Strike on paper only

Who is this trucking boss who put his name behind the port strike, told everyone the industry must stand together, and then sent his own trucks out on the road the day the strike began?

Nosy Tarsee also learned that while his fellow members were told to park their rigs so the government would feel the pressure, his drivers were hauling one container after another, as if nothing had been agreed on.

People at the port say his trucks were among the busiest in the yard during the first two days when the strike was supposed to hurt the most. One insider said cargo kept coming out of his yard like any ordinary day, which tells us how seriously the man who made the call took it.

Because the gates stayed open for his fleet, some drivers wondered aloud why a man who asks others to sacrifice would not do the same.

It gets better. Although he has been quick to speak about the pain of small operators who have lost money as empty containers piled up, he was seen at lunch in a fancy hotel where, we were told, the table was full and the bill was not small.

A leader who calls for a stoppage while his own trucks keep moving gets the best of both worlds: the group’s praise when it looks good, and the cargo of customers who cannot wait.

Meanwhile, the ones who pay are families facing higher prices, the sick who need medicines on time, and the small traders whose goods will sit in a yard for another week.

If the strike was truly meant to help them, as the organizers kept saying, then it is fair to ask why some who called for it didn’t adhere to their own call.