Matson, Horizon and Pasha - as well as cruise ships.

What the order does affect is cargo from Asia waiting to be loaded onto trucks or railcars for shipment east across the U.S. mainland.

The ILWU said PMA was no longer requesting crane operators to unload the more than two dozen ships now anchored in Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor. Earlier, PMA accused ILWU of withholding crane operators when they were requested.

Terminals this weekend are still free to clear out the cargo already sitting in the yard, which means, if the two sides were actually to settle, they could more rapidly catch up and normalize operations.

PMA also said its order limiting work on the docks would expire at 8 a.m. Monday.


http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/28051...bor-strife

[leilanidude]

Strike settled. In reading some of the details, you can understand why shipping a product costs so much.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/break...=293241641

"Neither side released details, but in a recent letter, maritime association President James McKenna outlined what he called employers' "last, best and final" offer. It included maintenance of nearly no-cost health coverage, an $11,000 increase in the maximum pension benefit to $91,000, and a $1-per-hour wage increase over each of the five years.

Though dockworker wages vary by job and skill level, the average exceeds $50 per hour, according to the maritime association, which represents ocean-going shipping lines and the companies that load and unload cargo at port terminals."

[pahoated]

Bottom line, the benefit increases will be passed on and the cost of living in Hawaii goes up.

Even if this strike is settled, the issue is just going to keep getting bigger. The ports are part of cities and these growing inefficiencies at higher costs is costing them also. So:
http://www.limitstogrowth.org/articles/2...n-workers/
West Coast Ports Plan Robot Replacement of Human Workers

Then, the Chinese are essentially going around the problem entirely.
http://gcaptain.com/wp-content/uploads/2...0x163.jpeg

The Mexico super container port allows wheat, corn, cotton, produce, to be directly siphoned out of the American heartland, using Mexican labor, drivers and dockworkers. America trends toward becoming a third world country, the only exports being raw food and raw materials. The US longshoremen's union may have won higher wages and benefits but they aren't going to last for 30 years.
http://www.joc.com/port-news/internation...41012.html
APMT’s Lázaro Cárdenas terminal slated to open in 2016

"Mahalo nui Pele, 'ae noho ia moku 'aina" - kakahiaka oli

[OnoOno]

I hope neither the Unions nor the ludicrous pay rates survive for 30 days!!!

Ono - So Fast - So Tasty!