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The "Catastrophic Shutdown Of America's Supply Chain" Begins: Stunning Photos Of West Coast Port Congestion
One week ago, when previewing what may be the first lockout of the West Coast Ports since 2002, we cited the Retail Industry Leaders Association who, realizing that failure to reach an agreement between the dockworker union and their bosses, the Pacific Maritime Association representing port management would lead to devastating consequences for the US retail industry, had several very damning soundbites:
- "a work slowdown during contract negotiations over the past seven months has already created logistic nightmares for American exporters, manufacturers and retailers dependent on an efficient supply chain. A complete shutdown would be catastrophic, with hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk if America’s supply chain grinds to a halt."
- "A west coast port shutdown would be an economic disaster."
- "A shutdown would not only impact the hundreds of thousands of jobs working directly in America’s transportation supply chain, but the reality is the entire economy would be impacted as exports sit on docks and imports sit in the harbor waiting for manufacturers to build products and retailers to stock shelves."
And the punchline: "The slowdown is already making life difficult, but a shutdown could derail the economy completely."
Just so readers have a sense of what is at stake, this is what the average dockworker makes: $147,000 a year in salary, plus $35,000 a year in employer-paid health care and an annual pension of $80,000 (according to an association press release). It is the overtime compensation to the total shown here, which grosses to over a quarter of a million dollars, that dockworkers are negotiating to raise or else the key US supply-chains gets it.
Incidentally, the demands of the dockworker union and their leverage is precisely the reason for the dramatic discrepancy we showed in the following chart:
In any case, as of last night, the choking of the US supply-chain has officially begin, when as the LA Times reported last night, "West Coast ports — including the nation's busiest in Los Angeles and Long Beach — will partially shut down for four days as shipping companies plan to dramatically slash dock work amid an increasingly contentious labor dispute."
More:
Terminal operators and shipping lines said that they would stop the unloading of ships Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, because they don't want to pay overtime to workers who, they allege, have deliberately slowed operations to the point of causing a massive bottleneck. Thursday is Lincoln's Birthday and Monday is Presidents Day, which are holidays for the workers.
Slowing down work "amounts to a strike with pay, and we will reduce the extent to which we pay premium rates for such a strike," said Wade Gates, spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Assn., the employer group representing the shipping companies. The local union in Los Angeles and Long Beach has denied using slowdown tactics.
Accoring to the LA Times, it is not clear if the partial shutdown foreshadows a total closure of the ports. Fears of a lockout of dockworkers, who have been without a contract since July, have risen in the last week and the two sides haven't held talks since Friday. SF Gate was far more clear on what the dockworker action means: "West Coast ports to shut down 4 days amid labor dispute."
Work delays and stoppages over the past three months have caused mounting problems for Bay Area importers and small-business owners, who say they are losing money as trucks line up daily outside the Port of Oakland waiting for container ships anchored in San Francisco Bay to unload.
The shutting down of port operations is ironic because it’ll make the situation worse, said union officials who claimed the association canceled a negotiating session Wednesday and has not been available since last Friday.
“This is an effort by the employers to put economic pressure on our members and to gain leverage in contract talks,” said Robert McEllrath, president of the longshore and warehouse union. “The union is standing by ready to negotiate, as we have been for the past several days.”
Regardless of who is at fault for the (partial) shut down, one can't blame dockworkers for doing what Greece is actively doing at the same time in its own negotiations with Europe: maximizing its leverage. Because as Bank of America showed yesterday, in a piece dedicated precisely to this topic, nothing short of 3.5% of marginal US GDP is at steak, which translated into CAGR terms, means that the fate of America's estimated 3% growth in 2015 is suddenly in the hands of a few thousand port workers, and with that, whether or not the US has a recession.
Some more thoughts from BofA:
Could port activity grind to a halt?
Due to continued unsuccessful contract negotiations between West Coast port employers (Pacific Maritime Association) and workers (International Longshore and Warehouse Union), there is a growing risk of a shutdown/lockout at West Coast docks, possibly within days. This past weekend, ports temporarily halted operations, adding to uncertainty. In our view, although a port strike/lockout could weigh on operations and profitability in some industries, the economic fallout of a one-week strike is likely to be limited to a loss of $0.8-1.8bn, representing a 0.1-0.2% hit to annualized GDP growth in 1Q15.
Size matters
Since the fall, a notable disruption in activity at the ports has materialized, and the risk is the current delays could spiral into full-blown gridlock, or that employers could lock out workers. West Coast ports are an important component of US trade. As cited by our Transportation Analyst Ken Hoexter, the value of total traffic at West Coast ports (waterborne, air and land) accounts for 12% of GDP. However, drilling down specifically to goods arriving/departing by water vessels (and hence, impacted by the labor dispute) reveals a much smaller share, only 3.5% of GDP or roughly $600bn, as of 2014.
