What Does a Gulf/East Coast Port Strike Mean? WGOW Shipping Joins the Armchair Attorney to Discuss

[@cmm3338]

Norfolk port is officially closed. I just tried to get loaded, they are closed. As of noon today they stopped operations. All the guys there said the others are stopping soon.

[@ralphsims6997]

Savannah shuts down at midnight

[@OneAndDone5150]

Charleston does too at midnight

[@hughjass-pz3cp]

there are a couple of videos in my suggestion column right now about ports already closed.

[@dirtycasper]

@@cmm3338 I've been to Maersk terminal in Norfolk. That is an awesome port imo.

[@skooterfd]

I was an over-the-road trucker, when I delivered to Walmart it sucked. They would have me back into the dock on one side ans they would pull pallets off as they needed to load on a truck on the other side of the warehouse. If an outbound truck was late I was forced to sit at the dock waiting for it. Walmart doesn't have warehouse space to unload a truck completely so the trucker could pull around to the outbound side to be reloaded. Remember the trucker can't count that time your sitting at the dock as resting time, it counts as on duty not driving and you only get so many of these hours before you have to shut the truck down!

[@mylegalassistants]

Truckers get screwed coming and going... it's been like this for decades! No wonder trucker's are retiring and NO ONE ELSE IS TAKING THEIR PLACE!

[@cwhipp9805]

That was not common for you to do lol or shouldn't have been. I worked for Wal-Mart for 12 years and managed receiving. Truckers drop the trailers and grab the empty that was unloaded the day before. There is absolutely enough space to unloaded a full truck as a full truck is unloaded everyday. Even on two truck days, both trucks will be unloaded and yes there is space. Now at black Friday when they get promotional trailers,one trailer will continue to hold freight usually until the day of the event but Truckers still pick up the empties from the regular merchandise unloads.

[@tehpw7574]

@@mylegalassistants If you ask Trump, there is plenty of bodies... you just need to train them, get them on the program to become citizens, etc...

[@mvanluven78]

Are you a Teamster?

[@jonmccormick8683]

Walmart Distribution centers: -one of the best to unload at. For Company drivers it is mostly drop and hook. -However they are picky usually at coming more than 30 minutes early and overnight parking to sleep. (Depends on distribution center). Walmart Stores: Usually you have an appointment, but storage inside maybe limited = depends on the store. = If you have something heavy (canned food, water etc) they will want that first to stack on the bottom with the lighter stuff on top. -split your 10hr break into 2/8 etc.

[@FrederickRH1]

"Educate and not indoctrinate" is spot on. I for one appreciate this mantra. Thanks

[@laurenglass4514]

Sal, you’d be more effective than most- the answer is you’re not a politician! I really love you’re explanations and history and the context is always explained❤️

[@shellia1929]

I, and millions of others, worked all through covid too. Didn't have an option. Everyone else got thousands a month just handed to them while they shopped and ate out & just lived and I had to work without more money. No one cared then & they certainly don't care now. Ridiculius. I give them zero sympathy on that front. Good lord.

[@chrisfoxwell4128]

It's probably safe to assume you weren't making $100k either. One would think they were moving containers by hand the way they sell it.

[@seph4667]

Brilliant perspectives. We are toast. Panic destroys all human progress. Leaderless empire at the cliff. Was this by evil design?

[@westcoastrenegade8594]

Cmon lol, they've been playing a game for 60 years. It's just starting to get to endgame.

[@BunnnyRabbits]

its scary to imagine theres evil masterminds behind everything, its even scarier to imagine maybe nobody really knows what they're doing

[@JohnDalton-n6l]

There will be a settlement. Union workers will get higher pay, and automation will be delayed or blocked entirely. The ports and shipping companies will pass on the cost, and consumers will pay more for the same products. "When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled."

[@awinchester9094]

Less respect is given all around.

[@Dominency]

The house always wins. Companies get their way from the consumer. Cost is always passed onto the consumer.

[@cwhipp9805]

Automating jobs is only hurting us in the long run. The automation should go to tools that make the human workers jobs easier not to delete them entirely. WalMart has mostly automated unloaded process but no workers lost their jobs due to it.

[@bullsmurf]

and the CEO will get a 20% boost in pay

[@SpookyEng1]

@@cwhipp9805Let’s pay workers $141K a year to watch robots work😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@VarkaTheDragon]

"I talk ship." Best portrayal of the role you play in the broader world I've heard so far. Good job, Sal!

[@VikingPreparedness]

Sal, were I POTUS, I would offer you Secretary of Transportation

[@EShirako]

I would surely have him on a senior advisory council at the very least; he has some very good insights!

[@cheddar2648]

Given the volume of trade by the sea, I would make a new Department of Sea Commerce with him at the fore.

[@W9HJBill]

Too bad out current President is brain dead and at the beach and our Secretary of Transportation is a guy too busy breast feeding his adopted kid to worry about the country.

