Tangle - The dockworkers go on strike.

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

The dockworkers’ strike. On Tuesday, thousands of longshoremen and port operators along the East Coast and Gulf Coast went on strike after their union, the International Longshoremen’s A...ssociation (ILA), failed to reach an agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) on a new contract. The ILA, which represents over 45,000 workers, is asking for higher wages for its members and protections against port automation projects. The strike is the first large-scale work stoppage for dockworkers in nearly 50 years and has halted nearly all activity at some of the busiest ports in the United States. Ad-free podcasts are here!For the last few years, we've been publishing a daily podcast similar to our newsletter and bonus content exclusively for our podcast channel. Many listeners (who also read this newsletter) have been asking for an ad-free version that they could subscribe to — and we finally launched it today. You can go to tanglemedia.supercast.com to sign up and get 17% off during our launch week special!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.Check out our latest YouTube video on misinformation about North Carolina here.Check out Episode 6 of our podcast series, The Undecideds. You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Help share Tangle.I'm a firm believer that our politics would be a little bit better if everyone were reading balanced news that allows room for debate, disagreement, and multiple perspectives. If you can take 15 seconds to share Tangle with a few friends I'd really appreciate it. Email Tangle to a friend here, share Tangle on X/Twitter here, or share Tangle on Facebook here.Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Jon Lall. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Will Kaback, Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. From Searchlight Pictures comes A Real Pain, one of the most moving and funny films of the year. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated
Starting point is 00:00:30 Jesse Eisenberg and starring Eisenberg and Emmy Award winner Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain is a comedy about mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. A Real Pain was one of the buzziest titles at Sundance Film Festival this year, garnering rave reviews and acclaim from both critics and audiences alike. See A Real Pain only in theaters November 15th. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you across Canada, which is nearly double the historic
Starting point is 00:01:05 average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle Podcast,
Starting point is 00:01:54 the place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of my take. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and on today's episode, we're going to be talking about the Longshoremen strike, the dock workers strike happening across the country right now. Before we jump in, though, I do want to address the big special announcement today that we are now officially offering ad-free podcasts. If you have already jumped on those ad-free podcasts after listening to the episode that came out this morning, then there's nothing for you to do. But quickly, for those who maybe missed it or don't know, we are now offering a premium
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Starting point is 00:04:58 That's the whole point of all of this. So if you love the podcast, if you like the podcast, if you just want to support our work, you can go to tanglemedia.supercast.com right now and you can claim a 17% off discount. That's tanglemedia.supercast.com. That's how you subscribe and add the ad-free podcast to your podcast feed. All right. We're going to keep promoting this this week, so sorry to be annoying. But with that out of the way, we're going to jump into today's main topic, and I'm going to send it over to John. Thank you, Isaac, and welcome,
Starting point is 00:05:41 everybody. Here are your quick hits for today. First up, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris toured South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia to survey the impacts of Hurricane Helene. Biden also ordered 1,000 active-duty troops to assist in the recovery efforts. Separately, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the Federal Emergency Management Agency does not have enough funding to make it through the remainder of this year's hurricane season. Number two, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkin unsealed a filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith that alleges that former President Donald Trump was acting in a private, not presidential, capacity in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. The filing comes in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in July that presidents have immunity for official acts.
Starting point is 00:06:30 Number three, Israel carried out an airstrike in central Beirut that killed at least six people, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Separately, eight Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting with Hezbollah forces, the first fatalities of Israel's ground operation in Lebanon. Number four, President Biden said he would not support an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites in response to Tuesday's missile attack. And number five, former President Trump said he would veto a federal abortion ban. U.S. stock workers on the East and Gulf Coasts have been on strike for two days now with no deal in sight. President Biden said Wednesday he will not intervene and force the union workers back to work. Analysts say a lengthy strike may cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars each day.
Starting point is 00:07:26 In the meantime, we turn to the economy tonight and to this crippling strike. Tens of thousands of union dockworkers up and down the East Coast and the Gulf walking off the job, threatening the nation's supply chain, and of course then, the prices you could potentially pay. Union power! Union power! Tonight, crucial ports that fuel the American economy from New England to the Gulf Coast at a standstill after tens of thousands of union dock workers walked off the job. If it's a fight they want, it's a war we're going to get again!
