The massive U.S. port strike has begun - eviltoast
  • callouscomic@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    It’s 20 years ago all over again?

    War in the middle east and strikes galore. I keep getting older but the problems stay the same, yes they do, yes they do.

    • FenrirIII@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      To be fair, there’s always shit happening in the Middle East and rich business owners fucking over labor.

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        And we should be glad unions are still strong enough to strike.

        If we ever stop seeing strikes, that’s a bad thing for that industry.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Be prepared for Vance to hammer Walz over this strike tonight. I am hoping he’s prepared for it. He probably is though.

    • Kbobabob@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      How would Walz be more complicit than Vance? Neither are in office currently. I mean I’m sure Vance will roll all of the Biden admins decisions on top of Walz to try to make something stick.

      • TotesIllegit@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        If there’s anything to learn from US politics for the past, well, forever, it’s that some politicians and voters don’t let the truth interfere with their narrative or perceived reality.

        Springfield, Ohio is probably the best evidence of that.

  • AnyProgressIsGood@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    One of their demands is stiflingly automation which I can’t get behind. That’s a stupid way to eliminate efficiency

    • baru@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      That’s a stupid way to eliminate efficiency

      In case of port/terminal automation the workers usually do not benefit. So it seems pretty understandable that they’re against it.

      In Europe there’s way more automation. Still, workers often tried to prevent it.

      • AnyProgressIsGood@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Progress is gonna happen regardless of how much they want to slow it down

        It only hurts everyone else to make that demand

      • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        Demands against automation are just as stupid as the Hollywood unions demands against AI. It’s a get on board or get run over situation.

          • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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            1 month ago

            AI has already been getting used increasingly on even quality movies. The good parts get renamed like ADR.

            Letting the tools run wild will lead to bad results, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in future productions.

        • laranis@lemmy.zip
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          1 month ago

          They’re using the leverage they have which is exactly what unions are for. They can’t, for example, lobby effectively for UBI or universal healthcare. So they do the next best thing.

          If these people, or any people, thought for a second that automation would make their lives and the lives of their families better they would be for it. If you want progress people will need to be a part of it, not a victim of it.

          That’s probably wishful thinking, that last part.

          • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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            1 month ago

            Unions have limited leverage, using it to stop automation is like fighting the tide. They should be arguing for training for positions running the automated cranes, priority in hiring for new positions, job placement assistance, tuition reimbursement, or other things to help employees.

    • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Well if you don’t realize in today’s world you are either useful in a way dictated by vastly wealther people or you starve. So in a world with literally zero global compassion (meaning those in power who are in charge of keeping us safe) will cast you aside for an extra buck. If automation and innovation ment the emancipation of all humans to chase their passions, yes I’m all for it. But it’s not. The change is to fire the workers to increase profits. That doesn’t help anybody.

        • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          That’s what they said 100 years ago and it got a little bit better but it’s far worse than even those people would have thought. If you think those in power won’t drive everyone of a cliff to make a buck you are in for a surprise. Wealthy people are literally planning to escape earth over giving up any money or power. I’m not doom spiraling I just want more people to wake up and stand up for their fellow humans before it’s too late.

          • AnyProgressIsGood@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            If it becomes a non fictional issue it’ll reach a tipping point

            As of now as then it’s a bit of a Boogeyman. If it grows passed that things will have to change

    • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Fully depends on the way automation is done. But mostly it is to drive wages down and leave the employees left in less safe conditions and doing the very hard jobs which are hard to or cannot be automated wearing them out faster. Just as supporting roles get more pressure with also less means to succeed in their jobs and more stress.

  • baru@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    A salary maximum (as per the article) of 79k USD per year seems low. This as the accident rate amongst longshoremen can be significantly higher than average. It’s often not reported on enough (at least in Europe) but significant injuries and deaths happen often enough. This partly because (obviously) a mistake has way more consequences on a terminal vs e.g. working in an office.

    • Car@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      The pay ranges from $20 an hour for junior employees to around $38 an hour for senior employees. Add in overtime and some people push $200k per year.

      Nobody is really capped at $79k yearly

  • Geobloke@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    Simple, this action will make things more expensive for anything that comes in through a port and will bank things up that go out through a port. The flip side is that Walz will say that Vance doesn’t understand the working class man. Especially as an ‘elite.’