1 - American Memory
1 - American Memory
1 - American Memory
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194<br />
"Unions should help each other, especially when bargaining fails<br />
and there is strike action. But a union should not be allowed to isolate<br />
a part of the United States and bring it to its knees.<br />
"When there is a west coast dock strike, prices in Hawaii skyrocket.<br />
There is a run on essential items. A hint of a shortage can bring hoard-<br />
ing to our islands on a scale that mainland union leadership and poli-<br />
ticians do not realize.<br />
"West coast shipping strikes in 1971 and 1972 played havoc with<br />
our economy. Hawaii was without salt, flour, rice, and paper products<br />
for many weeks at a time. Prices of some items, especially perishable<br />
products, more than doubled.<br />
"Honolulu already has the highest cost of living in the Nation, ex-<br />
cept for Anchorage, Alaska. It also has the highest percentage of<br />
working wives of any city in the Nation because of its high prices.<br />
"The legislation before the House would help to keep Hawaii prices<br />
down. Prices are high partly because of freight charges—everything<br />
must come by sea or air. But more important, the threat of west coast<br />
strikes forces businessmen to keep ample inventories of goods, much<br />
more than their counterparts on the mainland.<br />
"The extra high-cost warehouse space needed increases costs which<br />
are passed on to the public in the form of higher prices. Take away<br />
the effects or threat of a strike, and you take away the extra storage<br />
space needed. This means lower prices.<br />
"If the required legislation is not passed, then the Federal Grovem-<br />
ment, I believe, has an obligation during west coast shipping strike to<br />
subsidize the airfreight of goods to Hawaii to end the suffering of its<br />
people.<br />
"Hawaii should at least be owed this consideration. When West<br />
Germany was cut off by a Soviet blockade during the cold-war days,<br />
the United States came to the rescue with a huge airlift. For us in<br />
Hawaii, a west coast dock strike is tantamount to a blockade, and we<br />
are entitled to at least the same support from our Government that it<br />
gave to a friendly nation in need. A friendly nation pays no taxes;<br />
we do.<br />
"If the House doesn't pass this bill, we in Hawaii would like to know<br />
what you in Washington are going to do for us. West coast dock strikes<br />
hardly affect the people living on the west coast. They have alternative<br />
sources of supply. But such strikes profoundly affect the lives of the<br />
people of Hawaii.<br />
"If the legislation is passed, it will have little effect on west, coast<br />
labor's bargaining power and strike action. If anything, it would help<br />
strengthen labor's hand, for it would not have Hawaii's people against<br />
it when a strike occurred.<br />
"H.R. 7189 provides for an injunction lasting up to 160 days that<br />
can be obtained 48 houre after a strike or lockout occurs. This injunc-<br />
tion would affect less than 3.5 percent of west coast longshore labor and<br />
not more than 7 percent of shipboard labor, according to a report by<br />
First Hawaiian Bank: 'Hawaii: The Most Vulnerable State in the<br />
Nation.'<br />
"Thus, a west coast longshore strike would remain 96.5-percent<br />
effective and a maritime strike 93-percent effective. But this 3.5 per-<br />
cent or 7 percent is the key to the survival of Hawaii's economy."