Starting point is 00:07:59 On Tuesday, thousands of longshoremen and port operators along the East Coast and Gulf Coast went on strike after their union, the International Longshoremen's Association, failed to reach an agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance on a new contract. The ILA, which represents 45,000 workers, is asking for higher wages for its members and protections against port automation projects. port automation projects. The strike is the first large-scale work stoppage for dock workers in nearly 50 years and has halted nearly all activity at some of the busiest ports in the United States. Negotiations between the ILA and the USMX have stalled since June, when the ILA pulled out of talks over the use of automation technology at a port in Mobile, Alabama. The two parties are at an impasse over the issue, as the ILA views automation technologies like driverless vehicles to move cargo, cranes to stack boxes, and auto
Starting point is 00:08:51 gates to process trucks as threats to workers' jobs. The previous contract allowed for semi-automated machinery at ports, but port operators now want to incorporate greater levels of automation. Additionally, the ILA has been pushing for a $5 an hour raise each year of its new six-year contract, amounting to a 77% wage increase by the contract's end. On Tuesday, ILA President Harold J. Daggett told CNBC that he had revised their goal to a 61.5% increase over six years.
Starting point is 00:09:22 Daggett argues that workers' wages have not kept up with the pace of inflation, while major ocean shipping companies have made billions in recent years without sharing their profits. The USMX said its latest offer is an almost 50 percent wage increase over the life of the contract. Analysts at Oxford Economics say the strike could cost the U.S. economy $4.5 to $7.5 billion per week, with further ramifications for workers and businesses serving the ports. If the strike ends within a week, experts suggest its impact on the economy will be absorbable, as ports are rarely forced to close for days at a time due to extreme weather events. However, a strike longer than a week could have a significant effect on freight volumes,
Starting point is 00:09:59 the availability of goods, and the broader economy. Furthermore, even a short pause could impact the availability of perishable goods that are typically routed through the East and Gulf Coast ports. Still, overall food supplies should not be affected right away, and the White House has said it expects the initial effects of the strike on consumers to be limited. The strike poses a political challenge for President Joe Biden, who is attempting to keep the economy on solid footing while maintaining his relationship with the union and its president. Daggett, 78, was elected head of the ILA in 2011 and is largely popular with its members. The union even erected a statue of him outside of its headquarters last year, and he has risen through the ILA ranks after starting as a dock worker in 1967. He has also
Starting point is 00:10:41 faced allegations of associating with organized crime, standing trial in 2005 alongside an alleged mobster on charges of wire and mail fraud. He denied all the charges and was acquitted. As the strike approached, Daggett made several forceful remarks directed at President Biden, suggesting he would cripple the U.S. economy should the president invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to force stockworkers back to work. Biden has said he has no plans to use the 1947 law, which allows the president to temporarily halt a strike if it imperils national health or safety. He has publicly backed the striking workers, urging the USMX to present
Starting point is 00:11:17 a contract offer in line with the dockworkers' invaluable contributions. Vice President Kamala Harris also voiced support for the union, while former President Donald Trump called the strike a direct result of policies that contributed to inflation during the Biden administration. Today, we'll consider arguments about the strike from the right and the left, and then Isaac's take. We'll be right back after this quick break. Are you sure you parked over here? Do you see it anywhere? I think it's back this way.
Starting point is 00:11:59 Come on. Hey, you're going the wrong way. Feeling distracted? You're not alone. Whether renting, considering buying a home, or renewing a mortgage, many Canadians are finding it hard to focus with housing costs on their minds. For free tools and resources to help you manage your home finances and clear your head, visit Canada.ca slash ItPaysToKnow. A message from the Government of Canada.
Starting point is 00:12:22 From Searchlight Pictures comes A Real Pain, one of the most moving and funny films of the year. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated Jesse Eisenberg and starring Eisenberg and Emmy Award winner Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain is a comedy about mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. A Real Pain was one of the buzziest titles at Sundance Film Festival this year, garnering rave reviews and acclaim from both critics and audiences alike. See A Real Pain only in theaters November 15th. All right, first up, let's start with what the right is saying. The right criticizes Biden for supporting the union's wide-ranging demands.