Gauging the economy-wide risk during a shutdown
The economic fallout of a port shutdown is challenging to measure and depends heavily on the technique of analysis. Economic impact studies of West Coast port shutdowns have yielded loss estimates as high as $2bn per day. However, analysis by Peter Hall of the University of Waterloo and by the US Congressional Budget Office criticized such techniques as they fail to account for the ability for firms to substitute to alternative transportation routes, resulting in inflated loss estimates. Instead, according to research published by the CBO in 2006, the fallout is likely much lower, roughly $65mn to $150mn per day if Los Angeles and Long Beach ports were to shut down for a week in 2004. To get a sense of what the risks are in today, we gross that figure up to account for higher trade volumes, and include all West Coast ports. Our back of the envelope calculation suggests the daily loss to GDP would be $150-350mn per day, or $0.8-1.8bn per week. That would represent 0.1-0.2% hit to annualized 1Q15 GDP growth.
Learning from the past: short-term pain is likely
If history is any guide, a temporary port shutdown would acutely hurt the trade sector in the short term, but would not threaten to derail the recovery. In 2002, port workers at 29 West Coast ports were locked out for roughly 10 days in October, before President Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act to reopen the ports.
What could go wrong?
We highlight two key scenarios that may lead to greater downside risk relative to our base case:
- A protracted disruption could trigger non-linear (accelerating) economic costs as temporary contingency measures run their course, resulting in worsening supply chain disruptions. President Obama could intervene by invoking the Taft-Hartley Act as was done in 2002, but it is not clear if or how quickly the White House would be willing to step into a labor dispute this time around.
There is uncertainty regarding the capacity of alternative transportation routes. Extensive use of air freight and Canadian/Eastern ports may lead to capacity constraints at those sites, limiting the ability of industry to successfully substitute to alternative supply chains for an extended period.
So the bottom line is that nobody really knows what will happen if the "partial" stoppage becomes a permanent one, as dockworkers try lever their influence on the US economy (which according to financial comedy TV is so strong, it should have no problem to meet their demands, right?), but it is safe to say that the final outcome will be somewhere between the "catastrophic" devastation for the economy which the retail industry predicts, and anywhere up to a 3.5% hit to the GDP, which in turn means an economic recession, if only temporary.
One thing, however, about which there is no doubt at all, is the unprecedented congestion that has slammed the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor: that is very much real, as can be seen on the series of photos below courtesy of Mike Kelley. From his blog:
As anyone who follows my work knows, I'm fascinated by industry and infrastructure. For the past few weeks, a labor dispute has been unfolding at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. After flying over the area while coming in to land at LAX, I saw all of these giant container ships anchored offshore and instantly knew that I had to photograph it.
The next day I called my pilot and said 'when is the soonest we can go up?!' Less than 24 hours later we were in the air. It was one of the most exciting experiences I've had doing aerial photography - being that far out at sea, with the huge swells underneath you, and these massive, massive container ships everywhere was like living a scene out of Walter Mitty's life.
Cargo ships have been backed up for weeks on end at the ports of LA and Long Beach amid a labor dispute.
The size of these ships blows the mind; many of them are over a thousand feet long.
We photographed them from anywhere between 200 and 5,500 feet, and even at this height the enormous size was something else entirely.
The haze and setting sun created an ethereal mood to all of the pictures
Cargoes from around the world are backed up right now
I've never seen ANYTHING like this, even rush hour at the 405 doesn't look so bad.
Colorful and massive, this ship is over 1000 feet from end to end.
From this angle, the scale and size of the city and ships becomes quickly apparent
* * *
Finally keep in mind that to many economists, or at least those who realize that the US economy is in a far worse shape than what official government data represents, an "exogenous" event like a West Coast port strike, just like a "Polar Vortex" is precisely what the doctor ordered. After all, what better scapegoat for the lack of growth than a few thousand dockworkers who are merely leveraging capitalism as much as they can... even if it means shutting down key US economic supply-chains in the process.
h/t @Theonlyexpert
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What is this "American exporters" that he mentions?
and just think... these are just the obamaphone imports.
"$147,000 a year in salary, plus $35,000 a year in employer-paid health care and an annual pension of $80,000 (according to an association press release)."
Fuck the bastards...
That I guess is the bribery fee for helping undercut the rest of the country with cheap import goods.
it's ok for the ships not deliver their goods to the US
as long as the payment is made to china for these goods
in fact, the emerging model of paying for goods that aren't actually delivered promises to significantly improve the US economy
Ya, "port stuffing". Sale is made before goods are landed, so who cares? We can all swim out to pick up those imitation cell phone batteries that last a month.
Obama and his union proxy reminding the Chinese who keeps their workers employed?
Vlad in one ear, Obama in the other ... who gets to suit you!?!?
Regards,
Cooter
Greedy motherfuckers, greedy motherfuckers, whatever.
I have no problem with these dock workers making what they're making. At least they do real work compared to all the money changers who pocket millions and billions while doing nothing but scheming, stealing and fucking over people's lives.
OT, but more catastrophic and only a couple of weeks away.
The internet is about to become Obamacare.
A lot of people need to make a hell of a lot of noise right away..
Good luck.
And the attitude for unions deminishs even more. Plain folks are tired of being shat upon by union greed. Its time to change the laws on unions and hold them accountable for the damage they cause to other folks.
