1 - American Memory

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