Enter the lottery for a blue-collar job paying up to $ 200,000/year

[MillCreek]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-port-lottery-20170127-htmlstory.html

I knew a guy who was a crane operator on the Seattle docks, and he routinely made over $ 150,000 per year.

[Fly320s]

Better odds than winning Powerball, but not by much.

It looks like some of those guys realize they are being used for their cheap labor, but still cling to the hope they will land the big job.  Some of them would have been better off getting a full-time job years ago instead of waiting for the chance to go full-time at the docks.

[230RN]

I still have my father's longshoreman's hook. (1930s?)  Will that give me any street cred for advancement?

Probably somehow illegal, even though it's a curio/relic... :)

[dogmush]

I'm a little offended by that article's tone of "This lottery is the last chance they have of making a living without college.....the poor benighted blue collar folks."

I dropped out of collage after two years, being unable to afford the rest.  No degree, not even any useful credits.  I got an entry level job, decided entry level work for $9/hr sucked, and proceeded to learn everything I could.  I got folks to teach me, I asked my bosses for chances to try new things.  When the first place started to be obviously holding me back I looked for new jobs and jumped ship.

Yeah I ended up with the fed.gov, but that's because I consciously made the choice to sacrifice a some of the salary I could be making now, for job security and the freedom to really put time into my Army Reserve career.  Even still I make enough money to be pretty dang comfortable and still save for a retirement.  If I took my skills and certs on the open market I could easily make $150k/year (easily find the job, the work would be hard) based on what I've learned and taught myself.  Without playing some union lottery.

I applaud these folks for trying to better themselves and get a good paying job, but damn, if the odds are THAT bad, find something else to do.

[AJ Dual]

And of course it's a job that could have the hell automated out of it. And would have by now. But it's fitting, these are the same guys who blocked adoption of the standardized shipping container by decades too.

[Scout26]

And of course it's a job that could have the hell automated out of it. And would have by now. But it's fitting, these are the same guys who blocked adoption of the standardized shipping container by decades too.

Most of it already is.  Still need a person to make sure containers are locked down, whether on a trailer frame or on the ship.