>>1022960>t. boat ownerMariners are historically an abused workforce. Being stuck on a boat for months and months and months, without a proper relief or supply is why organizations like the seaman's church developed.
Busted unions and deregulation, i.e. Jones Act, would gut the employment of the tug/barge fleet, which is the vast bulk of the US flagged fleet. Wage scales and schedules are driven by unions negotiating with large companies. The non-union companies in New York
(Bouchard, Buchanan, McAllister, etc) are compelled to match the rates of union companies (Reinauer, Moran, namely) to attract workers. On the east coast, the further you get from NYC and unionized ports, the worse the pay gets.
The extreme example is unorganized labor on the inland waterways. Pay is much worse, schedules are generally uneven, and the work is a multitude more difficult and dangerous.
I'd really like you to play out a scenario where breaking up unions does anything but reduce the labor force and renumeration thereof. The company I work for has one of the highest payscales on the east coast, and somehow they still make money hand over fist.
