REBUILD THE UNITED STATES!

  BY STAS MARGARONIS On September 20th, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, & Transportation District coordinated a series of exercises in which law enforcement agencies from around the San Francisco Bay practiced boarding a ferry in open water as part of an exercise to disarm an active shooter terrorizing passengers. The ferry was sailing in the San Francisco Bay at the time of the...

BY STAS MARGARONIS A new book, authored by historian John Womack, “Labor Power and Strategy”  edited by Peter Olney and Glen Perusek, focuses on the need for U.S. workers to organize unions in strategic industries and discusses wins and losses experienced by union organizers. Two union organizers discuss issues impacting workers in warehousing and the railroads: In the book’s Introduction Peter...



  PHOTOS PORT OF LOS ANGELES   BY STAS MARGARONIS The Port of Los Aneles expects “a muted peak season” according to Eugene Seroka, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles. Seroka’s prediction comes as the Port reported a decline in July volumes: ”July 2023 loaded imports landed at 364,208 TEUs, down 25% compared to the previous year. Loaded exports came in at 110,372 TEUs, an increase...

NATIONAL SECURITY MULTI-MISSION VESSEL (PHOTO: U.S. MARITIME ADMINISTRATION) BY STAS MARGARONIS, RBTUS In a far-ranging interview, Rear Admiral Ann C. Phillips, US Navy (Ret.), who was sworn in as the 20th Administrator for the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD), discussed challenges facing U.S. shipbuilding, mariner safety, maritime commerce and U.S. naval leadership...

PHOTO: PORT OF LOS ANGELES By Stas Margaronis The Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union announced a tentative agreement on a new six-year contract covering workers at all 29 West Coast ports on June 14th. The parties gave credit “to the assistance from (Acting) U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su” who was dispatched by President Biden to the San Francisco...

Photo OffshoreWind California   By Stas Margaronis At the Pacific Offshore Wind Summit that took place in Sacramento California on May 8-10th, some panelists and attendees expressed concerns about the threat to fishing and whales caused by the construction of offshore wind farms. The threat has been widely alleged by fishing, environmental and special interest groups opposing Atlantic Coast wind...

Photo: Port of Long Beach BY STAS MARGARONIS On May 10th, the Pacific Offshore Wind Summit, hosted by Offshore Wind California, heard  federal, state and industry leaders urge California to move with speed and scale to make offshore wind a reality. The steps include transmission, port upgrades, procuring at scale, expediting permits, establishing a supply chain, creating workforce training and...

“Today, I’m thankful to live a high-carbon lifestyle and wish the rest of the world could too. Energy poverty = poverty. #decarbonization is dangerous and deadly.”---Tweet from Jason Issac, Texas Public Policy Foundation executive and director of the Life:Powered Initiative,  Thanksgiving Day, 2022 By Kevin Policarpo Helping Fishermen Oppose Offshore Wind Some fishing industry opponents of...

Photo: Matson By Stas Margaronis The United States needs a national maritime strategy to identify commercial, shipbuilding, manpower and military sealift shortfalls as well as solutions, according to officials from the Transportation Institute and the Navy League of the United States. Sara Fuentes, Vice President of Government Affairs, Transportation Institute and Jonathan Kaskin, National Vice...