Dozens of cargo ships stuck waiting off New York's coast amid port staff shortages and surging demand for goods

https://www.msn.com Business Insider ^ | 9/26/2021 | Zahra Tayeb

[rellic]

Seattle for the most part is and I think Los Angeles is also, set up to directly go to trains. Some ports have automated port trucking to the train so no operators needed.
Long shoremen and their $150,000+ per year salaries are going to be a thing of the past soon.
Full disclosure; I have been a member of ILWU and AFL-CIO.

[NurdlyPeon]

Remember, once you're inside, you're on your own

"You mean I can't count on any help from you?"

"No."

"Good."

[Fester Chugabrew]

We are not going to be able to fuel our cars this summer because there aren’t enough tanker drivers!

[Fai Mao]

Tell cnn the crews were using whips.

[heavy metal]

summer just ended...

it’s now officially fall...

[upchuck]

FReepers who want to read the original article without taking a trip through msnland, and all that implies, can find it here:

https://www.businessinsider.com/cargo-ships-stuck-coast-new-york-shipping-delays-labor-shortage-2021-9

[gloryblaze]

When I was growing up in New Jersey our neighbor was a member of the Stevedores Union. So much of the work they used to do was automated that he only had to go into work a couple of days per year. But, that said, their contract was so strong that as long as the company was in business they had to pay him. So he sat on a lawn chair in his front yard and drank a case of Budweiser quart bottles a day. That was 50 years ago. One would think it would be even more automated nowadays so how much staff would they need?

First, why was your neighbor hired? Neat ditty, just the same.

[TalBlack]

What are e the odds a president Trumped would let these ships just languish out there sucking down the economy?

[madison10]

Bet the order I placed in July is on one of those

[RomanSoldier19]

[madison10]

We would not be in 90% of these messes if he were president

[Sarah Barracuda]

Cant get a refrigerator..cant get a range, cant get a dishwasher..people are buying the floor models for 1000 bucks over asking price just so they can have one on the spot. Thanks Dementia Joe, thanks for nothing douche bag

[Sarah Barracuda]

Sure is..its real bad here..my sister/hubby bought a house in June so they are remodeling it from top to bottom, they had to buy the appliances months in advance just so they might MAYBE get one..people are buying floor models, dents and all, just so they can get the item on the spot

[Billthedrill]

“You will own nothing and you will be happy!”

[RomanSoldier19]

[Oshkalaboomboom]

First, why was your neighbor hired?

He was probably hired in the late 1940s or early 1950s when it was a backbreaking job in nasty conditions. Remember On The Waterfront? That would have been him. He obviously had a lot of seniority by the time I knew him and the way labor contracts and unions worked in New York it probably made good business sense to pay him rather than deal with the unions and politicians. One of his sons was my age and he said there was no way his father would even let him go down there much less get a job, so he probably had his fair share of nasty business before they decided to pay him off.

[cableguymn]

It’s not a labor shortage

It’s a pay shortage

Hiring bonuses don’t work when they are paid out over 2 or 3 years.

[Sacajaweau]

I believe the west coast is messed up, too.

[gloryblaze]

Got it! I suppose there is some of that going on now, too.

[Sacajaweau]

Loading and unloading is a big deal and all calculated out. It’s not like you can just grab a container and run.