It may be time to stock up. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union shut down cargo operations at the Port of Seattle on Saturday, according to the Pacific Maritime Association.
PMA said on Twitter that work slowdowns Friday directed by ILWU officials have brought ground operations to a halt, resulting in longshore workers being sent home.
“Coordinated and disruptive work actions led by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have shut down cargo operations at the Port of Seattle,” PMA wrote on Saturday.
The Port of Seattle is a powerhouse in the economy of the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska’s economy is existentially tied to it. Roughly 80% of the goods coming to Alaska pass through the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.
The work stoppage, not yet characterized as a strike, follows similar slowdowns last week at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland.
Longshoremen up and down the West Coast have been working without a contract since last July.
Good. I hope this lasts over a year. It’ll help remind the electorate that the people in Juneau don’t actually control Alaska. It might help get some change in the legislature and stop the gibs train.
If it does last a year, I’ll be curious how well you coped since an overwhelming amount of our goods come from Seattle.
You strike me as the sort of person who is proud of your half Sudanese granddaughter that you’re raising on behalf of your daughter while she finds herself. I’m also picking up a whif of state pension recipient and a lot of false bravado from driving to Valdez that one time in early November.
Sad little man.
If only SE had built the road.
A self inflicted wound.
Masked, your’s is a very fitting comment with one exception. It’s more a statewide issue than merely SE. It takes legislative unity to prioritize it in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). A willing legislature and governor are key to overcoming a reluctant deep-state.
We had it until Walker gave it away. Sent back the federal dollars which killed it.
Two things which are open secrets
1-we have made a practice of ignoring our infrastructure. Ever driven in the Yukon. Much worse conditions and much better roads.
2-our ruling elite will never allow a road to Juneau for the same reason they will never move the capital from here. They want their bubble.
Robin Taylor championed the building of the South East Road. He had flown the valley route many times. With the ferry system as it is, south east is regularly screwed out of travel possibilities…
It’s not exactly what you were referring to, but as an SE resident it’s a sore spot.
We pay into the coffers which help maintain the mainland roads and infrastructure, crappy as they are.
Same as the people who live in villages off the road system.
We deserve the same developmental opportunities as the Parks Highway crowd.
Bottom line shelves will empty, prices of those goods will skyrocket even more than inflation, consumers will get bent over, families will suffer and smokin Joe will be singin “What a wonderful world” while speeding around all the dead electric cars in his vette headed for the ice cream store with Hunter and his gang of prostitutes. Life is good in America the beautiful! “Four more Years Folks is all we need to finish off America right Barack”?
Alaskans need to take note of the fact that we are a small market at the tail end of a long and fragile supply chain. Historically even during strikes the longshoremen continue to supply Alaskans, keeping that supply chain intact. Thankfully our Governor has done more to spotlight that food security in this state is in need of more homegrown options, but it is up to the private sector to follow through and develop truly Alaskan Grown products. We should support our neighbors and fellow Alaskans whenever we can.
Time to complete the A to A railway to have an economic route for goods and products through Canada.
The Teamsters will make certain that doesn’t happen.
Monkeyshines at the Port of Seattle served as one of several impetus to advance the cause for statehood in the fifties. Time to import milking cows back to the Matanuska Maid dairy plant? One mihhtbsuspect the impact of gasoline costs on the trucking industry will have an effect on the cost of apples, cherries, and watermelons at Fourth of July picnics.
Is Transportation Secretary Buttigieg still on maternity leave? Train derailments, railroad workers strike, supply chain breakdown, record inflation and now this. The Biden administration has been a dumpster fire from day one!
How many that voted for Biden would/will do so again? Far too many is my fear.
President Truman once told the Railroad Workers Union President that his members would look pretty silly being marched to work every morning by a squad of US Army Soldiers. He then yelled ” You ain’t going to shut my Country down you Son of a B—-!”
Truman then encouraged the Union to return to the table and keep negotiating.
Thanks for sharing and educating us. I thoroughly enjoyed your posting! It was worth reading through the entire blog article and comments. Windy with partly blue and partly cloudy skies here in Anchorage on this pre-summer afternoon.
Today, if the choice was him v Trump, I suspect most would send him back.
It may not make sense to us, but a whole bunch of people like the People’s Utopia Biden is inflicting on America. They make enough not to be hurt by it.
Will Pothole Pete step in to alleviate disruptions? No, he’s too busy looking for racist roads and bridges.
Make labor unions illegal. Terrorists starve people.
Lyndsey, please move to the People’s Republic of Congo where I’m sure you’ll fit in well.
What is your African fixation today?
I’ve never seen a longshoreman strike last very long.
Maybe you were not around in 1934 when it lasted over three months. Not many of us were. Summer is short in rural Alaska, could be a problem getting materials and fuel before freezeup.
My god nobody alive today was around in 1934… were they?
Management tends to fold quickly.
In a communist, excuse me, Democrat Administration management tends to get bent over by the government quickly. We get to pay.
This was a domino falling that was foreseen if inflation lasted too long.
The wise plan For Unforeseen Difficulties. Its a fact that 95% of people have no emergency food stored in their homes.
