Reply #30: Some questions and answers

[Coastie for Truth]

1. If we aren't qualified to do our own port services, why do we permanently outsource these contracts instead of contracting to train U.S. citizens?

We are qualified. We off-shored ship building because of relative labor costs. We off-shored ship operations (crews) for the same reason. This was a blip on the radar screen in the late 1940's but became a tsunami by the 1970's.

We were late getting into container operations -- which gave foreign port operators a head start, and never caught up.

2. Do outsourced contracts bring in their own labor? Does that labor have to conform to U.S. labor law? Does this mean that we are selling American jobs on American soil to foreign countries who are shipping their laborers here because they don't pay them anything?

For port operations - they follow US laws, hire US workers (containers mean that they need far fewer - that's all)

3. What realistic alternatives are available and were they considered. If they were considered and rejected, what criteria was used?

Example, Treasury Secretary John Snow's CSX sold its port operations business to a foreign operator. The realistic alternative is to encourage local investment.