Free Republic

East and Gulf Coast dockworkers could resume their strike on Jan. 15 if a deal isn't reached.. The union representing dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports walked away from the negotiating table with port employers this week over concerns about automation as the two sides face a mid-January deadline to finalize a deal and prevent the resumption of a strike.. The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents port employers, were on their second day of talks this week when the ILA union left negotiations ... the ILA union is refusing to agree to...

This strike isn’t over. It’s just delayed until after the election, so it doesn’t hurt the Democratic party at the polls. We have been told many things about the longshoremen’s strike over the past week. Most of the reporting has been in half-truths, at best – possibly because the press doesn’t know any better (the operations of our seaports are an admittedly obscure area of specialization), or possibly because the press doesn’t want to share information so damning to the side they instinctively favor. Here are just a few of the misleading statements thrown at us in the past week:...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Harris-Walz Surrogate Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) argued that there will be fewer strikes if 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is elected and that the head of the dockworkers union is “a Trump guy” who might want to cripple the economy for political purposes.

As East and Gulf Coast ports begin to operate as normal again, one of the country’s top entrepreneurs is weighing in on “the trouble” with union workers’ demands. “The trouble with East Coast ports is they’re very old, they’re very inefficient,” O’Leary Ventures Chairman and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary said on “Varney & Co.” Friday. “And when you start to compare them against other international ports like Singapore and the other Asian ports,” he continued, “we’re just not holding much up against them. And that’s very bad for productivity.” US dockworkers returned to work Friday morning after reaching a...

'I'm a Democrat but they have [expletive] us over for the last 40 years and for once we're standing up as a union saying what the [expletive] have you done for us?' O'Brien said in scathing remarks. 'I'm getting attacked from the left you know and since I've been in office over two and a half years we've given the Democratic machine $15.7 million. 'We've given Republicans about $340,000 truth be told, so it's like you know people say the Democratic party is the party of working people, but they're actually bought and paid for by big tech,' O'Brien explained.

On Friday’s “CNN Newsroom,” White House National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard responded to a question on if International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett’s large salary came up during negotiations over the port strike where higher wages were demanded by stating that “the president thought it was very important to get the two parties back together, to get the collective bargaining process back on track, to get the ports re-opened. He pushed really hard for that and he got it done.” Host Jim Acosta asked, “Lael, Daggett is facing criticism for giving — for some of these demands of his, companies...

On Friday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” acting Labor Secretary Julie Su responded to International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett’s threat to “cripple” the economy by stating that “anyone who’s been a part of these things knows that when negotiations are going on, they can get heated, people can say a bunch of things.” And “longshoremen play a very critical role in our economy, and this negotiation helped to highlight that.” Co-host Carl Quintanilla asked, “There was this video of Harold Daggett mentioning that he would — ‘I will cripple you‘ was the phrase he used trying to...

Tales of the Jersey mob: Body behind diner a missing Mafiosi? Wedding Services Search By LARRY McSHANE Associated Press Writer December 1, 2005, 4:28 PM EST NEW YORK -- A mob trial, a missing defendant, a decomposing body and a car trunk. Don't cue "The Sopranos" theme for this real-life mob scenario, where a reputed Genovese family capo vanished during his waterfront corruption case only to turn up dead _ perhaps _ behind a New Jersey diner. The body found Wednesday in a parking lot behind the Huck Finn Diner in Union, N.J., was likely that of Lawrence Ricci, a...

On Sept. 27, US Rep. Majorie Taylor-Greene warned about the ramifications of a strike in a tweet. Rep. Greene claims, “It’s very important to understand how critical this is given that America is now in a $36 billion dollar food trade deficit for the first time in our nation’s history. Also, the Biden-Harris administration and congressional out-of-control spending have driven inflation so high that many Americans can’t afford quality of life. I think this situation is serious and, depending on whether they strike and how long it lasts, could be a crisis going into the election, holidays, and winter.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he did not intend to intervene to prevent a port strike on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico if dock workers failed to secure a new contract by an Oct. 1 deadline. “It’s collective bargaining. I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley,” he told reporters. Presidents can intervene in labor disputes that threaten national security or safety by imposing an 80-day cooling-off period under the federal Taft-Hartley Act.

Unionized dockworkers at 36 East and Gulf Coast ports went on strike early Tuesday amid an impasse in negotiations over a new contract with a group representing port employers

Ten of thousands of dockworkers could go on strike on Oct. 1 in a move that experts say could wreak havoc on American supply chains and reignite the rapid inflation seen in the early years of the Biden-Harris administration. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) — which represents more than 85,000 workers at three dozen U.S. ports along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico and whose members collectively handle about half of the U.S.’ maritime imports — has threatened to go on strike for the first time since 1977 if their wage and automation protection demands are not met by...

