Boy,these guys are dumber than a sack of hammers! 
Wake up!If they go on strike,that will be the end of containers out of P.R. for a Very long time!Like,they are underpaid!The U.S.is loving this.
I havenât been following this. What are their issues? I couldnât imagine that it would be wages. Benefits, pension maybe? Maybe âcranemanâ can fill us in if heâs out there.
It has nothing to do with how much they are getting paid, get your facts straight first buddy haha
Hey, Jutt, welcome to HTMF:) Would you care to elaborate on this? 
haha iâve been on htmf before but i forgot my damn password. As for filling you guys in; all i can really say is it has nothing to do with the money, mostly pension plan and stuff. Its not even the workers union its the foreman that are in negotiations.
It makes no difference which dummies shut it down,or what the issues areâŚthe facts are we are in a recession like it or not and having a job that pays as well as these do hardly makes job action a wise move.typical union mentality.sad!
I think you miss the whole point of a collective action. Itâs not âtypical union mentalityâ â itâs the power of collective bargaining.
Youâre certainly entitled to your opinion, which is the beauty of democracy.
Collective bargaining is also a part of democracy.
What do you propose? That in a recession, that there not be any democratic principles? Or just the ones you agree with?
Just to set the record straight on this debate.
The employers are the ones who are not bargaining, it has nothing to do with the singular longshoreman.
The employers walked out of the negotiations two weeks ago so why are you blaming the longshoreman for something they did not personally begin?
If if was up to the worker there would not be a strike.
PS-- two other points that should be noted here:
The Ontario teachers union owns one of the terminals in Vancouver, hence they are one of the employers who are not willing to bargain.
Number 2: The actual cost of labour is approx 2% of the gross income the ports bring in.
I am certain that the longshoreman are not looking forward to a strike as everyone needs to have the $$ coming in.
it is not hard to see the âunionâ mentality coming through!this is at the expense of the community but who cares as long as we prove our point.
Why is âunionâ in quotation marks?
What is the âunionâ mentality that you speak of? Collective bargaining?Â
What is your solution? How would you get the employer to negotiate? What do you propose?
Jesus Saltleigh Bear. You sound like the concerned citizen group that bashed the shit out of PPWC local 4, when the snake oil sales man venier came to town and rammed the piece of shit contract down our throats back then. When all the union was trying to do was secure the best things for our members and inevitably the community.
Now where are those peopleâŚthe union is still saying âI told ya so!!â.
Unless your a stakeholder ie longshore person or the employer, shut your mouth as there is a media blackout in effectâŚso we the public dont know the real issues.
Union mentality is what drives the country and the non union sector wages as well.
The retreads here conceded a 10% rollback to Conifex mill.
The mills got $5 million of free logs and millions in retraining grants from the govât, the guys arenât back to work yet, but theyâre already conceding before the mill fires up.
Some of the guys working elsewhere wonât be coming back. $2-$3 an hour less. The guys that do are gonna have real fun getting out of foreclosure earning less. And the main point is that no oneâs buying 2x4s so the mill might not open if they rolled back to $5 an hour!
And people who donât work there are cheering. Thatâs "anti-unionâ mentality.
WHy would they cheer? Because its hope that the economy might have a sort of stimulus?.. Because the good working folk bent over and took one for the âtownâ?
DisgustingâŚ
I couldnât agree more, mcsash! People who earn a good union wage contribute a lot to the community by buying goods and services, thus kick-starting the economy. People who earn little money pay next to no taxes. No tax revenue means no funds for the government to upgrade roads, infrastructure, etc.
Well, as much as I hate to get involved with all the drama.
Isnât it just the wealthy that are truly against unions?
Great Shades of Skeena Cell, Have you guys not learned a thing? We are not in a stable economy right now. Who would not love to make more money? What are you guys at now? $40.00 to push the red button every 10 mins. The majority of this town would die for that pay. But who am I to say. Keep on pushing and when the employerââŹâ˘s customers (the people who provide pay for you) pull out and leave then the issue of more money is not an issue.Â
You guys at the port should get together with all of the guys from the mill and have a party. Maybe they will tell you all about not being able to make a payment and about losing their homes. DonââŹâ˘t think for moment that they will keep the port opened because they paid a ton of money to ship those cranes in. They can be sold and shipped out just as fast.Â
What 2 ships have already been turned away??? It wonât take long before the customers get pissed and move south of the boarder. They donât care about you and they will take business to who ever can provide the service.Â
But if you guys donât care why should anyone else care. I think there are still one or two stores left kicking around on 3rd ave just waiting to close up for good. A lot of people manage to work and provide money for their families on a lot less than $30 - $40 per hour while living in cities, which provide a much higher cost of living than PR.Â
When you are sitting around scratching your heads trying to figure out why you have no job, income or money you can blame your selves. I know if I was in your position and I was not making $40 or more per hour I would strike and risk shutting down the whole operation for good too 
Maybe some people should take a time out and remove their heads from their behinds and be grateful and thankful for the job and the opportunities that they currently have. But knowing what I do about this town that will never happen and yet again we as a community will suffer and miss out. Â
[quote]Well, as much as I hate to get involved with all the drama.
Isnât it just the wealthy that are truly against unions? [/quote]
And those who are powerless to improve their own situation.
No matter HOW good you are at your job, youâre never going to get $20 an hour âasking your boss for a raiseâ if you work at the 7-11.
[CKNW]So why should the cashier at Overwaitea make that? Just because sheâs old and has seniority and is working under the old union scale.
Really. Why should she make three times what you do? Itâs not fair! Itâs not right.
Like those guys at GM. They make $75 an hour building shitty cars. If they made $8 an hour theyâd build good ones!
[/CKNW]
Yes, all the concessions didnât help there did they? Just like they wonât help at Conifex either. But they sure help convincing lots of others that fucking other people out of their wages accomplishes something positive.
No. Many people are against unions because they see it as the inmates running the asylum. I would think that many of the working class would be in favour of unions. Small and large business owners, for the most part, probably feel differently. Unions give the employess some power in negotiating fair collective agreements for themselves. I donât always agree with the positions that various union locals take and I also donât agree with many things that management tries to do to some workers. Power in any form can be abused if not used wisely.
Less than a hundred years ago when labour unions started to become more prominent many workers were beaten into going back to work as they protested against poor working conditions. Brass knuckles, crowbars, literally tarred and feathered. These people suffered to make life better for the working class. Unions are necessary to keep employers accountable. It involves alot more than just wages.
I think I remeber reading somewhere that the ILWU has been with out a contract for almost two years, it seems only logical they would threaten job action to make some headway , if this was the case.
some have very selective memories of what happened at the millâŚthe down turn in the pulp marketâŚwell,lets go on strike for two or three monthsâŚwe deserve a summer vacationâŚand when we get back we will see about a "collective"agreement.
but it was too late.you screwed the whole town and tried to blame the mill owners.and here we go againâŚhow many people do the unions employ?last time i looked it was business that were the major employers.talk about the tail waging the dog.when you are all unemployed,go to your great unions and ask them for a job.