[@TheMysteryDriver]

@@cheddar2648there's already the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Federal Maritime Commission

[@jwhit3849]

He would probably have to take a pay cut to do so

[@EstherBizhanov]

This is gonna only take a few days to become a huge problem.

[@sandblast5636]

GREAT

[@robnobert]

Yeah but it'll take a few weeks to become an unmitigated disaster.

[@RussetPotato]

And a few years to balance out afterwards and a few decades to recover.

[@grooviefan]

@@RussetPotatodecades ?? Not hardly.

[@AbsoluteASB]

​@@RussetPotatoWeeks to months at most. Chicken little, the sky isn't falling.

[@mrwondering2594]

Meanwhile truckers get screwed either way as has always been the case

[@Mike232-j2p]

You got to grow a set

[@johndentino6181]

One thing people don’t understand about the union and automation is that they have retirements to pay out. If the workforce shrinks there is not enough money comping into to pay the pensioners. Part of the deal needs to be a wind down agreement where the companies increase retirement contributions to offset the jobs lost to automation.

[@DragonTamerCos]

If the workforce shrinks, they will need to raise pay and integrate into the education system. They want the ports to be dependent on the most number of human laborers to do 2 things 1) Fortify their position, to make a strike more dangerous 2) To have more high paying jobs for people generally, as, they are a semi-militant labor movement You need to think about this from the view point of the workers, and what is best for us, not from the viewpoint of the business owner. We shouldn't care what our actions due to damage the exploiters, as humans are the source of all value, re: Marx.

[@Inkling777]

I'd add that some of the profits resulting from port automation should go to fund retirements. Don't expect a shrinking pool of active workers to cover the cost of those retired. Take that money from machines that don't care and will never retire.

[@cheezar5121]

@@Inkling777 this exactly, automation fees are the answer

[@TheJonnyP54]

Then why doesn't the union just say that and not demonize automation in general? They play on fear, want to resist change and stay uncompetitive.

[@jeffbeck8993]

Would the automation fees dwindle and then sunset at X number of years in the future? Thinking once enough of the current pool of retirees begin to dwindle, and fewer active employees (due to automation) feeding into the retirement pool, the disparity between the two balances itself out. If that makes sense. Shouldn't be a fee that never ends, as the disparity it was created to address, eventually goes away.

[@mrjumbly2338]

Great rundown of this issue always entertaining and informative.

[@jebule28]

This was very interesting. I don't know much about the ports, but now I feel more informed. I can't wait to hear your take now that the strike has started.

[@grumpysgararge5860]

The rental yard I worked at told me I was an essential employee and I had to work thru Covid.. I would walk onto job sites and find out they were just reopening after a Covid shut down…. Never got hazard pay…

[@shirleylake7738]

Was it a union job? Most likely not and then the worker is screwed.

[@mpethybridge]

Superb conversation. Rooting for a great contract for the ILA. It is time we start recognizing...with money... the valuable contributions of the working men.

[@Snyder1224]

If this strike is successful for the ILA it will trickle down through the entire maritime sector. As a merchant mariner myself I have heard scuttlebutt that we are next to negotiate a pay increase, which is basically a COLA increase to make up for lost wages over the years. The major players in shipping has been raking in cash non stop for the last 5 years and the workforce upon which that cash was made had not seen much if any of that progit come their way. We are long overdue for a strong labor movement in the US and this may just be the spark that kicks everything off when people see how stong a united workforce can be

[@SchitzoNewsNetwork-wu7zd]

Hell yeah brother. Unions are our only way to escape capitalist slavery these days and the only form of democracy that matters. The political machine is corrupt and a total fascist failure, only collective bargaining is worth caring about. Solidarity Forever.

[@Skidderoperator]

Your replacements are coming. Goodbye.

[@laurenglass4514]

It’s a group that is negotiating with the ILA that seem to have big 8 shippers that have made billions and the ILA are in the best position to get something right now

[@milkshake1993]

Maybe us truckers will unite too

[@laurenglass4514]

@@milkshake1993 it would be better for truckers if people realized who brings them their essential commodities

[@byronking9573]

What a brilliant discussion; great questions and deeply insightful answers. A graduate-level course inside 59 mins, from the pier-side tactical to the strategic and geostrategic of global trade and capital flows. Thank you, Matthew & Sal.

[@queenvehem6194]

Why the hurricanes and this port issue..yes we are going to panic!

[@johnsmith1474]

Why hurricanes? Did you take physics in HS?

[@Cerez78]

​@@johnsmith1474she's expressing concern over the timing of the strike in light of the hurricane aftermath.

[@f.d.miller3903]

@@queenvehem6194 Tampa is hiring dock workers.

[@NightOwlinNewOrleans]

@@Cerez78and 2 impactful wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This is a horrible decision and they will answer to a higher power if this doesn’t end quickly.