But...but...think of all the economic activity and opportunity to fix this broken window. Bullish for fuckwit cat-stroking economics nerds.
+1 for "port stuffing"
One of the main talking points of free market right-libertarians is that your income is your value to the marketplace. It's very obvious that dockworkers have enormous value to the marketplace is because if they don't show up for work, the supply chain backs up and Zero Hedge calls it "catastrophic". These dockworkers have plenty of leverage so hats off to them and hopefully they can negotitate a salary that better rewards their value to the marketplace.
I'm not being sarc here, I'm being legit. When we have a system completely dependent on offshored jobs and imported goods, the dockworkers bringing in the goods are the most valuable employees to that entire system. Dockworkers should be the highest paying jobs in the country. If dockworker wages become too high, then big corporations might reconsider domestic production as the costs would be the same or lower than importing in from third world sweatshops and coming in through the dock.
Dear me! Having to negotiate a cut in the well-over $200,000 per year in salary & perks for working in a dockyard would be "catastrophic". My heart bleeds for them.
I'm guessing this port backup thingy is going to be very Bullish ... perhaps more Bullish then the plunge in retail sales, broke Middle Class and soaring joblessness.
This has to mean .... BUY MOAR STAWKS!
So who owns the East Coast and/or Canadian ports, and more importantly are they publicly traded? Also, where can I buy options on tonnage fees for the Panama Canal???
Just another thing to add to this Recovery
Layoff List: http://www.dailyjobcuts.com
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and before anyone bitches about the chart comaring union and non union pay rates, put it this way: if you are in that union, your pay is treading water with REAL inflation rate. Non union dockworkers are getting the stealth pay-cut
Prolly a dirty non traceable deal by now:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1590822/posts
Much of this port shutdown is related to who will pay the Obamacare tax on the dockworker's "Cadillac" healthcare plan.
"At the JOC’s TPM conference in March, PMA President James McKenna indicated that negotiators may decide to postpone the issue of who — dockworkers or employers — must pay for an estimated $150 million per year Obamacare tax on the union’s premium health care plan under which employers pay 100 percent of premiums in the ILWU health and dental care plan for members and their families, and union members pay just a $1 co-pay per prescription for medicine. Such “Cadillac” plans are subject to tax under Obamacare. Employers have indicated that a cost-sharing formula can be worked out, while the ILWU, in its traditional “no-give-back” strategy, does not want to pay any taxes on its health care plan. Since the tax takes effect in 2018, some have the idea that by then Congress will change Obamacare to eliminate the tax. If not, the union and employers can revive the issue then as part of a separate negotiation."
http://www.joc.com/port-news/longshoreman-labor/international-longshore-...
The widening of the panama canal is going to cut into the west ports business, so the workers are getting their last chance at squeezing out these rates.
"The project was initially planned to have been completed this year in time for the canal’s 100th anniversary.
Now, construction is expected to be finished in 2015, and the widened canal to open in early 2016, the authority says.
The widening will allow it to handle so-called “Post-Panamax” ships with a capacity of up to 15,000 containers, instead of the current maximum of 5,000.
But the project has been plagued by delays, strikes and a bitter dispute over $1.6 billion in cost overruns with the consortium of companies carrying out the upgrade.
“I don’t think we’ll be seeing another delay between now and completion,” Quijano said.
The consortium, known as GUPC, is led by Spain’s Sacyr."
.....then they'll whine when we switch our business to a Mexican port (just a couple of hours south).
And Mex drivers will do all the trucking !
Really thinking, those guys.
Now imagine 'the big one' hits, there's a tsunami, and all these ships get washed ashore, and the container port gets knocked out of action for 6 months.
Most of the ports are owned by the cities they are in but run by shell companies that are mostly owned by GS and so are shipping companies that the independent truckers drive for and they're paid shit.
This site you have to join but it's free and there are alot of ships seating of the coast of Calli not moving.
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/home
Well, this is one way for TPTB to fight deflation.
BRB - time to fill the back of the pickup with toilet paper.
Used China White?
(sorry)
"One of the main talking points of free market right-libertarians is that your income is your value to the marketplace. It's very obvious that dockworkers have enormous value to the marketplace is because if they don't show up for work, the supply chain backs up and Zero Hedge calls it "catastrophic"."
Yes, but they are using violent coercion, they sabotage by working slower, and prevent more workers from being hired because they want to make another $100K / yr in overtime? If it was a free market, slow workers would get replaced, and if that wasn't a problem, more workers would be hired to keep down overtime and keep up safety and productivity. This in turn would drive wages down, unless there was a labour shortage.
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/shoot-bank-of-america-now-the-case...
David Stockman is a dead man walking...
I think Season 2 of the Wire was severely underrated. And I hope for the sake of the Stevedores, that there aren't any hookers in them containers.
That is hilarious.
Also, the level of hostility and cynicism towards organized labor around here is quite telling.
People striking for safer working conditions is entirely different from having decent pay, and demanding more. They aren't in a sweatshop. Thye work long hours because they are working slowly and prevent more people from being hired.
