Teamsters and Turtles

With permission, the following is a re-print of an article from longbeachpolitics.org. It’s an excellent article about various issues surrounding the ports, truckers, shippers, and the teamsters.

During the Seattle WTO protests, in 1999, the phrase “Turtles & Teamsters, Together At Last” jumped from protest sign to guiding philosophy. It symbolically described hundreds of thousands Sierra Club activists (who dressed as sea turtles) and union members who marched to demand that human and environmental concerns be included in discussions of global Free Trade regimes. “Turtles & Teamsters” also put a name to the increasingly common alliances between environmentalists and labor unions, which were no longer willing to accept that protecting the environment and jobs were mutually exclusive conditions. That potent alliance has formed around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and offers both hope and dangers.

In August 2006 Teamster reps told me the Brotherhood “basically got kicked out of the ports when the trucking industry was deregulated and hiring owner-operators became the standard MO for the industry. The Teamsters ominously said that they were already laying to ground work to reorganize drayage drivers and ‘we’ll be back’.” (LBP 10/19/2006) The following October, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have granted collective bargaining rights to drayage drivers, for the second year in a row. (ibid)

The March 29th edition of the Daily Breeze showed a mob of owner-operators at a Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports rally. Careful observers noted that each of the enthusiastic port truck drivers wore a green fleece with a Teamsters’ emblem on the breast, but that not one of them was legally allowed to join the union.

It’s the irony in that picture that forshadows an explosive political conflict in the coming months and years. The CCSP has proposed that the Ports limit access to pre-approved companies and their employees, a local-level policy change which would make an end-run around Sacramento. The change would radically alter the labor relations by ending the ‘independent contracting’, provide a mechanism for enforcing vehicle efficiency upgrades and shore up TSA security initiatives. It would also inevitably (and substantially) raise the cost of moving freight, which means the world’s largest retailers and manufacturers will not be gentle.

In the short term, shippers will probably be able to keep the Ports from implementing the CCSP’s proposals, but it comes with a risk. Teamsters are famous for their militancy and port truckers have been known to stage their own independent direct actions (i.e. shutting down the I-5 with a single abandoned truck). This is the beginning of an election cycle which many expect to obliterate the Republican Party, and an energized Democratic Party is looking at every conceivable cause to grow and activate its base. Allowing tens of thousands of immigrant truck drivers to unionize will be an easy issue support for Democratic insurgents, and an easy campaign promise to deliver once in power.

Toeing the line and refusing to negotiate has been a reliable breakwater for businesses and shippers keep down costs. Logistics industry insiders, however, predict a ‘Perfect Storm’ in 2008 and truckers in Long Beach may contribute to the tsunami which threatens to wipe out the deregulated transportation industry of the last 20 years.

Yangtze River containerization projects face big hurdle: Its bridges

From our excellent friends at All Roads Lead to China:

With Nanjing considered to be one of the key cities along the Yangtze, city officials have apparently (Of course this is third hand of third hand rumor) been having a difficult time deciding what to do with its bridge as it holds historic value. Finished in 1968, it was the longest highway & railway bridge at that time and became the symbol of Nanjing city, and of Mao’s era.

At only 24 meters high, it goes without saying that the current Panamax carriers will find it difficult to navigate past Nanjing, and through our interviews we have found that the limit is a 3000 ton ship (One operator said 5000 ton ships could pass under “ideal” conditions).Nanjing bridge

Were the bridge not in the way, a 10,000 ton ocean liner would be able to make it to JiuJiang easily, and shipping capacity on the Yangtze would double…. DOUBLE

ARLTC then discusses what the current government is planning to do about it, which doesn’t seem to be an ideal solution, but workable in the meantime. Still, the development of intermodal facilities in and around the Yangtze River is proceeding and appears to be an excellent option for expanding logistics opportunities, not to mention market availability, to and from inner-China.

Airbus gets slammed by Virgin and USAir

It’s all bad news this week at Airbus. First, Virgin Atlantic announced that they will order as many as 43 Boeing 787 Dreamliners instead of the Airbus A350:

Branson — never at a loss for words — also called the A380 “a financial disaster”, suggesting Airbus will be hard-pressed to ever sell enough of the planes to turn a profit.

So, why so nasty? According to analyst Doug McVitie, “Branson definitely has a jaundiced view of Airbus and little faith in their promises now.

“He’d hoped to steal a march on British Airways with the A380, and in common with every other airline that ordered the A380, has seen his airline’s plans suffer,” McVitie said, adding Branson would be “making the same mistake twice” had Virgin cast its lot with Airbus once again on the A350 XWB.

The Boeing 787 will allow Virgin Atlantic to offer non-stop flights between the UK and Australia:

But Dreamliner is said to use 27 per cent less fuel than its nearest competitor, the Airbus A330-300, and makes non-stop flying between Australia and Britain viable for the first time.

Virgin Atlantic says a more direct route means fewer take-offs and landings, reduced aircraft noise and frees airports for other trips because of fewer connecting flights.

Following Virgin Atlantic’s decision, USAir then also decided to drop a USD 3.7 billion contract with Airbus to instead go with Boeing’s 787:

The A350 was redesigned last year after airlines told the manufacturer that its offering was not as good as Boeing’s 787. US Airways had been expected to upgrade to the A350XWB, as the new design is called, but it has instead shifted allegiance to Boeing.

Part of Airbus’s problem with the A350 is that it has only just left the drawing board, while Boeing will fly the first 787 later this year. Airlines are opting to buy an aircraft that is reality rather than one that still only exists on paper.

And the hits just keep coming – now workers at Airbus in France have downed their tools and stopped working in protest against the profit-sharing bonus:

The protests were sparked by a “derisory” proposal by management that this year’s profit-sharing bonus would amount to an average 5.0 euros (7.0 dollars), compared with between 1,200 and 1,800 euros last year, he said.

Airbus has been hit by several strikes and protests by French employees since it unveiled a radical restructuring plan at the end of February that includes 10,000 job cuts across Europe in the next four years.

The company reported an operating loss for 2006 of 572 million euros (752 million dollars) compared with an operating profit of 2.3 billion euros in 2005.

Big hat tip to Pajamas Media.

Don’t allow permanent trade authority to expire

So says Carter Wood over at ShopFloor.org:

If the Congress allows permanent trade authority to expire at the end of June, the U.S. will lose almost all its leverage to negotiate deals that lower foreign trade barriers to U.S.-manufacturered goods. (NAM fact sheet here. ) Europe will negotiate on, eventually reaching agreements that reduce tariffs on their products, and their products alone, giving their manufacturers a huge competitive edge in those markets.

Next Page »