Maritime labor led by U.S. and European longshore unions will meet in November to protest port automation they say is threatening their jobs.
“People Over Profit: Anti-Automation Conference” is scheduled for Nov. 5-6 in Lisbon, Portugal is being jointly organized by the U.S.-based International Longshoremen’s Association and the International Dockworkers Council of Barcelona.
ILA President Harold J. Daggett in a release urged union workers to “collectively address that threat and put the brakes on ocean carriers destroying dockworker and maritime jobs worldwide.”
“All maritime unions are facing the threat of automation robbing their rank-and-file members of their livelihoods and destroying their unions,” said Daggett, who represents 85,000 ILA members on the Gulf and East coasts. “All maritime unions need to be there to respond to this automation threat in the strongest possible way and to do so unified.”
The ILA this year negotiated a new six-year contract agreement with ocean carriers that includes jobs protections tied to the introduction of automated container-handling equipment at ports. It came after a bitter standoff that included a three-day strike in October 2024.
The summit will promote a global message, Daggett said, about the impact unchecked automation has on workers’ livelihoods and their communities. The public, he said, needs to be convinced that the automation threat jeopardizes the stability of the world’s economy and safety.
Daggett pointed to a veto this past week by California Governor Gavin Newsom of a bipartisan bill that would have blocked public funding of port automation technology.
The conference “comes at a critical time when maritime unions and their memberships are fighting for their lives. We don’t want any union left out of the protections we can offer as one powerful alliance.”
Attendees in Lisbon are expected to formulate a formal action plan to respond to the threat posed by automation.
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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