Is the ILA wrong about automation?

The recently resolved International Longshoremen’s Association’s (ILA) strike, that shut down ports on the East and Gulf Coasts, wasn’t just about wages and benefits, but also focused on opposing automation at container terminals where the union says jobs are threatened. But is the ILA right about the threat of automation?

ILA President Harold Daggett has charged that the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) employers are not negotiating in good faith and the ILA is particularly opposed to plans to automate container terminal operations: “USMX is trying to fool you with promises of workforce protections for semi-automation. Let me be clear: we don’t want any form of semi-automation or full automation. We want our jobs—the jobs we have historically done for over 132 years.”

Daggett’s opposition to automation was supported by Jack Pennington, President of ILA Local 28 (Port of Houston), who wrote in a post: “Don’t be so quick to judgment on us the longshoremen of this country for fighting for our jobs because who knows when it will be your turn next!! We are fighting for our rights to make an honest living not to allow a robot to wipe us out so that them corporate bastards can buy another vacation island somewhere!!!!”

Automation Is Creating New Jobs at Ports of Los Angeles & Long Beach

However, the ILA’s assertion that automation eliminates jobs is not borne out by the experiences at two automated container terminals on the West Coast where dockworkers are represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

There, jobs lost to automation have been replaced by new jobs.

A 2022 study, commissioned by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), noted: “in 2008, the ILWU explicitly accepted automation by agreeing to allow ‘fully mechanized and robotic-operated marine terminals.’”

The report also noted: “Two terminals in Norfolk, Virginia, and one in New York are semi-automated; the International Longshoremen’s Association opposes fully automated terminals at East and Gulf Coast ports.”

The report, “Terminal Automation in Southern California: Implications for Growth, Jobs, and the Future Competitiveness of West Coast Ports” found automation enabled terminals at West Coast ports to remain competitive, facilitating growth in both cargo and jobs, and reducing greenhouse gas-emissions.

The study compared conditions at two automated terminals - TraPac at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach Container Terminal at the Port of Long Beach – with conventional non-automated terminals.

The report was authored by Dr. Michael Nacht, Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and former Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Larry Henry, Founder of ContainerTrac, Inc.

Key findings were:

• With physical growth limited at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, automation is enabling terminals to expand cargo throughput and capacity on their existing footprints through densification:
• Since 2019, automated terminals have processed containers faster – at times more than twice as fast – as conventional terminals.
• Throughput of Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) per acre is 44% higher than in nonautomated terminals, thanks to autonomous vehicles and cranes that stack containers higher, closer together, and more efficiently for transferring to trains and trucks.
• Contrary to fears of job losses, the higher output due to automation at the San Pedro Bay ports has increased, not reduced, ILWU jobs and work opportunities, including training and upskilling. Between 2015, the last year before the transition to automated operations, and 2021.
• Paid ILWU hours at the two automated terminals rose 31.5%, more than twice the 13.9% growth in paid hours at the non-automated terminals.
• The registered ILWU workforce in Los Angeles and Long Beach grew 11.2%, compared to 8.4% for the other 27 West Coast ports.

The report noted that: “Automation brings measurable environmental and health benefits for workers and residents of neighboring communities. Autonomous electric and hybrid-electric vehicles reduce emissions and make terminals more efficient, cutting turnaround times for diesel-powered trucks.”

In an interview with AJOT, co-author Michael Nacht said automated terminals are enhancing competitiveness at Los Angeles and Long Beach and that automation is a global trend and the hallmark of the world’s most advanced ports.

ILWU’s History of Supporting Productivity

Nacht noted that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) had a history of supporting mechanization and increased productivity dating back to 1960. Then the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association, representing West Coast employers, adopted the Mechanization and Modernization Agreement. The so-called M&M Agreement meant that West Coast dock workers accepted the right of employers to introduce labor-saving technology.