Starting point is 00:13:11 Some say Democrats will own any political blowback from the strike. Others suggest the strike is unlikely to last long. The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote about Biden's longshoreman strike. As the South works to recover from Hurricane Helene, a strike by the International Longshoremen's Association at East and Gulf Ports is about to add to the economic damage. President Biden wants unions to have extraordinary bargaining power, and he's getting a demonstration of it on election eve, the board said. Many businesses have stockpiled inventory in recent months and made plans to divert shipments to West Coast ports, but some perishable goods can't be diverted, and West Coast ports are overwhelmed.
Starting point is 00:13:49 Businesses last week urged the administration to intervene to head off a strike, but Biden officials took the side of the longshoremen. American ports are less efficient than most in the world, owing to union work rules and restrictions on automation. Unlike other private unions, longshoremen don't have to worry that their demands will bankrupt employers or cause them to lose business, the board wrote. Mr. Biden could invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to force a cooling-off period for more negotiations, as George W. Bush did in 2002, to end an 11-day walkout at West Coast ports. But Mr. Biden said
Starting point is 00:14:21 Sunday, I don't believe in Taft-Hartley. He won't upset his union allies and their voter turnout operation. In red state, Ward Clark said Harris owns any resulting economic damage from the strike. This strike, the first by these unions in 50 years, comes a month before a general election, and Democratic Party presidential candidate Kamala Harris has embraced the strikers, which places the Democratic Party in the position of owning the economic fallout, Clark wrote. All of the rising prices, all of the empty store shelves, all of the layoffs due to supply chain disruptions, she owns it all. She has chosen this. We can and do hope this mess resolves quickly and that the economic impact will be minimal.
Starting point is 00:15:02 Elections aside, there is nothing about this strike that is good for the American people or the American economy. But if this drags on into November, the Trump-Vance campaign will no doubt hang the strike and the vice president's support of the strikers around the neck of the Harris-Wells campaign like an albatross. This may well be the October surprise the Trump team has been hoping for. In the Washington Examiner, James Rogan argued the port strike will cause limited harm and won't last. The union wants guarantees of job security.
Starting point is 00:15:32 Management wants to bring U.S. ports into the modern economy. It is noteworthy that U.S. ports are among the most inefficient in the global economy, Rogan said. Think about that. The world's largest, most productive economy is hobbled by the world's most inefficient port facilities. What is equally disturbing is that the dock workers are already well compensated. The typical longshoreman makes over $200,000 in wage compensation and receives benefits with a value approaching $100,000 a year. Fortunately, there are many reasons to believe that the economic fallout of this strike will be minimal. Importers and exporters knew the strike could happen.
Starting point is 00:16:11 Companies such as Costco had already taken action in anticipation of the strike. Retailers built inventories, Rogan said. If the strike were to drag on for more than a week, damage could be done to the economy. Democrats know that the buck stops in the Oval Office. If the strike were to bring the economy down, then Biden would be forced to use his power under the Taft-Hartley Act. All right, that is it for what the right is saying, which brings us to what the left is saying. The left is mixed on the implications of the strike, but many say it's indicative of more battles over automation to come. Some argue the union's demands are economically sound. Others say the ILA is overlooking the opportunities automation could provide.
Starting point is 00:16:55 In the Washington Post, Heather Long called the strike one of the first great battles against advanced automation. News stories have focused on how the strike will affect consumers. Will there be enough toys for Christmas? Will grocery prices rise? It doesn't require a PhD in economics to understand that the longer this goes on, the more Americans will notice. But the bigger reason everyone should pay attention is that this is an early battle of well-paid workers against advanced automation. There will be many more to come, Long wrote. The dock workers' last strike in the 1970s was also over technology. Back then, the shipping industry was beginning to use big containers because they were much easier to handle than individual boxes. Today, the shipping
Starting point is 00:17:35 industry is at the forefront of a second revolution. It is now possible to run a dockyard with almost no humans present. The two key jobs, operating cranes and moving containers around, can be automated, Long said. The East Coast dock workers understand what's happening around the world. They know about shipping companies' hefty profits in recent years, and they know that President Joe Biden is unlikely to force them back. For now, the workers feel emboldened. In the American Prospect, Harold Meyerson wrote, the longshore workers strike is economically justified. Today's longshore workers aren't the highest paid SOBs in the world, but the current ILWU contract will have its members making an hourly wage of $60.85 in 2027.
