One letter writer has suggested (TNT, 12-20) that Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Rep. Adam Smith intervene with the negotiations between the longshore union and the Pacific Maritime Association. Unfortunately, this will not happen, because the unions are big contributors and supporters of the Democrats. Plus that would only be a short-term solution to a decades-old problem.
Having said that, the unions are only a part of the problem. The main part of the problem is the way ports are formed and the weakness of the elected commissioners.
The current business model becomes quite murky because the problem solvers do not want to run for port commission or cannot get elected. Our long-term solution is to create real competition. We need to allow the creation of new ports with different business models or vote to change some of the existing ports to a different business model.
If these ports were run correctly, they would not need our property tax dollars. Our school systems and the mentally ill could really use those dollars.
The union slowdowns may not cause a recession, but that does not help the economy for the rest of us Washingtonians.