The Borough has a permanent paid Emergency/Disaster Manager who seems to focus a lot on potential avalanches. And, the Borough also has warehouse space. I could provide enough sealed/dried emergency food (lentils, peas, beans, pasta, soups) with a shelf-life of 12 years, to feed everyone in Juneau for a year. Price: $5.2-million. We could distribute portion to the local food bank and homeless kitchens monthly. We replenish yearly so that in 12 years the food is cycled out with new stock.
.
But it seems we need a new City Hall more urgently. Right?
“…….I could provide enough sealed/dried emergency food (lentils, peas, beans, pasta, soups) with a shelf-life of 12 years, to feed everyone in Juneau for a year. Price: $5.2-million. We could distribute portion to the local food bank and homeless kitchens monthly. We replenish yearly so that in 12 years the food is cycled out with new stock………”
There’s a simple reality that’s way out of the grasp of the ruling class. You should be the administrator of the Emergency Management Division. Thanks for giving folks a bit of simple common sense to chew on while potential disaster looms………
Every time a generation gets into their golden years they all of the sudden think the world is collapsing and everything is turning to shit and the country is in the worse place ever… that’s paranoia. Every bitch a boomer has was created under their watch. Nobody else’s. The trannys? Their kids. The president. Theirs.
Then do it. Run for a local office. Voice your opinion and your obvious knowledge of feeding a mass of people during an emergency. Put your ass on the line and get things done. Or keep running your daddy’s construction company. Whichever is easiest your decision.
The Jones Act is so helpful. Without it they could sail right around those thieves
Could someone give short explanation of why we cannot expand Anchorage or some other port to use to for direct shipping to Alaska?
Can’t ship here directly from another US port unless it’s on US flagged (and highly expensive) vessels crewedby UNION crews that’s the Jones Act I mentioned
Well, I guess that explains why we can’t fight port strikes: we made sure we couldn’t.
‘https://www.grassrootinstitute.org/jonesact/
This explains how it impacts Hawaii-but same same for Alaska. Increases costs. Limits business investment. Restrains growth. Spread the word! Repeal the Jones Act!
Prediction: Beware, compassionate support for soup kitchens and non-productive homeless community centers tends to dwindle quickly as resources grow short for working family dinner tables.
Learn aquaponics and water generation. The directions are available online and work. Good practice for what is coming down the pike from the Davos crowd.
This is why so many people detest unions that allow striking (not all unions do). Their disagreement with management has led to a stoppage that will have a huge impact on Alaska. Nearly all our food and other goods comes in via ocean transport from Seattle. A long term stoppage would result in everything having to be flown in. It comes down to extortion to get what they want, but we are the victims.
Dee,
As I noted above historically even during strikes the longshoremen continue to supply Alaskans, keeping that supply chain intact. There’s no reason to try and drive a panic when calm rational minds can prevail.
Another prediction: Beware, Continued out of control inflation and timed coordinated supply chain disruptions due to striking dock workers who cant keep up with inflation and Buttagig on maternity leave will put many more hungry working/nonworking families standing in much longer lines at soup kitchens and homeless community centers.
Step Two: Hey Barack, What is our next step? Do WE just finish them off now while they”re weak or just keep them all begging for mercy? Dr Jill isnt it about time for more of that expensive ice cream I just love? I got a fresh diaper and wheelchair handy. Its GO time! The Democratic selection is coming up next year. Get the FBI online cuz we need votes and orange man gone!
One of the things sane people in SE learn early is the barges can be unreliable.
I keep a backstock of relatively non perishable canned foods and veg enough to last three weeks if necessary.
You should look into freeze-dried, with a shelf life up to 25 years in 10# cans just like a paint can. I have a good years worth, if not two, after all my frozen and canned goods run out. This stuff is as fresh as the day it’s dried and they don’t freeze crap like they used to, it’s quality food. If you want I can share some of the websites I’ve purchased from, if Suzanne is ok with it.
Steve-O , please share your information.
My wife purchased a large Dehydration unit awhile back. It works a bit like Freeze Drying I think. Lots of ways to preserve food, especially from one’s garden.
There are many other options for food preservation including canning. In my experience from years ago raising a brood of hungry boys, canning venison was counter productive since the boys would devour all of my jars as they were cooling out of the pressure canner. Happy family times.
Robert,
I don’t have my own dehydration unit, those aren’t cheap! It would be a great way to store food from your own garden and any venison or moose you have. They make mylar bags that people can seal their own dehydrated goods in now too to extend shelf life.
I’ve bought 10# cans from the following places and would recommend them in the following order:
‘https://beprepared.com/
‘https://mypatriotsupply.com/
‘https://www.thrivelife.com/
Thrive has a great product, but they are proud of it and charge accordingly, and I’ve had a few issues with shipping and fulfillment with them but they made it right. All of these offer prepared meals or individual ingredients. I’ve stocked individual ingredients because if I need to tap these supplies I intend on living as normal of a life as possible and would prefer to eat and enjoy the food I want while the world burns instead of eating something just for the calories.
My dad always canned venison, it never looked good but it sure tasted great!
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