Will dockworkers strike?
by John Seiler | July 2, 2014 1:07 pm
West Coast dockworkers are threatening to strike again[1] from their incredibly high-paying jobs. Their members already earn $25 to $40 an hour[2], with plush benefits.
But this time it’s different. A $5.25 billion project is making the Panama Canal wider[3], making it easier for ships to go directly from Asia to the East Coast of the USA.
And Mexico is completing a $900 million superport at the Port of Lazaro Cardenas. Then there’s the Punta Colonet port[4] in Baja. The Mexican ports then transship their goods inland to the United States.
That means if the West Coast ports charge too much, they just will lose business — and jobs. All those nice, high-paying jobs for the unionized dockworkers could vanish except for a select few.
It’s called competition. Something the monopoly West Coast ports have had little of until now.
- strike again: http://www.dailynews.com/article/20140701/NEWS/140709992
- $25 to $40 an hour: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-01/threat-of-costly-west-coast-port-shutdown-spurs-pay-talks.html
- $5.25 billion project is making the Panama Canal wider: http://gcaptain.com/mexicos-900-million-mega-container/
- Punta Colonet port: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mexports-pg-photogallery.html
Source URL: https://calwatchdog.com/2014/07/02/will-dockworkers-strike/