Free Republic

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?

The labour dispute which has paralysed ports on the west coast of America for the past week is now seen as a serious threat to the US economic recovery, prompting President Bush to intervene personally. BBC News Online examines how an old-fashioned row over pay and working conditions has sent ripples of alarm throughout corporate America. It's just another spat between bosses and workers. Why is everyone so worried? Because the dock workers at the centre of the dispute effectively control the shipping of physical goods to and from the west coast of the US. All 29 international sea ports...

<p>Hawai'i has received an exemption to the port shutdown that has paralyzed the West Coast, and dockworkers will begin loading ships with cargo bound for the Islands today.</p> <p>Yesterday's developments: • A federal mediator shuttled between representatives of dockworkers and management at a San Francisco hotel, with talks expected to go through the weekend.</p>

<p>SAN FRANCISCO ­ West Coast docks sped toward renewed labor unrest today as shipping lines accused longshoremen of staging work slowdowns after their union expressed frustration over contract talks by urging members to work "in strict accordance" with safety regulations. Longshoremen began staging slowdowns this afternoon in Oakland, as well as Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., according to Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping lines and terminal operators.</p>

OAKLAND, Calif. — Shipping lines and the dockworkers union said yesterday that talks on a new contract have broken down, raising the possibility of labor disruptions at West Coast ports later this week. Each side gave different reasons for the impasse, but its effect is clear — as of last night, there will be no contract covering the dockworkers who handle the booming Pacific Rim trade at 29 major West Coast ports. The break means that the 10,500 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union can stage work slowdowns. If they do, the shipping lines that employ them say...