Some dockworkers earn more than $400,000 a year

From The Center Square

Some longshoreman regularly earn more than the president of the United States along with most other U.S. workers.

Under the existing contract with the East Coast union, a top-scale longshoreman could earn up to $39 an hour, which translates to about $81,000 a year. However, many workers take overtime and extra shifts that have higher rates.

Some 50,000 International Longshoremen’s Association members went on strike Tuesday against the East and Gulf Coast ports, hampering the flow of goods in what some predict could be the most disruptive strike in decades.

Dockworkers often earn more than $100,000 a year because of work rules and overtime requirements.

More than half of 3,726 dockworkers at the Port of New York and New Jersey earned more than $150,000 in the fiscal year that ended in 2020, according to the port’s regulator, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. About one in five dockworkers at the port earned more than $250,000 that year.

Eighteen dockworkers brought in more than $450,000 that year – more than the annual salary as the U.S. President ($400,000) and more than most U.S. workers. The real median household income for all Americans was $74,580 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Some dockworkers get paid even if they don’t work.

“Every terminal within the Port still has special compensation packages given to certain ILA longshore workers, the majority of whom are white males connected to organized crime figures or union leadership,” according to the Commission’s 2019-2020 annual report. “Based on the industry’s reported figures, the Commission has again identified over 590 individuals who collectively received over $147.6 million dollars last year in outsized salaries, or for hours they never worked.”

The report noted the special packages were not memorialized in the applicable collective bargaining agreements. Rather than eliminate or cap them, the NYSA and ILA negotiated a 2013 Memorandum of Settlement of Local Conditions in the Port of New York-New Jersey. That guarantees special packages to certain people. Those individuals are paid for hours not worked or hours worked by others, as long as they are at the Port for 40 hours each week, according to the Commission’s report.

Such conditions have endured for decades, according to the Commission’s report.

“The hearings revealed that the hiring, training and promotion practices of the industry led to low-show jobs, favoritism and nepotism, the abusive and illogical interpretation of collective bargaining agreements, and the impact of those practices both on the competitiveness of the Port and on the morale and career prospects of decent, hard-working Port employees,” according to the report. “Connected individuals are awarded high paying, low-show or no-work special compensation packages, in some cases earning salaries in excess of $500,000. Such positions were overwhelmingly given to white males connected to organized crime figures or union leadership.”

The ongoing strike, which extends from Maine to Texas, could affect everything from bananas to European beer and automobiles.

The International Longshoremen’s Association blamed the United States Maritime Alliance for refusing a contract offer.

It’s the first strike at these ports since 1977. The strike will affect 36 U.S. ports handling about half of U.S. ocean imports. Included are Boston, New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Negotiations have been tense since June. The disagreement is between the International Longshore Association and Warehouse Union, which represents port workers across the country, and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents terminal operators and ocean carriers.

Wages of East and Gulf coast workers are a base wage of $39 an hour after six years. The union is asking for a 77% pay increase over six years. It is also asking for more restrictions and bans on the automation of cranes, gates, and container movements used to load or unload cargo.

Brett Rowland

Investigative Reporter

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Vacant Somali Daycares In Viral Videos Are Also Linked To $300 Million ‘Feeding Our Future’ Fraud

Published on January 3, 2026

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Melissa O’Rourke

Multiple Somali daycare centers highlighted in a viral YouTube exposé on alleged fraud in Minnesota have direct ties to a nonprofit at the center of a $300 million scam, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported Thursday.

The now-infamous videos from YouTube influencer Nick Shirley, posted Dec. 26, showed several purported Somali-run daycare centers receiving millions in taxpayer funds despite little evidence that children were actually present at the facilities. Now it turns out that five of the 10 daycare centers Shirley visited operated as meal sites for Feeding Our Future, the Minnesota-based nonprofit implicated in a massive fraud scheme that has already produced dozens of convictions, the outlet reported.

