Trucks and Union Problems at Ports? That's Not All

We've already mentioned that the "port problem" is made worse by California's Green-Rules scheme forcing truckers in that State to have new- or near-new trucks.

Then there's this little item:

...Frank Ponce De Leon, who serves as an International Longshore & Warehouse Union coast committeeman in Los Angeles, said the following: “Well, I think it’s important to let people know that our workforce and our contracts allow the employers and the terminal operators to work 24 hours a day.  ...So it’s not something that’s brand-new.…You have to understand that these terminals are owned by foreign-owned shipping companies. And a lot of times, they dictate or control what we do on the docks. We don’t just show up, you know, unannounced and say, we’re ready to go to work. What normally happens is that orders are placed within our joint dispatch halls for labor at a specific terminal or terminals. And we fill that labor and go to work. Without the employer and without the terminal operators ordering us, we don’t show up. So a lot of this is out of our control. And we’ve been facing this for a long, long time now.”...

Oh.  So who are these 'foreign owners'?  And what, exactly, do they own?

APM Terminals, with 500+ acres at L.A. port,  is a subsidiary of Maersk.

...in late September of this year, Maersk announced that it is selling its refrigerated container business for over $1 billion to China International Marine Containers (CIMC), which states that its “main shareholders are China Merchants Group, China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, Hony Capital, etc.” Among its top shareholders listed on its website, the first two are Chinese state-owned companies: China Merchants Group is a Chinese Communist government state-owned company that is run by the Chinese Ministry of Transport. China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company was a Chinese state-owned company that now operates as COSCO, which is a Chinese state-owned company. What could that potentially mean for Chinese influence on our food supply? Just to be clear, according to the Port of Los Angeles, “Any imported perishable goods that come through the Port arrive in refrigerated containers, which are easily identifiable and expedited for unloading.”...

Foodstuffs and some pharmaceuticals.  Hmmmm.

There may be "union problems" with the Longshoremen, too. but it's significant that Maersk has been at war with the Longshoremen for more than a few years--so you can expect to hear all about "union problems."  What you have NOT heard about is "ChiCom Ownership."  That's why this is posted.

The ChiCom hand here doesn't surprise me at all, and it should not surprise you, either.

Let's Go Brandon!

Update:  Jay Weber decided that this is all Da Union's doing.  Saying "union" in front of Weber is like saying "RoJo" in front of Patrick Marley of the Journal-Sentinel.  You get a conditioned reflex.