[@DelightedinWord]

This has been one of the best interviews I’ve heard! Great host and concise, informative, and enthusiastic guest! So informative’

[@matthewmckee9914]

We might run out of bananas as the world is going Bananas.

[@Cerez78]

And we are living in a banana republic 😅

[@kajidontcare7267]

Amazing discussion, as someone who isn't familiar with the field this was super educational and entertaining!

[@IzzyRumi]

Already, everyone is refusing refrigerated cargo.

[@Houseonmeadows]

This is the second time I’ve read this. If you don’t mind, could you explain what this means to a layman like myself? I kinda don’t understand this part

[@CricketsBay]

@Houseonmeadows Once it's on the dock, it's not refrigerated anymore if it's not immediately unloaded from a ship, put into a refrigerated container, and either shipped by rail or by truck. The port operators don't want rotten, maggot-riddled beef from Argentina sitting on the docks. Ditto frozen seafood from China, Chile, Norway.

[@Houseonmeadows]

@@CricketsBay thank you for explaining this to me

[@tactileslut]

@CricketsBay "Once it's on the dock, it's not refrigerated anymore" Well that's kind of gross. If the boxes are powered on the ship and powered on the trucks and powered on the trains it would make sense to have a powered stack of them at the port too.

[@keeppressing1760]

​@@rocko-go4vfexactly 💯 as a merchant mariner like Sal said it's going to hurt the east coast ports cause the west coast is getting the business

[@anthropicandroid4494]

Good chemistry, this lawyer was on my radar and I'll give him a watch

[@Michael-ek8rz]

This is the worst possible time to have this strike.

[@grooviefan]

@@Michael-ek8rzhow is this the worst time ?? Terminal operators could have continued to sit at the table but walked away

[@ProjectPlanetree]

@@grooviefan have you not heard of the people suffering from a cataclysmic disaster in the south east? This strike may get some union workers a raise at the cost of millions suffering some of the worst conditions in history. We’re talking hundreds dead not a 4% raise.

[@grooviefan]

@@ProjectPlanetree why don't you send a e-mail to the pres of the ILA and ask if he will postpon the strike. let us know how it goes.

[@grooviefan]

@@ProjectPlanetree the labor stoppage was in motion before the disaster. how about you send an E-mail to the ILA and ask about going back to work. let us kow how that works out.....

[@Archangelm127]

I'm curious what time you would consider to be good, or at least better. 😂

[@parrotlect]

brilliant analysis, Sal. great discussion.

[@joshinnc1520]

Keep up the great content, Sal. High Point, NC checking in.

[@AreaCode757]

as a truck driver myself I appreciate you sal!

[@laurenglass4514]

Question is do you ever get sleep Sal ? The amount of work you do and it’s valuable- thank you!

[@Antique-Video-News]

Great questions! Thanks

[@ryangierman4421]

I am not saying the doc workers shouldn’t get paid better. We all should. But it seems this strike could start a chain reaction that throws the US into a 2nd great depression followed by most of the rest of the world… followed by chaos and more wars

[@Cerez78]

The timing of this is horrible to say the least.

[@clarkdavis5333]

Yes but that was already happening...

[@RLPerez-un6hv]

Exactly. This asshole president of the union doesn't care

[@roanora7853]

Sounds like justice for a corrupt nation.

[@moonie2687]

We're already there.

[@carbostar]

Good interview, the guy conducting the interview, he actually let you present the facts, this strike is going to hurt !, the strike got a mention on the BBC business news this morning (1st Oct ) I would think you will be in demand in the next few days.

[@rodbustingcharters584]

As I watch this in at the Port of Miami waiting in line that’s not moving for a refer

[@dannyg4227]

Great episode. 👍👍👍👍

[@JeffersonMartinSynfluent]

Trying to turn breakbulk ports into modern container-handling ports is like trying to turn US Steel's old Homestead Steel Mill into NUCOR Steel in the eighties.

[@ryanwalters6184]

Just try to open a non-union Port it's crazy. They have shut down a new port here in Charleston because of its non-union. Crazy!!!

[@Youcanthavemyname24]

@@ryanwalters6184 they didn't shut down a new port in Charleston, it never opened because the SPA didn't want to honor the agreement of staffing ILA crane operators. The ILA threatened to sue for each ship that docked and didn't use union workers for loading/unloading of containers. ILA memebers were supposed to operate these cranes at any new ports/berths built and the SPA (state port authority) tried to scheme and to not honor this agreement. This was just settled recently and ILA members are now staffing these cranes at the new Leatherman terminal. Unions keep everyone's wages higher even non-union members. Wages must increase if the American dream is going to continue, the 1% are straggling the middle class

[@mikekahl4745]

​@Youcanthavemyname24 This is why we have inflation.

