If anyone listened to NPR this evening you know that the West Coast Ports labor dispute is not over. Even though George W. forced everyone back to work there are
still the insinuations that there is a planned work slowdown going on with the union saying that it's all the fault of the backlog created by management's lock-out.

Lots of Holiday merchandise is trapped or delayed. My girlfriends been waiting for 4 weeks for a piece of molding from Japan for her Subaru.

How does this affect you and your MINI? I'm not sure unless you're in Hawaii waiting for one. How it affects me I know all too well. My MCS left the BMW distribution center aroung 9/25 and hasn't been seen since. It's on route to Hawaii ( I ordered it there) and sits somewhere in the Long Beach Port in a container-maybe.

Matson is the company that ships most things in and out of Hawaii (monopoly?) and they have been of little help finding the car . They have twice given be ship names and departure dates that have turned out to be in error. The last update from Matson said my MCS was on the Gadao and would arrive in Honolulu this past Sunday. MINI.com 's owner's lounge of course has been showing my car 'at your dealer' since 10/1 because of a glitch that forgets that Hawaii bound cars have to still travel from CA to HI by boat.

Should I be worried about damage to the car from being in a metal container for so long oceanside? Is it rusting away before I even see it? Has that container been bounced around by pissed-off dockworkers.

I'm this close to selling my deposit to someone in Hawaii. Sorry for the rant...I've just had it and am getting concerned. What can I do? Nothing. Damn!
:evil:

 

Well, I've got some good news, and some bad news.

First the bad news. In 1971 the exact same thing happened to my BMW 2002 (model; not "year&quot. It sat offshore from Long Beach for 6 months. When the longshoremen returned to work, they crushed the fenders on my car; the engine never ran well (sitting on a ship for over 6 months, after being used by my wife & I for a month in Europe); it was a disaster (and permanently soured me on unions).

Now, the good news. I heard this evening (on the way home from work) that the longshoremen & shipping owners had reached several "major milestones" in their negotiations; including the issue of "increased efficiency" of the harbor. Therefore, we may not CONTINUE with this strike (and your car may be found fairly soon).

Focus on the GOOD NEWS!

 

Hmm.

I'll try, thanks. I actually belong to a union IATSE 728, which is the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Empoyees --local 728 being the Motion Picture lighting Technicians. I can see why many people are sour on unions with the long history of Mob involvement and generally thug-type tactics.

I'm not going to get into a long pro-union anti-union debate here but I will say that without my union:

I would never break for lunch or dinner .
My work day would be endless instead of the 14-16 hours it already is.
I would get less the the mandatory 8 hours turnaround from leaving work to having to be back at work the next day.
When a young camera assistant died from falling asleep at the wheel after several 18+ hour work days, the Producers fought against " Brent's Rule" ( the dead camera assistant's name was Brent) --a maximum 14 hour work day.
I would have no health insurance in a job I've been doing for 12 years.

I know that the Teamsters do not support the West Coast Dockworkers and neither do I in this particular dispute. Please remember that unions include the nurses and teachers that take care of your families and children.


Thanks for the good news , I guess.

 

I have the same problem. I am in california, and my mini is bound for mini of hawaii originally and then I put a deposit on it and they were going to do a courtesy delivery to a so cal dealership, but my car has been sitting at port heumane (not worth looking up sp) for a week and a half now. When will this madness stop? Please keep me informed on any updates you hear of. Oh yeah, the owner's lounge sucks, my car is supposively waiting to ship, when in reality it shipped weeks ago and is sitting at the processing center. GRRRR