The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), the union representing dockers on the US East Coast, has pulled out of contract negotiations with employers citing bad faith as employers broached the thorny subject of automation.
Union negotiators said the first day and a half of the scheduled four-day talks saw a number of issues resolved, but then the employer’s association, the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), announced its intention to implement semi-automation at terminals.
“Talks broke down when management introduced their intent to implement semi-automation—a direct contradiction to their opening statement where they assured us that neither full nor semi-automation would be on the table. They claimed their focus was on modernization, not automation.”
Automation is a red line for dockers’ unions, as seen in the disputes arising on the US West Coast and in Canada, where workers’ jobs are threatened by large-scale automation.
“The ILA has always supported modernization when it leads to increased volumes and efficiency. For over 13 years, our position has been clear: we embrace technologies that improve safety and efficiency, but only when a human being remains at the helm.
Automation, whether full or semi, replaces jobs and erodes the historical work functions we’ve fought hard to protect,” said the ILA in a statement.
The deadlock over the negotiations was acknowledged by USMX who accused the union of attempting to move the industry backward with its intransigent demands that people put at the forefront of these negotiations.
In restricting technological developments that have been in use for nearly 20 years in some ports, the union is preventing the evolution necessary to meet future supply chain demands, pointed out USMX.
“The USMX has been clear that we are not seeking technology that would eliminate jobs. What we need is continued modernization that is essential to improve worker safety, increase efficiency in a way that protects and grows jobs, keeps supply chains strong, and increases capacity that will financially benefit American businesses and workers alike,” stated the employer’s alliance.
ILA officials have, however, cited studies showing that a human workforce is the safest and most cost-efficient means of operating sophisticated modern terminals.
“Studies within our industry confirm what we’ve long known—no machine or algorithm can outperform the productivity of a skilled human workforce. Despite this, employers and certain media outlets perpetuate the false narrative that the ILA is stonewalling technological progress. This couldn’t be further from the truth,” said the union.
As an example of the modernisation and progress that can be made the ILA pointed to the achievements of the Port of New Jersey which increased its gate movements from 1,500 to 10,000 in a similar timeframe, raising productivity substantially.
Advanced crane technology and yard machinery has, said the ILA, further increased productivity at the terminals allowing dockers to “maintain some of the most state-of-the-art and efficient terminals in the world”.
“Contrast this with automated terminals worldwide, which consistently lag behind in productivity. Automation is not the panacea it’s often portrayed to be,” claims the workers’ union.
ILA believes that USMX is likely to agree to its staffing proposals as a compromise as a plan to establish semi-automation, which will later pave the way for fully automated terminals. “We’ve seen this bait-and-switch strategy in other parts of the world and other industries, and we will not let it happen on the East and Gulf Coasts,” concluded ILA.
Mary Anne Evans
Correspondent at Large
