President-elect Donald Trump has joined with the leadership of the International Longshoremen’s Association in support of the union’s fight against automation in U.S. ports. The incoming president issued a statement backing union leadership in its contract negotiations with the international shipping lines and terminal operators and the current stalemate over automation.
With a month to go till the new deadline established by extending the contract as part of the settlement of the October strike, the debate over automation and its role in ports on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast continues to heat up. The ILA has taken a firm stance against automation or semi-automation and blamed the U.S. Maritime Alliance’s looking to expand the use of semi-automated rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMSs) for causing the negotiations for the master contract to break down.
Trump in a posting on his Truth Social media site wrote, ”I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it. The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen.” He wrote this after meeting with ILA President, Harold Daggett, and Executive VP, Dennis Daggett, and released a photo with the union leaders.
Trump concludes by saying of the USMX and the shipping companies, “I hope that they will understand how important an issue this is for me.”
The union has reiterated its intent to go on strike for the second time if there is no agreement before the January 15, 2025 expiration of the contract. It would come just five days before Trump’s inauguration and threaten to impact the planned agenda of the new president who ran on improving the U.S. economy.
USMX quickly responded to Trump’s posting saying it looks forward to working with the new president and his administration. USMX was also pressured by the Biden administration during the October strike with President Joe Biden, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg all pressing for significant wage increases for the longshoremen. The ILA and USMX agreed to a 61 percent wage increase for the new six-year contract but left automation to be resolved.
“This contract goes beyond our ports – it is about supporting American consumers and giving American businesses access to the global marketplace – from farmers to manufacturers, to small businesses and innovative start-ups looking for new markets to sell their products,” USMX said in a statement tonight responding to Trump and the ILA. “To achieve this, we need modern technology that is proven to improve worker safety, boost port efficiency, increase port capacity, and strengthen our supply chains. ILA members’ compensation increases with the more goods they move – the greater capacity our ports have and goods that are moved means more money in their pockets.”
Earlier this week, the ILA’s Dennis Dagget called the media reporting on automation and port efficiency “inaccurate and irresponsible.” In a long message posted online, he contends U.S. ports are among the most efficient in the world noting they handle one of the highest volumes of cargo. He criticizes the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence Survey for comparing U.S. full-service ports with transshipment ports.
“The scale and complexity of these operations far exceed the operations of most transshipment ports,” writes Daggett. He says the World Bank uses criteria such as turnaround time which does not consider the challenges of clearance, moving containers between ships and other modes of transport, and safety and security protocols mandated by U.S. law. “Ignoring these facts distorts the efficiency ratings,” contends Daggett.
“The ILA and its members are ready and willing to be part of this progress, particularly when it comes to adopting technology that promotes efficiency without replacing the critical role of a human performing that task. However, we will not stand for reckless mischaracterizations of our industry and our work,” wrote Daggett.
He also raises the impact of outdated infrastructure on U.S. ports. He says of things such as highways, bridges, rail systems, and dredging operations, “these critical connections to the ports are decades behind the needs of modern commerce.”
USMX and the ILA are at a stalemate over automation and semi-automation which the union says threatens to cause another coastwide strike. Harold Daggett calls it a fight for survival while the USMX says progress is needed to increase efficiency and advance safety while expanding the capacity of U.S. ports to keep up with global demand.
