Washington Post of 2/1/13...

Rocky Bay

This past Wednesdays Washington post has an article about dockers (longshoremen in America) and their unions. "Lessons from the longshoremen" by Harold Meyerson. Possible link at : www.washingtonpost/editorials.com

Tabnabs

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harold-meyerson-averted-port-strike-holds-lessons-for-all-workers/2013/01/01/3befd548-5393-11e2-bf3e-76c0a789346f_story.html

is the direct link.

When you see the wages of professional seafarers eroding but yet having many of the same strengths that the US Dockers have

The four reasons dockworkers make what they do are, first, there are so few of them; second, they’re highly skilled and productive; third, their work can’t be relocated; and, fourth, they’ve had powerful unions.

it's a little difficult to feel sympathy for the article...

Rocky Bay

Thanks for providing the link.

seanmacc

When I lived in the sates (in Vancouver WA) I used to drink with a couple of Longshoremen. I tried to get in on their racket and it was very possible to do so but very hard for Joe foreigner like myself. The first thing you have to do is be unemployed and attend the unemployment office. From there you can apply to join the longshoremans union. Without being a member of the union you haven't a hope of getting work down there. From there you just show up every morning around 4-5am where you may get picked for casual work you could be showing up for weeks without getting a days pay out of them as casual work placement is allocated to people who have been showing up the longest. After a number of weeks of casual work you can apply through the union to be put on the waiting list for full time employment provided some of the union managers reckon you are in anyway good. A Full time Longshoreman can expect to earn upwards of $80,000 after a couple of years service.

Where my problem lay is that the Port of Vancouver Washington required that all employees working in the port were US citizens for security reasons post 911. A green card was not enough. The Port of Portland Oregon would of allowed me to work there (It was only 25 mins drive from where I was living) but I would of had to be attending an Unemployment Office in Oregon. Sadly my dreams of money for old rope were smashed.

Cookie_Monster

Tabnabs article wrote: »

third, their work can’t be relocated;

but of course it can. It's happened recently in NZ. Auckland workers went on strike so the operations moved to Tauranga which is cheaper to offload in anyway and Auckland has not recovered despite eventually solving the strike.