We should thank our lucky stars that cooler heads prevail in this country. Last Wednesday, dock workers at the Port of Iquique, Chile, who had organized a peaceful demonstration with the intention of pressing for a fair conclusion to a wage dispute, were assaulted by units of the Chilean armed forces. In what appears to be an unprovoked attack, six workers were severely injured. Jorge Silva Beron, the General Secretary of the union, was singled out, severely beaten, and remains in intensive care in a Santiago hospital. His very survival is in doubt.

We have wage disputes in this country, too, but at least our chosen representatives have the good sense to sit down and compromise. The recent tragedy in Chile should remind us how much risk we take when little or no consideration is given to an opponent’s position. Long-lasting animosities develop and even encourage further disagreement. The AAPA’s S.H.A.R.E program stands in sharp contrast to attitudes that prevail in other parts of the world, and is a clear demonstration of the willingness and good will that exist between the opposite poles of labor and management. Is there any way, do you suppose, that the S.H.A.R.E. principles could be instrumental in establishing a common ground for these two entities? This is more than just wishful thinking, and it’s a question that merits our attention.

But first, let’s deal with the two questions that were raised last week in this column regarding the backlog of vessels at LA/Long beach: “How can those stalled ships and their cargos be placed in the hands of this anxious labor pool?”, and “What is it about those spacious terminals that hinder the efficient flow of goods?”. The obvious answer, up to this point anyway, has been that these “spacious” terminals are already overcrowded. This congestion generates traffic tie-ups, longer turnaround times, disgruntled drivers and longshore workers … and around and around we go in this vicious cycle. It’s redundancy … it’s deja vu all over again. Mr. Vickerman and others have stated repeatedly that sufficient expansion is not feasible, and that terminals must change. No one, however, has been able to put forth a workable suggestion for the required change, and the situation is now becoming explosive. This website has been established to illustrate that the many difficulties encountered in the intermodal supply chain can be remedied by one single step. All the serious problems in this gasping pipeline can be eliminated when the patented system described by this website is fabricated and installed at the site of each existing terminal. Review once again, if you will, the Problems & Solutions page. The very first benefit to be seen is the reduction in the amount of space presently required for operations. The resulting creation of generous amounts of usable space then makes it possible to place those stalled ships and cargos in the hands of an “anxious labor pool”, because even though the system itself requires much less in the way of material handling equipment and maintenance, eliminates container repositioning, simplifies operational procedures and training procedures, etc., etc., the hiring of many more longshore workers will be absolutely necessary in order to handle efficiently the unimpeded growth made possible by this new installation.