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45,000 International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) dockworkers now on strike,
#14
I would like to opine here.

We can, and will, apply our local political theatrical flavor on this.  That's normal. 

People often fall back to the talking heads when any larger-scale event impacts everyone across a large swath...

The talking heads - in a world not driven by bank think-tanks and 'business' marketers - could enlighten us, if they didn't have a fixed framework defining their ideas. 
Most of them have that element of bias. 
They can't speak to the issues without supporting their base, and or attacking their antagonists. 
So we get public narratives of drama, hyperbole and emotions.

Most of us can only assume that we "know" what the dockworkers gripes truly are.  "We" don't really know how they have had to deal with rampant inflation, unyielding resistance to pleas for relief, the never-ending push driving them into "more" productivity for equal 'cost to employers,' not to mention their own limitation of having to endure their 'collective leadership' choosing exactly how to represent them. 

It's not just 'similar' to political theater, it's eerily 'identical.'

A strike is a form of aggression. It's a line drawn in the sand... a formal declaration hiatus to resolve conflict of interest. 
And the end of a strike is always characterized as a 'surrender' or 'victory' by public militant types. 

Ideally, resolution of a strike is a compromise.
A compromise is a guarantee that both sides of a disagreement are dissatisfied with the result, where neither side is unacceptably victimized by it.

These are two businesses fighting.  The two businesses are those of 'collective bargaining representation' and the business of 'representing for-profit enterprise.' 
Their fight is leveraged against pain and suffering inflicted on mostly consumers, tax-payers, and citizens. 
Isn't that convenient for them? 
For the Union, it's about "their collective supporting them"... for the business it's about "not making as much profit as they could otherwise."

In a a world where 'for-profit' is literally expected to shunt their increased costs to the consumer, it will always lead to opportunistic profiteering... here come the retailers, and associate service providers... smacking their lips, and licking their chops... this is GOOD for them... it happens every time.

I would suggest jettisoning the impulse to attribute the problem to individual 'personalities of the political persuasion' and theatrical assignments of "those people."

We ALL need food, materials, products that we get from trade. 

Dockworkers ostensibly chose to stop working because they are at the end of their patience with the status quo "business." 
I really don't know how that 'reasonable,' nor can I say the employers "collective" practices in managing this are "reasonable.'

Whatever the Union says about management... don't listen.
Whatever management says about the Union... don't listen.

If we had journalists anymore we could expect them to provide the facts... but we don't... they only provide theater now.
If we had a sober government we could expect them to provide facts... but we don't... they only exploit theater now.

All I know is that the price of goods is very likely to rise, and the economic noose of survival will be tightening.

You can be sure politicians will "use this" on their stage.

PS - If you practice Christmas... start early this year.
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Messages In This Thread
RE: 45,000 International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) dockworkers now on strike, - by Maxmars - 10-01-2024, 05:31 PM

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