Don’t the unions lock in the “innovative/smart” people with the “mediocre” ones ?
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IIRC, things such as soybeans are shipped bulk rather than in containers and so the longshoremen are not involved. Similarly, gas and oil exports.
DB2
Not really.
The “innovative/smart” people" rise to union leadership. The difference is they’re working to better the pay & benefits for their union brothers and sisters, rather than for “The Man”.
“Right to work” states tend to be poorly educated, have lower life expediencies, and more murder & suicide. Hard to understand why anyone would aspire to that. I’m assuming it gets back to the poorly educated thing.
intercst
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The $39/hour isn’t their only compensation.
If you read the Master Contract, there’s a section on “Container Royalty Distributions”. This goes to a slush fund that greatly increases Longshoremen’s incomes, but most of it goes to union members with longer tenure. People get paid from 2 or 3 different sources.
There’s was a post over on Reddit that explains this. A Foreman can earn $350,000/yr with his eyes closed with a lot of that being “Work-from-home” time. Also a big business in enticing young ladies into the union with the promise of extraordinary pay & benefits. It sounds like a P. Diddy production.
If I can find the post, I’ll add the link.
Here’s a report from the New York Port Commission that outlines the same.
{{ “The hearings revealed that the hiring, training and promotion practices of the industry led to low-show jobs, favoritism and nepotism, the abusive and illogical interpretation of collective bargaining agreements, and the impact of those practices both on the competitiveness of the Port and on the morale and career prospects of decent, hard-working Port employees,” according to the report. “Connected individuals are awarded high paying, low-show or no-work special compensation packages, in some cases earning salaries in excess of $500,000. Such positions were overwhelmingly given to white males connected to organized crime figures or union leadership.” }}
intercst
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I’m not quite that old…but didn’t the farmers just let the grapes pile up in storage when the couldn’t get them shipped? They sort of smooshed themselves and fermented.
And it became more valuable!
Mike
Wow, it is rare that I am this pleased from being so utterly wrong.
A tentative agreement was reached “on wages” and extending “the Master Contract until January 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues,” the ILA and USMX said in a joint statement Thursday evening.
“Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume,” the statement read.
Massive win for the current admin, even if they had zero to do with it.
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The strike is over as expected.
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We could deport the immigrants and stop exporting and importing.
Why not it works in over 169 other nations around Mars. Elon will get us there.
Well, there’s a little more to it. First you need to get a giant vat and load in the grapes. Then you have to get Lucy Ricardo …
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…with her wonderful “feet as big as large pizzas,” to stomp grapes, get exasperated, and then get into a fight in the vat.
d fb
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Delighted to read this a.m. they have a tentative agreement and the strike is ended.
The pres put everything on collective bargaining and seems to have a win. No doubt lots of pressure behind the scenes on both sides to work it out.
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If I read correctly, the strike is just suspended until January. The automation question is a thorny one.
DB2
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By then, all the panicky animals will have used up the toilet paper they just hoarded.?
Steve
Unions are going to give up or compromise on this. The union demand of “no automation” is a non-starter, even WH said, they are not going to be involved in that negotiation.
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Recession avoided!!! The market moved up by 1%
I thinks fears of recession are still out there. Earnings numbers for many consumer products are not so good. The economy continues to slow. How long will rate cuts take to kick in? Is it too late already? Investors seem to be waiting for news.
They seem to think tech stocks are fully valued, maybe over valued. Possible to pick up the falling knives from consumer businesses if you get it right but risky.
Maybe we are waiting for election results. Not clear which winner is best for investments. And who controls Congress.
I think we can understand wait and see. In another month we will know.
is not a strong indicator to me. Other things matter more. Or is it that investors continue to find reasons to worry?
Not at all. Actually the risk is inflation coming back or staying above 2%. Don’t let DLTR, DG or WBA cloud your views. They all have their own issues. I was looking at HD, LOW, both at all time high and at the cusp of a major breakout.
Consumer is resilient, employed, feeling rich (markets, home high) and spending.
Here is Savita Subramanian of BAC today calling US economy in “goldilocks”
- Stock prices at all-time highs
- Housing prices at all-time highs
- Gold prices at all-time highs
- Bond/cash yields at 4-5%
- Unemployment rate at 4.1%
- Inflation rate 2.5%
- This is about as good as it gets
- Enjoy it while it lasts
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Goldman upped their SP500 target to 6300… Just saying. Don’t be too bearish. Dance until the music stops.
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I think at this time most investors agree with you. But that can change in an instant.
I think many investors are holding cash due to uncertainty. I’m not one of them. I have little or no cash and only a small chunk of bonds–abt 1.2% highest in quite a while.
Why are the earnings numbers not so good? Is it because the “shortage” narrative that was leveraged to gouge customers in 21-22 doesn’t work anymore, because there isn’t any “shortage”? (tangentially related, notice how quick the media tried to promote the “shortage” narrative and related “rising prices” narrative wrt the longshoremen strike?) Is that same loss of “shortage” related pricing power responsible for the moderation of inflation?
Steve