Republicans Are SHAMELESS In Undermining Union Workers

This morning at West Coast ports where everyday products arrive and are then shipped across the country. Their growing concern, dock workers may not show up to work again, creating a potential supply chain slowdown over the last four days. Some of the nation's busiest ports have sat idle as the international Longshore and Warehouse Union battles the Pacific Maritime Association over a new contract. Now that was about

two weeks ago and the ongoing labor dispute among port workers and the Pacific Maritime Association continues today. Now that labor dispute is something that caught the attention of Republican lawmakers in the Senate who are now proposing legislation to further dismantle and weaken labor unions that have to do with work at the ports, especially on the West Coast where intentional labor slowdowns have hurt the bottom line

for some of the major corporations that operate out of the United States. So the idea of this legislation is to essentially deter labor slowdowns at these ports, which again had occurred in the West Coast last year and to some extent continue today. Now the legislation sponsored by Idaho Republican Senator Jim Rish would amend the National Labor Relations Act and the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947

to deter labor slowdowns and prohibit labor organizations from blocking the modernization of ports through automation. So that is one of the sticking points in these labor negotiations. The port workers and the unions representing them are trying to ensure that there are certain safeguards in place to prevent the automation of various jobs. And that is a reasonable thing to want to fight back against. Because that means

that people would lose their jobs to automation. Now the bill, getting back to the legislation, co-sponsored by Republican Senator Ted Bud and Republican Senator Mike Fine, I'll say Craypo, would update the National Labor Relations Act to define a labor slowdown by Maritime workers as an unfair labor practice. Under the proposed legislation, unions found in violation of the law would be subject to paying damages in an

amount equal to two times the amount of damage sustained by their labor actions. And if you want to get an idea of just how much money is on the line, there was an analysis done recently by the US Chamber of Commerce. Considering it's from the US Chamber of Commerce, I would say that these numbers might be a little inflated, but no question there is a lot

of money on the line. So if this legislation goes through, I want to give you an idea of how much the workers would be liable for if they were found guilty of unfair labor practices. During recent West Coast port issues, the US Chamber of Commerce estimated that a serious work stoppage at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach would likely cost the US economy nearly

half a billion dollars a day. It estimated a more widespread strike along the West Coast could cost approximately $1 billion per day. And should the workers be found liable for that, or the union representing the workers be found liable for that, they would essentially have to pay damages twice the amount that was caused by the either labor slowdown or work stoppage, Jake. Yeah, so look, this

is actually a really significant story because this goes along with the trend that Republicans have been pushing and Democrats have not been fighting back against, as always, the notable exception being Bernie Sanders, where conservatives are now saying no corporations have to be guaranteed profits. And if labor costs them any money, they'll work slow down or strike, they have to give them the profits that the company

would have made otherwise. That's insane. No one's ever heard of that before. That is not a standard that would end all labor rights instantly. How to hell are normal longshore men or anyone else going to pay for the billions of dollars in profits? And why are companies guaranteed profits? That's not a thing. That's not a free market. That's not capitalism. That's the opposite of capitalism. You

know what capitalism is, supply, demand, etc. And when you have leverage using that leverage, the bankers never hesitate to use their leverage. Lobbyists never hesitate to use their leverage. So in this case, when you tell me, hey, could be half a billion to a billion dollars a day. Yeah, that's called leverage. And so those workers are saying, hey, if I'm that valuable, that apparently my work

frees up a billion dollars a day, then why don't you pay me? Exactly. No, we can't do that. Wait, what do you mean you can't do that? You never say that when it's the bankers. You apparently you make plenty of money from this. No, guys, this is against my interest as because yes, I get it if they do a labor slowdown, it could create more inflation

because of supply chain issues. Yeah, absolutely. It could cost all of us money. I get it. But they're just doing what any other profession, especially white collar professions, would do. And now they're going to be barred by law from using their leverage as workers, as average American citizens because of these incredibly corrupt politicians. So I want to provide one caveat before we continue because I am

in complete solidarity with the workers here and what these Republican lawmakers and the Senator attempting to do is essentially do away with the one area of leverage that organized labor has, right? And that area of leverage is a potential strike. Those strikes tend to pressure the employers to engage in good faith negotiations and actually compromise with the workers as opposed to exerting their authoritarian nature on

the workers and forcing the workers to just take whatever deal they demand. There's one area of concern I have and it has to do with medication, right? So unfortunately because of how disgusting and corrupt the politicians in this country are, they have paved the way for outsourcing of the manufacturing of pharmaceutical drugs and medication that people need to stay alive. I am worried about the ongoing

shortages that we're experiencing when it comes to drugs that people need. I'm worried that it'll be further exacerbated by a potential strike. I don't know how we would, you know, maybe have a carve out or some solution to ensure that people are getting the medication they need. But aside from that, aside from that, right? I don't really care about other products. I don't care about having

to wait. I don't care about products costing more because at the end of the day, these are organized workers who want to have good faith negotiations with the employers here. And it is very clear that these negotiations have not been engaged in good faith. And what they're asking for is what you would expect in any labor negotiation. Better working conditions, better pay, and some safeguards when

it comes to their jobs being taken away or destroyed as a result of automation, which I love every article referring to it as modernization of their jobs. Good start, guys, about that one. And I actually think that's the one thing they're not going to win on. We can get back to that. But guys, I got a solution for the medicine or whatever else that people really

need to bring in. Hey, you guys, is it with the suits on? Go ahead, take the jacket off, take the ties off. There's a goddamn crates, you move them, okay? So there's a thousand solutions. And guys, two things that are super important here. In all the articles, and I don't want to make that mistake on air here. In all the articles, I say, if the workers

