The International Longshoreman’s Association has walked away from federal negotiations talks. By way of Michelle Malkin’s site,Joe Bonney of the Journal of Commerce reported the “ILA walked out of NY-NJ local contract talks today, objecting to proposed changes“.
Why is the threat of a strike by the ILA relevant to the Texas SD-6 race?
Because the ILA is the warehouse local at the Port of Houston and The Port of Houston is located in Texas SD-6.
25{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of all beef shipped out of the United States (through an ocean port) goes through…yup, you guessed it..the Port of Houston. US pork exports would also be affected by a strike at the Port of Houston.
Maybe we shouldn’t be too concerned about Texas beef & pork producers; the candidates speaking at the SD-6 forum certainly weren’t.
…after all, these businesses only provide JOBS to fellow Texans.
..and it’s not like the pork producers support events like the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, right?
Some Texas beef & pork producing businesses could get pretty mad at Sylvia Garcia if word got out in the yard that she’s got the endorsement of the Harris County AFL-CIO and the Longshoreman…
What bothers me about this post is that NO ONE mentioned it at the forum I attended Monday night. Amazing.
Yvonne,
Shocked! I tell you that I am shocked that a Harris County Democrat from the East Side would get a pro forma campaign contribution from one of the few remaining unions in this town.
I am not a fan of Sylvia, but she was a strong supporter of improvements to the Port of Houston during her stint as Precinct Commissioner. I don’t know if those improvements resulted in more Port Traffic and thus some incremental business for the Longshoremen. (and by extension the City of Houston), but I going to guess that any improvements and support were welcomed by all parties.
I am not so sure how much influence a minority party member of the Texas Senate can deliver to the ILA.
Simple
Simple, the point is two-fold. None of the candidates at the forum mentioned the threat of an ILA strike at the Port. Trade volume at the Port of Los Angeles was down 16 percent as a result of the union shutdown there.
Yvonne,
I get it. You don’t like Unions and could not pass up a chance to sling some mud their way via the Senate Race.
I am not a fan of Unions myself, but I figure it is a right of workers to collectively bargain with their employers if they so wish. Besides, the last time I looked Texas is a “Right-To-Work” state and Union Membership is not compulsory, which might explain why Unions in this part of the woods are very weak and their membership is declining. Why not just let nature take it’s course?
You should revisit the old Jim Croce song, which I paraphrase; “Don’t Tug On Superman’s Cape, Spit into the wind, or Sword fight with Zorro”. Why should a candidate jump into an issue where he/she can not realistically make an impact and give most of the voters credit for figuring that one out; besides the only one remotely likely to make the slightest anti-union statement would be the Republican and he has an up hill battle to begin with. Why make it harder? There are a few of the 2012 Republican Candidates would have been sworned in now instead of being “also rans”, if they had kept their mouths shut a little more.
As I mentioned before…This is a “Right-To-Work” State! There is very little, if not nothing, a Texas State Senator can do to influence the National ILA. I have seen many of these strikes come and go. I am pretty sure you could cow the ILA into backing down in the event of War or National Emergency. Rightlfully so, but otherwise this will just have to play out.
I did go and check the Port Authority’s stats. “Food and Drink” did account for 19{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the Export Tonnage, whereas the Imported Tonnage is about 10{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}. “Food and Drink” was not broken down any further to see how much of this was processed meat, but I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the number pales in comparison to the tonnage shipped out of Des Moines, Kansas City, Topeka, and Chicago via rail.
Simple