The Jones Act and The Power of Unions
"Two days after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff got approval for a blanket waiver of the Jones Act so that oil and natural gas could be brought into the area on non-approved ships. Meanwhile, President Obama and others continue to insist that such a blanket waiver is "not needed at this time."
Who is benefiting from this law's enforcement? One major beneficiary is organized labor. Ships that meet the requirements of the Jones Act are crewed by unionized labor and granting waivers to it would bring lower-wage labor into competition with those nice union jobs, potentially threatening them. One theory is that President Obama does not want to risk alienating the labor vote by waiving the Jones Act even for a short period of time. President Bush had no such concerns as labor wasn't going to vote for him anyway."
~Steve Horwitz
16 Comments:
The previous administration had contempt for all citizens via its support of offshoring. If a citizen had negotiating power in the workplace, it was a problem they would fix with fake shortages.
Second of all, they had a labor secretary that has links to businesses that did not employ US citizens nor were even of this country. Elaine Chao was about as close as one could get to being a traitor in that role without actually being charged.
No waiver while the U3/U6/etc. numbers are as high as they are now.`
Allen Provides Guidance To Ensure Expedited Jones Act Waiver In Oil Spill Response.
I see sethstorm is lying again: "The previous administration had contempt for all citizens via its support of offshoring"...
Why sethstorm do you continue to make these inane statements yet have nothing credible to back them up with?
I love your slander of Elaine Chao which is of course another demonstration of your less than tenuous grip on reality...
"No waiver while the U3/U6/etc. numbers are as high as they are now"...
That's right! Its not your beaches or fishing areas that are under assault because YOUR President in his unmitigated incompetence allowed the problem in federal waters to fester for almost two months now...
Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist Dr. H. Harrison Schmitt says: "President Obama’s Administration and its supportive media repeatedly say our 1970 Apollo 13 experience is analogous to the effort to contain and cap the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Not hardly!"...
Maybe we need to use the H1B visa program to get someone to pinch hit for Obama...
Yes sethstorm you are lying and missing that alledged nerve by miles and miles...
"If the Dutch are so interested in helping, they won't mind handing over the technology to a US firm that is not contracted or otherwise gives the Dutch(directly or indirectly) any benefit and helping from a distance"...
Per his usual style sethstorm doesn't have any qualms at all spending other people's money...
sethstorm is going totally Obamazoid on the free market...
So the Dutch companies capable of this sort of work shouldn't be remunerated for their investment costs?!?!
Unions are currently harming our country in many ways...the bankrupt US Postal System, the failed public school system, and now Obama's unwillingness to let non-union workers clean up the oil.
We need to stop using the term "labor" to describe unions. According to the BLS, unions represented only 7.2 percent of private sector workers in 2009. The vast majority of union members now "work" for the government. The term "labor" has been co-opted by leftists who claim to support working people, when, in fact, they hold them in contempt. George W. Bush actually received a great deal of support from labor.
Contempt for all citzens sethstorm? Not really. I'm perfectly happy with better and cheaper foreign made goods.
Anyone buying crappy US made goods in the 70's to 90's has more than enough stories where the quality went to hell. US manufacturing let consumers down way before production costs became an issue.
Zenith, Sunbeam, Protor Silex, Mr. Coffee, Ford, GM, Chrysler, GE appliances, Toasmaster, etc.
If I had a manufacturing operation, I'd sure consider moving where they workers actually are glad to have a job versus some entitled union crew who thinks the business is there to hand them money.
So the Dutch companies capable of this sort of work shouldn't be remunerated for their investment costs?!?!
They should be renumerated. However, they are asked to provide their assistance in a form that would be compliant with the Jones Act. The same for Belgium. To do business in our country, they are asked to respect our laws as we respect theirs.
If that means those firms have to open an office, have US citizens populate it, and register vessels under a US flag - fine. It is no different than being asked by China to comply with their regulations on filtering.
In short, they want to help but not necessarily by the rules declared by the Jones Act.
Anonymous said at 2:10pm...
The only thing those countries have is overwhelming volume. They still have the same junk quality that is worse than the US-made products. Those US-made products are more likely to last 30 years versus the other ones lasting 5.
The unemployed in the US are quite glad to have a job, but not somebody who lords over their locality or shakes down the locality for extra cash. Just like an overbearing government, an overbearing company is just as bad. You just want yes-men and a government willing to silence/kill/disappear any objection(in the name of increased efficiency).
You want them to worship you as their (secular) higher power, giving thanks that they have a job and that your security(as well as their government) hasn't removed them from existence.
It is not entitlement to ask that such not happen in the US.
ANON 9:16 AM.
Your comment on the postal service is very interesting.It would be great to see a posting here on how it grew through history and how it is now being affected and declining by the introduction of new technology.
It seems to me that technical evolution will render it totally more obsolete as every year passes.
This comment has been removed by the author.
"If that means those firms have to open an office, have US citizens populate it, and register vessels under a US flag - fine."
sethstorm, Do you have any idea how long that might take? You are really talking out of your ass. 40,000 bbl/day of oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico, but you want to follow normal protocol. By the way, "those firms" you mention is the Dutch government. They own the equipment, and already have offices in the US called embassies. Do you really expect them to staff with US citizens?
Seth, there are CITIZENS out of work while this disaster continues, and while the oil production in the Gulf is on hold. You are insisting that they just suck it up, and wait while Jones Act requirements are enforced.
If your house was on fire would you insist that only union firefighters who are US citizens respond?
You really are clueless.
6/16/2010 3:56 PM
If your house was on fire would you insist that only union firefighters who are US citizens respond?
As far as I've noticed, there is no Jones Act for putting out a fire. Also, it is something for which already exists in a large infrastructure, regardless of unions. What you are asking is to set up an infrastructure that currently does not exist, from the ground up.
If they really wanted to get help across, the Jones Act would have been no problem for them. A Jones Act compliant firm(or multiple) would already exist and be able to draw upon that knowledge.
Now if you want a waiver, it should only be given under the condition that they become compliant in very short order. Second of all, the US Government also agrees to not impede the progress of any procedures required to establish compliance. Further, no subcontracting may be done to increase disposability of anyone working for said firms(or to remove any risk due them). Finally, they cannot be threatened by any means (including threats of termination) from talking to the media.
sethstorm, as I should have anticipated, you responded to the only part of my comment that didn't require a response.
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bp-oil-spill-gov-bobby-jindals-wishes-crude/story?id=10946379
so now we invoke jones act and wait to "contact the builders of the barges" while pulling them out of effective use in the meantime. stunningly awful.
morganovich said...
(ABC News story)
Questions about life preservers and fire extinguishers? Incredible! Write citations for violations & let them get on with their work.
It appears that none of the federal agencies involved know what any other agency is doing, including the coast guard!
Where is Mr. "The Buck Stops Here"? Isn't he in charge of federal agencies?
Oh, that's right. I forgot. He's busy working on an energy policy. God help us all.
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