I am writing this rant on 10.02 not 10.03 like I should, because I fear that by tomorrow those blistering bumble heads will have solved their dilemma. I am talking about the longshoremen.
If I weren’t an accomplished martial artist I would hesitate
to even broach the subject of dockworkers and especially unions, for fear of
having my knees broken, but after yesterday’s fiasco with their summit I would
assume that I’ve got more strength and less fear than they do…so here I go.
Yesterday the longshoremen’s union reps walked out of the
negotiations because management showed with armed security guards. I think that needs some clarification, so
that the joke can really be understood.
You see, union’s in general have always been violent. It doesn’t take much historical tooth
picking to find the clues of this, in fact a two hour sitting to watch DeVito
and Nicholson in the 1992 movie Hoffa should be enough
evidence to the actual historical representation of the American union.
That besides, the leader of the management team has
been receiving death threats and the supposed sudden show up of the security
force is completely false, those armed guards have been with the guy for 10
days!
So the idea that these hardened yard workers, who
belong to a powerful and some times dangerous union are afraid of negotiations
because of a couple of armed guards…that’s just funny! What it proves is that the union reps are
either cowards or idiots.
This morning during my drive to work I heard some LA
city council person (I missed her name) went before the union and sided with
them saying, “How dare they (management) try and intimidate us with guns! Put
the guns down and let us get back to work!”
Holy Shit! More evidence that
people that run for government are complete fucking whores! She’s saying that the threats on that man’s
life are irrelevant and unsubstantial in the face of the lock out. What a stupid bitch. That would be like Sadat
walking away from the Camp David Treaty of ’78 because Begin
showed up with his security detail.
What idiots!
I don’t know which side is really to blame for
this. But judging from the way the
Union is acting, I would tend to believe that it’s really their fault. Right people don’t need to come up with
excuses and stutteringly long speeches to prove their points.
The Management says there was a work slow down, the
union says no there wasn’t, they were just working safer. What ever.
The union wants to guarantee jobs, management says all those that
are employed now will still have jobs until they retire. Management is offering pay raises. Management is giving them most of the things they want…the only
think they will not concede is ‘future’ technology.
The fact of the matter is that the average
longshoreman makes six figures a year, doesn’t have to work 8 hour shifts, has
the luxury of drinking during his lunch break, and is almost insured to have a
job until he decides he doesn’t want one…and even then, probably set up with a
pension for life. What a fucking bunch
of crybabies.
I don’t have the luxury of any of that. I work my ass off in a stupid, cold, dark
world. I have to answer everyday to 15
different people about how much work I’ve done. I don’t have a pension. I
don’t have any guarantees. I’ve got
nothing, but my talents and ambitions to float me through life. I can’t go out at lunch and drink up a storm
without raising suspicion. I can’t work
4 hours on 4 hours off. I have to sit
in 2 hours of traffic every morning and 2 hours of traffic every evening. I can barely pay my bills. I can barely survive. But I keep doing it. I keep my fight up and I keep looking for
something better. Some thing that will
allow me to use my talents. It is my
responsibility to make the best I can with my life. What these so called hard workers at the docks do is nothing by
complacency. They’ve lost their edge,
they’ve become sedate and afraid to strive for singler greatness. Frankly, such fodder needs no protection
from the cold, hard, real world.
Before you say something like, “He’s jealous of the
amenities the union has garnered!” I’ll
just say, fuckin’ A yes I’m jealous.
I’m jealous because they have zero talent. It takes 2 of them to do an in-efficient job one person could do
better. We could hire monkeys to run
most of the equipment…in fact they could put robots in there right now to do
the job for 1/100 the price! And
because of that I’m angry that the prices I pay at the store are a reflection
of how much monies the docks have to waste on the employees! I’m jealous that they get so much money for
writing “012435323x” with chalk on this of those containers.
If these ‘rich’ dockworkers are looking for support
in the rank and file employee of corporate America…they’re in for a rude
awakening, especially if they wait so long that they send our already fragile
economy into a tail spin. Don’t think
for a moment I won’t be filled with a dangerous fury if I loose my job after
the longshoremen damaged the economy because their union was worried about the
future of the union. If I’m employment
challenged, you’ll see me standing on some street corner soapbox, preaching for
the destruction of the American union, who single handedly threw the world into
the second depression. And I won’t be
preaching a peaceful solution.
Be warned.
Update on 10.3
I see that nothing has happened since yesterday
Whatever