[@ronblack7870]

@@Youcanthavemyname24 and those wage increases increase prices which doesn't help non members who outnumber the members by 10,000 :1

[@Youcanthavemyname24]

@@mikekahl4745 that's wild, pass this knowledge along to all economist's ASAP, who would have thought all we need to do is automate cranes at ports worldwide and inflation will magically disappear!?!?

[@prsearls]

A wonderful interview that gave me a good understanding of the issues, problems and possible solutions.

[@opinioncounts5490]

As a law enforcement/safety officer I worked through Covid, I worked through riots, floods, hurricanes, tornados, with my life in the balance Trying to rescue citizens. Plus, unable to negotiate a pay contract by law, forced to have an arbitrator decide the final settlement. Why are other professions such as longshore men that has the ability by striking, cause catastrophic damage and even death to American citizens, mandate arbitrators in this.

[@JHe-f9t]

Just gonna point out that farmers are so 'essential' that it's illegal for them to strike or even unionize. Probably why they still work 16 hour days 6 days a week during busy seasons. Too bad their income is steadily declining.

[@WilliamPhillips-og4be]

@@JHe-f9tyealds are so low this year, I took out a mortgage to be safe

[@dudleyFudpucker]

Because they are smarter than cops. End of story.

[@Calix772]

@@dudleyFudpucker yup the super smart longshoremen were smarter than the EMTs, the firefighters, nurses, doctors, and biologists that were essential workers. Get over yourself. Longshoremen were only as "essential" and "endangered" by covid as grocery store workers. Just as "smart" as truckers. End of story. 🤡

[@grooviefan]

the strike is causing death ??

[@gregballew8210]

Thanks Captain Sal for the great work 👍 I am amazed at how your channel has grown over the past few years. Rightly so. In my opinion, you are a national treasure 😊

[@petermcguire8260]

Have you ever been in an Amazon distribution center? They have a giant overhead conveyor belt that boxes go on in the case of a port it would be shipping container boxes. They go on the conveyor belt the conveyor belt then uses the computer to read the box and put it out for the right correct truck shipment. Where it gets packed into a cargo box and shipped. If we could rapidly use something computerized to pull the cargo containers off the ship and put them onto a conveyor belt that's right there. That's automation! Zero touch is what a trucker loves.

[@valerieprice1745]

Longshoremen have to live in some of the highest cost of living areas, to be close to work. I don't know how they survive here in Florida. Housing near the ports is more than $2,000,000 for an AVERAGE home.

[@onlineincomeburnette]

Exactly 😂❤🎉

[@user-uo4rf4ez8c]

It's the same for anyone that works nearby, not just dock workers and the associated people supporting those efforts. I worked in my region for a long time after leaving the military, try living in San Diego on $10K a month, with a family. And I have a Masters degree, there's no way, so it's not just them. The average household cost of living for a family of 4 in SD is over $180K now, just middle class.

[@FierBarca1899]

Thanks Sal.

[@ErnestoAguilar-tk6ho]

Thank you for the lecture!

[@kellyhoneyfeloncdljourney]

I was inside the Newport News Marine Terminal on Saturday picking up a load and the workers sounded very serious about going on strike. This is real and those guys are absolutely gung-ho about going on strike.

[@kitsune303]

Ship happens.

[@TomSmith-sr2br]

LOL....good one.

[@houstonpromotion]

It won’t happen tomorrow

[@TomSmith-sr2br]

@@houstonpromotion Yes, the strike is set for 12am Tuesday morning. buckle up

[@houstonpromotion]

@@TomSmith-sr2br na I can take some time off lol

[@occasional-dabbler]

It's not good when the ship hits the fantail.

[@westleaf11]

Currently the ILA workers are probably the highest paid blue collar workers in the country. They will strike because they have nothing to lose. They probably want time off anyway. They will get a huge pay increase. But longer term the ports will automate because of the high pay. The APM terminal in Rotterdam is the most advanced in the world. It’s a container terminal and there are no workers out on the docks. Even the crane operators are remote. This automation will come to the US.

[@DonaldTrump2024-j9o]

Don't fool yourself, automation has nothing to do with worker pay. Do you think the cotton gin was invented because slaves were payed too much?

[@Mrlimabean01]

@@DonaldTrump2024-j9o cost not pay but yes. he's right. the higher the laborers charge for labor, the lower the bar to replace them with automation. if they charge $50k a year, you'd have to design a system to replace them, maintenance included, for less than 50k a year. Not likely. If they're making 100 or 200k a year, then replacing them starts to become financially feasible, and increasingly moreso as the wages are higher. Yes, wages do matter when it comes to outsourcing/automation

[@jules8029]

Errr no my friend the longshoreman don’t want time off because they understand what it means if they strike.

