Local 1233 Business Agent, Herbert Hall
Examines Port Slow-Down
As the entire U.S. economy enters the seventh month of this economic crisis, it is important to put this into context. Through January and February are always slow, many longshoreman (particularly R-Card members) have never experienced a work shortage this severe. But this slow-down is not new, it has been developing for the past few years. This past year, for example, one termi9nal in our port moved 78,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), compared to 102,000 in 2007 and 132,000 in 2006. This translates to 59% of the 2006 containers in 2008, or a 41% shortfall. This is a very real reflection of a world-wide crisis of over-production, and it may take an extended amount of time to turn around.
On the other hand, we have recently elected the best possible government to oversee the changes we will need to overcome this crisis. Our new labor-friendly President understands the need to create good jobs, focus on the economy and is committed to the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). THe EFCA will protect the right to organize and join unions for the first time in over twenty years. This is important for our industry even though work is 100% unionized in the Port of NY and NJ because it will eliminate unfair competition from non-union stevedoring companies in other ports. Barack Obama's commitment to helping the labor movement eliminate eight years of one-sided tax-cuts to benefit the wealthy of this country is real. This is why our entire International Union and the labor movement as a whole worked so hard to get him elected.
Although President Obama and the Democratic majority Congress took office in the midst of the worst economic crisis in U.S. history since the Great Depression, we can certainly expect his team, our team, to be on our side as we head into the 2010 contract.
