What is the deal with the dock workers earning 100K+?

Me

[solmar_israel]

On all these newscasts dealing with the strike at the ports, I keep hearing that these dock workers make between $80,000-$160,000.

Does anyone else find that a little strange? Why exactly are they striking?

No one seems to be asking how exactly these guys are getting paid like this... I know surgeons that don't make this kind of money.

Can anyone fill me in?

[perplexed element]

That does seem a bit odd... I would like to know also.

[nopardons]

The Longshoreman's Union, has ALWAYS been mob connected. That's just for starters. This is a VERY corrupt Union and it would seem that the DNC had something to do with this strike.

[ambrose]

Part of it is a lazy and disorganized management which would rather pass on to the consumers the cost of these workers rather than suck it up and do the right thing... and bust this union.

[nopardons]

That too.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Lazyness is not the only reason why you don't take on the mob. Just imagine the smuggling possibilities on the docks. FReegards....

[Flyer]

Why exactly are they striking?

Someone will be here soon to tell you they weren't striking. Technicaly true. What they were doing is showing up and not working - and still getting paid.

---

[airedale]

The strike issue has to do with future jobs. There is agreement pretty much on everything else. Automation is coming to the docks. The union wants all the new jobs (not new slots for old jobs but totally new job functions) to be covered by the union agreement regardless of what it is. Management on the other hand wants as few of them as possible to be union. Their position is that all new jobs that are created that fit within the union agreement will be union jobs. Those that don't won't. Most of the new jobs that will be created will be outside the current labor agreement. The existing jobs will be partially phased out as technology is added.

I mentioned earlier that there was agreement on pretty much everything else. One of the things that has already been agreed to is that existing jobs will be maintained until the person filling it leaves or retires. So new technology won’t affect existing workers by putting them out of a job. However, the union thinks (probably correctly) that management will set up the new jobs created by technology in such a way that it won’t fit under the union contract. It’s an existence issue for the union and major money for both sides over a very long time (length of next labor agreement + any extensions that are agreed to with the same definition of what positions are covered.)

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

From the docks, mob members can smuggle guns, drugs, pirated patents/copywrited materials. The mob, thus, treats this union very well.

A side note, Rush was right IMHO. The closing of the docks was to sabotage the economy. The union was offered everything it wanted expect for bar codes. They were offered evry benefit and personal gain they asked for. That is why the dock workers demanded that they be allowed to work. Their leadership was acting goofy. Is there anyone on this forum who doesn't think that is fishy? I'd like to hear why.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Most of the new jobs that will be created will be outside the current labor agreement. The existing jobs will be partially phased out as technology is added.

Is that related to Homeland Defense in any way? Radiation meters, emergency home phone numbers, etc?

[governsleastgovernsbest]

At a Democratic fundraiser, a doctor is chatting with a dock worker.

Doctor: "With overtime you make $120,000?! That's more than I make!"
Dockworker: "I know. I used to be a doctor."

[Lion's Cub]

Thank you. That's the most comprehensive explanation I've seen.

[dawn53]

I'm in no way in agreement with the dock workers, but their high salary might be a reflection of the cost of living on the West Coast.

Years and years ago, my husband was offered a position in California, (we're in FL), and the salary seemed outrageous. We then looked into the cost of living of CA versus FL and realized we'd be actually taking a step backwards once we figured in cost of living expenses.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

its just part of gray davis's new living wage law

[SamAdams76]

They want cradle-to-grave socialism. Even though their jobs are being automated, they want to continue wandering around the docks with a clipboard for the rest of their lives. They do not want to have to learn new "skillz" like the rest of us.

[babble-on]

With overtime most of them are making $250k or more. Or so I am told.

[solmar_israel]

cost of living in California is high but 100,000? That is outrageous.

Not that i'm saying they aren't working hard (i just don't know anything about this profession) but still, that seems a little disproportional, even in California.

Perhaps I shouldn't have gone to college. I could have banked half a million in those four years.

[babble-on]

Not really. Basically the operation of the ports would be made more efficient by using bar codes and scanners, but the shippers want the coding of this info done not by union workers at 130k per annum (clerks get this much - before overtime) but by non-union workers making whatever keypunch operators make.

But the point is this: the employers have promised that all current union members will have their jobs and benefits etc until they die. Its just that most employment growth will be taking place outside the union. So because the union guys no longer can hire their kids for cushy union jobs they are destoying the economy.

[BubbaJunebug]

#8 posted on 10/9/02 5:06 AM Eastern by airedale

Airedale has it right...I own an importing company and bring in 100+ containers of furniture a month. This is a situation that has been brewing for the last year as the contract deadline approached...it's very simple automation - vs - labor...the US ports are far less efficiant than our Asian counterparts, who run 10 to 15 times faster than ours in turn over of containers...do to automation. The dockworkers do make a lot of money...the crane operators make even more... 180 to 250 k per year

[kcvl]

That's a lot of furniture! What kind do you carry?