Starting point is 00:18:20 The ILA's contracts historically lagged the ILWU's, so this time it is demanding roughly comparable pay, which would require an increase of 77% over their current wage by 2023, the final year of the new contract, Meyerson said. Crazy, right? Well, no. For one thing, since the just-expired contract came into effect in 2018, the shipping companies have made record profits totaling hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal. More fundamentally,
Starting point is 00:18:50 however, the contracts for longshore workers basically mirror those of many American workers during the period when the tax and labor policies of the New Deal were still in place, Meyerson wrote. So there's nothing remotely crazy in the economic proposals that the ILA has put forth. That doesn't mean that its members, given their pay scales, will win the kind of public sympathy that other striking workers may sometimes elicit. Indeed, if the strike goes on for more than a week, it may cause supply chain backups that could increase some prices, which would become a huge political problem for the Harris campaign. In no opinion, Noah Smith said, make work is not the future of work. Is it right that the livelihood of millions of Americans should hang on the whims
Starting point is 00:19:31 of 50,000 dock workers? Is it smart to give a single union the power to shut down a large portion of America's critical infrastructure? Collective bargaining is important, but there should be limits on how destructive we allow the bargaining process to be, Smith wrote. But the worst thing about this strike is the nature of the ILA's demands. Usually, we think of strikes as being about higher wages and maybe better working conditions. The ILA's wage demands are actually pretty close to being met, but the union is also demanding a complete ban on automation at ports it controls. First of all, the work that the ILA wants to preserve from automation is difficult and dangerous. Also, the ILA is thinking only about one potential effect of automation, the replacement of human labor with machines. They're neglecting the possibility
Starting point is 00:20:15 that automation will raise capacity at American ports, Smith said. All else equal, moving more cargo means more jobs for longshoremen. If automation boosts the number of containers that move through a port, that can outweigh the reduction in demand for labor per container. All right, let's head over to Isaac for his take. All right, that is it for what the left and the right are saying, which brings us to my take. So I don't have any particular overarching perspective on unions. I know a lot of Americans who have benefited greatly from being members of a union. I also know a lot of Americans who have been harmed by union actions. Sometimes I'm supportive of strikes
Starting point is 00:21:05 or collective bargaining and rooting for unions to achieve their goals because they seem reasonable and just. Sometimes unions seem like they're overreaching or wielding too much power, acting immorally, and I root against them. In the case of the longshoremen, my sentiment is much closer to the latter position. I've seen the videos of union boss Harold J. Daggett threatening millions of Americans, potentially staggering the entire U.S. economy. I do not find him a particularly sympathetic character. Promising to take action that will hurt car salesmen, construction workers, cashiers at malls, and bring down the U.S. economy does not make me root for you. It's belligerent and off-putting. There are some other interesting
Starting point is 00:21:45 distracting threads to this story, like Daggett's proximity to organized crime, which has raised a lot of questions about his character or his relationship with Donald Trump, which some have speculated have caused him to lead this strike to hurt Harris during election season. All of this, though, is just armchair speculation. The reality is that this story is about negotiating a deal, and we should keep the focus there. The longshoremen are rejecting a contract that would give them a 50% pay raise and instead reportedly hold out for a 61.5% increase. well-paid West Coast longshoremen who earn about $233,000 a year in wages and overtime on top of nearly $100,000 a year in benefits. That is a pretty significant demand, but I understand why they're making it. Port operators, like many big corporations, raked in record profits during the pandemic and have extended those profits into the post-pandemic world. That wouldn't be possible without the workers, who are well within their rights to fight for a piece of those profits. And they seem to have done pretty well at the
Starting point is 00:22:49 negotiating table so far. A 50% pay bump over the life of a six-year contract is a great offer, yet they aren't taking it. Why? Many believe that the crux of the current dispute is centered on automation. This is where things get interesting. A few points to consider. First, the longshoremen worry that automated docks will cost them their jobs. Second, they want a contract that prevents automation from handling the picking up, dropping off, and moving of containers. They want a human operator present. And third, U.S. ports are already inefficient. Docks overseas are more automated and a lot more productive. already inefficient. Docs overseas are more automated and a lot more productive. This strike is, as other writers pointed out, one of the first major worker-verse automation battles of our era.
