The West Coast shipping strike.

[Robcatt24]

I'm surprised at the lack of media coverage on this.

I work for an auto parts manufacturer that supplies all the big boys. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Ford, and numerous Tier 2 customers.

Overtime is a fact of life at my job. Well, starting next week, all OT is cut out.

Was told at a meeting last week that Toyota is cutting out huge amounts of OT as well. As are all the other companies.

All because of this strike.

Some really unbelievable pictures in this article.



West Coast shipping strike.

 

[Pope John Wall II]

Originally posted by Robcatt24:

I'm surprised at the lack of media coverage on this.

I work for an auto parts manufacturer that supplies all the big boys. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Ford, and numerous Tier 2 customers.

Overtime is a fact of life at my job. Well, starting next week, all OT is cut out.

Was told at a meeting last week that Toyota is cutting out huge amounts of OT as well. As are all the other companies.

All because of this strike.

Some really unbelievable pictures in this article.

Kind of off topic as relating to the OP but more on topic about your job:

Do you have any knowledge about importing RHD Japanese cars under the 25-year old import... "embargo" I suppose? Don't know what else to call it.

 

[UKStoops81]

I work at Toyota and they've cut most of the OT in all areas. Before this there was usually 45 minutes of OT everyday and every other Saturday.

 

[AustinTXCat]

Originally posted by Robcatt24:


Some really unbelievable pictures in this article.

is an understatement.

By the way, good luck.

 

[ymmot31]

West Coast shipping is wak. East Coast shipping FTW.

 

[krazykats]

Hopefully this doesn't become an east coast/west coast shipping war! That could be deadly!!

 

[Cawood86]

Originally posted by Robcatt24:


I'm surprised at the lack of media coverage on this.

I work for an auto parts manufacturer that supplies all the big boys. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Ford, and numerous Tier 2 customers.

Overtime is a fact of life at my job. Well, starting next week, all OT is cut out.

Was told at a meeting last week that Toyota is cutting out huge amounts of OT as well. As are all the other companies.

All because of this strike.

Some really unbelievable pictures in this article.

First I had heard of it but if it continues very long, it will definitely have huge impact. Probably lead to layoffs or hours being cut. Could get ugly.

 

[Kaizer Sosay]

Originally posted by Cawood86:
First I had heard of it but if it continues very long, it will definitely have huge impact. Probably lead to layoffs or hours being cut. Could get ugly.

It's already having a huge impact. It's already ugly. The West Coast ports account for about 12.5% of the GNP in the US. Losses are adding up very quickly. The following is quoted from a CBS News article and doesn't even go into the hit that is taken by the truckers, port workers, shipping companies, etc...:


"In this yard we've had loads of oranges," said Aboudi. "They've sat here for 23 days. You can imagine what oranges turn [to] in 23 days."
Moldy oranges are part of the increasing cost to farmers.
Washington apple growers say they're losing $6 million a week. Meat and poultry processors, $30 million a week.

 

[JumperJack]

Attention Barry: time to channel your inner Teddy.

 

[Nawlij]

It is real bad. Current iwla workers make an average of $145k per year, plus no cost health insurance and no deductibles. They just turned down a contract offer that increased average pay to $188k per year and kept the health insurance as is

It appears that a lock out is imminent

East coast ports are quickly filling up. Delivered 40' container costs this time last year were around $2900-$3100....right now it is $4900. Those costs will be passed along

Yang Ming and other shipping companies are canceling routes right now because, one the ships can't get unloaded and two, many are still anchored off shore. We have been told that the backlog is so severe that if the slow down was stopped tomorrow, it would take four months to return to normal.

All politics aside, the president needs to invoke powers under Taft-Hartley act and force these people to end the slow down for the good of the nation and economy

 

[Kaizer Sosay]

Originally posted by Nawlij:


All politics aside, the president needs to invoke powers under Taft-Hartley act and force these people to end the slow down for the good of the nation and economy

QFT

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

$188K to move crates off a bat? Not good enough? Screw these union pricks. Fire em all, bring in some Mexicans.

 

[Cawood86]

Originally posted by Kaizer Sosay:

Originally posted by Cawood86:

First I had heard of it but if it continues very long, it will definitely have huge impact. Probably lead to layoffs or hours being cut. Could get ugly.

It's already having a huge impact. It's already ugly. The West Coast ports account for about 12.5% of the GNP in the US. Losses are adding up very quickly. The following is quoted from a CBS News article and doesn't even go into the hit that is taken by the truckers, port workers, shipping companies, etc...:


"In this yard we've had loads of oranges," said Aboudi. "They've sat here for 23 days. You can imagine what oranges turn [to] in 23 days."

Moldy oranges are part of the increasing cost to farmers.

Washington apple growers say they're losing $6 million a week. Meat and poultry processors, $30 million a week.

Wow, not good at all.

 

[BeaveUKGT]

About 4 years ago I got to fly around the Long Beach port in a helicopter. That place is unbelievably huge. Giant ships coming in, containers loaded off and put on trucks, and lines and lines of trucks getting on the freeways there.

