Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of weeks, you’ve seen there are some major, major things going on in this country! As thin as our Paychecks are stretched already, some of those major things could make it even worse. What’s going on, and what impact will it have?
Here are Five Fast Facts on recent possible transportation disasters:
- ✊ Strike Threat - There’s a big kerfuffle between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), representing about 85,000 dock workers, and the US Maritime Alliance, representing port management. The ILA demanded huge increases in pay and other goodies under threat of walking off the job from ports across the East Coast and Gulf Coast.
- 💰 Poor, Poor Workers (Not Really) - Never mind the fact that the typical longshoreman’s pay exceeds $100k per year – and about a third of them make over $200k – and also ignore the fact that the ILA’s president earned about $900k last year…they demanded a 77% raise! That’s probably way less than your last raise, right?
- 🤯 Who Cares? - Pretty much everyone in the country. Our ports bring in almost half of all cargo and products that come into the country. A strike would mean container ships sitting offshore with no one to unload them, and none of those products make it to customers. That’s probably why the ILA president threatened, “I will cripple you.” A strike is predicted to cost the US economy almost $4 billion per week. #livingthedream
- 🤝 Resolution…Kind Of - Well over half of the country wanted the government to step in to avoid a strike, and in recent days an uneasy agreement was reached for a measly 62% pay increase for dock workers. Other issues like port automation are still being discussed. This is also a big deal because the US only has three automated ports, while China has 18 and is building another 27. Hm, who do we suppose is more efficient (and thus cheaper)?
- ⛈️ Weather Disaster - We’ll wager you’ve heard about the devastating hurricanes even if you have been living under a rock. It’s a tragic amount of death and destruction, one part of which isn’t being discussed a whole lot yet. Interstate 40, a major thoroughfare from North Carolina into Tennessee, has been completely shut down. Parts of it may open up again in the next few weeks, but parts of it are…essentially gone. In addition to hundreds of smaller roads and bridges, this will cause big problems for shipping into and out of a large region, also potentially contributing to higher costs.
🔥Bottom line: While one of these was caused by people and one was not, both issues have the potential to impact the cost (and availability) of things we rely on every day. The good news is that the dock worker strike seems to have been avoided for the moment, but time will tell how much the effect of both of these will actually be.
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