Ports Shut Down from Maine to Texas as Dockworkers Launch Strike over Pay & Automation
www.democracynow.org
Dockworkers from Maine to Texas have walked out on the job at all East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, launching the first strike of its kind in almost 50 years. The International Longshoremen’s Association represents some 45,000 workers at 36 ports who are demanding higher wages and guarantees that jobs won’t be automated. “This is a time of labor mobilization in this country,” says Peter Goodman, New York Times global economics correspondent, who explains President Biden is caught between union pressure to back the strike and the threat of consumer prices rising while shipping is disrupted. “We’re only weeks away from a presidential election that could very well hinge on economic sentiments and unhappiness over inflation.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/20998907

October 01, 2024

Guest - Peter Goodman
NewYorkTimes global economics correspondent

[a surprisingly pro-worker viewpoint from a writer from the NYT -PL]

  • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world
    18·
    8 hours ago

    I don’t trust any governments or politicians; we must always be critical of those with power and influence.

    Biden was forced to cave to their demands due to the backlash on breaking the railroad strike and this being an election year.

    The working class must continue to unite against the owner class; a general strike would help force the government and the corporations to listen to working class struggles instead of the same old crumbs we reicve from the duopoly; many grassroots movements have arisen for this occasion!

    “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” ― Frederick Douglass

    Dockworkers strike suspended, tentative agreement includes 62% pay raise over 6 years [Max Zahn, Meredith Deliso, and Soo Youn | October 3, 2024 | abcnews.go.com] https://abcnews.go.com/US/dockworkers-strike-suspended-sources/story?id=114445386

    The tentative agreement would increase workers’ wages by 62% over the life of the 6-year contract, sources familiar confirm to ABC News.

    This represents a significant increase from the shipping industry group’s offer of a 50% wage increase earlier this week. The union had been pushing for a 77% pay hike over six years.

    The tentative agreement would bring the hourly wage for a top dockworker to $63 per hour at the end of the new contract, up from $39 per hour under the expired contract.

    “I want to applaud the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance for coming together to reopen the East Coast and Gulf ports. Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract,” Preisdent Joe Biden said on the agreement.

    Tens of thousands of U.S. dockworkers had walked off the job early Tuesday morning, clogging dozens of ports along the East and Gulf coasts.

    Amid the strike, USMX said Wednesday it remained “committed to bargaining in good faith to address the ILA’s demands and USMX’s concerns.”

    A prolonged work stoppage of several weeks or months could have rekindled inflation for some goods and triggered layoffs at manufacturers as raw materials dried up, experts said.

    In 2002, a strike among workers at West Coast ports lasted 11 days before then-President George W. Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act and ended the standoff.

    • protist@mander.xyzEnglish
      4·
      7 hours ago

      Biden literally did not cave to anything. This has nothing to do with Biden. The port owners and operators are the ones the workers were striking against lmao

      No one is reading your paragraphs and paragraphs of text, fyi. After the first two sentences we stop.

      • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world
        13·
        7 hours ago

        I disagree; I remember the rail road strikes, and I think the reason why they caved is due to being an election year; crushing another strike would end their projections for 2024.

        They interfered previously, so no need to take politicians at their word when we know that they lie all the time, Democrats or Republicans.

        All is well; some do not like to read, and that is okay.

        paragraphs and paragraphs of text

        They are quotes from an article updating us on the strike, which you mentioned… Thank you for mentioning their was an update!

        • protist@mander.xyzEnglish
          2·
          6 hours ago

          There are so many differences between this strike and the railroad strike you seem blissfully ignorant about. E g., a railroad strike would’ve halted all domestic and international trade within the US at the height of this last inflationary period, immediately having a negative impact on literally every American’s life, whereas this dockworkers’ strike only affected overseas imports/exports, leaving all domestic and North American trade intact and not immediately disrupting literally every American’s life.

          Either way, the Biden Admin kept pressure on railroad owners for a contract in line with the railroad workers’ demands, and they won it.

          • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world
            11·
            5 hours ago

            Well, the government forced the rail road unions to agree to the watered-down negotiations instead of their original demands due to the laws passed.

            Instead of siding with the working class and forcing corporations to meet the Uninos demands, they help the corporations and once again betray the working class.

            I agree though; in this case, they did nothing to help make it worse or better for the unions, but alleged pressure was added as always.

            Again, Harris is not doing as well as before, Muslim support for Dr. Jill Stein and other groups is at an all-time high, and the support Trump is receiving from the working class is increasing, so intervening in a strike would lessen support of the Democrats even more than it already is at.

            I don’t think we will agree on this, due to my views on the intentional systematic problems our society has:

            The duopoly likes to play political theater; both act like they are for the working class, but in reality, policy helps the owner-class much more, while crumbs are offered to the working class to keep us quiet.

            The settlement pushes the strike and any potential shortages past the November presidential election, eliminating a potential liability for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. It’s also a big plus for the Biden-Harris administration, which has billed itself as the most union-friendly in American history. Shortages could have driven up prices and reignited inflation.

            Thursday’s deal came after administration officials met with foreign-owned shipping companies before dawn on Zoom, according to a person briefed on the day’s events who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The White House wanted to increase pressure to settle, emphasizing the responsibility to reopen the ports to help with recovery from Hurricane Helene, the person said.[1]

            1. [1] https://apnews.com/article/longshoremen-strike-ports-dockworkers-agreement-86fac07d1189e11ca4816b2cbf37affb ↩︎