[@Linda-s7o]

I am no economist here, but I can tell you that the areas these guys must live in to work at the docks, mainly New York/New Jersey are insanely expensive to live in. Someone on another site thought $100,000 a year was a lot. If you have never lived in these areas, you will not understand the exorbitant cost of travel (tolls on a lot of highways and the bridge tolls are insane) and the cost of housing. Even if your house is paid off, you’re still gonna be paying $12,000 a year in property taxes. The younger guys have no chance of ever owning a home in these areas. Maybe a two bedroom condo. Who would want to do backbreaking work in heat, cold, and all the required overtime. I don’t blame them. Why should management rake in billions while scrimping on pay for the guys that make it all go?

[@Linda-s7o]

@@DonaldTrump2024-j9ogood point!

[@robertland2616]

If you properly refer to “the administration formerly known as the Biden Administration” you speak correctly and answer your question at the same time. Great conversation and dialogue Sal!!!

[@SteamCrane]

A Fox News video this morning unintentionally shows closeups of how inefficient US ports are. It shows a guy standing under the crane, holding his hand out to mark where the yard tractor driver should spot the corner connector of the container so the crane can pick it. He wiggles his head for "more...more...", then drops his arm to say "hold". Meanwhile, several other people wandering around below the cranes, dangerous situation. I can think of a dozen ways this could be improved, from a mirror on a post to a laser to a wire guided automatic yard tractor.

[@Assembled-Saints]

The same thing happens at warehouses and airports 😂 Terrible thinking.

[@keeppressing1760]

As a merchant mariner I see it all the time at some of these ports smh

[@Assembled-Saints]

@@keeppressing1760 it's not just ports. Warehouses, airports are the same

[@keeppressing1760]

@@Assembled-Saints exactly 💯 the world is changing

[@FyreWolfe-dg1mz]

Thank you both for explaining exactly what is going on.

[@h069401]

"A Longshoreman in a crane is sometimes more efficient than an automated crane". Brilliant. The swing to flesh based intuition, from silicon algorithms may have something to it.

[@SteamCrane]

Following up on my previous post, it's very possible that the crane operators will stay, for the reasons you stated. Silicon can handle the routine picks, but sometimes you need a person to step in. The problem is moving boxes around and spotting them on the dock.

[@phlogistanjones2722]

Thank you Sal! That was fascinating as always and you two have a real chemistry. I now am interested to see this other fellows channel and perhaps I might learn a thing or two. Peaceful Skies

[@johnmorykwas2343]

Think about the anus. If it shuts down, there's not an immediate effect, but over a period of time, it can shut down the entire body.

[@nikkorain680]

Loving that analogy. 🤣🤣

[@CricketsBay]

Yes! An impaction has serious long-term affects.

[@gregballew8210]

The brain thinks it is the most important organ. It is not. The anus is. It can shut down all of the other organs in a most painful manner. 😆

[@chakkakon]

As someone with chronic constipation my entire life, I agree.

[@dozersdady]

Well unlike the anus we don't actually need 45k dock workers

[@neimansimmons9047]

Thank you sal.. Ila all the way !! Watch what happens

[@icepick3528]

If I make the 100k I'm working weekend and over night. I'm never home.

[@jamesfiocca3914]

100k for 80 -100 hour weeks

[@jameslowrie8751]

Me too.

[@mylegalassistants]

My husband has been in law enforcement for 25+ years and averages 80-90 hours a week...the blue collar workers have been getting screwed over for decades... hours go up yet pay increases are stagnant at about 1-3% a year... which DOESN'T KEEP UP WITH THE INFLATION!

[@justinh2701]

​@@jamesfiocca3914hell no I work 40 hours a week for 120 a year

[@eduardoarango5269]

@@jamesfiocca3914 Mostly night shift as well, regular pay day work will not get you 100k. (Longshoreman ILA 24 Houston) Seniority 4

[@hatac]

The toilet paper panic actually started in Australia and the adjacent pacific islands we supplied. We made all the ingredients of toilet paper: pulp, whiteners, with the exception of one softening chemical. Environmental red and green tape had forced the companies to move production to China. Covid stopped supply and because of the toxic risk of large storage we had no stocks. The factories stopped and the pacific islands that were the longest distance customers were the first to run out and panic. The first video was from Fiji and Vanuatu.

[@hollyd8350]

I’m a teacher, work 55-60 hours a week. Summer? Used planning for the following year and 4 out of 5 years work another job or summer school. Most teachers make less than 60k a year

[@Tano248]

Go on strike or deal with it lol

[@justinhenderson5179]

That's sad because teachers hve a union y'all should strike

[@shirleylake7738]

You need to be in one of the three states that has a strong union. Pa, NY and NY.

[@terrypomatto907]

BUY AMERICAN!!! I have tried for many years is patronize the local and AMERICAN and don't patronize imports!! The real problem is that USA has become dependent on imports and let the workers fail. We need to patronize the local vendors FIRST!!!

