West Coast ports facing shutdown in labor dispute

[sheltiedave]

There is no harm in blue collar workers becoming wealthy, as the owners of these shipping and transportation companies have succeeded in doing so.

Many of these longshoremen have a vast bank of technical skills that enable them to complete their job safely, efficiently, and in timely fashion.There are not too many people who can run overhead shiploading cranes, rig chain and wire rope lines, understand where to set transmodals, and do it all safely, while at great personal risk to all involved.

These four stick rigs are no picnic; neither is clambering all over transmodals in every kind of weather, twelve hours a day. Throw in continuous overhead work, working at heights, working in continuous pinchpoints, working with entanglement hazards, handling hazardous materials, and working with shifting heavy loads meet almost ALL of the special pay provisions that unions have.

Just like working as a union painter on the Golden Gate Bridge, there are very few folks eager to work these jobs,.