Port Workers Strike

great perspective being given in this thread!

i'd like to say that anyone who hasn't clicked on the Adam Savage video in Brandon's post is missing out!

that video is F@#&ing FASCINATING!
LC

brandon7861 said:

Nobody wants to see good jobs handed to robots, but if a company that wants to automate and eliminate the need for workers has all its workers walk off the job, it's not too hard to imagine what that company does about it. People talk about the strike potentially lasting months, well how long would it take to implement the automation? About the same time, I'd bet. They may strike themselves right out of a job and help the company push them out in the process.

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That's exactly right. My opinion is that if you want a ridiculous raise, like 40 to 60% of what you are making, and I'm pretty sure these union dock workers make more than the average Joe, it can't really be taken too seriously. I know the economy sucks, but everyone takes a hit, and large wage increases add to the total picture. UPS is an example, those guys make $60 and hour, and a lot of us now cannot afford to ship anything.
I don't begrudge the UPS workers, but everything within reason, and I know I'm going to get a lot of flack, but those aren't the most what I call skilled jobs.
Now Boeing offered their workers I think 30% raise, now 17K are losing their jobs.
But then figure that fast food workers are now making like $20+ an hour, it kinda makes sense. But there again, those jobs are going to automation as well due to the cost of workers and benefits. I personally don't use kiosks, or go to the self check-out lines. I like dealing with humans...sometimes. It's all going the way of 1984, and it needs to be shut down in my opinion.

Captain Kilowatt said:

Amen to that. When I was in commercial broadcasting, we did component level repair. We diagnosed the problem right down to the discrete component and replaced it. By the time I left that business 19 years ago most places were troubleshooting down to the board level......simply replacing an entire circuit board if a certain section was not working. Later it even came down to simply replacing an entire unit. Long gone is the component level replacement and a lot of diagnoses skills with it.

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I worked in HVAC for many years, and the same happened. I learned on units with individual components for all the controls, lots of wiring, and you were able to have test points with every component. Also experience over time would allow you to get tot he correct failed part just by observation and listening to what the unit was doing. Fast forward 20+ years and everything is pretty much on one or 2 boards, and once you isolate the what's not working, the entire board is replaced. The skill level that was once required has dropped quite a bit by doing this. If it's broke, replace a board(s) until it does work, unless one of the motors or compressors have failed, but not a lot troubleshooting skills needed as it once was.