There's no doubt there is politicization going on here. But are you squashing it, or adding to it? badtux, and me, and you, don't know what he said, because apparently none of us speak Spanish. Seems like an easy question to answer, since there are a lot of people that do speak Spanish. And, of course, are the videos undoctored? Was he speaking since the hurricane, or sometime prior? etc. The question is, what is the actual truth? barfo
Major U.S. labor unions are organizing truck drivers to help with relief efforts in Puerto Rico as the island continues to grapple with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria last week. The Teamsters union and the AFL-CIO, a federation of more than 50 unions, are working together to recruit truckers to travelto Puerto Rico and help distribute a stockpile of relief supplies Thousands of shipping containers full of food, water, and medicines were sitting unused at Puerto Rico's Port of San Juan. Relief workers haven't been able to distribute the goods, in part because only about 20% of Puerto Rico's truck drivers have reported back to work since Hurricane Maria swept through, according to a representative for Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló. On top of that, Puerto Rico has a shortage of diesel fuel, which is needed to power the semi-trucks. Downed power lines and debris still litter roadways, blocking routes. Even contacting local drivers is an issue because cell service blackouts still cover the majority of the island. Teamsters spokesman Galen Munro told CNN that the union hopes to get more drivers on the ground next week. http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/30/news/teamsters-union-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria/index.html
I searched in Google News for a strike in PR and this is what I found. I know in the states the Teamsters won't cross another union's picket line.
I agree that a) the US Teamsters are trying to help and b) there isn't a "declared" strike. I think it's relevant, though, that Mr. Martinez (and to your earlier question, barfo, in the translation I read he references Hurricane Irma, so it's within the last 2 weeks) says that he's planning on shutting down truck transportation, and that he allegedly says it doesn't matter that gringo drivers are coming.
The shortage of diesel fuel has been debunked, and the route blockages were mis- (over-?) reported. There may have been severe damage at one point, but by Wednesday Mayor Kurtz was able to get to San Juan and on the 29th CNBC reported that almost all municipalities could be served. Even CNBC's reporter states that the problem is with "distribution" and "the supply chain", not with fuel itself. Once FEMA stepped in: On Wednesday, CNBC reported that "we have the fuel on the island we need, we have the supplies, we don't have the distrubution channels." The reporters and Crowley executives states there's plenty of fuel and recovery on the island. (around the 3 minute point)
Veterans organizations around here were taking donations, so we gave a bunch of old clothes. This was right after the hurricane hit. Along with all the other donations, they were trucked to Florida and put on a boat to PR. I wouldn't bother refuting some wordpress.com site. Anyone can create a blog there for free. I don't know if there's a strike or what, but I would assume the truckers live on the island and are just as busy dealing with their own family and friend problems as the rest of the people there.
Not wordpress.com http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...-rico-relief-goods-sit-undistributed-at-ports In Puerto Rico, Containers Full Of Goods Sit Undistributed At Ports "Plenty of vessels can get cargo to the island," agrees Mark Miller, Crowley's vice president of communications. "But the real difficulty is getting the goods to the people via trucks." Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of pounds have been delivered to the airport by commercial airlines, and the Department of Defense and FEMA have also been bringing in deliveries by air. Everybody — the government, aid groups and private firms — is having trouble moving those goods around. ... The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration tells NPR that the government is working with the truck driver's union to find a solution for driving with downed power lines and damaged roads, and the Department of Defense says it has sent teams to work on clearing blocked streets. Not everyone believes roadways are the problem. Roberto Ramirez Kurtz is the mayor of Cabo Rojo in southwestern Puerto Rico, which is about as far away from San Juan as you can get on the island — a 2 ½ to 3-hour drive. He says more than 5,000 homes were completely destroyed in his town, and people are running out of water and insulin. But aid and resources, "they're staying in San Juan," he says. Kurtz was in San Juan to ask for help, and having made the trip himself, he doesn't believe that road conditions are an obstacle. "The roads are open," he says. "I've been able to come here. So why haven't we used this to [transport goods] west?" Meanwhile Juan Carlos Garcia, the mayor of Coamo in the south of the island, says the only aid his town has received is five pallets of water. "The state never came to provide diesel to the hospital," he says. People are running low on food supplies and hysteria is growing, he says. He, too, says the roads are clear — and that he's in San Juan to ask why no aid has reached his town. ... You have a shortage of drivers who have lost a lot during the storm," he says. "You may have a huge fleet but they ain't moving themselves." "Whatever driver shows up, we put him to work," he says. The governor of Puerto Rico has issued an appeal for anyone with a commercial license to help distribute gas, Darmanin says.
Seems kind of ludricrous that there's a vast conspiracy of union workers carefully coordinating an island-wide secret strike just to starve their fellow countrymen into a better deal. I mean, every time I've been involved in some sort of disaster I've always been amazed at how selfless people often become. Particularly in more isolated areas. Doesn't it seem a little far-fetched that union leaders and all their evil minions are chuckling to themselves at the opportunity to get what they want by starving their neighbors? But setting aside the massive amount of selfishness it requires of individuals to pull off such a strike--we're talking about a place with basically no phone or electrical service. How exactly is this vast conspiracy actually being conducted? Are union leaders sending out messages by passenger pigeon to their drivers? Without a lot of reliable info on union conspiracies, it seems like the obvious answer is probably the right one. Most truck drivers are too busy looking after their own families to go back to their jobs, or perhaps have no functioning transportation to get to their jobs because of, you know, the flooding. I don't know that a lot of finger pointing is needed in any direction at this point. Except at the president. As other presidents have pointed out in the past, the job of President is basically to be Communicator in Chief. Reading Trumps comments and seeing him pass out a golf trophy dedicated to Puerto Rico, it's a marked contrast in tone and effectiveness compared to, say, the tone set forth in the PR Governor's interview cited above. It takes a shocking amount of doublethink to consider his behavior presidential. For that matter, even sane. And it's not like this is the first time. Immediately after a terrorist attack in London he piled on to the Mayor there. I think a lot of people can relate to how obnoxious and counter-productive this is. Just think to the last time you were doing something really hard in your job or with your kids, and an authority figure came in and shit all over everything you were doing. Even if they were completely right, it's incredibly dispiriting and divisive. That Trump is willing to do this with British people or brown people, but not white Texas people, certainly seems par for the course.
They're going to be rebuilding Puerto Rico for years. How long do you want the president to just sit by the phone?
Not sure what you are talking about, honestly, but it doesn't matter since this is a free site, and therefore every argument made here is not credible. barfo
The Navy is famous for land forces and truck driving. I'm sure they do it some, but it ain't the army.
In all seriousness, they do, but generally not commercially-licensed Class C vehicles. As a 17y/o, before I had a real driver's license, I had a 5-ton and HMMWV license for Okinawa. Nowadays, much of our logistics are contracted privately, so there are less Motor Transport personnel who are required to drive a class C vehicle, and therefore don't have licenses. And I don't imagine that FEMA, the truckers' unions, or the government are stoked about handing the keys to a big rig to a 20 y/o Marine with no experience to drive over roads he's never seen in post-hurricane conditions. The military does have some big vehicles, but nothing that would hook up to a shipping container. That's why much of their aid is with helos, HMMWVs and foot power.
This had me laughing, thinking about the guys I know who were driving Strikers in the sandbox.."What traffic?"
I understand, it's a big ocean, and it's not possible to transport army truck drivers across a big ocean. SAD! barfo