Starting point is 00:23:31 Many more will come. On the contours of that issue alone, I'd usually be sympathetic toward the workers. For instance, I wrote in support of striking actors and writers who were worried about artificial intelligence stealing their likenesses. I've also expressed general skepticism about the AI revolution and how disruptive many of these emerging technologies will be. But the contours of this debate are much different. This is in part because we aren't talking about hypothetical future technology. American ports are already less efficient than most in the world thanks to the existing union rules and restrictions on currently available automations. There is, to me, a difference between fighting for workers and fighting against the tide.
Starting point is 00:24:10 I happily support unions when they're pushing for better benefits, higher wages, and worker protections, but not when they're fighting to prevent economic evolutions and actively undermining their own industries. This isn't meant to be some ruthless capitalistic take where I argue it's better if all our jobs are done by machines so long as it's cheaper. I don't believe that. Robot-run call centers are far inferior to humans doing customer service, and I much prefer the latter. But in the shipping industry, U.S. consumers are already footing the bill for higher port labor costs and reduced inefficiency, which drives up the prices of our goods. On top of that, there is a good argument that allowing these technological evolutions to flourish could
Starting point is 00:24:49 actually create more jobs, even if they're not the same jobs. In heavily automated ports like those in China, human workers have to be there to oversee what's happening, and many human operators are still needed to operate machinery, as are engineers, mechanics, and so on. National Review's Dominic Pino framed the situation in simple terms. Imagine if an elevator operator union prevented elevator buttons from being adopted and forced at every elevator in the country to have a human operator. It might sound far-fetched, but that actually happened. And that situation is actually not that different from the ILA's stance on port automation. At the end of the day, it's clear to me that these workers have a good deal on the table. I don't think the port operators should sign any contract that impedes their own industry
Starting point is 00:25:33 and prevents us from keeping up with our competitors in the long term, nor do I think it's reasonable to ask these companies to stay stuck in the 1990s. The future is here. The longshoremen should take this deal for their own good and for the good of the U.S. economy. We'll be right back after this quick break. pictures comes A Real Pain, one of the most moving and funny films of the year. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated Jesse Eisenberg and starring Eisenberg and Emmy Award winner Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain is a comedy about mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair's old
Starting point is 00:26:19 tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. A Real Pain was one of the buzziest titles at Sundance Film Festival this year, garnering rave reviews and acclaim from both critics and audiences alike. See A Real Pain only in theaters November 15th. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th,
Starting point is 00:26:55 only on Disney+. Are you sure you parked over here? Do you see it anywhere? I think it's back this way. Come on. Hey, you're going the wrong way. Feeling distracted? You're not alone. Whether renting, considering buying a home, or renewing a mortgage, many Canadians are finding it hard to focus with housing costs on their minds. For free tools and resources to help you manage your home finances and clear your head, visit Canada.ca slash ItPaysToKnow. A message from the Government of Canada.ca slash it pays to know but I just don't like the answer. Do tax-deductible donations only go to the YouTube and podcasts? Why is that? I read newsletters. I'm rarely in a position to watch or listen to them, so I don't really like someone taking a cut to give you money for something I'm not going to use. Okay, so I can give everybody a little peek behind the curtain for a couple of recent developments here at Tangle, and this question is relevant, obviously, with the launch of
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Starting point is 00:28:37 So now we are making the podcast its own separate thing with subscriber and ads to support it, and the donations are going specifically to support it, and the donations are going specifically to support our YouTube channel, which is aimed at getting us in front of a younger audience and is not monetized in any way. Our fiscal sponsor takes a 7% cut of every donation we get, so if you donate to us to support the YouTube channel, you should know that 7% of that goes to the organization who makes those donations possible. What we've learned is that our audience is splitting. Some people exclusively read the newsletter, some exclusively watch the YouTube channel, some exclusively listen to the podcast, some do all three or a mix. We want to make it so people
