One such truth that is now coming into the public eye is a port situation that has been brewing for quite some time. For the last nine months port employees on advice from their unions have been running slow downs and have even left work for a given day. The port of Portland has a backlog of ships and containers. This news story is just now starting to become news worthy to the media.
Every media has a bias. In this case the liberal bias constitutes itself in the absence of reporting. A liberal politician is backed by union money generally. Liberal media are sometimes likely to follow suit. What we are left with is a situation that strangles are economy so a few thousand longshoreman can get a demand fulfilled (more pay, no copay insurance, vacation time, or some other demand). The average longshoreman makes upwards of $98,000. That is almost three times the national average for a wage.
The meat industry believes they are losing 30 million dollars a week due to the slowdown. Agriculture is losing money, as I work for a company that is having immense difficulties moving product to Asia. Some customers that are being lost will never be regained. This is bad for the US economy as the cost to our economy is huge. Which brings us back to the liberal comments. A liberal president supported by Unions is not going to force union laborers back to work. It is not in the best interest to bring a story to the forefront that demands your attention when your political opponents can use it against you.
Many industries are begging for a resolution. I believe the longshoreman's union was banking on these pressures to get their demands met. Hanjin decided that they have had enough of this. Hanjin is the biggest shipper at the port of Portland. 65-80 percent of Portland's operation runs through Hanjins ships. Hanjin is ceasing use of all port operations March 3rd and transferring service to Seattle. Not only will this cause massive further shipping delays, but it ultimately backfires the union plan. This union thought the pressure would be on. I have little sympathy to their plight. You have a silver spoon that you want to be gold. You left too many Hanjin ships in the water and too many containers sitting at the dock. You now have a news story worth reporting (http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2015/02/news_of_hanjin_leaving_port_of.html).
Now not only are some of the same businesses still in a bind, but the longshoreman also are not going to win.Unless they come to an agreement and win Hanjin back, but we will move on from this potential gamesmanship.
This is a classic example of a major problem swept under the rug until it explodes. Don't feel sorry for the greedy union. The longshoreman weren't in need of government health care of subsidies, though some may be come March 3rd. Don't feel sorry for the liberal governor or the president, they chose their union money bed to lay in. Feel bad for the many U.S. Businesses and their employees who have been victimized and are currently facing worse news by the minute.
Some reports say the average pay for longshoreman is 148,000 dollars with extensive benefit packages.
ReplyDelete