Automation remains a focus for ILA

During the first week of October, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike inevitably dominated national news coverage. Doomsday scenarios, people hoarding toilet paper and union president Harold Daggett’s 7,136-square-foot New Jersey home, complete with a brick pizza oven and a sleek Bentley in the garage, are all socializing There was a stir in the media. At the heart of the ILA’s concerns, however, is automation and its eventual impact on union jobs.

Also read: Managing supply chains through disruption: ILA strikes on Gulf and East Coast in 2024

Like any other economic sector, port management is driven by the pursuit of profit and seeks to maximize productivity. Port automation has been an ongoing phenomenon for years, but union resistance has been particularly pronounced in the United States.

“Smart Port” integrates digitalization, artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, 5G and other technologies. Although the United States is the tech capital of the world, the country has long lagged behind when it comes to smart ports, largely due to union resistance.

Among the top ten smart ports in the world, there are seven in Europe, two in Asia, and only one in the United States. Traditionally, longshoremen were engaged in highly strenuous activities, lifting and moving cargo by hand from incoming ships and loading it onto trains for onward transport. Today, the job is almost 100% focused on operating machinery, tracking shipments, and coordinating shipments with trucking companies. However, there’s still a lot of work on the “factor” side as Docker needs to troubleshoot when things go wrong.

In China, for example, port unions have little bargaining power. The regime maintained tight control over workers’ organizations, and although unions existed, they did not advocate for workers’ rights or demands as they did in the United States. Although a series of actions are absolutely not allowed in the United States, the Chinese have been actively pursuing port automation and are approaching world-renowned European smart ports such as the Port of Antwerp, the Port of Hamburg and the Port of Rotterdam.

Automation of anything naturally leads to displacement. But it remains to be seen how many jobs port automation will actually eliminate. Supporters argue that displacement will lead to longshore workers moving into more productive areas of work. Opponents argue that these positions do not yet exist and that in the short term, jobs will be eliminated.

The push for modernization through automation is inevitable, so any ILA wins may soon be challenged again. Market forces ultimately prevailed, but ILA is doing its best to maintain the status quo.