Everyone worried and worked up that there was going to be empty grocery stores without your favorite nabisco cookies and no more fine crystal glassware made in China at their local Homegoods .... All is once again fine and dandy. Huge huge huge increases in pay.... Over 1/3 already were making 200k with overtime before the raise!!!!!!!!! These guys could be making 200k in over time at a maxed out 39 dollar an hour wages, so imagine with a 70 dollar an hour wage, could bank overtime to probably 350k or more!!!! The ILA contract that expired on Monday shows that the starting pay for dockworkers was $20 per hour. Pay rises to $24.75 after two years, $31.90 after three and tops out at $39 for workers with at least six years on the job. Meanwhile, the ILA is demanding a 77% increase over the duration of the contract, with a $5 increase each year of the contract. Workers would make $44 the first year, $49 the second and up to $69 in the final year. In recent days, the U.S. Maritime Alliance proposed a smaller increase, nearly 50%, which the ILA rejected "They might claim a significant increase, but they conveniently omit that many of our members are operating multi-million-dollar container-handling equipment for a mere $20 an hour. In some states, the minimum wage is already $15," the ILA said https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/03/por...ive-deal-on-wages-and-contract-extension.html
4 years ago this month, when the Insurrectionist was still in office, the NFP reading was 1,489,000 - was that real?
They dont even realize how much better thier lives would be with more automation. These jobs get passed down through family contacts. Think if you had to trade an HFT algorithm manually. You'd surely end up with carpal tunnel. Now multiply the severity of the injuries by factor of 1000's.
Except that it will greatly reduce head count. The junior guys would likely lose their jobs over the years, with only the senior guys staying on. There won't be any passing down of jobs. Now I'm not saying I support them, and I think its an uphill battle because technology will always win out, but if they vote to allow automation in order to make their job easier, its guaranteed that not everyone will have a job in the years to come. On the flip side, if there is no move towards automation, its likely that nobody will have a job. What industry today survives on things being "hand made"? Even hand-made jewellery on Etsy has been shown to be mass produced. There are also likely no farmers delivering produce without the use of machinery. They of course can't compete on cost with major farms that are mostly automated, but at least they can supply a farmer's market perhaps at much higher prices. My point is that if you can't compete against another business that can do it much cheaper with automation, its only a matter of time until you're gone.
This industry isn't a free market. You can't just build a port and let goods in and out however you want.
Now I know why my groceries cost so much. Jeez $200K just to move some crates off some ship??!! A job that can be easily replaced by robots that will operate at a fraction of the cost and lot more efficiently? No wonder they are worried and want limits on automation written into the contracts.