Dock worker strike??

[kayssupply]

Let's see if this topic will be less heated. Does anyone have any information on the dock workers strike? My importer just told me the tractor I had expected to pick up in two weeks will probably not be available until the first of the year.

That SUCKS.

 

[jimstractors]

My supplier has a container or two that was supposed to be here the week the strike started. Far as we know, still sitting out on the water with no ETA.

 

[JeffRey30747]

The company I work for has three 20' containers of gloves tied up somewhere on a ship or on the dock. Our freight forwarder has given us a best guess of sometime around the end of the month for their arrival. The latest info I was given is that many of the transPacific carriers won't even accept bookings for future voyages as of yet and some are considering declaring force majeure as an attempt to get out of existing contracts.
I won't go into my anti-union tirade in the interest of keeping this topic less heated./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

This act of brilliant foresight by the west coast dockworkers has mainly rerouted containers headed for the west coast to Encinata Mexico for offload. Mexicans are more than willing to accomodate extra containers, and are loading them on railcars as fast as they can for US delivery.
Evidently the "leaders" of the union didn't bother to read the history of railroads, because if they had, they would have realized their claim is a lost cause. No shipping company is going to pay a man $80k+ a year to scan barcodes when the reader can be mounted on a bracket for under $1000-. Container ships aren't going to lay at anchor waiting for these fools either.

 

[professor]

I have a friend with five containers sitting at the dock. The containers contain Yanmars, Fords, and Komatsu dozers. His shipping company tells him that since they are unloading ships on a priority basis it will probably be after the first of the year. He has 3 full time workers that this may affect. Seems that small grey tractor dealers are low priority.

 

[DavesTractor]

I have two containers of Yanmars sitting on the docks in Oakland, CA. They came in via Cosco (Victoria Bridge) on 9-23, and cleared customs the day of the work slowdown, right before the lockout. Of course they could not be moved during the lockout. My customs broker says I will have them this week. I hope she is right as these containers are needed to feed my family and employees for the next couple of months. Seems like high priority to me....

 

[hosejockey2002]

This labor dispute is actually a lockout, not a strike. President Bush enacted the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, I believe, which enables the president to halt a labor dispute if it threatens the security of the nation. I believe Bush ordered the workers back for 10 days but the union and management agreed to an 80 day cooling off period to work on an agreement. From what I've read the sticking point is not wages, rather it's the use of new technology on the docks which threatens the job security of the longshoremen. It is not only affecting imports to this country but also exports like produce and grain. News reports say that it will take 3-4 weeks for longshoremen to catch up on the backlog of ships waiting to be unloaded at West Coast ports. Hopefully this will not have a negative effect on grey market dealers. Now that I think of it, since most new compacts are built overseas or at least use imported components, a prolonged labor dispute at West Coast ports could really turn the compact tractor world in the U.S. on its collective ear. Let's all hope it gets resolved soon.

 

[EFC]

The backlog is around 8 weeks currently. We have over a dozen containers that won’t arrive now till January. /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif One ship even turned around and went back and offloaded.

 

[normde2001]

Heaven forbid they should even consider replacing some of those $40 an hour longshoremen with technology. What is this world coming to?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

High priced US labor is being replaced by lower priced foreign labor. The longshoreman need to realize that foreign ports (read Mexico and Canada) with lower priced labor, can accept cargo and truck or transfer it by rail. US labor is protecting itself out of the market. Soon there will be one longshoreman making 2 million a year and US ports will accept no cargo. Labor needs to help the US be more competetive rather than less.

 

[Kiohio]

Speaking of foriegn labor, the american labor force has/is ruined/ruining it for themselves. I work for a small family run company (GREAT people to work for) that has ALWAYS had a low turn around on employees, until the last 3 years. It is unbelievable what this new batch of employees will say and do in front of management. The age doesn't really seem to matter either. By the same token we have quite a few foriegn workers in and around us (I live near a college town) and they don't seem to have a problem with working. As an example of our own workers: one guy when ASKED to do a task I have done myself MANY times looks at me and says "You're on drugs" another guy who called off when asked why(have to ask it's a Union thing) said, " I'm tired". As much as I hate too say it I really can't blame companies for moving overseas. BTW I've always been a Union supporter but I want a Union that looks out for the good employees not one that protects the worthless ones.
My $.02
Later, KO

 

[DavesTractor]

Good news, both my containers arrived yesterday that had been sitting in port on the dock for a month. Looks like things are starting to move in Oakland anyway. Dave

 

[cosmo]

The dockworkers are holding America hostage so they can earn five times as much money as the average American worker. Companies on the west coast are laying off their workforce because they can't get parts for production. The dock workers do not want to be efficient at their jobs, a crane operator can only work four hours before he gets tired and goes home and gets paid for a nine hour shift. I know people that would be glad to do their jobs for half their wage. The union is helping a handful of people, but hurting thousands of people that earn $30,000 a year or less. I belive that performance measures how you get to keep your job not by a union rep. Now some poor tractor buyer won't get to enjoy driving a tractor that should have been here a month ago. Ok I'm done. I hope everyone gets their tractors soon.

 

[JeffRey30747]

One of our containers was delivered yesterday, another is in Atlanta waiting on the delivery appointment and the third is temporarily lost somewhere between here and the west coast. Of course, the one that is missing is the one that we needed most to fill our customer orders.

 

[bruce1966us]

We have containers on the boats and tractors in Japan that can't be shipped because the steamship lines are not taking bookings. REAL PAIN!

Bruce

 

[EFC]

ditto

 

[YanmarFever]

Reed,
Can I get 2 more tires from you?
Ernie

 

[DarrenP]

One of the "new technologies" they are complaining about is the use of bar code scanners. The Union wnats to continue using paper and pencil rather than this new (ie 20 year old) technology. No wonder jobs are going out of the country.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Union wants guarantee of no job losses and that computer operators are union. Technology does replace jobs and makes workers more efficient--which leads to higher salaries. Strategy employed by this union is what lead the US auto industry to lose market share to Japan.

Eventually, if US workers make too much, port jobs will move to Mexico, Canada and jobs will be lost due to competition.

Protection never works in the long run.

 

[tractorlet]

It seems like things go from the specific and tractors to generalizations. I have never joined a union. I was forced by law to be a member. I learned a simple truth verified by my experience and by history. When employers act unopposed they are ruthless. When unions become the strongest, they go for the throat. Neither side has a lock on reason.

What really works is two equally balanced sides with something to lose who recognize that and are willing to accept less than they otherwise would take.

The employer, the union, and the consumer all lose in a strike.

It is very shortsighted to believe the Japanese gained a large market share either in autos or compact tractors or other products because of unions. There are many factors above and beyond unions; unions are a minor issue in those areas.

U.S. ports aren't going down the tubes because of unions. This same thing has been going on for decades and decades and the shipping is still here.

Protection has always worked; feather bedding eventually disappears but protection has always worked in management and labor in the long run. The consumer usually gets it in the very short run.