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A container ship is docked at the port of Los Angeles on July 2 , 2008.
Trump wades into the dockworkers dispute over automation
Monthslong labor negotiations between dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States have stalled over one key issue: automation. The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), the union representing 45,000 workers, opposes the use of automated machinery, which has been utilized in other ports, such as on the West Coast, where workers are represented by a different union.
But the longshoremen won a major supporter last week when President-elect Donald Trump signaled support for their cause. “I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen.”
Unlike most unions, the ILA did not endorse Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, and instead tried to establish a relationship with Trump in recent months.
Trump’s opposition to port automation comes as he’s poised to take a hands-off regulatory approach to artificial intelligence, which could lead to automation throughout many different industries. But on social media, Trump mostly railed against foreign shipping lines, signaling that this move is likely less about softening to organized labor or against automation and more about promoting “America first” economic policies.
A strike by the International Longshoremen's Association, the union that represents 85,000 dockworkers, could shut down key port facilities in Newark and Elizabeth.
Dockworker strike brings chaos to dozens of US ports
Dockworker strike brings chaos to dozens of US ports
Traffic at East and Gulf Coast ports is set to plummet thanks to an overnight strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association. The union's 45,000 port workers launched a massive strike at midnight, halting operations at dozens of ports stretching from Maine to Texas.
The port workers have been demanding better pay and benefits and guarantees that automated machinery won’t replace their jobs. The ILA warned that if no agreement were reached with the US Maritime Alliance, the group representing employers, its members would walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.
The strike will impact nearly half of all US sea-borne imports and as much as 68% of containerized exports — everything from seafood, electronics, and pharmaceuticals, to cars and parts, and even some fruits.
Joe Biden could use the Taft-Hartley Act to intervene in the labor dispute. “Invoking the act might prove enticing to protect national and economic security,” says Jeremy Slater, a trade and supply chains expert at Eurasia Group. But Biden is unlikely to do so in this case, Slater says, “because it essentially undercuts labor rights by forcing negotiations and prohibiting collective striking – not great optics for a pro-labor administration.”
“The knock-on effects from a disruption would compound with every day offline, with a two-week strike necessitating recovery efforts into 2025 by some estimates,” Slater warns.