ILA opposes fully automated container terminals

Harold J. Daggett, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association, said the union will oppose fully-automated container terminals in upcoming contract talks with the United States Maritime Alliance.    The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) will oppose fully automated container terminals in upcoming contract talks, according to the union’s president, Harold J. Daggett.
   Talks with management leaders from the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents ILA employers on “coast-wide” issues, will begin Feb. 13.
   The ILA’s current six-year master contract is in place until Sept. 30, 2018, giving the union 20 months to negotiate a new master contract at Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, or extend the current agreement.
   Daggett said he predicts the issue of automation will dominate the master contract talks.
   The talks with the USMX, which are not formal wage scale meetings, will give both sides a chance to address issues relating to their collective bargaining agreement, Daggett explained. He said ILA Locals will receive a notice sometime in the future as to when the formal wage scale meetings will begin, and at that time, ILA Locals will be instructed to hold elections for ILA wage scale delegates and submit a list of demands.
   In addition, the ILA intends to put more emphasis on local contract bargaining, Daggett said. “The last time around, several ILA local ports had failed to reach agreement on their local contracts before the master contract was ratified in April 2013,” he said. “Major ports like Baltimore, Hampton Roads and Charleston were without local agreements for months and even years after the master contract took effect. The ILA will make certain that ILA members at all ports are satisfied with their local agreements before we ask them to ratify the entire contract package.”
   He also said, “The ILA has no problem with semi-automated terminals – we know that we cannot stop progress and many forms of new technology help our workers do their jobs more efficiently, more safely, but without the threat of job elimination. We will continue to press for training and retraining for our ILA members. The ILA enters these informal talks more united and stronger than ever. We look to work with our management partners, keeping our industry strong and vibrant, but will not submit to agreeing on anything that eliminates jobs.”