Trump Backs Longshoremen In Automation Dispute
President-elect Donald Trump has publicly sided with the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) in its dispute with U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), a group of ports and terminals operators, over the use of automation in cranes and longshore operations.
A contract deadline of January 15 looms, five days before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The automation issue at 36 ports from Maine to Texas was a major flashpoint in the three-day strike of longshoremen that disrupted cargo movements in early October. The strike by about 45,000 members of the ILA began October 1 and was suspended three days later while final contract negotiations took place. The strike affected port and terminal workers on the East and Gulf coasts, although many private non-unionized terminals along the Lower Mississippi River were not affected.
Terminal operators offered wage increases of about 62 percent over a six-year period. That offer ended the strike but shelved the automation issue to be resolved later in negotiations. The old contract expired September 30, but the agreement extended its provisions to January 15.
On its website, the ILA reported that Trump held a two-hour meeting December 12 with ILA President Harold J. Daggett and ILA Executive Vice President Dennis A. Daggett, after which he “expressed strong support for ILA longshore workers in their current contract battle with United States Maritime Alliance over job-killing automation” by reposting a Facebook message from Dennis Daggett on his Truth Social page. The message, which praised the incoming president for being “attentive to our needs, … receptive and genuinely engaged in a discussion about the existential threat automation poses,” was seen by Trump’s 8.36 million followers.
Daggett said he “enjoys a strong relationship with President-elect Donald Trump that goes back decades.”
Trump later posted on Truth Social, “The amount of money saved [by automation] is nowhere near the distress, hurt and harm it causes for American workers, in this case, our longshoremen.”
On its website, the ILA said, “We embrace technologies that improve safety and efficiency, but only when a human being remains at the helm. Automation, whether full or semi, replaces jobs and erodes the historical work functions we’ve fought hard to protect.”
Port and terminal operators say automation is necessary to maintain efficiency, lower the cost of moving cargoes and compete with highly automated ports overseas. The ports in New York, Baltimore and Houston, all targets for automation, rank well down the list on the World Bank’s most recent report on port efficiency. New York-New Jersey ranked 92 out of 405, while Baltimore and Houston ranked 189 and 312, respectively.