David Stockman is actually recommending that the corrupt crony-capitalist TBTF banks return to an actual free market capitalist system. This is revolutionary! You're right. He should watch his back.
So union exercising total monopoly power over the labor supply of dock workers is your definition of free market?
SEIU member?
Who are you replying to? The indentation indicates me.
The9thDoctor said that, liberatarian theory says the dockworkers in a free market are more valuable, so they deserve more money, while I countered that it is not a free market, since the workers cannot be fired and prevent new workers from being hired.
Sorry Doc, but this is an example of the abuse of monopoly power exercised by a union.
Of course all monopoly power is eventually dissolved by the market, unless it is enforced by government power (the ultimate monopoly, the monopoly on force).
Assuming the government doesn't interfere, the ports will soon enough be 100% automated because of this abuse by the union and the union brothers can go back to eating government cheese like the rest of the Democrat electorate.
A monopoly is specifically purposed to defeat competition, to create immunity from competition, therefore it CANNOT in any way represent a market value, anymore than a mugger putting a gun to your head, demanding what's in your pocket, defines the value of your life.
While we can comprehend that markets forces are clearing and balancing forces to the economy, we also recognize that our specific failure is our doom, so individually we all seek protection, a monopoly of force in defending our future. Weakness breeds tyranny as tyrant can only rule over us with the cooperation of the masses, either motivated by fear or greed, but never with regard to competition.
Competition is truth and both are under attack,. Both are a threat to TPTB. Both are inarguable and as such must be killed and buried for the good of us all. All being those who rule us, those who live from our labors....ALL.
There is more to it than just the salary. The unions are mostly locked to anyone that is not family. And consider this, Hong Kong has a dockyard that is 10-times bigger than anything in the US. And it is run entirely by something like 6 people sitting at computers. Every container is loaded or off-loaded, moved, sorted, stacked by automation. There is no real-world need for dock workers, anymore, except to just keep them employeed. Pay them for what their high school education is worth -- min wage.
Douchebag.
THIS^^^^^^....and for the impaired: https://www.youtube.com/user/portoflongbeach
I'm not sympathetic here. I've some cousins who are in the dockworkers union over here on the East coast. These guys openly brag about how little they work and how much they get paid. They brag about how they purposefully slow down the line in order to gain extra overtime.
These guys are making 6 figure incomes doing jobs that the free market may pay say 12 to 15 dollars an hour for one to do. I have friends who drive the trucks that haul the containers. They get paid per load so these slow downs take money out of these guys pockets. One of my friends who drives is in a mugshot book they keep of any truckers who get mouthy. Luckily, he grew up with my cousins so they kind of watch out for him, but when they're not around he gets hassled sometimes
A racket enforced with violence does not make a free market. Those who cross the ILA also have a tendency for bad things to happen to them. My trucker friend had his brake lines cut on his personal vehicle. This is all true too.
I have zero sympathy for those extortionists.
There's a big difference between the value of your independent skilled labor, and the ability to band together in a group and create a choke-hold at a vulnerable position. The latter does represent value at all. It's more like when the mafia controlled all the trucking companies bringing food into a city. They create coercion not value.
What these guys do is not so special. Basically they operate heavy machinery. Millions of heavy equipment operators from the construction industry could probably be up to speed at a dockworkers job in about a week. And they would be thrilled to get a job at 1/3 the wage.
Air traffic control is a tougher job, yet look what happened to them:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12292.html
How is it a free market when unions are protected by the government? There goes your bogus talking point of free markets. You're just too easy of a mark
You think that's bad, just think of all the unemployment the union itself is causing by the artificial level of wages...
Shit for brains logic
These dock workers are part of a mafia that does not allow anyone to encroach on their territory. This high wage is not because of the value these jobs bring, which obviously is valuable. It is because they have monopolized the industry. There are plenty of well qualified, employable folks out there who could and would just just as good a job for a lot less money, but they aren't in the good old boys club. No tears shed here for these crooks.
nepotism is the route to one of these jobs so leave the anti libertarian crap at the door.
don't think I get your point?
'market-right' libertarians would say that:
1. yes its a free market for labour
2. yes these longshoremen can demand a $200,000 a year salary
3. salaries that high will attract competition
Where the libertarian ideal falls down is the following:
Government, lobbied by the unions, would prevent 3., or competition in the workplace. If a 20 year old who had good eyes and can learn to use a crane came and said , train me and I will work for $100k a year, why would they not be hired.
The ultimate outcome though will be the following:
Robots will replace the longshoremen over time. Sure a robot might cost $5m, but it can work 24/7, will never strike and only needs to replace 3 workers (3x8hr shifts). Plus the robot can work as effectively at night as day.
In otherwords, in the short term, the dock workers have the economy by the balls, in the long term they've just shafted their entire industry.
