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Conversations With Harry
By Ian Kennedy
I wasn't able to return to San Francisco in March, but I was damned
if I was going to miss the April "appearance" of my new found friends.
I entered the bar a little before nine, I was just getting seated at the bar
when they walked in. Harry waved and motioned for me to join them at their
table.
I went over, Harry smiled," We missed you last month, glad to
see you made it this month. Frade you wouldn't take us seriously," he
remarked.
I ordered a round of beer for
the table. " I hope you don't mind if we talk about the Union?" I
asked.
"That's what we came for." He responded. " I think we were
discussing the six hour---" "Now Harry, don't get started on
that." Henry Schmidt interrupted, " We've got a very limited time and
a lot of material to cover." He turned toward me, " What do you
know about NAFTA?" he asked. "Well, the simple answer is that it is
the movement of high paying, manufacturing jobs from the U.S. and Canada to
Mexico and other Central American countries." I
responded.
Harry looks at me, "What about the ports?" he asked.
"The major ports in Mexico were privatized and the unions were broken. I
believe that company unions were set up. The terminals were expanded and
modernized to handle a large number of containers rapidly. As I
recall, SSA has gained control of the majority of the terminals. At the
time all this was going on, the International sent observers who reported back
to the Union." Jerry Bulcke asked, "Wasn't that several years ago?
What have they done since that time?" I thought about his questions as I
paid for another round. "As I recall, we sent observers down a couple more
times. There was some concern that in case of a strike, these ports would
be used. I can't say if the International is still
giving much thought to Mexico and what is happening."
"Don't they realize that since
NAFTA, container traffic through Mexico, into the US, has increased 450%, to
almost 1,000,000 units a year?
That they have built a transportation corridor through Mexico, into the
US. They have built and are operating a railroad line from Lazaro Cardenes to
Kansas City." Henry paused to finish his beer, as
I motioned for another round. He continues, "They have built a super
highway that parallels the rail. You
know, in 2003, between rail and truck, 4,500,000 containers came up the corridor
into Kansas City, then to all points in the US. Shippers are being offered
a 15% savings to go this route." "Are they depending on one port to
move all these containers?"
I asked, and what about the Mexican trucks? The ones I've seen couldn't
handle that kind of hauling." "Terminals, besides Lazaro Cardenes,
they are operating and expanding terminals in Ensenada and Altamira. And
that's only on the Pacific coast, there's more on the Gulf. To top it off,
they're building a megaport at Punta Colonet to divert the cargo from Los
Angeles/ Long Beach."
Henry stops and finishes his beer. Harry interjects, "The treaty
permits the eventual moving of the trucking jobs south. As of this year, US
trucks can be driven by Mexican drivers out of US terminals." Bulcke
interrupts, "I hate to be the bad guy, but our time's almost up."
Harry continues, "The union has spent all their time defending
this last contract. The leadership can't ignore what is going on down south. We
must take the initiative. We have to really become international and
organize south of the boarder." He sighs, " Okay Jerry, let's go.
Don't let this end here kid. It's a pain in the ass, if you ask me."
As they get up and leave, the waiter brings over the bill and hands it to me.
Check future issues for Conversations With HARRY.
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