Even before the expected longshoremen's strike begins, we have learned a great deal about the shortsightedness and incompetence of the modern Democrat party. First, some background is in order: The United States have several dozen cargo-handling seaports, divided between the West Coast, the East Coast, the Gulf Coast, and the Great Lakes. While the Great Lakes still have a good deal of bulk shipping, the slick supply chain facilitated by modern containerization (the switch from moving cargo a pallet or crate at a time to moving it all in 20’ and 40’ intermodal containers, stacked by the thousands on containerships)...

In a monumental labor dispute, approximately 45,000 dockworkers across the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts are threatening to go on strike on October 1, potentially shutting down 36 ports that handle nearly half of the nation’s cargo from ships. The International Longshoremen’s Union (ILA) is demanding higher wages and an outright ban on the automation of cranes, gates, and container movements used in the loading and unloading of freight. A strike of this scale could have far-reaching consequences for the U.S. economy, especially if it persists for more than a few weeks. CBS News reports how experts suggest that consumers...

A California longshoreman, who works at California’s San Pedro Bay Port Complex, reportedly said the labor unions are exascerbating the supply chain crisis. Identified as Alfred to Yahoo News, the longshoreman blamed Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) for “cutting the work” at the port, which is increasing the jam of containers stuck at sea and on the docks. “They’re [PMA] the ones who are not training: skilled positions. [That] means crane operators, top handler drivers, trans drivers,” said Alfred. “They’re the ones who are keeping the ships out there at sea anchored.” Despite the delays and mounting shipping costs American families...

ON THE WATERFRONT, there’s a longshoreman on the books who washes trucks. He gets paid $465,981 a year. To wash trucks. Fired when his bosses discovered he wasn’t actually showing up when he claimed to be working, he nevertheless regained his job—after an arbitrator concluded it was not unusual in the industry for employees to be paid “without being expected to work all the hours for which they are being paid.” The Port of New York Harbor is the busiest on the East Coast and the third largest in the nation. From the marine terminals in Port Newark and Port...

You better at least get ready. There’s a buzz being fed. Warren gave a speech to the AFL-CIO today, and the “draft Warren” talk is starting. Elizabeth Warren is totally wowing @AFLCIO convention, Wonder if she'll enter the race if Hillary, for some reason, doesn't run. #AFLCIO13— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) September 8, 2013 @greenhousenyt Outstanding speech. I would not be surprised at all if Draft Warren groups sprung up in Iowa, New Hampshire. — Mike Conrad (@mikeconrad1) September 8, 2013 @greenhousenyt @AFLCIO DEAR GOD YES, PLEASE, YES, OMG, THAT'S WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN #DRAFTSENWARREN (sorry for the caps!) — Organize...

Longshore Union Quits the AFL-CIO In a surprise move, the 40,000-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union announced its disaffiliation from the AFL-CIO yesterday. The news comes just a week before the federation is set to hold its national convention in Los Angeles, the nation’s biggest port and an ILWU stronghold.. The ILWU, known for its militant traditions and progressive politics, has been drawn into turf wars with other unions in recent years—particularly in the grain export terminals of the Pacific Northwest, where longshore workers have been locked in a high-stakes battle over master contract standards since 2011. - See more...

Scores of out-of-state strikebreakers wait on high alert in Northwest hotel rooms, ready to replace longshoremen in case of a lockout at grain terminals. Three fully crewed, non-union tugboats protected by armed guards stand by, prepared to keep grain ships docking. In a provocative move, a California company has moored the tugs on the Willamette River near longshore Local 8's Northwest Portland union hall. Quietly, owners of Portland, Vancouver and Puget Sound terminals have spent months preparing for a battle royal on the waterfront, lining up troops and assets like chess pieces. The agribusiness giants have laid legal groundwork for...

It's not about jobs. It's not about safety. It's not about improving dockworkers' living standards. The looming, long-planned East and Gulf Coast port strikes are about protecting Big Labor's archaic work practices and corrupt waterfront rackets. Are you ready for a fiscal cliff? The union bosses of an estimated 14,500 workers at 15 ports are preparing to send the economy plunging back into recession over productivity and efficiency rules changes. You read that right. Much more on that in a moment. But first, here's what's at stake. The International Longshoremen's Association's (ILA) grip extends from Boston to Texas to Florida...