Skip to main content

Mansour Speaks to WTVM about Recent Port Strike

Turner College economics professor, and Director of the Butler Center for Research and Economic Development, Fady Mansour spoke with WTVM9's Macy Woodworth about the port strike that occurred along the east and Gulf coasts last week. The strike involved thousands of port workers, resulting in one of the most disruptive strikes the United States has experienced in more recent years. The strikes occurred at 14 different ports with the involvement of over 25,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association. Workers were demanding a 77% wage increase in the next six years, along with the demand of protection against automation. “You may think why someone with $81,000 dollars a year wants a wage increase . . . it’s the housing inflation,” explained Mansour. “Wages increased in the last 3-4 years, but if you look at the housing it increased by 40 to 60 percent in some areas; there is no match to your wage increase. For instance, one of the affected ports is located in Savannah, where the average house price skyrocketed from $255,000 before the pandemic to $443,000 in the second quarter of 2024. This significant rise in housing costs means that workers would now need to almost double their income to qualify for the same home they could afford just a few year ago.” The United States Maritime Alliance originally offered a 50% increase in wages, but failed reach an agreement regarding the protection against automation. “This reflects [an] ongoing struggle in the labor market between workers and automation,” said Mansour. “A one week strike could cost the U.S. economy roughly $3.8 billion, potentially raising consumer goods prices, according to the Conference Board. While this figure is a small fraction of the nearly $29 trillion U.S. economy, the impact disproportionately affects small businesses. Many holiday-driven retailers had already adjusted their supply chains in anticipation of such labor distributions.” While the port strikes caused some public worry and plenty of questions, Mansour does not see a need to stress. "The implications of what happen[ed] is more important than the event itself,” said Mansour.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seven Turner College Management and Marketing Faculty Have Combined to Produce Eight A-Level Journal Publications Between 2021 and the Present

A number of faculty in the Turner College's Department of Management and Marketing, which includes faculty in management information systems, have produced A-level journal publications in the last few years. This report covers that activity, starting with John Finley , the chairperson of the department. Professor Finley published a paper in the Journal of Computer Information Systems in 2022.      Finley is joined by Kirk Heriot , the Crowley Distinguished Chair in Entrepreneurship. Heriot, who earned a PhD in management from Clemson University, published in a 2021 issue of Small Business Economics . One of the study's co-authors, Andres Jauregui of Fresno State University, was previously a member of the Turner College's economics faculty.      Next is Johnny Ho , a professor of management, who has a 2022 publication in the Journal of Computer Information Systems . Ho has won CSU's Excellence in Research Award on multiple occasions, while he has compiled 2...
Post a Comment
Read more

TSYS School, Jianhua Yang, Lixin Wang Each among Top Five in the World

New research by computer scientists in the School of Information Technology at Universiti Utara Malaysia that ranks institutions and individuals on the basis of scholarship in the area of stepping-stone attacks heaps praise on the Turner College’s TSYS School of Computer Science and two of its faculty – Jianhua Yang and Lixin Wang .   The article, published in the April 2023 issue of the International Journal of Research in Engineering and Science , provides a bibliometric analysis of both publication and citation data from 2000 to September of 2022 related to research on stepping-stone intrusion.   Among several results, it reports that Columbus State University ranks second worldwide, trailing only the University of Houston, using total publications on the subject as the basis of comparison.   A number of other U.S. institutions appear in the top 10, including third-ranked North Carolina State University, fourth-ranked University of Illinois, sixth-ranked Iowa State U...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Butler Center Report Identifies Employment Gaps in the Columbus Area

Officials in the Turner College's Butler Center for Research and Economic Development recently put the finishing touches on an extensive report on trends in educational programs and occupations in the Columbus area. The report also includes data on business and technology trends.  According to Fady Mansour , Director of the Butler Center, there are several key takeaways from the report regarding 10 occupational gaps that currently exist in the Columbus area. First,  software development occupation exhibits the biggest labor shortage, with the report adding that the TSYS School has a bachelor's degree program in information technology along with a new AI track for the bachelor's degree in computer science, both of which can qualify students for this occupation. Other educational programs are in demand, such as computer programming and cloud computing. Second, there is a gap of 30 employees per year in general and operations management. This gap could be addressed by the Turn...
Post a Comment
Read more