In the latest round of union aggressiveness that has marked the short post-Obama re-election era, officials at the Port of Portland are prepping for a strike by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union beginning November 25. Thanks to the strike, shippers will begin bypassing Portland altogether.
Meanwhile, unions are also threatening to strike at grain terminals in Portland, Vancouver, and Puget Sound, driving up the price of grain across the country. As The Oregonian reports:
The simultaneous actions are the most extreme developments in months of labor turmoil at the Port, where yet another dispute involving the same union led ships to bypass Portland last summer, clogging cargo and slowing Oregon’s economy. Closure of the three Port terminals, let alone a crisis at the grain elevators, would wreak far greater economic havoc and could cause container shipping lines to pull out for good.
The Oregonian calls the strikes a “perfect storm of labor disruptions.”
This is merely the latest in a line of strikes that has plagued the nation ever since President Obama’s re-election. Obama is widely – and correctly – considered to be in Big Labor’s pocket. Their level of comfort with major strikes has escalated dramatically since his re-election.