There's a little of that same activity in the San Diego bay, but it's tiny in comparison to Long Beach.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

In all seriousness, is Obama doing anything about this? This is a group of thugs holding the U.S. Economy hostage for their own greedy selves. This is treason. When the banks got greedy, the fed gov stepped in and took action. Is Obama going to sit idle and let these touchsticks hold us hostage to their ridiculous demands?

 

[BernieSadori]

It's a slow down. It's killing us with very uneven deliveries which makes staffing damn near impossible.

 

[Bill Derington]

From everything I've read the average pay for the workers is roughly $35 an hour, thats roughly 70000 a year. I'm not sure I believe the 147000 a year average, thats an insane amount of overtime. I understand that part of that number is benefits and such, but still, it'd take about 1000-1200 hours of worked overtime to get close to that number.

 

[Nawlij]

Originally posted by Bill Derington:

From everything I've read the average pay for the workers is roughly $35 an hour, thats roughly 70000 a year. I'm not sure I believe the 147000 a year average, thats an insane amount of overtime. I understand that part of that number is benefits and such, but still, it'd take about 1000-1200 hours of worked overtime to get close to that number.

Here is a video from the pacific maritime association about the slow down....

Pacific maritime association slowdown update

 

[BernieSadori]

Just because they "only" make $35/hr doesn't necessarily mean they get 1.5x pay rate for OT. some of the "brothers" with the longest tenure could be able to pick and choose days they work where they could receive double or triple pay. That could be the case for all Union members if the contract is written that way....which I don't know.

I've experienced Union contracts that required our company to pay 2x on Sunday if required to work. I've seen it where any time over 8 hours a day must be paid at the OT rate even if it's the first day of the work week.

I read where Obama sent the Labor Secretary to help mediate negotiations. Not sure if Perez has the background to handle this type of event. I believe his only related experience was a couple years in Maryland as the Labor Secretary over permits or some shit.

All I know is they better get this taken care of soon because shippers are out of options. canadian ports are backed up too.

Time to start making more items in Mexico. At least they can be trucked in with the heroine shipments.

 

[BernieSadori]

Also, it appears the Clerical workers are the ones getting paid much more than regular members.

And people wonder why there is so much outsourcing.

 

[LordEgg]

Originally posted by Dennis Reynolds:
In all seriousness, is Obama doing anything about this? This is a group of thugs holding the U.S. Economy hostage for their own greedy selves. This is treason. When the banks got greedy, the fed gov stepped in and took action. Is Obama going to sit idle and let these touchsticks hold us hostage to their ridiculous demands?

It's his base, dude. Not only will he fail to act, he supports this kinda thing. It's the central thrust of his political history. Well, that and the Arab spring.

 

[Nawlij]

I urge anyone who is interested in this topic to view the video I posted above...go to the 3:00 mark...that is where the pma talks about these guys remuneration packages...crane operators are a very skilled lot, but the guys maintaining chassis are remedially skilled mechanics.

Keep in mind these are averages....the other thing in addition to their large take home checks...the pma is guaranteeing at least 40hrs a week and a pension program in excess of $80k per year....and it's still not enough

Bottom line, this is a very serious thing for domestic manufacturers (Union and non Union), the economy, and the nation as a whole

I'm currently rerouting freight to gulf and Atlantic ports, put they are filling up fast and prices are shooting through the roof...and I can promise you, I'm not absorbing those costs...they are being passed through to my manufacturing base, which in turn are being passed along to every lumberyard and home center...which gets passed along to the public

 

[Robcatt24]

Originally posted by Pope John Wall II:

Originally posted by Robcatt24:


I'm surprised at the lack of media coverage on this.

I work for an auto parts manufacturer that supplies all the big boys. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Ford, and numerous Tier 2 customers.

Overtime is a fact of life at my job. Well, starting next week, all OT is cut out.

Was told at a meeting last week that Toyota is cutting out huge amounts of OT as well. As are all the other companies.

All because of this strike.

Some really unbelievable pictures in this article.

Kind of off topic as relating to the OP but more on topic about your job:

Do you have any knowledge about importing RHD Japanese cars under the 25-year old import... "embargo" I suppose? Don't know what else to call it.

Sorry, haven't heard anything about that.

Is it even legal to drive a RHD vehicle if you're not working for the post office?

 

[Bill Derington]

Bernie, I've never seen or heard of a union shop where high seniority guys get to pick and choose their OT. It's based on worked and refused OT, and you move up or down the list when you work it.

No one on here knows the ins and outs of whats going on there, we see a number and automatically form an opinion without knowing anything about it. There's probably a handful of guys that make 147000 that run the business of the union there, but thats the figure that throw out, not the thousands of workers that make less than that.

They're having negotiations, the company needs the workers, and the workers need the company. Hell, the company locked them out, why aren't you up in arms about that? It's not even a strike.

All this is a give and take, and some of you seem to rather have the work out sourced than american workers that benefit the community earn a better wage, I will never understand that. You think the foreign shippers opposing this give a rip about any of you or the workers?