Free markets would not contain the force, fraud, intimidation, coercion and extortion tactics utilized by the unions. There is certainly a value to dockworkers' production, but who could know what that truly is? The market cannot be opened to competition for those jobs because of organized labor's tactics. What would happen if the port brought in non-union workers and paid them according to market forces? Meanwhile, there is a potential for great losses for businesses, their employees and the national economy, not to mention the delay in goods to reach those that desire them (or need them). With US manufacturing and exports already in poor shape, what effect does this have on those businesses, jobs and employees? There is no free market. There is crony capitalism and the graft of the powerful.
... Your dockworker price scheme is like paying customs - so why is anybody trading at all?
And why should anybody pay a certain dockworker as high as possible, when he could find anybody on the street doing this job for a little something???
Do not forget: Dockworkers are there because there is trade, its not the trade that is there, because of the dockworkers!
This is the "Giant sucking sound" Ross Perot warned us about....
Great pay, great products. BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche ... all made by proud unionized workers.
These products are now made by ROBOTS.
The trifecta... robots never make mistakes, don't need a smoke break, and never complain.
And who installs, programs and repairs the robots? Engineers in the unions too.
The greed of unions AND corporate sponges AND the FSA is perpetuated, incentivized, subsidized to create this effect. This is about creating enough despair and envy to motivate the masses to support a big government, protect us all from evil, big brother. This is about destruction.
fact is, the unions were targeted by the mafia, and the mafia now is in control of them. Of course, they obey the mobsters above them who are not in their little mafia. There are much bigger killers than the little mafia. Notice how john gotti got mouth cancer after he talked in some committee about how he is just small potatoes compared to the drug dealing us govt. Oooops, I bet they didnt even provide him with proper pain meds. Rough crowd !
"When you're born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front row seat" — George Carlin
Quick three observations
First: In the end stages of a failing system those connected to the credit-boosted sectors will be living well, while those on the outside will suffer what they must.
Second: In how critical overseas trade is to sustain the dollar and America lifestyle.
Third: 500 hundred years of Anglo-Saxon pillage and looting (labeled capitalism to the masses while exploiting them) is coming to an ugly and brutal end; and very soon, leaving war and popular protest to plunder whatever is left.
So, enjoy from now all the superficiality and shallowness, offered as solutions.
woah such an awesome post!
"500 hundred years of Anglo-Saxon pillage and looting (labeled capitalism to the masses while exploiting them) is coming to an ugly and brutal end"
rarely seen truth spoken! love it!
Hey!
Fair return for figuring out what to do with all that coal and oil that was just sitting in the ground doing nothing.
"Its time to change the laws on unions and hold them accountable for the damage they cause to other folks"
I'll back that AFTER we "hold accountable" all of those fucking executives that bankrupt companies and walk with millions...and AFTER we "hold accountable" all those fuken bankers that fucked over so many people, and trillions of dollars, it's mind boggling...fuken square right...after we take of those motherfuckers, then we can go after the unions...
Well without unions, I know where the strength lays.
Read up on the Westminster system lest you return to chains and whips.
You have no idea what you are talking about. The FCC only want to classify the Internet as a Utility, which it is. There is no Gucci Internet and Walmart Internet, there is only Internet.
Utility is a measurement of scarcity. There is no scarcity to Internet access, none. (Though Comcast and Time Warner would love to manufacture scarcity to charge you more for the same thing you already have today.) Go back to posting on FoxNews or MSNBC, Those are the places where the stupid people hang out.
You obviously have never paid for premium internet access. The difference in service level agreements, time to repair on outages, ability to get static addresses, superior upload speeds, no port blocks, and legal use of servers or any other activity on your local net makes a difference.
If it ain't broke don't "fix" it.
If it ain't broke overload it with regulation and tax it.
Fixed it for ya.
your welcome.
You have obviously not paid attention to what government interventioin does to anything.....
Thanks for that link.
I'd settle for the silence of abandonment.
I'd settle for less comments from muppets on a global basis.
The signal to noise ratio is rapidly approaching zero.
Right away? I need to return some videotapes.
That is amazing news at that link. Thank you for posting.
I also have no "problem" with them earning WHATEVER they earn per year.
My problem is, that these Unionized Cry-baby Motherfuckers will threaten PHYSICAL HARM to peopole who are ABLE and WILLING to work those same Docks for less.
Look at the anualized chart again for pay increases - Its several times higher than GDP - which means its UNSUSTAINABLE which means its UNREASONABLE and which also means ITS GOING TO FAIL.
Fire the Unions, and let competitive employment have its way...if the workers dont like the pay, they can leave. Most of the ones that would be willing to work for less than $250,000 per year now are alreadyn unemployed, so it they dont like $20 or $30/hr, they can return to unemployment, otherwise STFU! Bitchez!
