Consider this, members of the longshore workers and other unions at the Port of Portland who are engaged in what can only be described as "antics" which threaten the viability of shipping in this area and even the entire Pacific Northwest:
When a proud progressive like me, who supports unions, who was strongly against Republican efforts in Wisconsin, Ohio, and elsewhere to cripple unions, who dislikes corporate domination of our nation's economy, reads about what is happening at the Port of Portland and thinks "Those unions are acting absurdly," maybe it's time to calm down and stop auditioning for parts in the Jimmy Hoffa Story.
In Wisconsin it was clear that Governor Scott Walker wanted to destroy public employee unions. If he couldn't kill them entirely, his goal was to make them as lifeless as possible. Fighting back made sense. But I can't figure out why unions are causing so much trouble at the Port of Portland.
A major issue is whether members of one union, longshore workers, handle refrigerated containers rather than members of another union, electricians. Wow, who does two jobs? In two words, who cares? Nobody except unions who are into this "inside baseball" stuff.
And now the longshore workers union is pissing off a major shipping company by incessantly billing them every time an electrician deals with a refrigerated container rather than a longshoreman, even though the shipping company has no control over who does the work.
There's a time to be tough and confrontational. And there's a time to be moderate and conciliatory. It depends on the situation. Sure seems to me like the Port of Portland unions should cool it rather than persist in heating things up.
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