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Starting point is 00:30:07 Have a good one. Peace. Thanks, Isaac. Here's your Under the Radar story for today, folks. It's been a busy week for California Governor Gavin Newsom, who vetoed several high-profile bills, including one that would have regulated AI, while signing a measure banning legacy admissions at state schools. But a bill on another issue could have the biggest impact of them all, protecting brain data. On Saturday, the governor signed into law a bill amending the state's personal privacy law to include neural data, data generated by a person's brain activity and the network of nerves that extends
Starting point is 00:30:45 to the rest of the body, making it protected personal sensitive information along with facial images, DNA, and fingerprints. Under the law, California residents will be able to request, delete, correct, and limit what data a neurotech company collects on them, as well as opt out from companies selling or sharing their brain data. The measure comes as U.S. tech startups and major players like Meta and Apple develop technology to collect neural data from users. The New York Times has this story, and there's a link in today's episode description. All right, next up is our numbers section. The percentage of agricultural exports shipped
Starting point is 00:31:25 through U.S. ports involved in the strike is 14%, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. The estimated value of those exports over a one-week period is $318 million. The percentage of shipped agricultural imports received through U.S. ports involved in the strike is 73%. The potential economic impact of a pause in those imports over a one-week period is $1.1 billion. The approximate annual salary for East and Gulf Coast port workers earning their top-tier hourly wage is $81,000. The approximate annual salary for West Coast port workers is $116,000. The approximate profits of the global shipping industry in 2021 was $190 billion. The percentage of U.S. adults who support the ILA and the USMX,
Starting point is 00:32:14 respectively, in the strike is 35% and 19%, according to a YouGov poll released on Wednesday. And the percentage of Americans who have a favorable view of labor unions is 59%, according to a September 2024 YouGov poll. All right, and last but not least, our Have a Nice Day story. As of September 24th, Richmond, Virginia became home to the first scalable vertical strawberry farm in the United States. Agricultural startup Plenty Unlimited plans to use the farm to grow more than 30 million pounds of strawberries each year on 30-foot-tall towers. While traditional farming grows food in horizontal rows,
Starting point is 00:32:58 vertical farming is designed to maximize space and allow for year-round production. Good Good Good has this story and there's a link in today's episode description. All right, everybody, that is it for today's episode. As always, if you'd like to support our work, please go to readtangle.com and sign up for a membership. And now, if you are a podcast listener, you can support us by signing up for premium ad-free podcasts by going to tanglemedia.supercast.com. You can follow the link in today's episode description as well. I want to thank you personally for all the support that you've shown to the podcast so far. My hope is to expand the podcast to many more people, get people signed up for these ad-free podcasts, and grow our ability to provide you with more content in the future. In a lot of ways, Tangle Media is still in its infancy,
Starting point is 00:33:50 and we would love to be able to grow it so we can get people from all sides of the political spectrum to come back to the table and have great, honest, healthy conversations about the things that matter to all of us. You can help us greatly in this journey by signing up today, whether it's for the newsletter, the podcast, or both, and sharing it with friends, family, and anybody else you think could benefit by joining the Tangle community. For those of you who have subscribed or plan to subscribe to our premium podcast channel, Isaac is going to be recording this Friday's newsletter as our first premium Friday podcast as well. And as always, Isaac and Ari will be on the mic for the Sunday podcast, and I will return on Monday. For the rest of the crew, this is
Starting point is 00:34:31 John Wall signing off. Have a fantastic weekend, y'all. Peace. Our podcast is written by me, Isaac Saul, and edited and engineered by John Wall. The script is edited by our managing editor, Ari Weitzman, Will Kedak, Bailey Saul, and Sean Brady. The logo for our podcast was designed by Magdalena Bacoba, who is also our social media manager. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. And if you're looking for more from Tangle, please go to readtangle.com and check out our website.

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