Why don't you shut the fuck up? Or if you want to keep vomiting show me where you have complained about what anyone with a fucking suit and tie or a license charges people. Last time I was at the dentist it came to over $1000 per hour. My lawyer gets $350 per hr. How much do you suppose those insurance company execs get per hour? The damned doctor and hospital execs charge people several thousand per hour. CEO's of any half assed corporation start at what, $20,000 per hour? Ball players and TV personalities get paid probably much more yet, and for fucking what? Making you laugh? I say all you jealous mf'ers should think about it some. Sure unions shouldn't be entitled to gov't protetion, but then neither should the suit and tie assholes. And don't tell me they aren't...
nah, dey be skeemin' too bro', try to get yosef' in dat line a' woik, see wut ah meen...
http://www.zerohedge.com/comment/reply/501814/5776108#comment-5776108
You wouldn't be talking about these guys that are compensated for what comes out of their mouths would you?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/29/benefits-members-congress-shabby/
http://www.senate.gov/CRSReports/crs-publish.cfm?pid=%270E%2C*PL%5B%3D%23P%20%20%0A
http://hobnobblog.com/congress-by-the-numbers/pay-and-perquisites-of-members-of-congress-including-a-history-of-house-and-senate-salaries/
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB126092430041092995
Oh forgot to research Obozo and his package
Yep,,, Clowns to the left of me,,, jokers to my right and here I am stuck in the middle again.
I can't be the only one who thinks it's ironic that the "Catastrophic Shutdown....." posting is so close to the
"Business Inventories Grow At Slowest Pace Since May 2013" posting.7th photo down are tractors incoming with containers to deliver to port (a few of the tractors have empty beds). They look parked. The road coming in from the middle right edge of the photo is the off ramp from the highway. There are a few trucks on the right side which have not yet parked, you can tell due to the spacing. I notice in the photo there is no sign of anyone standing around their rigs, or the cars parked in the lot near the lanes.
IMO this photo shows either a typically busy day at the intake gates or a result of work slowdown at the incoming gates. If the drivers are there, they are napping in their rigs.
Nailed it Anti...great way to lay off overpaid, unnecessary union workers...make them lay themselves off...stupid fucks...
Cant agree more...and being a business owner, who DOES NOT PAY minimum wage, and who pays a fair reasonable better than average pay to my workers, I can attest to having been A$$-fucked by Union workers at projects forcing me to hire iron-workers who were Overpaid 2-3X, did LESS work, did LOWER QUAILITY work, just because some other contactor used the Union at the same job.
My Profit - NEGATIVE so that I could pay for shitty work...sad thing is, the younger Union workers get very little of that pay...much of the Pension payment is given to the older bucks, and some of the Foremen and Level III "Jouroneymen" may $75-$80/hr WHILE THEY ARE "Partially Retired"
Fucking Bullshit...Premadonas who think they have the right to tell ther person who writes the check, how to run their business.
Fuck every last one of them.
The unions showed their true colors when they started negotiating two-tier pay structures for union members. The oldtimers on the auto assembly line get their $25/hr with primo benefits while the new hires doing the exact same work get $12 with crap benefits. Puts the lie to the whole concept of the Fraternal Brotherhood crap the unions love to mouth.
"Ya, "port stuffing""
Oh SNAP!
Next up: Black Friday shoving matches at Wal-Mart, Fri-Thu.
p.s. You gonna need a bigger port.
deleted duplicate.
Already having a major impact. Dollar stores all reporting severe shortages of yellow rubber ducks
Do they still have black swans?
There's about 8 ships total, just photos from different angles.
Reminds me of the car graveyard bullshit post http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-16/where-worlds-unsold-cars-go-die
Okay, I captured a step-by-step zoom guide of at least one instance I have personally seen, where there are brand spankin new cars being stored in the last couple of years, in a place that did not facilitate a parking lot in years past.
As seen on the northeastern end of the Benicia bridge, CA:
http://oi59.tinypic.com/2iu3yg.jpg
http://oi59.tinypic.com/35lzvy8.jpg
http://oi60.tinypic.com/2nlae7p.jpg
http://oi59.tinypic.com/2zexxqg.jpg
http://oi62.tinypic.com/2ly0itx.jpg
http://oi62.tinypic.com/2lrlnb.jpg
http://oi61.tinypic.com/161er05.jpg
These cars are not being shipped. They just sit there. Further, I have seen at least two non-car-related parking lots stuffed with brand new cars while taking the train through this region.
...
Hey if the Chinese supposedly build empty cities,,, we can build owner-less cars!
Here is Belmont Racetrack (kinda famous) pics from 2009, 2012 and to google maps most recent:
http://aeroimaginginc.photoshelter.com/image/I0000Bnh0C_nLSXA (top right corner)
http://aeroimaginginc.photoshelter.com/image/I0000R5CB5.tXclI (top left)
http://www.americasbestracing.net/en/the-latest/blogs/2012/09/21/bunnys-best-dressed-august-belmont,-jr/ (2012 top right)
and recent
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Belmont+Park+Race+Track/@40.717816,-73.7215137,268m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c263b0b829ab9d:0xb446511397a3016
Kids were arrested for stealing rims and hubs from the new cars in Dec.:
http://7online.com/news/arrests-made-in-tire-and-rim-thefts-at-belmont-t...
What will the Chinese say if they simply tell the ships to return the crap back to China?
lol...'car graveyard bullshit post' that's a good one...hahaha. Seriously though, you're claiming these places don't exist? That's a larf...
