A.G. Gancarski
Florida’s Governor is launching a potential end-run around a work stoppage by the International Longshoremen’s Association, saying cargo ships bringing imports that aren’t being offloaded can bring their goods to Florida.
“There are ships that have nothing to do with these negotiations. They may need a place to be able to come and we just want to send the message: You can come to the state of Florida,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a media availability in Anna Maria.
The Governor said the Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard “will be deployed to critical ports, affected to maintain order and if possible, resume operations which would otherwise be shut down during this interruption.”
Additionally, the Florida Department of Transportation “is coordinating calls with seaport rail and trucking partners to ensure that all are prepared and positioned appropriately to limit disruptions to the supply chain and other areas,” per DeSantis.
All of this is facilitated by Executive Order 24-213, which claims the strike action must be thwarted as “the economic impacts will be felt across Florida’s sixteen deepwater seaports.”
As he did during comments Wednesday on the labor stoppage by dockworkers, DeSantis argued that it was “simply unacceptable” to strike given that action “could negatively impact people” who are working to rebuild after Hurricane Helene with imported goods.
He also blamed the White House for not intervening against the interests of the union, saying Joe Biden and Kamala Harris should “do everything in their power to ensure that these goods are where we need to be, that people are not left hanging out in the cold, waiting for these goods if they’re sitting in the ocean somewhere and they’re not being able to be used here in the state of Florida or in Georgia or North Carolina or where people are going to desperately need this.”
The President noted that storm recovery matters, but says it’s up to the management class to meet labor’s demands.
“As our nation climbs out of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, dockworkers will play an essential role in getting communities the resources they need. Now is not the time for ocean carriers to refuse to negotiate a fair wage for these essential workers while raking in record profits.”
The Vice President is sympathetic to the workers.
“This strike is about fairness. Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits,” her campaign asserted this week.
Former President Donald Trump largely agrees, saying “American workers should be able to negotiate for better wages, especially since the shipping companies are mostly foreign flag vessels.”
30 comments
Ron Ogden
October 3, 2024 at 12:57 pm
You may not agree with his strategy, but he is showing leadership. He is putting the permanent interests of the many above the temporary interests of the few. He is correctly and legally using his power as Governor to prevent the real probability of this strike harming people who are in need and who have no personal authority to solve the problem. Good job, Governor DeSantis.
Cheesy Floridian
October 3, 2024 at 4:11 pm
How much is DeSantis paying you to write this? He is correctly and LEGALLY using his power as gov? No he is not. He has done a lot of shady stuff that probably broke the law in some fashion. Bad horrible no good job DeSantis.
A Day without MAGA
October 3, 2024 at 4:46 pm
He can only under martial law,he cannot make people that are not qualified to handle mechanical equipment do it
Ron Ogden
October 3, 2024 at 7:19 pm
Lo and behold, it is Thursday night and the strike is over. Pretty da-n coincidentally, at that. Not that I ever believed in coincidence. Biden and Harris, meanwhile, were cheering the strikers. What do the cheerleaders do when their team runs off the field in the middle of the first quarter?
MHDuuuval
October 3, 2024 at 10:28 pm
They breathe more easily because — truth be told — no one wants another bottleneck at our ports. Remember LA and San Diego and their effect on inflation?
yew oweme
October 4, 2024 at 5:27 pm
RON OGDEN, that’s called one member of the team aiding another member of the team. let me spell it out to you, dems are pro labor and gop is anti labor. EVERYONE knows that. maga can lie to labor, but they aren’t supporters of labor.
Frankie M.
October 3, 2024 at 10:17 pm
Being a character and having character are two different things. Just look at Ronnie’s hero Trump.
yew oweme
October 4, 2024 at 5:29 pm
RON OGDEN, that is an anti labor comment, maybe elon has a job for you.
ScienceBLVR
October 3, 2024 at 1:12 pm
Whoa.. from State Guard to Scab- only in Florida
Cue Joe Hill…
And standing there, as big as life
And smiling with his eyes
Says Joe “What they can never kill
Went on to organize
Went on to organize
From San Diego up to Maine
In every mine and mill
Where working folks defend their rights
It’s there you find Joe Hill
It’s there you find Joe Hill
Ron Ogden
October 3, 2024 at 1:29 pm
What’s next, beating us over the head with Woody Guthrie’s guitar and a portrait of that old wobbly Mother Jones? Try living in the modern era; reality braces up the spirit. In this century, we won’t allow a handful of disgruntled hardhats to tip our great nation into the abyss of chaos. Not when union potentates are linked to mobs and drive Bentleys around their Long Island estates.
yew oweme
October 4, 2024 at 6:25 pm
RON, is there any other right- wing tropes you failed to mention. your post was like a cliche of a cliche. you’re anti – labor stance is crystal clear, you can go back to your compound now.