Between 2018 and 2021, those five businesses received nearly $5 million from Feeding Our Future, the outlet reported. While none of the centers in Shirley’s video have been legally accused of wrongdoing, the revelations underscore the sprawling web of fraud engulfing the state. (RELATED: Somalis Reportedly Filled Ohio Strip Mall With Potential Fraudulent Childcare Centers)

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🚨 Here is the full 42 minutes of my crew and I exposing Minnesota fraud, this might be my most important work yet. We uncovered over $110,000,000 in ONE day. Like it and share it around like wildfire! Its time to hold these corrupt politicians and fraudsters accountable

We ALL… pic.twitter.com/E3Penx2o7a

— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) December 26, 2025

Federal prosecutors have charged over 70 individuals — mostly from the Somali community — with stealing more than $300 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through Feeding Our Future. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program funded sites across Minnesota to provide meals to children. Prosecutors say leaders of Feeding Our Future, along with dozens of associates who ran sponsored “meal sites,” submitted false or inflated meal counts to claim reimbursements.

One facility featured in Shirley’s video, the Minnesota Best Childcare Center, received $1.5 million from Feeding Our Future, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Minnesota Best Childcare Center, which has been licensed by the state since 2013, did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Other daycares featured in Shirley’s video have been cited dozens of times for rule violations while continuing to receive millions in state funding. The now-infamous Quality “Learing” Center was cited for 121 violations in the past three years, including for failing to report a “death, serious injury, fire or emergency as required,” according to the Star-Tribune.

The paper’s investigation found that six of the facilities featured by Shirley were either closed or employees did not open their doors.

Following that exposé, which has accumulated more than 135 million views on X, the Trump administration announced it would freeze all childcare disbursements to Minnesota while federal officials review how taxpayer dollars have flowed to licensed providers.

The fraud allegations extend beyond childcare, with prosecutors claiming millions in taxpayer funds were also stolen from Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services and autism treatment programs. Federal prosecutors also estimate that as much as half of the roughly $18 billion Minnesota has spent since 2018 on 14 Medicaid programs may have been siphoned off by fraudsters.

Even the state’s assisted living program has come under scrutiny, with Republican state Rep. Kristin Robbins warning that individuals connected to the Feeding Our Future scheme continue to receive millions in taxpayer funds.

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The great policy challenge for governments in Canada in 2026

Published on January 1, 2026

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Ben Eisen and Jake Fuss

According to a recent study, living standards in Canada have declined over the past five years. And the country’s economic growth has been “ugly.” Crucially, all 10 provinces are experiencing this economic stagnation—there are no exceptions to Canada’s “ugly” growth record. In 2026, reversing this trend should be the top priority for the Carney government and provincial governments across the country.

Indeed, demographic and economic data across the country tell a remarkably similar story over the past five years. While there has been some overall economic growth in almost every province, in many cases provincial populations, fuelled by record-high levels of immigration, have grown almost as quickly. Although the total amount of economic production and income has increased from coast to coast, there are more people to divide that income between. Therefore, after we account for inflation and population growth, the data show Canadians are not better off than they were before.

Let’s dive into the numbers (adjusted for inflation) for each province. In British Columbia, the economy has grown by 13.7 per cent over the past five years but the population has grown by 11.0 per cent, which means the vast majority of the increase in the size of the economy is likely due to population growth—not improvements in productivity or living standards. In fact, per-person GDP, a key indicator of living standards, averaged only 0.5 per cent per year over the last five years, which is a miserable result by historic standards.

A similar story holds in other provinces. Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Saskatchewan all experienced some economic growth over the past five years but their populations grew at almost exactly the same rate. As a result, living standards have barely budged. In the remaining provinces (Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta), population growth has outstripped economic growth, which means that even though the economy grew, living standards actually declined.

This coast-to-coast stagnation of living standards is unique in Canadian history. Historically, there’s usually variation in economic performance across the country—when one region struggles, better performance elsewhere helps drive national economic growth. For example, in the early 2010s while the Ontario and Quebec economies recovered slowly from the 2008/09 recession, Alberta and other resource-rich provinces experienced much stronger growth. Over the past five years, however, there has not been a “good news” story anywhere in the country when it comes to per-person economic growth and living standards.

In reality, Canada’s recent record-high levels of immigration and population growth have helped mask the country’s economic weakness. With more people to buy and sell goods and services, the overall economy is growing but living standards have barely budged. To craft policies to help raise living standards for Canadian families, policymakers in Ottawa and every provincial capital should remove regulatory barriers, reduce taxes and responsibly manage government finances. This is the great policy challenge for governments across the country in 2026 and beyond.