I laughed at the car article but this is pretty spot on. Anything Panamax or less is being routed to the U.S. East Coast as 60% of the cargo is bound for places east of the Rockies. The problem is many of these vessels are post Panamax meaning they are too large to use the canal. The Panama Canal was supposed to be enlarged by 2014 to accommodate these vessels (the decision being made after the last strike), but they are way behind schedule. Disclaimer: have worked in shipping for the last 20 years.
Look at marinetraffic.com and find the west coasts ports.
Buffett's organization buys trains
This strike is really a ploy by the Feral Reserve to cause rapid inflation due to shortages which will thus boost consumer spending.
That almost makes sense in the New Normal.
Without a boost in disposable money (earned or borrowed from the future) there can be no inflation. Velocity is in the toilet too, so no help there. Just look at retail sales and the lack of uptick from lower gas prices. At this point the only thing that will make a difference is something that will reduce the debt overhang or increase income, but either will blow up the economy as a whole.
You cannot have a middle class without middle class jobs no matter how much you pretend and hope,,, unless you change the order!
The NWO
First the Oligarchs, Kings and Queens. The upper middle class are the CONgress Critters, Supremos, and Dictator in Chief (earnings before bribes). The new middle class is our hard working government employees. The lower middle class are those hard working immigrants we didn't invite. The old middle class are now the servant industry and finally, in a blurred line, come the homeless.
And that's why it's called a Catch 22!!!
There isn't way out, no matter what direction you look!
no no no...they will "tweak" the numbers so that the doubling of prices is taken into account, but not the fact that only HALF the amount of stuff was bought and sold...
They will preach the "PRICE not VOLUME" mantra...
c'mon, get on board with the fuck-a-numbers game...Its ALL GOOD!
Dow 20,000 by summer. shouldnt be, but will be.
That's already reality, and has been for quite a few years. Rather than raise the price on goods, the packaging has generally been modified to sell less at the same price. Same concept, WAY more deceptive in practice.
The Zimbabwe stock market was also the best performing market in the world. Nominally that is. Bring on Dow 100K, because we will be that much closer to the end game.
Well the potemkin village needs a port, doesnt't it?
...with money that nobody has
OHHH NOES, what will I do without my Chinese plastic....
Look on the bright side. The 710 Freeway should be smooth sailing
By the time the ECB proves impotent the Fed chopper and printing press will be ready for more action.
Do not worry any moar.
they better hurry, the natives are gettin' restless ... they already learned an education aint worth sh*t, so try again ... straight sugar you motherfuckers, none of that watered down street stuff...
Tea, ... anyone?
"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need..." TD
I did a double take at those numbers as well!!!! But you are right, we literally shipped our jobs overseas! I remember reading an article that our chickens will be grown here, ut shipped to China for packaging and processing and then shipped back. What kind of crazy supply chain is that. It is like they are deliberatly destroying the American job market. We all know the real economy sucks (except for these dockworkers)! It will all come crashing down sooner or later.
Protect your wealth and buy silver. The dominos are falling at an increasing rate. I do not believe our current financial system makes it out of the decade. Silver will, however. It has been used as money for thousands of years. One way to get someone interested in silver are these candles with silver coin prizes: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ScentSavers?ref=hdr_shop_menu (of course tehy are made in America!)
This crazy bizaro system cannot go on forever!
Ha! Funny!
Silver is a good way to lose your wealth as it is highly volatile and is dependent on a rigged game. Good luck to those who get caught up in that foolish investment. Even if there is a "collapse" you'll find out quickly how much your 1 oz bars are worth... nothing. No one wants chunks of metal. If you don't believe me try buying items from people in your community with your silver stash. If people aren't willing to accept silver when it is a "good deal" right now, what makes you think they will accept it in a crisis?
One of the defintions of "money" is "medium of exchange". In today's society, the vast majority of Americans have no idea in the world what silver is worth, so how could it be a medium of exchange? It isn't.
In today's society, the vast majority of Americans have no idea what almost anything is worth (value), but know only a price (in green tickets). I have a hunch that understanding value will be a growing trend.
anyone that doesn't know the value of real money wont be around when the time comes we need to trade using silver or other tangibles. and even if they would be around, what would they have to offer that any of us would be interested in? dollars?
Exactly. The average kabob seller in the souk has a better grasp of market fundamentals than 99% of US congresstools. Human beings actually understand markets on an on a deep cultural/instinctive level which is why, when the matrix breaks, you will see little kids running conversions between gold, silver, liquor, amoxycillin, and .22LR, in their heads, on the fly, and on a running spot. Why? Survival.
Primo Levi wrote most eloquently about how, in the chaos following the fall of Berlin, the market place was the first civilized function to return spontaneously to the devastated villages and towns of Europe.
Levi also wrote about how those who couldn't adapt to the reality of life during total war and chaos would literally sit down, give up, and die. During the death throes of the AZ Empire, giving up may mean riding the bus. what would they have to offer that any of us would be interested in?
It's amazing how many people simply cannot conceive of a world outside Wolf Blltzer on TV, and "ready for hillary". You have to have lived through the shit, or read enough history, or heard the stories from people who did, to Get It.
