Some union leaders are self-defeating idiots.
American ports are lagging behind. Not a single one ranks in the top 50 in the world.
A big reason is that longshoremen's unions stifle innovation.
This fall, International Longshoremen's Association They shut down the eastern and coastal ports and went on strike to demand more automation and a ban. they got a raise.
Currently the union leader Harold Daggett Longshore workers have said they will go on strike again in January if the automation ban does not materialize.
His statements in my video make it clear that he knows how damaging his attacks will be to other Americans.
“People who sell cars can't sell cars, because cars don't come from ships. They get fired.”Oh, Daggett. “Construction workers are being laid off because materials aren't coming in. Steel isn't coming in, wood isn't coming in. They're losing their jobs.”
Mercatus Center economists say it's clear that labor leaders are not necessarily “professional workers” Riya Paragashvili.
“They're saying, 'I don't care if other jobs are destroyed as long as I get what I want.'”
Daggett is unusually ignorant. He does not understand that banning automation will also harm members.
As Paragashvili says, “Some jobs will be saved today, but many more will be destroyed in the future.”
That's because today's shippers have choices. Daggett's union controls only the eastern and bay ports. Shippers can ship products to ports that accept automation.
“There will be less activity in 'Stone Age' ports.” Paragashvili says.
“Stone Age?”
“They want to ban the automatic opening and closing of ports' doors,” she noted, requiring workers to pull the heavy doors themselves.
Oddly enough, union bosses are making their demands while pointing out that longshoremen's jobs are dangerous.
“It’s extremely dangerous… 17 people have been murdered in the last three years!”
That's terrible, but it's an argument for automation. Protect human workers by using machines to replace vulnerable humans. Daggett is contradicting himself!
I understand why he doesn't give interviews.
“It's going backwards,” Paragashvili points out. “[If] If we care about the safety of these workers, we need to step up and make their jobs safer and better. The only way this can happen is through technological advances in automation. ”
Other countries have been using automatic cranes for years. It is 80% faster than the human-operated cranes in many American ports.
“The best ports are those in Asia and the Middle East,” Paragashvili says. They enable innovation and technological advancement. When you look at a port in China, you're actually sitting behind a computer directing the port's activities through a screen. That's a better job. ”
“I’m sure it’s less,” I retorted.
“Some of the port jobs will definitely be lost,” she says. “But that's not a bad thing. If you look at it historically, we had hundreds of thousands of blacksmiths, candle makers and watchmakers.”
Obviously, those and other jobs have been destroyed by new technology. But the unemployment rate did not skyrocket. New jobs such as programmers, mechanics, electricians, and medical technicians were created that people at the time had not imagined.
That is capitalism's “creative destruction.” It always creates new jobs. That would make most people richer.
It's slow, uninspiring good news, and the media rarely covers it because new jobs come up in different places. In contrast, when a factory closes, unions rally the media to report tragic stories of workers losing their jobs.
“The reporter did not pursue the worker even after two years,” Paragashvili said. “But the research is tracking, and research shows that those workers are taking on new jobs.”
“On average,” I point out, “you can do a (a) better job.”
“Better jobs and higher wages,” agrees Paragashvili.
Innovation enables workers to accomplish more, which leads to higher wages.
“Thanks to bulldozers and cranes, the lives of workers in the construction industry have improved, and their real wages have increased,” Paragashvili says.
Daggett and his union don't get it.
They are fighting to keep America's ports dangerous and inefficient.
It ends up hurting their own workers and ultimately themselves.
Mr. Stossel posts a new video every Tuesday on JohnStossel.com about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Fraudsters, Swindlers, Fraudsters and the Liberal Media's Scourge''.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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