[@MarjanKaykavoosi]

I fully agree with you but unfortunately most medication is not all American made. I truly believe in this but when you have medical conditions it’s hard to do 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@keeppressing1760]

Exactly 💯 that's why Trump was trying to bring those jobs back to the US

[@graywolf2694]

Not much is made in the USA these days

[@mikekahl4745]

​@@graywolf2694 Thanks to the unions and the democrat environmenalist.

[@krillin876]

​@@MarjanKaykavoosithey just reported that medications really don't come through that method they get flown in

[@milkshake1993]

Yes, us truckers are tired of slow loading and unloading!!!

[@410kane]

Takes me 2 to 5 hours to get load out of seagirt Baltimore. They need to automate it

[@Lakingitup]

OOCL rep here, thanks for the LBCT shout out!

[@tcm2kd5000]

A port in Mexico with rail getting in and out would be a huge problem ask CPKC about that. Even then the rails in the US are getting backed up now with trying to run commuter trains on freight routes.

[@wandaherring7526]

Our train system is in poor shape.

[@harrybanana724]

One way to push for automation is to strike

[@mikekahl4745]

And to reduce the union workforce.

[@AbsoluteASB]

We'll see....

[@ralphsims6997]

Fact check: FALSE

[@6140LIBRA]

They're so greedy they don't want to pay the upfront cost to automate.

[@grooviefan]

@@6140LIBRA who is they ??

[@s.kennedy4650]

Here’s the big news: everybody from truck drivers, to nurses, to police and fire/rescue, manufacturers, etc. are being paid wages that don’t even come close to measuring up to inflation. The health insurance system is broken, even for these workers. Most of these pension plans are unplayable- because the funds have been mismanaged and leveraged in the markets, or because the employee pool is too high. Everybody is suffering. Everybody. This is a move that will ABSOLUTELY eventually get you what you want as an ILA member. But it will come at the cost of every person in the United States- and by some folks from other parts of the world. You’ll get your pay raise, but then everybody pays more for those goods- the companies at the top ain’t gonna pay out of their pockets. The consumer looses, and you shit on every American. What about the truck drivers waiting for those containers? And when Automation finally comes around- and AI is going to be the next “turning” and tech boom, they will be super quick to replace you after all of this. Everybody loses. The only thing about this that makes me “giddy” is watching the current Presidential Administration squirm right before an Election. They either take action using EXISTING federal law, or they watch the economy tank even further under their watch. It’s the only thing I love to see.

[@Evom777]

Exactly. After this strike, (which as I type is on) the ILA will be as popular as a turd in a swimming pool with the average American.

[@saltrocklamp199]

There is no guarantee that a cost increase will be passed on to consumers. Price gouging on consumer goods and energy basically has no relationship to labor costs. The only place you really see wage increases getting passed to consumers is in the restaurant industry, and that's because real estate is so expensive that restaurants simply wouldn't be able to stay in business otherwise. Pay raises tend to follow consumer price increases, not the other way around. That's what's going on here. Consumers already had their price increase, now, workers are trying to avoid that all being captured by people who already have more than they need.

[@s.kennedy4650]

@@saltrocklamp199 we keep abusing this phrase “price gouging”. Everybody knows inflation and cost of goods and energy went up because the dollar was devalued during COVID when we pumped the economy full of about 13 trillion dollars over five years, right? -Outside of OPEC (which does price gouge by controlling supply of oil directly). The labor shortage isn’t just about labor- it’s about wait times in ports. It’s about the cost of energy to re route container ships to the west coast. And it’s about SUPPLY. When you choke supply, it causes “scarcity”, which drives prices upwards. Yes. The consumer will pay out of pocket. Again- because the CEOs of these companies don’t take the price difference out of their own paychecks, doesn’t make it “price gouging”. Greed, yes. Price gouging, no.

[@roadlion7195]

You are right on. Pure greed. I am so sick of unions. He sounds like a spoiled brat saying he will cripple us. Complete a hole.

[@saltrocklamp199]

@@s.kennedy4650 except corporate profits increased over the same period of time, which wouldn't happen if energy price increases were just being passed to consumers. The problem is industry consolidation (not quite monopoly but functionally similar) leading to a small number of huge corporations being able to coordinate raise prices on a wide range of goods. Dollar devaluation was an excuse and deflection tactic. It had real economic effects (cf the stock market and venture capital money pits), but it wasn't what caused eg. the cost of housing to double in some areas. Raising prices just because you can is definitionally price gouging; that's very different from buyers and sellers naturally bidding up prices in a free market. Energy costs absolutely matter but they're not the end of the story. And bad mouthing unions for wanting a share of record profit by orders of magnitude is certainly not warranted. Every employee should get a share of excess profit when times are good.

[@carolinafrog4365]

Sal, you are a wonderful presenter!