Richard Salvagni
October 3, 2024 at 2:46 pm
Scabs???? Say that to the single mom with black mold on her walls and a coughing baby. I wipe my backside with union demands. Huge props to Desantis
If you can learn your job in a week… (your job) you aren’t of value in this economy. Go pick vegetables
MHDuuuval
October 3, 2024 at 6:01 pm
Elected officials in Florida should have to pick vegetables or fruits for a week before the Legislature meets. The heat and sun aren’t too bad at that time of year and they can leave and go back to a comfy bed,
yew oweme
October 4, 2024 at 12:39 pm
RICHARD, anti labor (anti-people) guys like you are common, but still deplorable. go to your sunday morning book club and pray to your imaginary friends. unions are great, you, not so much.
jerome r barry
October 3, 2024 at 3:47 pm
Excellent move Governor DeSantis.
Now lets hear from the governor’s of the others states that
are just trying to survive.
Frankie M.
October 3, 2024 at 10:16 pm
Wow this story didn’t age well. It turns out collective bargaining does work notwithstanding Ronnie’s grandstanding.
ScienceBLVR
October 3, 2024 at 3:47 pm
“I know a lot about overtime. I hated to give overtime, I hated it. I’d get other people—I shouldn’t say this, but I’d get other people in. I wouldn’t pay,” Trump said, basically admitting to wage theft and hiring scabs.
Like father, like son… thanks DeSCABtis
BlackSheep
October 3, 2024 at 4:26 pm
This GREAT NEWS! Hopefully other states with good governors, like South Carolina will follow suit!!
Cindy
October 3, 2024 at 5:39 pm
Money hungry in waist deep waters.
As for homeless most should be claimed incompetent to take care of their own selves. Much less a trial for at least more then 10 years.
SallyB
October 4, 2024 at 7:34 am
Ron DeSantis is not only America’s Governor but is the most principled conservative leader in a generation and the most effective Florida governor ever. It’s why we Floridians re-elected him to a 2nd term in the greatest landslide in the history of modern Florida politics. Leadership matters.
yew oweme
October 4, 2024 at 11:12 am
SALLY B, your post was pure garbage, as usual. you live in a very dark place. shame on you.
SallyB
October 4, 2024 at 11:45 pm
Look into a mirror if you can. How’s Tennessee?
LexT
October 4, 2024 at 8:12 am
People are going to get really mad really quick when prices go up and you cannot find things on the shelves or get them from Amazon. The President should be involved since it really is a national issue. The President forcing people into a room to negotiate is not a bad thing. People should talk. If the strike was just about the amount of wages or conditions, it would be one thing, but they are asking about guarantees of jobs (which AI or other technology may get rid of). That is efficiency. Efficiency is good for everyone. Sometimes people need to accept they need to get a different job. Reality is scary, but we should be looking to mediate before we escalate to economic terrorism.
MHDuuuval
October 4, 2024 at 5:45 pm
Efficiency? You mean like driverless vehicles?
Wouldn’t it be more prudent not to rush into this before the technology has been tested and proven?
If I were an ILA member I would be shooting for a contract that laid out a future for a gradual transition to robot land that provided space for today’s workers to either retire or re-train GUARANTEED.
The approach of shipping management is to discard workers ASAP, much like Trump when he was faced with paying overtime and wanted to bring in different workers at regular time.
yew oweme
October 4, 2024 at 11:10 am
LEXT, i see from your post that you are anti labor, that figures.
Patsy
October 4, 2024 at 1:42 pm
You are a very negative hateful person. Typical TDS. When you vote in Marxist Kamala you will reap what you sow.
SallyB
October 4, 2024 at 11:49 pm
And you’re pro-union? Riiiiiiight … You were not during the Marxist BLM riots. You did not support unions collectively representing public-safety unions. You’re a typical leftwing activist hypocrite. Stay in your basement, weirdo.
SallyB
October 4, 2024 at 11:50 pm
And you’re pro-union? Riiiiiiight … You were not during the Marxist BLM riots. You did not support unions collectively representing public-safety workers. You’re a typical leftwing activist hypocrite. Stay in your basement, weirdo.
MHDuuuval
October 6, 2024 at 10:39 am
Dee has drawn a clear line between GOOD unions (cops, primarily) and BAD unions (teachers, service workers, municipal and state workers, etc.) The GOOD unions are enabled by state law; the BAD unions are penalized with the goal of decertification by hook or crook.
Benjamin Wade
October 6, 2024 at 1:08 pm
Number one the cost to move threw the Panama Canal is any where from 60000 to 300000 thousand dollars. Whit the water short in the lake they started bidding on position of ships to move farther up in the line.
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