This is not good: The Oregonian has reported that Hanjin Shipping has pulled out of Portland (potentially as the result of delays brought on by striking longshore workers).
It’s through them that Oregon exported its agricultural products to Asia, and it was they who ferried the materials used by our big sportswear brands in and out. According to the O‘s numbers, the loss amounts to a stunning 78 percent of business at Terminal 6—$83 million annually—625 jobs, and $33 million in annual wages.
Thanks Unions!
I’m having trouble remembering when Blogtown was annexed by The Oregonian.
So why were they striking? Better pay? Better working conditions? To be dicks and screw up major commerece through the city because they can, and have a moral obligation to “keep it local”? What? All I see is the complaints of the port operator saying the dockers weren’t working fast enough. Seems like a valid reason to cut hours if production is low, but why is it low? Faulty, malfunctioning equipment that isn’t properly maintained because ICTSI is cutting corners which is creating at once impossible work conditions and potentially hazardous environments for both people and cargo? I mean workers simply can’t keep a schedule if their equipment is constantly breaking down, and SAF can’t move those containers by hand. What does the PO expect them to hire a mule draft team? This article doesn’t really explain a whole lot and is way too easy to jump to conclusions.
Generally speaking, longshoremen can lift stuff pretty good, but aren’t terribly bright. Nevertheless, they manage to get paid much more than most college graduates. Hanjin probably had to compensate it’s clients for being late on delivery. No shipping company can afford to be jacked around. The Longshoreman’s Union still has lots of money. Let them start a shipping company and see if they can make a go of it, now.
The last few years I drove a truck for a living, I hauled containers all around the Northwest. I grew to hate going to some of the ports because of the way we (truckers) are treated by the longshoremen and the railroad terminals. Years ago, being a longshoreman was a very hard job because most of the work consisted of manual labor. Now, however, most longshoremen are nothing but glorified clerks. The hardest job I saw on the docks was running the cranes that load and unload the ships. Some of the longshoremen were okay, but most were just a bunch of jerks.
They’ve been telegraphing this for years, giving the port time to get its crud together and earn the continuance of their business. Some combo of the port and union couldn’t act professionally enough to keep their customer. Slouched their way right out of a job.
Now let’s get that 15 dollar minimum wage going, guise!!!
You nailed it, Spindles.
According to this article from 2013, longshoremen on the West Coast earn an average of $98,603 per year, and a benefits package worth about $50,000 per year.
http://shippingwatch.com/Ports/article5762…
Other than ‘general physical fitness,’ I can’t find any other requirements listed for the position.
Seems like the kind of job you’d want to just shut up and keep instead of going on strike every two years.
This is funny. The greed is contagious. You guys are all thinking now that maybe you ought to go apply for a job as a longshoreman. Gold Fever. Go ahead and try. You can’t be hired unless you are in the Union, and you can’t join unless sponsored by a current member. Seeing as how most of them in Portland are now all out of work, even if you know somebody and even if they were to sponsor you, the Union still wouldn’t have any current openings.
Personally, I’d like to have the part time gig where all you do is drive the new cars off the ship and onto the double decker delivery trucks. The most prestigious longshormen, however are the Super Cargo fellas who over see the loading and unloading of the ships. It’s actually a big, responsibility, and pays two or three times as much as the general labor dudes get.
The Port closing for days, cutting night shift, and threatening a lockout was the problem. Theyre taking the business to Seattle, which has Longshoremen, too, if I’m not mistaken. This wasn’t the workers’ fault.
Seattle is a different Union Local. We’ll see if they are more accommodating, now that Portland has been waylaid. There’s always Vancouver, BC, you know.
Ultimately, it makes no difference. The problem is Deflation, which the Federal, State, and local governments spin with their cronies, the media. Goods are not being consumed and therefore, not being produced. There is nothing to ship, anyway. That’s the real story. South Korea is the canary in the coal mine. The greedy Longshoremen are being scapegoated. Hanjin’s business is off, and Seattle can more than serve their greatly, reduced, needs.
The game is called, Musical Chairs. By the time the music stops and the majority of remaining employed consumers realize what’s happening, nobody will have a place to sit.
As I recall, the whole thing began with a beef between the Longshoremen and the Electricians’ union, both of whom felt that plugging in refrigerated containers was their gig.
I feel it would be strange if no one was ever able to figure out some sort of happy medium on something like that, but…
Pffft, who cares? We can just turn terminal 6 into the north north Portland food cart pod. It’s what the economy here specializes in.