Your silver will trade, your fetzen won't.
You are right! Money needs to be a medium of exchange. Silver already is right now. I’m sure you could find many people who would be glad to trade with you in silver if you asked around. Places like auctions, yard sales, and gun shows will be certain to have people accepting gold and silver as payment. It isn’t as popular as it should be (and will be after a collapse). I know that if I have something that someone wants, I won’t be accepting a piece of paper once the dollar confidence is gone. That is why I’m trying to educate and spread real money now, so people aren’t left with absolutely nothing!
I give points for payment in Wagon Wheels. :~))
Where's the ISIS Swift Boat when you need one?
I can go without for a while, certainly longer than they can.
That makes you one of them turrerest preppers.
I'd fire every one of em like Reagan did.
Current pres will have a beer summit with the head union guy and grant control of the port to the union leadership.
This will be known as Fairness.
I think you're likely to be surprised by the outcome of this one, Mike.
He would have done that back when he was pretending to be all populist an shit. Whats more likely to happen now is all the shipping companies will "go out of business" and reconstitute with different names. Then they hire Illegals for $8 p/hr. through a temp agency. The dockworkers all go on unemployment for 99 weeks before switching over to disability.
26 weeks now.
These would be premium jobs paying $10, $11 an hour in the "new economy" - until they organize and strike.
Your scenario raises the question: woud the labor movement as a whole have the ability to stop this? Before the PATCO strike I would have said yes.
Preppins nothing but a catchy name given to common sense. But I think I seen your name on that list too.
Common sense is for terrorists too.
They should get paid by the container...there would NEVER be a backlog.
I pick vegetables and fruit for a living. I endorse this message*
* paid for by free market economy
If one listens, one can hear all the UBS MD's submitting their resumes as we speak.
A few may make this wage but from http://www.careerbliss.com/ilwu/salaries/longshoreman/
$56K Longshoreman Average Salary at International Longshore & Warehouse Union (1 salary) +$12K (24%) more than national average Longshoreman salary ($44K) +$15K (30%) more than average International Longshore & Warehouse Union salary ($41K) most of the time the wages are the very top and few actually get it.You are taking a national average (ex bonus, overtime, pension & benefits) to argue that the richest shits at the top of that little pyramid should get richer and MOAR overpaid???
So when Lloyd Blankfein comes out and argues that because the average banker in Hicksville makes Jack's shit, and GS Squidlets need a pay raise to cover NYC rent, you are going to publicly support it, right???
yea, $147,000 /yr + benefits...fuck, fire every last one of them. There are millions looking for jobs.
<-- hang the bankers
<-- hang the dockworkers
<-- Hang 'em all and let God sort them out.
<-- Hang the people who make these straw polls.
These straw polls allow me to express my opinion in an argumentum ad populum sort of way.
-->Hang the bankers
-->Decapitate the neocon corporatists with guillotines.
--> Fuck Vicky Nuland
--> Bitch slap Lindsey Graham, Bill Clinton, and Bono (1 2 3 - right down the line)
Why is there no option for both?
Same approach should be applied to all executives at companies that are being ran into the ground in the name of The Shareholder View.
Don't forget Solyndra but you have to start at the very top
Yea,, Fire them...
Oh by the way, anyone know where to apply.
There's a line for years for those plugs.
Anyone who says they work hard, is full of shit. It's your typical labor job, with a lot of paid downtime. Why do you think that line is eternal?
Now the union has the upper hand. Until now, the slowdown was a manageable headache. This sends the situation south, and the employers will be blamed. They will be seen to have made it worse when it was still possible to recover fairly easily. Until now, this would have all been about greedy union workers.
I don't see the logic here. Shippers are largely unable to distinguish "management issues" from "labor issues". We pretty much understand that it takes two to reach an agreement (or not).
I love your name juggalo. I know a juggalo named jersey john who dp-ed a gross fat chic with a skinny black guy named Larry. Jersey took the coot and Larry took the butt according to the juggalo. Later bro.
That means the management is phoning it in from their yachts in that case... oh, wait.
"Fuck the bastards..."
Yea fuck the dock workers...Only the executive staff gets to have 6 figure incomes and bennies...after all they do all the real work. Oh yea and there really needs to be enough for all the share holders to get there cut because after all their money is REALLY working hard.
Check out the bennies your CONgress critters get for making us enemies of the state, soon needing passports to fly from one state to the next and the biggie,,, make citizens disappear without trial or warrant.
$180, 000 per year before corporate 'gifts'. Free lifetime pensions, 100% Medical (no O-Care for them) and all that free blow not to mention the blow... jobs.
Yea, F**k those union dockworker bastards. Who do they think they are!
Appears they think they are CONgress critters or at least no better then them.
More power to 'em!
The "battle" between capital and labor is a bad joke, so I don't understand the pitchforks.
"Public" unions...that's a whole 'nuther ball game.
Yea, they should be part time, minimum wage with SNAP, HUD ,EBT and ObamaCare with only social security like everyone else.
Bastards!