So, the dockworker's strike is on. I happened to be in the car this morning when the local conservative talk show host was on and he is really wound up about this. I only heard part of his lead-in because I was picking up groceries so I didn't get the full background of who the guy was that he played a recording of but maybe someone here will know. I think he was part of the union and was making a lot of threats (before Congress?) about what will happen if they don't get their 77% increase. That's over 6 years but has anyone here ever gotten a 77% increase? There are only 2 bananas on the hook on my counter but I didn't get more. I usually eat 3 or 4 a week and I think that might be too many. I will miss oranges more than bananas. I did buy some canned and frozen fruit to stow away. I would miss oranges more than bananas. I think it's Del Monte that sells big jars of grapefruit sections. I will get a couple of those.
It was probably this guy. There is a video up of him saying what will happen if they strike in the first few days, the first week, 2nd week, etc. it is scary ! We would lose a lot once we stop getting fuel shipped in because we barely produce our own oil anymore, and without fuel, nothing goes anywhere. Bananas are only a tiny bit of the problem.
Yes, I think so. He was talking about the weeks and he sounded like a real jerk. Thanks for identifying him for me, Yvonne.
Biden could step in at any time and put a stop to this, but he won't. He needs that union vote so he will just keep eating ice cream while the rest of the nation is in turmoil. And for the record, I am a huge union supporter. I am fully aware that every perk the American worker has (vacation, sick time, health care, 40-hour work week, etc.) is in place because some guys were willing to stand up for it. I also support higher union wages because why shouldn't the workers make a decent living? The damn CEO certainly does. The unions are our only hope of having a middle class in this country.
An offer of 50% was made and rejected. AND the union is fighting automation. Our port technology is decades behind every other country.
Elon Musk just re-posted this on X. Sounds like this head of the Longshoremen might be mafia connected.
The bananas are only the tip of the "iceberg". All perishables will be in the same "boat". The ILA is fighting automation, so it might be a losing battle for them and they are trying to get stuff while they still can. They want the 77% raise because recent inflation is so bad and they kinda fear that should Harris win the election it will only get worse. 77% inflation over 6 years would be fine with Harris and those who control her. Biden is in a tough spot; if he intervenes, he loses the union vote more than he already has and, but if he doesn't he risks tanking the economy just before the final part of the election. I kinda think he is acting to stop Harris during his lucid moments to retaliate for being deposed by Obama et al.
Of course bananas are symbolic but they are also a reminder that people should prepare in ways that they can and find something to replace items that can't be obtained. It's not just dockworkers who need a raise. The economy is in very precarious condition and this strike not only hurts families across the country but it could throw the country into a recession if not worse. The union boss made it clear that they do not care if their strike brings the economy down. This is from the video that Yvonne pointed out: “I will cripple you and you have no idea what that means. Nobody does,” Daggett said in a video released by the union last month. “These people today don’t know what a strike is,” Dagget said as he warned his union could “cripple” the U.S. economy. “Everything in the United States comes on a ship.” “First week, it will be all over the news — boom, boom, boom. Second week, guys who sell cars can’t sell cars because the cars ain’t coming in off the ships. They get laid off. Third week, malls start closing down. They can’t get the goods from China. They can’t sell clothes. They can’t do this. Everything in the United States comes on on a ship. They go out of business. Construction workers get laid off because the materials aren’t coming . The steel i s not coming in. The lumber is not coming in. They lose their jobs. Everybody is hating the Longshoremen now because now they realize how important our jobs are now.” https://qz.com/ila-strike-cripple-harold-dagget-1851661749 I won't support any group whose plan deliberately inflicts pain on the whole country and that is exactly what this strike does. Daggett sounds like a thug, much like union bosses of old. Biden could do this. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tafthartleyact.asp We'll see how high and hot the pressure gets on Democrats.
Daggett is wrong about Chinese goods. Most of those come into the West Coast, although some come to the East. The Panama Canal issues have reduced those coming to the East Coast in the last year or so. According to something Biden says--I don't know if he was lucid when he said it--he doesn't have the basis to invoke Taft-Hartley. I'm not sure what that means, but I think there are some restrictions on a President using that. I think, should it be declared a national emergency, it would change that. People here more familiar with the law may know more on that. For instance, the Boeing strike is still going and there has been no talk of Taft-Hartley there even though it is crippling 1% of the U.S. GDP and keep the U.S. from replacing all the missiles being sent to Ukraine.
I see that the hoarding has begun. My friend said Costco was sold out of toilet paper and paper towels today. I guess the hoarders don't know that those are manufactured here in the USA.
I was thinking of that earlier. I'm sure there will be some supply-chain issues just as there were during Covid.
I talked to a neighbor this morning just getting back from WalMart and he said the store was normal. He bought paper towels and the shelves were all stocked. I'm glad to hear that but I'm in a land locked mountain state so maybe panic buying is just in the coastal states, so far. I don't know if the thug union boss started high but he's certainly high now. Meanwhile, Daggett — has worked at the ILA for 57 years and took the helm as president in 2011 — raked in $728,000 in compensation last year from the ILA. He collected another $173,000 as president emeritus of a local union branch, according to labor department filings. He lives in a 7,136 square-foot house valued at $1.7 million on a 10-acre lot in Sparta, New Jersey, according to Zillow and NJ Property Records. https://nypost.com/2024/10/01/busin...-the-port-union-boss-with-alleged-mafia-ties/