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

Originally posted by Bill Derington:

Bernie, I've never seen or heard of a union shop where high seniority guys get to pick and choose their OT. It's based on worked and refused OT, and you move up or down the list when you work it.

No one on here knows the ins and outs of whats going on there, we see a number and automatically form an opinion without knowing anything about it. There's probably a handful of guys that make 147000 that run the business of the union there, but thats the figure that throw out, not the thousands of workers that make less than that.

They're having negotiations, the company needs the workers, and the workers need the company. Hell, the company locked them out, why aren't you up in arms about that? It's not even a strike.

All this is a give and take, and some of you seem to rather have the work out sourced than american workers that benefit the community earn a better wage, I will never understand that. You think the foreign shippers opposing this give a rip about any of you or the workers?

What an awful post. Awful. Ignore list.

 

[Bill Derington]

Dennis, What was awful about it? It's the truth, you may not like it, but every bit I typed is the truth.

The part about the overtime list? True

About negotiations, bargaining and leverage? True

The part about a small percentage of people actually making 147000, but it was the wage thrown out? True

You posted you'd rather have mexicans do it cheap than american workers who earn more, you did write that didn't you?

Do we know all the ins and outs of the deal? No, so that part was true also.

Do you think the shipping companies give a rip about you, me or the workers, no. They're just moving a product to the people who buy it.

The company DID lock the workers out, they aren't striking.

They make more than you think they should, thats the bottomline. You can't refute anything I wrote.




This post was edited on 2/16 3:50 PM by Bill Derington

 

[Nawlij]

It's not a small percentage currently making $147k...it's the AVERAGE...plus a 14% increase, plus all expense paid health care, and an $88k + pension program...and it's still not good enough....

This post was edited on 2/16 4:25 PM by Nawlij

PMA contract offer

 

[Kaizer Sosay]

Just for clarification purposes so some people might possibly have a fighting chance to keep up...

average > a handful of guys



[/B]

 

[Nawlij]

Originally posted by Kaizer Sosay:
Just for clarification purposes so some people might possibly have a fighting chance to keep up...

average > a handful of guys



[/B]

 

[mailman85]

So its a lockout...hmm, I'll never understand the hate on blue collar US workers making good money.

 

[Bill Derington]

I'm going to ease out of this one, we all have opinions and valid points, no one is gonna change anyones mind about this.
This post was edited on 2/16 4:51 PM by Bill Derington

 

[Kaizer Sosay]

Originally posted by mailman85:
So its a lockout...hmm, I'll never understand the hate on blue collar US workers making good money.

There's a huge difference between "making good money" and "pricing yourself out of a job".

Having said that...I actually don't care how much they make. Just send somebody out there to arbitrate this mess and get the shipping lanes moving again. Pronto.

 

[Bill Derington]

Kaiser, it's just negotiations. Wages weren't even the sticking point, automation is.

 

[Beavis606]

I hope all those longshoremen catch the gd measles.

 

[Nawlij]

Originally posted by Kaizer Sosay:

Originally posted by mailman85:
So its a lockout...hmm, I'll never understand the hate on blue collar US workers making good money.

There's a huge difference between "making good money" and "pricing yourself out of a job".

Having said that...I actually don't care how much they make. Just send somebody out there to arbitrate this mess and get the shipping lanes moving again. Pronto.

Winner

 

[warrior-cat]

Orignally posted by Dennis Reynolds:
$188K to move crates off a bat? Not good enough? Screw these union pricks. Fire em all, bring in some Mexicans.

This is what we have been saying for a while now. Unions do not serve any interest but their own.

 

[warrior-cat]

Originally posted by Bill Derington:

From everything I've read the average pay for the workers is roughly $35 an hour, thats roughly 70000 a year. I'm not sure I believe the 147000 a year average, thats an insane amount of overtime. I understand that part of that number is benefits and such, but still, it'd take about 1000-1200 hours of worked overtime to get close to that number.

Probably overtime involved. I used to go to the ports to oversee the loading of military shipments from Ft. Sill OK to combat zones and other areas. I watched as union workers loaded the ships and if what you were hired for was done, you could not help in other areas. It is against the rules and you just hung around until everything was finished.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

Originally posted by warrior-cat:

Orignally posted by Dennis Reynolds:
$188K to move crates off a bat? Not good enough? Screw these union pricks. Fire em all, bring in some Mexicans.

This is what we have been saying for a while now. Unions do not serve any interest but their own.

At the expense of the rest of the country. This isn't some union jack offs in Detroit holding up production of some shitty cars. These trash mongers are highjacking the nation. If our president had any balls he'd treat these terrorists like the ones in Gitmo. Selfish unamerican trash.

 

[Bill Derington]

What about the company that locked them out, you know the ones who are actually causing the work stoppage. Why no anger towards them?

Who should the unions support? You act surprised they are negotiating for their members. Dennis, its a company locking out their workers, do you understand the difference between that and a strike? Is the company not screwing over the country too, but you want to blame it all on the workers, jesus christ.
This post was edited on 2/16 5:55 PM by Bill Derington

 

[mailman85]

It is a lockout not a strike.