Originally Posted By: JTD


As a small business owner, I love to hear employees that refuse to see benefits as an actual cost or portion of their pay. Words like ungratefull, spoiled and insolent come to mind.

To top off the insult, these dock workers and their "collective," have the audacity to slow their production, shift the blame to management claiming intentional sabotage of negotiations and effectively hold the local, national and international markets hostage. They posess an overly inflated sense of importance presuming they are somehow exempt from rising costs of health care, require another holiday or another 2% at the end of the month. The act of negotiation ISNT the issue for me... It is the expectancy and willingness to indirectly destroy other businesses by intentionally restricting the flow of goods and materials required because it is their "right."

What about ALL those other families that are affected from manufacturers, shippers, reps, distributors and sales? Even consumers.




Screw the union- fire them all. Thankless-sons-a-bitttttccches. There are thousands of unemployed that would do anything for a chance for a job like this. There is nothing competitive about resorting to extortion.


If your are referring to me. I see benefits as a portion of my pay, but I think that it would be dishonest for an employer to release that amount and represent it as wages. Upon further research it doesn't matter, thats not what they did anyway. I found another press release on JOC.com where they were specific about WAGES and went into further detail. There example fit me exactly, I have never earned within $75k of what they said that person would make in WAGES. The truth wouldn't have the same impact for them and that is why they choose to lie about it.

I am hardly ungrateful for my benefits. I have a 6 year old that has autistic like symptoms and requires 4 therapy appointments a week. Those benefits allow me to get her the help she needs to hopefully help her on a path to a normal life. I can't imagine what I would do without them.

The PMA has chosen to slowdown the flow of cargo by only working 28% of the available hours to load and unload those ships. Thats holding hostage.

If stalling negotiations and rarely even being available to negotiate from August to November isn't intentional sabotage I don't know what is.

We are willing to go to work to try to clear the backlog. That option is not being made available to us. I am deeply sorry that others are caught up in this mess. This situation was avoidable. It seems clear to me that you believe that we should take whatever is on the table for the greater good. Why don't you feel that way about the employer who is making the problem worse? The main issue remaining is not about money or benefits its about jobs in the future. More specifically its about the employer making deals to implement technologies in the last 2 contracts and not living up to their end of the compromises. The arbitrator that made it happen is their golden goose and he makes any contract we sign a mirage that changes with his rulings. They want their golden goose so bad they are willing to let all that cargo sit.

I felt the need to respond in this thread, because its been difficult to watch this situation develop. To see the information that is out there and know that a lot of it is untrue. To see the opinions develop based off of that propaganda. To know that these people have no idea how much pride you take in your work, and how hard you work to be as productive as possible on the job. I say this without hesitation. I love my job, and I'm very good and productive at what I do.

I wanted to give the other side of the story. I've tried to do that, but I'm coming to the conclusion that most people are going to pick one side or the other regardless of the narrative. I don't know that I expected anything different, but its probably a waste of everyones time for me to continue posting on this subject.

Happy Fishing