Posted on October 7, 2024
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has reached a tentative agreement to return to work after winning a 62% pay raise over six years, but the labor dispute isn’t over. Round II will be fought over the union’s demand to protect its jobs forever by banning any automation at American ports.
The union’s demand is no automation—ever. In a Sept. 7 letter to fellow ILA members, union boss Harold Daggett and his executive vice president and son Dennis put it this way: “We want ironclad language, and we want the intent of that language in writing. Bottom line: the ILA does not support any kind of automation, including semi-automation.”
What they mean is they don’t want any technological advances that would make loading and unloading ships faster, safer and more efficient—e.g., smarter cranes, gates, and container-moving trucks that require fewer workers to operate. In other words, they want higher pay with no productivity gains, which is unsustainable in a competitive global economy.
