Employers at West Coast ports at the center of the U.S. supply-chain crisis welcome the benefits of automation, saying that paid hours at the two automated terminals in the San Pedro Bay complex have increased 31.5% since 2015.
According to the University of California at Berkeley professor Michael Nacht, since 2019, automated terminals have processed containers twice as quickly as conventional ones.
As Bloomberg reports, Nacht and co-author Larry Henry noted that:
Contrary to the ILWU’s concerns, automation at San Pedro Bay ports has added work, not come at its expense. Higher cargo throughput will create port-related jobs and add employment throughout the supply chain. Conversely, failing to adapt threatens to drive cargo to other ports, with a cascading loss of jobs on the docks and throughout the regional economy
What is more, Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), Chief Executive Officer Jim McKenna, added that automation is “the key to long-term survival, long-term competitiveness.”
Talks between the PMA and the ILWU to agree on a new labor contract for 22,000 West Coast dockworkers will start on May 12. Regarding automation, it has gained space in ILWU-PMA contracts over time, with the 2008 pact agreeing to allow fully mechanized and robotic-operated marine terminals.
However, PMA notes that the ILWU “has accepted the terminals’ right to automate, but, worried about job losses, it has resisted efforts to introduce the technology.”
As the parties will negotiate the contract set to expire on July 1, workers are seen as having more leverage as carriers report record profits in a tight market. Moreover, the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, have moved unprecedented amounts of cargo amid the supply-chain crisis.
On the other hand, ILWU Coast Committeeman Frank Ponce de Leon called the PMA statement as “self-serving.”
The bottom line is that automation has destroyed longshore jobs. The increased productivity that the PMA is claiming at the two automated terminals has meant less work at other terminals and an overall loss of employment for longshore workers. We haven’t seen an overall increase in productivity at the ports, just a shell game to mask the human cost of job destruction