do this, it is then it will cause this to the economy. No, the workers are saying that the company that is incredibly profitable is not taking the action they need to support their workers. So the correct framing on is, if the company continues to be greedy, it will cost America a billion dollars a day. So the problem is with the God damn greedy company that makes

country, how come there's never any articles written about the bankers raise interest rates again? And that costs us $8 billion a day. And it came out of my pocket, and you're pocket, et cetera. Because the bankers are holy and they can't ever be touched. The powerful and the richer awesome. And now look at the way this, but the latest papers. And by the way, if you're

right, these are all Republican senators. Are you guys all CEOs? Or do I need you to work for a living? Because if you work for a living, you get that they're coming to crush you? So I actually want to go to the next video because the next video is telling. It provides some details about the individuals behind, essentially pressuring the federal government to weaken these labor

unions and do away with the one area of leverage they tend to have. Let's watch. These negotiations over pay, benefit, safety and automation have dragged on for a year. The I L W U says some of its 22,000 rank and file members have begun to voice their displeasure by not showing up for work at critical ports. The PMA counters, the disruptive work actions effectively shut down

operations at some marine terminals. The problems brewing here could eventually impact you at home. This is sort of a slow burn. That could get to a boil pretty quickly. The National Retail Federation urging the president to intervene. Because roughly 40% of our nation's imported goods arrive here at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Our partners at CNBC report, it could take weeks to clear

the short backlog already created. Saying many of the containers delayed now are back to school and holiday products. So the National Retail Federation is reaching out to the Biden administration to try to get the Biden administration to intervene. Considering Biden's track record with intervening on potential strikes and work stoppages, I'm of course primarily thinking about the real workers here. I am concerned that he will step

in when he feels it's necessary. Yeah, and don't get twisted. He's not going to step in on behalf of the workers. No, I like Republican. He's like, he's probably going to help labor. Dude, your labor, your labor. Anyway, no, don't worry. He never does. He always backs up. But before I forget this point, I just really want to make it because in the beginning of that

video, they mentioned people not showing up to work, right? Intentionally to make a point. And so if the current workers are unhappy with their pay and their working conditions, there's nothing that legally marries them to that job. They could move on. They could find another job. They can stop working in the ports, right? And if the working conditions in the pay are not competitive or not

desirable, how are they going to hire other people to fill those roles in these jobs? You go, but I'm saying so, it's not just about this current moment. It's also about the future. And if this job is not desirable for other workers or other employees, how exactly do they plan on attracting labor to fill these roles? It's incumbent upon the company to make a deal. But

they regular rules of capitalism don't apply anymore. Republican politicians believe in corporatism and that they don't want competition. They don't want labor having any leverage. Look, I got to make it last couple of points. Look, I think on the automation part, that's going to be the toughest because that saves the company so much money. They're going to in the long run probably steamroll you, but keep

fighting brothers and sisters. And if that's going to happen in the future, you better get as much as you can today, okay? So now that leads me with the last two points. One is from a member, Trump's lady lumps wrote in, so dude from Idaho, a lot, a landlocked state that has zero ports is writing legislation on ports. So that's a great point. I love how

smart our members are. TYT.com slash join to become one of them. And we obviously read some of your comments on air in the middle of stories as you see here. And the reason it's a great point is, why does that happen? Because that guy takes tons of money from corporate donors. That's why even though he doesn't have any ports, he's animated about ports. Senator from Idaho

should never even talk about ports, let alone go on a war path on him. You only do that when you're bribed, when you're legally bribed by these companies. And again, no articles talk about how every single Republican senator that is pushing for this takes bribes from corporate interests. I'm sorry, campaign contributions, but they're so honorable. They don't listen to those campaign contributions. And by the way,

now this rich has taken it to the next level. Because he's saying not only do the workers owe the company their guaranteed profits. They owe twice the guarantee price. It's much right? It's a term, Jank, it's all meant to intimidate the workers and prevent them from even considering a strike. Because if this type of legislation passes, the Senate in the House, if it becomes law, that

means they are now on the basis of the government. They are now liable to pay double the damages that were incurred as a result of that strike or that workstoppage. No one can afford that. No, of course not. That's just saying you can't strike anymore, you can't do these workstoppages. You can't do anything to fight back against companies. You must accept the corporations, a big business,

rule you all. And guys, again, if you're a Republican voter and you think these politicians are on your side, you got a big surprise coming to you. After they're done talking about trans issues and M&Ms, they screw you so hard and try to take every dollar out of your pocket and give it to the CEOs that are funding their campaigns. Now, rich has actually tried to

pass similar legislation two times before. Luckily, both times they failed. He did this in 2017 and also in 2020 last year. And so he's optimistic this time around because he claims that with the Republicans taking over the House, there's more appetite for this type of legislation. And do I think that the Senate would have the 60 votes necessary to pass this type of anti-labor legislation? I

do think they have that. So we don't know that. But the only reason I'm not at all sure that is because the union bribes the Democrats. So the unions bribed the Democrats and the corporations bribed the Democrats and the corporations bribed the Republicans. So that's why corporations have a two to one advantage and they almost always win. But when it's a core issue like this, the

unions go, hey, this was the whole point of our campaign contributions. So you might have enough Democrats hold a line, but not for the right reasons, just because they're getting bright from the other side. Just live chat emojis, badges. You got emojis of me, Anna, John, JR. So those are super fun. But you also get playback of our exclusive member only shows and specials right after

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