Port workers are at war with automation. Can they win?
By Kristin Houser | Published: 2024-11-10 16:00:00 | Source: The Present – Big Think
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It’s the year 2035. You’ve just started a job at an American container port, but unlike the longshoremen of the past, you don’t have to worry about losing a limb – or worse – while unloading a cargo ship. This is because this port is semi-automated, and instead of sitting in a crane cab, you are in an air-conditioned office, monitoring operations from behind a computer screen.
Port automation
For three days in early October, nearly 50,000 Americans Longshoremen went on strikewhich led to the cessation of activity in shipping ports on the eastern and Gulf coasts of the country.
It was the first strike for the union representing the workers – the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) – since 1977, and like their predecessors, these workers were hitting the picket line to take a stand against technology they believed would put them out of work.
On October 3, the ILA and the group representing port operators and shipping lines – the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) – reached a temporary agreement suspending the strike until January 15, 2025. If the pair cannot conclude a new contract by then, the strike will likely resume.
To find out what’s at stake for workers, ports and the average American, let’s take a look at the timeline of events leading up to the strike, what each side wants, and what could happen if they do — or don’t — do it.
Where were we?
Where are we going (maybe)
The October strike ended quickly when the ILO and USMX reached a tentative agreement on wages.
Just before the strike, the USMX was displaying 50% increase for ILA members over the next six years, while the ILA was seeking a 77% increase. During the work stoppage, the two were able to agree on this 61.5%which will see longshoremen’s wages increase from $39 per hour to $63 per hour by 2030.
Now, they have nearly three months to work on the most difficult part of the contract: port automation.
Demands
USMX wants the new contract to include the same language related to automation as… Current contractWhich was signed in 2018: “There will be no implementation of semi-automated equipment or technology/automation until both parties agree to safeguard workforce and staffing levels.”
At the same time, the International Law League wants “completely robust language that there will be no automation or semi-automation,” said International Law League President Harold J. Daggett. He said On the first day of the strike.
According to the International Law Association, this change is necessary because USMX members were Intrusion automation In ports despite the current language. Contract negotiations broke down in June 2024 when the ILA discovered that the Port of Mobile in Alabama was using an “automated gate” system that eliminated the need for ILA workers to manually process trucks entering or exiting the terminal.
“This is another example of USMX members unilaterally circumventing our master contract coastwide,” Daggett said. June 2024. “This is a clear violation of our agreement with the USMX, and we will no longer tolerate it.”
Technology
The automated gates are just one example of the type of technology the ILA is trying to keep out of ports.
Typically, at a non-automated terminal, a worker in the gantry crane cabin will use the massive machine to lift a container from the ship and lower it onto a terminal tractor. Someone will then drive the tractor to the storage yard, where another worker will use another crane to move the container from the tractor to the “stacks,” where it will remain until someone comes to pick it up.
Instead of traditional terminal tugs, some ports on the West Coast and beyond are now using automated guided vehicles (AGV) equipped with advanced navigation systems to move containers. AGV missions are determined by software that helps ports manage cargo, and once a vehicle receives a mission, it can execute it without human intervention.
Ports also use either fully autonomous or remotely controlled cranes, rather than an on-board operator, to move containers from ships to stacks. At the highly automated Maasvlakte 2 station in the Netherlands, for example, 80% Crane movements are now automated.
Workers are still needed to supervise fully automated AGVs and cranes, but since one person can monitor many machines on a computer screen, moving to them reduces the number of people needed to manage that equipment at ports.
With remotely operated cranes, you’re just moving the worker from the crane cab to the computer console, where it’s undoubtedly safer, but the ILA has reason to be concerned about this type of automation as well.
“Sitting there in front of a big computer console and watching the dock can be done in India,” Sal Mercogliano, a former merchant mariner and maritime industry policy trainer, told Freethink. “It doesn’t have to be done (at the port). That’s the big fear.”
Complications
The situation surrounding port automation is not that simple as the technology is great for port operators and terrible for stevedores.
Port work is Hard and dangerous – Longshoremen are five times more likely to suffer a fatal injury on the job than the average American worker. Automation can Reduce this riskbut the experience of containerization suggests that it can put longshoremen out of work as well.
“When the first container ships came out, the land administration and the unions fought them — they didn’t like them because they would take away jobs,” Mercogliano said. “Fifty years ago, there were hundreds of thousands of longshoremen. Today, there are tens of thousands.”
“At some levels, automation is an arms race.”
Ryan Petersen
Containerization has also shown ports how much technology can improve their operations Automated machines They have the ability to do the same thing – they can work around the clock, reduce labor costs, make the port more predictable, and stack containers more accurately than people can, allowing the port to increase its capacity.
However, machines are not cheap, and the cost of retrofitting an existing plant to work with them must also be factored into the equation.
“Investing in automation requires a lot of capital, billions of dollars… It’s not clear with automation that the returns on capital are that high,” Ryan Petersen, founder and CEO of the global logistics platform Flexportsaid Frithink.
However, container volumes at U.S. ports are steadily increasing, and technology that could help a port move more cargo, more quickly and more predictably — even if it is more expensive — could give it a better chance. Competitive advantage On other ports. And if none of the ports on the East Coast and Gulf were allowed to automate, they wouldn’t have to worry as much about having to compete with each other (although they might miss out on trade destined for the West Coast or elsewhere).
“On some levels, automation is an arms race, so if you can get someone to enforce the NPT on you, that could be good for you — you don’t have to compete on that dimension,” Petersen said.
Port customers may not like it, but they may not have much choice if automation is banned throughout the East.
Bottom line
Ultimately, it is in the best interest of all Americans for the USMX and ILA to reach some sort of agreement before January 15 — ILA ports handle more than half of America’s containerized imports and exports, and analysts estimate that an ILA strike could end up costing the U.S. economy anywhere in the world. 500 million dollars to $4.5 billion day.
In anticipation of the October strike, some Ocean shippers They increased the amount of cargo they sent to the East Coast earlier this year and diverted other cargo to West Coast ports. Meanwhile, many port operators on the East Coast Extend their gate hours in late September to give trucks more time to pick up imports.
Because of these efforts – and because the strike was relatively short – the port operators did not have much trouble He recovers from itBut a longer strike in January could lead to higher retail prices and perhaps even shortages of some goods that come through the ports – everything from cars and produce to lumber and medicines.
“I think the other members of the union realize that the writing is on the wall.”
Sal Mercogliano
Mercogliano believes the two groups will be able to reach an agreement, with the compromise being for the ILA to accept automation as part of its East Coast and Gulf ports. recently.
“I think they will start making provisions to start the automation process, and perhaps a committee or working group of some sort to vote and discuss implementing automation,” he told Freethink. “I don’t think they can fight him.”
He continued: “Harold Daggett, the head of the union, has to say he is against it, but I think the other members of the union realize what is written on the wall, that they have to increase the capacity of the ports to be more efficient.”
this condition Originally published by our sister site Freethink.
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