[@toddbickel1119]

Pension shouldn't rely on current workers to pay retired workers. The money the retired workers paid into the system should have been invested and grown to pay them in the retirement

[@wgowshipping]

I agree.

[@terrencemcphail5782]

the government wasted all that money, and the politicians stole the rest of all that money

[@Smoothe932]

Great conversation.

[@steveRBForge]

If the ports are owned by the cities and states, why is union striking the shippers and not the cities and states?

[@CricketsBay]

The 14 ports where the ILA will strike are all owned by foreign corporations. The USMX is made up solely of shipping company owners and foreign companies which own the ports. Sal addressed this briefly in a previous video.

[@TidePrideMan]

The container port in Mobile is owned by the State of Alabama. The State has a contract with APM to run the Terminal. All improvements to the port is funded by taxpayers of Alabama.

[@sharp7704]

Because the shipping lines are the ones who pay us

[@grooviefan]

@@CricketsBay foreign companies do not own ports, they operate the terminals...

[@moonie2687]

When society starts to collapse please try to keep ur humanity and be the leader in ur community that people need. Be kind. Be generous. Be empathetic. Dont steal, dont loot, dont fall apart. We need to come together, thats how we get through this.

[@Tenright77]

in Airline Labor Negotiations, The companies come to the table with a bucket of money and don't seem to care how it is spent... But they tend not to exceed what they bring to the table... This could last until the union is determined unworkable, and they start hiring outside the unions...potentially.

[@petermcguire8260]

The question you didn't answer is how big is the ILA war chest? Can they afford to go on strike because it will take a week strike just to get started noticing things. And then they get extra money when they work extra hours to get it all sorted out. They're not just sitting home because the freight builds up. And if they're hourly they just get more hours when they go back to work. Thanks to a little strike it'll be mandatory overtime for everyone!

[@dirtyroofer3678]

First day major problems . Every day will be week of backlogged work.

[@Grnademaster]

Who cares, join the club. Everyone is at mandatory overtime now because 75% of the workforce is lazy, untrained idiots.

[@toploadtele]

I would think that automation will ultimately win out - it's much more efficient. Unfortunately, port workers will be replaced by robotics, just like the ones used today in China.

[@keeppressing1760]

Exactly 💯 I'm a merchant mariner and the union port workers are going to be in for a big surprise they are not getting a 77% percent pay increase.

[@dragonraja2022]

What's even more unfortunate is that automation will only benefit the capitalists and business owners. People won’t see any price going down😢

[@grooviefan]

@@keeppressing1760 that pay will b over 6 years. try and get up to date before you run off at the mouth.

[@keeppressing1760]

@@grooviefan I already know what I'm talking about dum a$$ I know it's over a period of six years

[@roadlion7195]

Maybe they need that wake up call.

[@ameral.mayoel281]

What about the employees paying taxes how do you up keep the state and the city and the federal government so machines don't pay taxes

[@richardsevers7686]

Love the Term ship whisperer 😂

[@TheMotorGuyDirect]

U.S. port efficiency is dismal and I hope the companies can get them much better in the negotiations. Unions deserve good pay and time off. But they also need to improve our ranks.

[@B81Mack]

Sal is the best. 👍

[@larrylyon2981]

Not just about the money it’s about protecting people jobs. A lot of these companies make double digit billions a year get millions in bonuses

[@Graygeezer]

Sal, I hope all is well with you and yours up there in North Carolina.

[@Countrycashflow]

Everything is a constant short sale

[@shelbynamels973]

Thanks, Sal, for starting out with the historical perspective. We didn't end up where we are today overnight. I didn't know about the 1893 SCOTUS decision. I'm surprised those mental giants of the legal profession determined that a right and a protection in the constitution could be 'signed away' for employment. That blows my mind.

[@hatac]

In Australia the dock workers unions essentially got wiped out twice. Once during WW2, Stalin as part of his deal with Hitler ordered communists in the union to sabotage allied shipping and navy in Australian's big ports. They were very successful. Eventually the navy threw the dockworkers off most of the affected docks and employed navy crews to do the job. Half the unemployed dock workers were conscripted and sent to battle. Before the navy take over the saboteurs were ordered to stop after Germany invaded the Soviet Union but failed to stop the actions. They were never caught. After the war the main suspects were killed in a very suspicious accident. Disobeying Stalin has consequences. In the 1990-2000 the unions went on strike crippling the shipping industry. The government privatized the docks and automated and the Australia shipping companies all went bankrupt or merged with major off shore companies. There is still a union but its got significantly less power.

[@Archangelm127]

I always think of logistics as sharing conceptual similarities to plumbing, in terms of pressure and backwash and stuff.

[@mikemaccracken3112]

Thanks for the video Sal. If the ILA goes on strike it is going to wreck the supply chain. The union definitely deserves the raises. The collective bargaining should have been hammered out a months ago. Eventually the consumer is going to pay these increases. I wish the ILA the best and hope a compromise can be made and new contract can be negotiated.

