PSA: US Labor Strikes active and pending...

[cbelt3]

I know its going to go political, but please be aware of these labor outages as workers flex their muscles in line with high price inflation AND record low unemployment. (Supply and Demand works for labor as well as materials):

Kaiser mental healthcare worker strike in CA And HI Ongoing (Patient care standards ... strikers demand better care standards)
Nurses Strike in Minnesota until Friday (Patient care standards ... strikers demand better care standards)
Possible Railroad strike starting Friday (back overtime pay, work scheduling, don't want to be on call 24/7)

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/12/business/...index.html

[SteveG]

Not political at all. We just celebrated Labor Day. That's a National Holiday.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

There is almost certainly a UPS strike on the horizon, also.

[Grateful11]

I've seen what they're offering many different crafts on the railroad. The pay isn't too bad, the big stickler is no cap on healthcare cost from what I'm hearing. A Journeyman Machinist will be around $85k/year in wages alone at the end of the contract in a couple years then like always it'll take another 2-3 years hash out another contract. I have not seen what I being offered to train Conductors and Engineers. They are preparing to strike but I feel sure the POTUS will step and end it basically before it gets started by declaring a National Emergency, happened after every PEB decision that was voted down when I was still working on the RR.

[Acer]

Catch-22. Major strike in the middle of current supply-chain inflation pressure would likely support continued inflation, diminishing the value of the wage and benefit gains made.

[mrbigstuff]

Healthcare costs are really at the core of all of these labor issues. I know that municipalities are having (and have had over the last few decades) a hell of a time matching the annual healthcare increases for insuring their employees and/or raising salaries, if at all. It's put straight onto the homeowners to pay increasing property taxes* so one can imagine how that goes over when you are an elected official.


* there is a fine line here between rising assessments and increasing the tax rate; it's complicated

[N-OS X-tasy!]

mrbigstuff wrote:
Healthcare costs are really at the core of all of these labor issues. I know that municipalities are having (and have had over the last few decades) a hell of a time matching the annual healthcare increases for insuring their employees and/or raising salaries, if at all. It's put straight onto the homeowners to pay increasing property taxes* so one can imagine how that goes over when you are an elected official.

Another indicator that it is well past time to overhaul the broken healthcare system in this country.

[Fritz]

just got a bill for 3 hours in the ER (I'm ok ... ish).
3 MRIs, 2 X-rays, blood test and a C-19 test.
Take a guess at my discounted bill.

Give up?


$10000.

healthcare cost are not an issue. they are a diabolical end to America.