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<DIV><FONT size=4>John</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>The Jones Act itself did not create nor maintain any specific
labor rate. But because US maritime unions were so effective compared with
their foreign counterparts (or lack thereof) US wages were considerably higher
and so US steamship operators were at a tremendous competitive
disadvantage. Just as with manufacturing, I put the blame on the US
unions, not for getting decent wages for their members but for becoming fat,
happy and dumb after they had done so. They should have been exporting
trade unionism to other countries to get the wages in those countries up to
global standards. Had that successfully happened, we would not have seen
manufacturing job flight from this country, and had it been applied to the
maritime trade, we would still see US flag carriers on the high seas. in
fact, we (USA) might be a leader today.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Dwight</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=j_swindler@hotmail.com
href="mailto:j_swindler@hotmail.com">John Swindler</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, 15 May, 2014 12:31</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org
href="mailto:pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org">Western PA Trolley
discussion</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [PRCo] Sometimes we get it
right...</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'><BR> <BR>For
such a common name, could not remember the Jones Act which would cause inflated
labor rates so that not competitive. We took a Seattle-Alaska round trip
cruise last year that included a five hour stop in Victoria B.C. to avoid the
Jones Act provisions. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR><BR> <BR>>
From: dwightlong@verizon.net<BR>> To:
pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org<BR>> Date: Thu, 15 May 2014 11:57:19
-0400<BR>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Sometimes we get it right...<BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> John<BR>> <BR>> When cruise ship transatlantic crossings are on
sale, they are much lower than that. Problem is that they are almost
always expressed as “pp” for double occupancy. One has to double them to get the
true cost if one is traveling alone—or find a roommate. <BR>> <BR>>
The second problem is that they are one way cruises and to match them with a one
way transatlantic air fare produces a killer of a cost—not really feasible for
most folks.<BR>> <BR>> There are a few freighters on the transatlantic run
that will take singles but the price is, from my limited exploration of what was
out there a few months ago, higher than air fares especially if one has to fly
one way.<BR>> <BR>> The reason that foreign flag cruise ships visit one
foreign port on a cruise starting and ending in a US port is to comply with the
cabotage provisions of the Jones Act, which prohibits non-US flag carriers from
engaging in transport from one US port to another. In order not to disrupt
international relations, foreign flag carriers were permitted to originate or
terminate pax in the US—this exception was necessary to preclude other nations
from banning US flag ships. It dates back to the days when steamships were
the only means of intercontinental travel and is exploited today by the cruise
ship industry, a result of the law of unintended consequences setting in.
Even a cruise from a West Coast port to Alaska must include one (however brief)
stop in Canada to be legal—unless of course it originates or terminates in
Vancouver. The net result produces the consequence you describe, but it is
actually the Jones Act that the carriers are circumventing not the Federal
minimum wage law.<BR>> <BR>> Dwight<BR>> <BR>> From: John Swindler
<BR>> Sent: Thursday, 15 May, 2014 08:09<BR>> To: Western PA Trolley
discussion <BR>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Sometimes we get it right...<BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> New passenger ships are built every year, and some
appear on occasional trans-Atlantic trips. Cunard's Queen Mary 2 offers
sailings between Southampton and New York at prices that sometime dip under
$1,000 per person. That's competitive with the airline rate.<BR>>
<BR>> Cunard is now owned by Carnival. And there is probably a sign
posted at the ship hiring office: "Americans not wanted". Fred's
article says it all: our government wants to dictate labor rates, but a
multinational company can look elsewhere. That's why cruise ships make
sure they visit at least one foreign port on a cruise - to avoid US minimum wage
rates. <BR>> <BR>> There's still steerage class on the
trans-Atlantic route. Today it's called Economy class on an airline.
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> > From:
fwschneider@comcast.net<BR>> > Date: Fri, 2 May 2014 17:36:54
-0400<BR>> > To: pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org<BR>> >
Subject: [PRCo] Sometimes we get it right...<BR>> > <BR>> > <BR>>
> Sometimes, perhaps by accident or inertia, we get it right.
While other countries were mistakenly building ships that would be empty only a
dozen years later after Boeing introduced the 707 jet, we claimed we had no
money….<BR>> > <BR>> >
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GCsbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5121%2C3739461<BR>>
> <BR>> > Oh well. We still have the SS United States
sitting in a dock with dreamers thinking you can preserve a ship for tourist
visitors. <BR>> > <BR>> > <BR>> > <BR>> >
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