Clearly there's a middle ground here. It doesn't have to be all one way or the other. Unions and corporations can both be corrupt and fall into malaise. There are examples enough to give anyone ammunition to make whatever point they want.
It's not even top 10 on earth with around quarter to half capacity of modern automated Asian ports that operate 24/7. Considering supply chain and economic knock on affects, everyone that can be automated should be ASAP.
This is not exactly the same as a union bus driver.. I think its fair to say, that this is not a supply-and-demand wage negotiation, rather it is high-stakes negotiation between guilds, over decades. The aisles of the ports are intensely profitable, but operate under heavy pressures.
Right, as long as the market is free, fair is whatever they can negotiate. If they artificially restrict labor competition or anything like that, then it isn't really fair anymore, like any monopoly.
When any groups of self interest, companies or otherwise, exploit their market power, it is simply "exploiting their market power" and not good business. A labor union that negotiates sweet deals yet locks out other people from working is abusing their power, like a company could.
Fairness can only be achieved in a competitive environment without unnecessary and contrived leverage. It's really hard to find something fair when unions elect politicians who write laws for unions that allow strangling negotiations that give unions more money to elect politicians who write laws for unions... and on and on.
What happens with that high leverage, low competition environment is you end up with the richest country on earth having huge supply chain bottlenecks and rated as having some of the worst ports in the world.
> Fairness can only be achieved in a competitive environment without unnecessary and contrived leverage. It's really hard to find something fair when unions elect politicians who write laws for unions that allow strangling negotiations that give unions more money to elect politicians who write laws for unions... and on and on.
Corporations do exactly this, so sounds very fair actually.
Do you really believe port automation is at the stage where it can be fully automated with no port workers? Even at “automated” ports, I assure you there are still port workers to deal with anomalies. And yeah they should be paid more than $0.
"Not as enthusiastic over automated terminals like LBCT have been the 15,000 longshore workers, including part-time casuals, who man the docks in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest and second busiest in the nation, respectively.
Terminal automation poses big changes — and likely some job losses — in those dockworker ranks.
LBCT, for example, features remotely run electric cranes gliding back and forth and a computer-controlled stacking system. Multiple containers can be handled by the cranes at one time."
Yes with heavy taxation used to fund a basic income for everyone. I doubt it'll ever be that simple; services still occupy the majority of the US economy. But there's no point keeping work alive just to have people work.
When someone is running a horse and buggy taxi service in 2021, the issue isn't whether the guy shoveling the manure is being paid a fair wage for working hard, or whether their job is easy, but rather why their job exists in the first place. Major ports have automated long ago.
"Biden’s Build Back Better bill, Section 30102, expressly prohibits the use of funds provided there to be used for automation."[1]
The union is clear it opposes automation:
"TTI would become the fourth automated container terminal in Southern California. Total Terminals International’s (TTI’s) decision this week to automate its 385-acre Pier T terminal in Long Beach sets up a classic struggle between terminal operator employers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
The union opposes the project on the grounds it will eliminate some dockworker jobs, but employers say automation is needed to increase capacity and keep the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles competitive."[3]
And this results in outdated infrastructure and lower productivity:
"Cranes in automated ports operate at least twice as fast as cranes in outdated US ports. Biden’s port czar, John Porcari, let the truth out when he said last week it’s “your grandfather’s infrastructure that we’re dealing with.”[1]
"The International Longshoremen’s Association contract, which extends to 2024, blocks the use of automation technology. Willie Adams, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents West Coast workers, says automated cargo handling equipment will not be tolerated."[1]
"In a July 7 letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) president Willie Adams cited the pandemic and the US-China trade war as reason why terminal automation, mostly recently seen at APM Terminals’ Los Angeles terminal, would hurt the ports, its workers, and surrounding communities.
“This is simply not the time to allow further job losses to automation. Losing jobs to automation not only undermines the long term capacity of our ports, but it does lasting damage on our families,” Adams wrote [.. seen as] further evidence of the union’s single-minded focus on automation. That was seen most clearly in its surprisingly vocal opposition last year to a limited automation project at the APM Terminals Pier 400 facility in Los Angeles despite having agreed years earlier to a collective bargaining agreement that allowed terminals to automate in return for $800 million in additional wages and benefits."[2]
When Tanzania's port is more productive than yours, then it's time to finally move into the 21st century.
> ... cited the pandemic and the US-China trade war as reason why terminal automation, mostly recently seen at APM Terminals’ Los Angeles terminal, would hurt the ports, its workers, and surrounding communities.
Covid and trade war are reasons why automation would hurt the ports? Covid is why automation would hurt the communities? Non-sequitur much?
Covid is why automation would hurt the workers? Not even that. Automation would hurt the workers, maybe, but not because of Covid.
I am citing some irrational union comments to explain the irrationality of our government policies and the current situation in the ports, and you are attributing the beliefs in the comments to me. Please re-read.
"In fact, according to the union's own material, the average dockworker makes $147,000 in annual salary and pulls in $35,000 a year in employer-paid health care benefits. Pensions pay $80,000 a year."
Also,
"The ILWU is demanding 3% annual raises over five years well beyond the average American's personal income — which the shippers have agreed to — and some changes in the arbitration system."
I can't find 2021 data but if they did indeed get their 3% raises then the average total compensation by now is 182*(1.03^5)=211k.
"About half of West Coast union longshoremen make more than $100,000 a year — some much more, according to shipping industry data. More than half of foremen and managers earn more than $200,000 each year. A few bosses make more than $300,000. All get free healthcare."
Good. I applaud all workers who successfully negotiate for as high a salary as possible. After all, I'm not in the room with them when they negotiate their pay, just like they're not in the room with me when it's my turn -- if they're making six figs, good on them.
I think you're being purposefully absurd but there is a legitimate question as to whether this article is comparing LA ports to ports with negligent safety (and compensation) practices.
