🌊 Docked by Dissent

^{“Everything comes at a cost. Just what are you willing to pay for it?”}

— Serena Williams

👋 Friends, Rallie here. The newsletter reporting in with the latest in crypto, finance, and tech.

On the menu:

• 🌊 Docked by Dissent

• 🗞️ Headlines That Hit

• 📈 Refresh: NFTs

• ✌️ Trivia Thursday

• 💯 Top Tweets

The Rallie Recap

💥 British Columbia’s strike issue: how its effects could ripple across the globe. Here’s the heat:

• What is going on? More than 7K terminal cargo loaders at 30 B.C. ports are going to be affected by a port worker strike on Saturday. ⚓ A move that has 99.24% of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU Canada) members backing it up. 

• Who exactly are they striking against? Their fight is against the B.C. Maritime Employers Association, representing 49 private-sector employers across the province - shipping everything from cars to grain.

• 💰 Members of the association are said to contribute $2.7B to the national GDP and handles ~16% of Canada’s total traded goods (worth $180B in 2020).

• Meanwhile, West Coast ports in the U.S. are also experiencing labour issues… double whammy. 🚢

• So, what are B.C. workers’ main reasons behind the strike?

1. Companies contracting out work

2. The need for protection against port automation impacts to ensure the sustainability of jobs

3. The increase in cost of living and inflation that the current pay does not compensate for

• Their employers have their own complaints too. The Port of Vancouver has placed at the bottom of a list of 348 container ports for global port efficiency two years in a row. This year, it was ranked second last to the bottom. 😳

• And public support for the strike is mixed…

• Will the anti-scab legislation come into play? ⚖️ It is intended to prevent employers from hiring replacement workers during a strike. B.C. is one of two provinces with these laws, claimed to be the strongest in the nation.

• However, it does not “prevent managers and employees outside the striking bargaining unit from doing the tasks of striking workers” nor does it “prevent employers from using striking workers who cross the picket lines.” 🤝

• The longest active strike in Canada, a two-year strike, is ongoing at the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport. 🛎️ However, it has reduced effectiveness due to the loopholes in the anti-scab legislation and a quarantine contract.

• Although it is unlikely to be applicable to the dock worker strike, it is good to note in anticipation of some company responses to employee protests, and in how Canada will adapt to these contexts. Unlike most strikes, there are few who are unconcerned about the coming event on Saturday. 😱

• Keep up with The Weekly Rallie to follow how this move could meaningful affect you.

Headlines That Hit

• 📸 Violation of privacy. Nissan installed a camera surveillance system at the house of its second-in-command after he opposed a new partnership deal.

• ✌️Buh-bye! An increasing number of Russian billionaire oligarchs may be fleeing their country and its crises.

• 🎢 Not good enough. Canada’s inflation drops to a two-year low of 3.4%, but price pressures from core inflation tells a different story.

• ✈️ Come in! Canada aims to have 8,000 new health-care workers move to the country each year. Currently, 2,000 skilled health-care workers expected to be invited to immigrate to Canada in the coming months.

• 🎬 The fight for wages and protection. Hollywood’s writers are striking for higher pay and protection against AI, resulting in a 50% decrease in business for related industries.

• 🛢️A risky bet that needs to be paid off. Canada is urged to oppose TC Energy’s efforts to recoup $15B USD in lost profits from the U.S.

Rallie Refresh: NFTs

🤖 Is it an illusion, a form of crypto, or an entirely new asset? NFTs: what are they and why are so many people are creating them? Here’s what you should to know:

 What are NFTs?

• Non-fungible tokens are a cryptographic asset on a blockchain that relies on unique identification codes and metadata for each NFT’s specific identity. They have their own digital fingerprint. 🧬

• NFTs can be traded and exchanged for money, cryptocurrencies, or other NFTs based on its value (determined by the market and owners).

• 🏷️ Some consider NFTs a volatile asset because of mixed market valuations and an owners’ ability to place arbitrary value.

❓What are the differences between crypto and NFTs?

• Although crypto are tokens too, cryptocurrencies from the same blockchain are interchangeable/fungible whereas NFTs from the same blockchain appear identical but are not interchangeable.

• 🔏 Use cases for NFTs and crypto can also vary. NFTs are unique digital assets (such as images) that can be used to give creators credit for their work, provide a digital signature that no other version of a photo will have, and enable an increased amount of compensation for a creators’ work.

• This is different than a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, because Bitcoin is interchangeable and does give not unique creations that you browse for and then purchase. ❌

🧐 NFTs are an important tool for creatives in the digital era and to facilitate other forms of investments. If you are curious about the details, try out our course, NFTs Explained.

✌️Trivia Thursday✌️

💡 The answer for Tuesday’s newsletter (crypto is the same as NFTs… True or False?) is false, they are both digital assets but have inherent differences. Tune in next time for today’s fun fact answer.

Trending Tweets

Our fav funnies to get you through the day.

Congrats, you made it to the end!

That's all for today. Stay hungry & we'll catch you next time. ✌️

DISCLAIMER: This is not financial or legal advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions.\