Political Quotes

“I rise to speak about the west coast port slowdown and comments that were made by the administration as they relate to that slowdown, along with legislation I have introduced called the PORTS Act, legislation I hope to pursue during the transportation debate we are going to commence with over the next several days and also as it relates to that west coast port slowdown, the economic impact that slowdown had on our economy. On June 30 of last year, the labor contract that covered nearly 20,000 workers at 29 west coast ports expired. Port management and the ILWU began negotiations a year before, but in September of 2014 those talks ground to a standstill. Instead of remaining at the table and trying to find a solution and negotiating in good faith, both parties decided to begin jockeying for leverage. The longshoremen purposefully slowed down their work and drastically decreased productivity while still taking home a full day's pay. In the real world, employees can't show up at work and not do their work or slow it down dramatically, not have the productivity they are expected to, and still get everything they want, but in the back worlds of labor union politics at the ports, that is business as usual. And business has been good at the ports. According to employer data, a full-time longshoreman earns about $130,000 a year, full-time employment $130,000 a year, while foremen earn about $210,000.…”