Tag Archives: labor relations

US freight rail links reach deal with unions

Unions have reached a deal with rail lines on a contract for the next five years.

There will be a 24% wage increase over the next five years, with 14.1% immediate, and five payouts of $1000 per worker.

The terms are along the lines recommended by the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB). The board was appointed to prevent workers from striking for 30 days while the disputants continued talking, and to make recommendations for a reasonable settlement.

This agreement should provide a framework for the additional unions that have not reached agreements yet.

It’s good to know that it’s likely there will not be a rail strike this fall to disrupt supply chains that use rail. We have enough disruptions now, and need to get back to something approaching normal in the rail industry.

Rail is currently viewed in the US as one of the major factors in port congestion today. The rails claim that they have labor shortages. The increased salaries might help them keep and recruit workers. The other factor is work load, and that will be determined by the interaction between the union workers and the management at the rail locations throughout the country.

August 30, 2022 ByJack Donnelly

US freight rail links reach deal with unions – Port Technology International

Crew abandonment cases closing in on another dire record

Abandoning your crew is an awful thing to do. Yet around the world there are frequent cases. This year has been one of the worst. The usual motivation is a cash shortage, or bankruptcy.

Most ships are incorporated as separate companies. That allows the owner to declare bankruptcy of the ship without jeopardizing his wealth. But guess who is paying the seamens’ wages? The ship. It’s too easy.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has been working hard for seafarers for many years. They count the number of seafarers whose wages go unpaid for more than two months. That’s the definition of abandonment of the seafarers.

Maritime is a wild world; seafarers deserve fair treatment, and it’s useful that some group is trying to look out for them.

Sam ChambersAugust 22, 2022

Crew abandonment cases closing in on another dire record – Splash247

Gig driver for a day. Here’s what we learned making deliveries for Veho

Here we see a day in the life of a package delivery driver for Veho, which seems to be an enlightened last-mile delivery company that is actively trying to make work friendlier to the driver. The system they have developed tries to take into account driver needs as well as those of the customer and the shipper.

One of the major factors involved in keeping a workforce today is giving workers input and making the workplace friendly for them.

Veho seems to be using that principle to drive their business. Let’s hope it is successful for them.

One downside of this approach is the need for a depot where the packages are brought before the routing is done. That’s a capital expense that not all services will want to implement. It also slows up expansion into new markets, since the warehouse sites must be found and built out. However, the depot is key to the optimization for all the involved parties, including the driver.

Brian Straight Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Gig driver for a day. Here’s what we learned making deliveries for Veho | Modern Shipper