A PUFF OF REASON
The longshoremen have suspended the strike for a while.
The demand of 77% salary raise and no automation is unreasonable and they knew it.
While the workers were in strike, their bosses were driving Bentleys and living in mansions.
This is not true. The 77% raise is over 5 years and this could be very reasonable is Kamala Harris wins the presidency. The inflation from 2021 to 2024 is over 48% for some selected items. Still, a salary raise of 77% and blockage of modernization is unreal.
The longshoremen can dream as much as they want and end on the dole, because this demands are extremely unreal.
A modern ranking for container terminal efficiency doesn’t show any american port, because the unions make it unproductive, while in other ports, automation, mechanization increases productivity.
The union must move forward to a partnership where efficiency is higher so that the whole economy of the country is not sacrificed in the altar of few hundreds of longshoremen.
The actual dispute is not longshoremen and Americans. The idea of a longshoremen moving cargo from the bottom of a ship is a fantasy. It doesn’t exist. The actual bulk of transportation is already mechanized and the unions and workers must face reality.