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Omaha Steve

(99,720 posts)
Sat Feb 14, 2015, 01:07 PM Feb 2015

Labor secretary to press 2 sides in West Coast port dispute

Source: AP-Excite

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Barack Obama is sending his labor secretary to California to meet with both sides in a contract dispute that has affected the flow of goods from Asia into West Coast ports.

A White House spokesman, Eric Schultz, said the president is getting Secretary Tom Perez involved because of concerns about the economic consequences of further delays.

Perez's mission is to meet with the parties and press them to quickly settle their differences at the negotiating table.

The waters off Los Angeles, Oakland and Washington state's Puget Sound have become parking lots for dozens of ships awaiting space at the docks.

FULL story at link.



Container ships wait at the dock to be unloaded at the Port of Oakland Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. Companies that operate marine terminals didn't call workers to unload ships Thursday that carry car parts, furniture, clothing, electronics, just about anything made in Asia and destined for U.S. consumers. The partial lockout is the result of an increasingly damaging labor dispute between dockworkers and their employers. The two sides have been negotiating a new contract, and stalled talks have all but paralyzed 29 ports that handle about one-quarter of U.S. international trade, around $1 trillion worth of cargo annually. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150214/us--port_labor-3fbdb57ea7.html

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Labor secretary to press 2 sides in West Coast port dispute (Original Post) Omaha Steve Feb 2015 OP
There is an episode of the West Wing... iandhr Feb 2015 #1
Can't stop those Chinese goods, err Asian goods, from getting to Wal-Marts all over America!!!!! fasttense Feb 2015 #2
What a mess! SoapBox Feb 2015 #3

iandhr

(6,852 posts)
1. There is an episode of the West Wing...
Sat Feb 14, 2015, 01:12 PM
Feb 2015

… where Bartlett clashes with the trucking industry management and Teamsters.

There was the possibility of a strike. The President treated management with nationalization and labor with military conscription.


I know it's fiction but it was still good writing.

 

fasttense

(17,301 posts)
2. Can't stop those Chinese goods, err Asian goods, from getting to Wal-Marts all over America!!!!!
Sat Feb 14, 2015, 02:25 PM
Feb 2015

Nothing like a good labor dispute to take the opportunity to crush the remnants of the American Unions.

China is really upset. If we want China to continue to fund our elections and buy up our justices, we better tell the few Union stragglers to kowtow and accept lower wages and benefits. It's the American way. Capitalism over all.


SoapBox

(18,791 posts)
3. What a mess!
Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:34 PM
Feb 2015

And I certainly blame both sides in this issue for being stubborn and stupid.

I live within minutes of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach...they need to get this stuff moving again.

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