From Reuters via MSN, January 6:
Contract talks covering 45,000 dockworkers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts are set to restart on Tuesday in a labor dispute that will help set the pace of automation at ports stretching from Maine to Texas.
The International Longshoremen's Association wants to eliminate past labor contract concessions on automation - notably the use of semi-automated cranes that stack containers on docks - arguing they pose a threat to jobs.
The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group, meanwhile, argues those rail-mounted gantry cranes are key to remaining competitive as ports, most notably in China, lead the way on automation.
If the two sides do not reach a deal by Jan. 15, workers at container ports that handle more than half of U.S. ocean imports could start a strike just days before President-elect Donald Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.
A three-day strike by the ILA last October triggered a spike in shipping prices and cargo backlogs at the 36 affected ports.
The union and employers, which have issued dueling statements in recent weeks, did not comment separately for this article.
PAST REGRETS
Nearly two decades ago, port employers convinced an earlier group of ILA leaders that using semi-automated cranes at what is now known as Norfolk International Terminals would eventually help create thousands of new jobs, the union said.
Those cranes replaced equipment like specialized human-operated forklifts known as top loaders, and have been introduced at a handful of other U.S. port terminals since.
The cranes can handle bigger container stacks than traditional equipment, expanding capacity on the dock, and can work overnight arranging containers for pickup the next day, with little human involvement. Placing containers on the trailers of trucks waiting to whisk them away is still handled by joystick-wielding human operators.
"What seemed like a win for one port turned out to be the project that is becoming the model for automation that could potentially chip away at many jobs at almost every other terminal along the East and Gulf Coasts," Dennis Daggett, the ILA's executive vice president, said in December.
Union President Harold Daggett, Dennis Daggett's father, has called for "absolute airtight" contract language stating that there will be no automation or semi-automation at port terminals....
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Previously:
December 9 - Shipping: American Ports Are Stuck In The Stone Age
If you are going into hunker-down mode ahead of the resumption of the strike the first affected products will be automobiles, beef and bananas:
The U.S. Bananapocalypse Is Nigh
The Longshoreman's Strike As An Example Of Greedflation (ILA)
I am all for private sector unions and have written favorably about them* but this guy leading the longshoreman union sounds a bit whack....And back in 2018:
"Where can you get paid $466K a year to wash trucks? Special deals, union clout at N.J. port"
December 13 - President-Elect Trump Appears To Align With The Longshoremen In The Possible January Strike Over Automating U.S. Ports
Here's
the President of the International Longshoreman's Association stating
flat-out that he will cripple the U.S. economy (beginning at 15:06):
December 14 - Dockworkers - "A MESSAGE FROM ILA INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT DENNIS A. DAGGETT"
Lifted in toto from the International Longshoreman's Association's ILA Education/History Facebook page, December 13:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I had the honor of meeting with President-elect Donald Trump yesterday, and I want to share an experience I never imagined in my wildest dreams. Throughout my career, I’ve never seen a politician—let alone the President of the United States—truly understand the importance of the work our members do every single day. But yesterday, President-elect Trump not only demonstrated that understanding but also showed the utmost respect for the hard work, sacrifices, and dedication of our membership....
....MUCH MORE
