Longshoreman's union set to strike on Sept 30 unless we give 'em what they demand

Karma is becoming my favorite female.

As everyone over the age of 15 should know, due to stupid policies by pols, our current economy is totally (I say again: totally) dependent on imports from the far east.  Those arrive by ship, and those ships are unloaded by members of the longshoreman's union (ILA).

You probably don't know it but the union members who operate those giant cranes that lift big containers out of containerships make upwards of $250,000 a year--more than most airline pilots.
 
Now: The first rule of unions is..."Yew must gibs us mo' money!  An' if yew don't, we'll strike, and the entire economy will go into the toilet!"  Rail unions, the Teamsters' (truck drivers) and dockworkers have perfected this over the last 70 years, which is why crane operators are making $250,000 per year.

(Care to guess how much their union president makes?)

Back when Reagan was president, air traffic controllers formed a union, and immediately demanded a huge pay raise.  (google "Patco")  Cuz if dey went on strike, no commercial jet airliners could fly, eh?  

The brand new union went on strike.  And Reagan fired every one of the sons of bitches.  See, they could have gotten the same raises slowly over time, without holding a gun to the nation's head.  But NOOooo, that wasn't good enough for the union bosses!  They wanted to show they had POWER, control, eh?

Reagan was having none of it, thank you, and the strikers were soon out of a job.

Of course biden and the Dems would nevah stand up to duh union, cuz...um...the regime is run by bullies who--like all bullies--only bully the powerless, and are careful not to offend  powerful organizations like Hamas or a union, eh?

SO...the longshoreman's union agreement expires September 30th--just five weeks before the election.  biden's handlers know a strike during the high-shipping season before Christmas would sink him, so what do ya think they'll do, eh?

Sure: they'll pressure port operators to give the unions everything they demand, to avoid a strike.  So crane operators who were making $250,000 a year will be making $350,000.

Of course you don't believe a word of that, right?  Cuz if dat were true your trusted Media would have told ya, right?

Oh wait, one media outlet did, but you didn't see it.  And the rest of the slobbering, fawning, Democrat-fellating Mainstream Media carefully avoided telling ya, since it's gonna put the regime in a corner.  So as far as most voters know, it nevah happened.

The unions are angry that some port operators have realized that "AI"--computers--can lower a lifting hook to a container with millimeter accuracy, avoiding the need for a skilled-but-hugely-overpaid human operator.  So the union has already refused to participate in talks that had been set to start today.

See, dat's duh way people who know they have ultimate power negotiate: "We not even gonna talk to ya.  Instead weez warning yew dat we gon' strike, which will send yo' precious economy into the toilet!"

The union says adding any automation would "violate prior labor agreements."

And the rational person says "What kind of dumbshit management would ever agree that "You can't use any automation" as part of a six-year labor agreement, eh?

Oh, dat right: Management understandably wanted to avoid a strike, AND six years ago they didn't see any alternative to giving the union everything it wanted.  After all, all port labor costs are passed thru to consumers via higher "handling costs."  Cool, eh? 

So agreeing not to automate, and continuing to pay union members $250,000 a year (plus guaranteed annual raises) didn't cost management a thing.

The WSJ notes that "A walkout [just before Sept 30] would come as goods are flowing into the country ahead of the end-of-year holidays, threatening the American economy right before the presidential election."
 
The president of the union has vowed his members will strike if they don’t secure a new contract before the current agreement expires on Sept. 30.

The union boss knows that *from a technical standpoint,* his overpaid crane operators could easily be replaced by AI, and he'll understandably do everything to prevent that since that would reduce his chances of making even more money than he already is.

In a speech last year he accused the Biden administration of standing by while foreign-owned carriers use the machinery “to eliminate good paying American jobs.”  So...stock up on popcorn as Karma cues up another visit to the biden regime.

Now a history lesson for young Americans: cloth is made on "looms," and back in the 1800's looms were operated by humans who would push a thread-carrying "shuttle" back and forth, endlessly.  These "loom operators" were paid a pittance for hard, boring work, but "labor organizers" made out very well, thanks.

Then some enemy of the bosses invented an "automated loom" that replaced the loom operators.  Almost overnight, the cost of cloth dropped sharply.

So what happened to all the former loom operators, eh?  Did they all starve to death?

No, they found other jobs.  Happens all the time.  But if the union gets its way, things get more expensive instead of less.  Union bosses not gonna let automation reduce their outrageously high incomes, eh? 

Source: The Wall Street Journal

https://archive.is/v1pyT#selection-5843.0-5859.87