[@Houseonmeadows]

Spot on. Totally agree

[@lorihoop3831]

I hope so too, A strike right now will be catastrophic.🙏🙏🙏

[@ZoomedOut2020]

Thanks Sal..

[@QALibrary]

Sal, A question for you: Will a strike affect the oil and fuel production supply in the USA? Also If you did not know cobalt & hydrogen and about 20 other chemicals are used in petroleum refineries to make fuel. Petroleum refineries are the biggest or one of the biggest users of cobalt & hydrogen in the world - without these, you are not making fuel.

[@bondobilly9369]

Yes it will, we (overall) don't refine our own oil because our refineries are setup to run another type.

[@mattmartin5703]

Thanks for the info I appreciate it 👍

[@improvisedsurvival5967]

Need to shut it down. We don’t care if you get your goods . We want $ now. No more cheap cartage

[@Popeye12340]

Thank you for a really good breakdown of the system. No pun intended. I think of the big trickle down and how it will affect truckers, rail workers and warehouse workers. Sadly the current administration has weak leadership and highlights how people were put in positions they weren’t qualified for. The American people and the world will suffer from it.

[@briangriffiths114]

Very informative and enjoyable discussion that seemed much shorter than one hour.

[@cashtalks6253]

B4 long import items that was $1 will be $10. Everyone wants to be a millionaire.

[@robjohnson8660]

Thanks Sal

[@ajsrc9399]

Thanks

[@brianyori5753]

great episode.

[@Gringosaurus]

5:19 As an ER Nurse so did we. Do you think you guys are busy on the docks? You have no idea what busy is. But I don’t get to hold a knife to the community and say I want money because the hospital made money and go on strike. I wish we could just walk out of the ER but we can’t do that and I don’t think these longshoremen are doing themselves any favors

[@martyharrison490]

union nurses can walk out. We struck for 28 days in 2010 to protect our patients precisely because that was the only way to force the hospital give us what we needed to do our jobs right.

[@Hypno_Llama]

Selfish much.

[@teebee9355]

Weren't there 27 healthcare worker strikes just last year for unionized employees? YOU may not have gone on strike but others surely did.

[@moonie2687]

Dude healthworkers r getting laid off in mass quantities, facilities shutting down, stewart going bankrupt. We r not ok.

[@drewmillz1]

Is busy locking granny into an isolation room, then shooting tik tok dance videos? Cause for some reason, these dock workers dance videos never trended online. Oh, I know why, it’s because they are actually working every moment of time they are on shift.

[@SmallWonda]

You certainly get your money's worth with Sal! Very illuminating, cheers///

[@laurenglass4514]

Drive I45 in and out of Houston they need a special HOV lane to move those trucks in and out the main traffic are trucks. It’s dangerous

[@graywolf2694]

I had to work during rona, i had to go to work, no work from home. I had to fix the equipment used for otr shipping, nothing no recognition, no pay increase.

[@lestervinghail5654]

Unionize, bargain for a better wage.

[@phobosmoon4643]

75% pay raise for the literal pillars of the economy aint shit. How many CEOS, bankers and politicians have gotten 1000% raises during this same time period?

[@chrisBecker-o1w]

Spot on.

[@toasttoasted3492]

EXACTLY!!!!!

[@keeppressing1760]

Bingo

[@mikekahl4745]

Then become a banker and quit wining.

[@Evom777]

Pillars of the economy that are willing to cripple their own country? With citizens that have a sense of civic duty like that, who needs foreign enemies?

[@hanksimon1023]

It's "funny". I'm in Charleston, SC, where our ports are highly automated, with minimal Unions. So, I believe that Containers are coming here ... and 'backing up'. I'm not a Shipping expert, so I dunno. But, on the other hand, our local Costco was 'overwhelmed' with people 'panicking' and stocking up *toilet paper* etc. ... And, supposedly, we have more supplies and products in our local Port, than normal. ???

[@gratefulprepsnj]

Thanks for the update. However I cannot see how more federal bureaucracy will help anything

[@raffyzoo2130]

i am glad that i don't get all of the government that i am paying for.

[@otm646]

This is explicitly one of the times where the federal government is extraordinarily useful. What the union is suggesting is a massive threat to National security and the overall GDP of the country. If there was one time you're going to use those federal powers, this is it.

[@cwhipp9805]

The feds are fueling the problems.

[@mesha514]

I'm so proud of them :)

[@norakatz-rhoads390]

Listen to Malcom Gladwell's talk about how the dock worker strike enabled made a huge contribution to Malcolm McClain introduction of containers.

[@chicoktc]

Hey Sal, I'm a legitimate expert in container terminal operations, particularly in automation. I would love to share any insight on this topic. Matthew was not very well informed on it. Love your content, I learn a lot from it and share your stuff a lot with my colleagues!