Nacht cited the leadership role of ILWU founding President Harry Bridges in persuading ILWU members to accept the M&M agreement: “Bridges was very far-sighted in anticipating the revolution in international trade caused by the container.”

The Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma were major beneficiaries of the move to containerization and mechanization.

The 1960 ILWU-PMA Mechanization and Modernization Agreement is the subject of “Facing Modernization: The West Coast Longshore Plan” a book written by Lincoln Fairley, Research Director for the ILWU between 1946—1967, and a participant in the M&M negotiations.

M&M by the Numbers

In “Facing Mechanization,” Fairley describes some of the statistical gains following M&M that included increased container volumes and wages at West Coast ports along with some job reductions but not as great as at East and Gulf Coast ports where resistance to change was greater.

In 1960, container tonnage was 494,000 tons. By 1970, container tonnage for the West Coast ports had risen to 8,743,415 tons. At the same time, dayshift earnings for ILWU members were reported as $1.62 higher than their longshore counterparts on the East and Gulf Coasts, represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). In 1970, the gap between the ILWU and ILA had risen slightly to $1.72.

The reduction of registered ILWU members went from 16,002 in 1960, to 14,381 in 1970.

The decline among Gulf and Atlantic Coast ILA longshore workers was higher: declining from 27,998 in 1960 to 18,197 in 1970, according to Fairley.

The result was that containerization was more readily adopted by the ILWU at West Coast ports than by the ILA at East and Gulf Coast ports. As trade with Asia grew, U.S. West Coast ports and dockworkers played a leading role in processing Asian containerized cargoes.

Today, the national port market share of U.S. West Coast ports is 43% of U.S. volumes.

Cargomatic cited a Descartes analysis showing the top five West Coast ports’ market share increased by 3.5% to 43.1% month over month from October to November (2023), while the top five East and Gulf Coast ports decreased by 3.1% to 42.0% of the market.

Retraining a Key

In his study of automation at Los Angeles and Long Beach, Nacht explained that new jobs at the automated container terminals require that longshore workers be retrained to handle new jobs “in data analysis, software development and maintenance of equipment. But with these skill requirements comes higher pay.”

Higher pay accompanies these jobs because “the improvement in productivity motivates employers to reward workers with high pay to keep them happy and so its’s a win/win situation for workers and employers.”

The benefit for the automated terminals is “you can track containers at the terminal, and you don’t lose them in stacks the way you can with conventional container (terminals) especially where there is an overflow. The automated systems also allow for more compact stacking, and this is why you see automated terminals handling 510 TEUs per acre as opposed to 350 TEUs per acre at conventional terminals.”

Automated terminals are run with zero-emission electrical equipment which eliminates the diesel pollution generated at conventional terminals. This reduces health risks to surrounding communities and advances the implementation of zero emission terminal operations as supported by the Clean Air Action Plan adopted by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

In their report, the two authors note that conventional terminal operators have been slow to adopt full automation because it requires capital investment that could go as high as billions of dollars. It can take 15 years or more to implement and, therefore, to pay off through productivity gains, despite lowering relative labor costs. As a result, some terminals opt to automate only some cargo-handling functions.

ILWU-PMA Training Centers Adapt Workers to Emerging Technologies

On May 31, 2024, the ILWU announced the opening of the ILWU-PMA Maintenance and Repair (M&R) training center at the Port of Los Angeles:

“Additional M&R training centers will be opened to serve Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. The centers are part of an agreement between the ILWU and the PMA to establish a program to train dockworkers in new skills to maintain and repair existing and emerging technologies.”

The ILWU explained: “The program will provide “re-skill” and “up-skill” programs for ILWU members including a mechanic up-skill program to train current ILWU mechanics and continue their technical education in maintaining and repairing current and future equipment.”

The suspended ILA strike is partly directed at fighting automation and semi automation at container terminals where the union says jobs will be lost. But the reality is that at West Coast ports: automated container terminals have replaced old jobs with new jobs for ILWU dockworkers.