You know darn well unionism is way down in the private sector. The longshoremen's union is an artifact
Unfortunately the above chart includes government unions which are in fact growing
Posted on 08/18/2007 8:47:50 AM PDT by dennisw
“Unionism in the private sector is way down IOW you are hallucinating.”
Not in the port cargo handling on the West Coast - I believe your average dock worker makes around a hundred grand a year.
They LOVE all that stuff coming from China, the more the better for them, and will fight tooth and nail to keep anyone else from muscling in on their little honey pot.
“It will be a race to see if the port/railway gets finished before the US Dollar tanks so bad we won’t be able to afford so much ChiCom crap”
Sincve China is sitting on hundreds of billions of these dollars, what do you suspect that THEIR move will be to keep them from losing more value ?
You know darn well unionism is way down in the private sector. The longshoremen's union is an artifact
Unfortunately the above chart includes government unions which are in fact growing
news travels fast.
the u.s. congress approved this in the 1990’s.
it’s been discussed on this forum since at least 2003,
if not longer.
Sincve China is sitting on hundreds of billions of these dollars, what do you suspect that THEIR move will be to keep them from losing more value ?
They will definitely dump dollars given the right circumstances or if things spin out of control. Many wars start unexpectedly when matters spin out of control.
Same as your bank will work with you up to a point if you can't pay your mortgage. Same for your credit card issuer. But at a certain point they lower the boom even if it means they only get 40¢ on the dollar
The union members in question are Americans.
They aren't Mexicans, and they aren't Chinamen.
To figure this one out, that's all I need to know.
And the only "right circumstances" that matter to them is when, and how, to hurt us the most.
Insanity.
bump
“But at a certain point they lower the boom even if it means they only get 40¢ on the dollar”
Just what would China, Inc. write off the bad debt against ?
... and in any case, why should we care ? If they want to “redeam” those dollars for 40 cents worth of U.S. goods and services, fine with me.
“The longshoremen’s union is an artifact”
True, but it very much is THIS artifact that is deeply invested in the subject of this thread.
Most interesting- and it’s not from World Net Daily..
While your statement is true about unionism trends, your statement does not address the gist of my argument. The longshoremen’s union and other unions have a tight grip on west coast shipping. A few years ago they had a very damaging strike. The west coast ports and union monopoly need competition. If you have facts to dispute the impact of the union monopoly on west coast ports, please present them.
“Most interesting- and it’s not from World Net Daily.”
Absolutely. More interesting is the fact that the usual suspects have gotten the thread away from the actual article which backs up the integration of US, Mexico and Canada and the Security Partnership and
re-directed the thread into a *issing contest about union or nonunion labor.
I’d like to see the thread back on track to discuss this integration and possible union of the North American Hemisphere.
The union comments are very relevant to the discussion and article. The union monopoly on the west coast ports provided the incentive for this project according to the article. The inefficiency of the west coast ports, largely due to the union monopoly, provided the justification for this project. With efficient west coast ports, this project may never have been undertaken.
Yup, it’s the union, unhunh. Wink Wink...
That’s the main reason, right? Inefficient, outdated, union infested ports..
Opus has left the room.
Yes that is the reason mentioned in the article:
“But it was labor unrest in the U.S.—a walk-off in 2002 by West Coast longshoremen—that reshaped KCS’ plans. Shortly before that dock strike Hutchison Port Holdings had bought the Lázaro Cárdenas concession. Haverty had worked with Hutchison in Panama, where KCS co-owns a rail line that runs along the canal. Haverty figured he could work with Hutchison to pitch shippers on an American-run, unbroken rail line from Lázaro Cárdenas to the U.S.”
Perhaps you are not aware of inefficient labor practices and very high labor rates in the west coast ports. There is a union monopoly on west coast ports. A prolonged strike would have a huge impact on the US economy. The unions and port operators are fully aware of the devastation of a prolonged strike.
Do you have any facts to suggest that there is not a union monopoly on west coast ports? Union monopolies are a product of government support. Without favorable labor laws, union monopolies could not exist.
So you want to bust down American workers with Mexican competition. Right?
That's like you going to Home Depot and getting some illegal alien Mexican day laborers to do some work on your house instead of hiring Americans
I have even a better idea. Lets get some Mexican business professors and get them on a fast track to accreditation to teach in American universities, I think business professors are paid too much and the Mexicans do better at one third the pay
Any sane economist (not saying you are one) will say to himself--> When a nation is running an 850 billion dollar trade deficit that's a sign that tariffs and/or other measures are needed. Not new ports in Mexico for even more Chinese/Asian .imports.
Not the only incentive. West Coast port capacity isn't large enough for all the Chinese/Asian imports. To which I say- A nation with severe trade deficits should not be expanding its ports (Mexican ports actually) to bring in even more Chinese crap that it is borrowing money to pay for
I want competiton for union monopolies. The Japanese and other foreign competitors brought competition to the US auto labor unions with tremendous benefits for consumers. I want the same competition for the west coast ports. The only way to get competition for the west coast ports is through Mexico. There will be plenty of US jobs created because of this new transportation corridor. There will probably even be union jobs created.
As far as higher education, competition is badly needed. Most professors including myself are not members of a labor unions so there is no union monopoly on higher education. There are legislative restrictions (tenure) that provide some labor protections, however. I welcome any attempts to lower the cost of higher education, especially business education. I can compete against anyone from other countries. Higher education should serve consumers not the education establishment. The education establishment is there to provide a service. If the service can be provided more efficiently with new competition, the education establishment should not be protected.
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