I haven’t posted about the dockworkers’ strike on the East Coast for a couple of reasons. First, it’s still early. Second, most of what I’ve read so far is just counting partisan coup. And, finally, I’m of very mixed minds about it.
The strike and the aftermath of the hurricane are a real double whammy for the affected parts. It may be that the strike is opportunistic but it’s certainly heartless. On the other hand the discrepancy between what dockworkers are paid on the West Coast and what they’re paid on the East Coast is enormous. Dockworkers on the West Coast earn about $55 an hour while dockworkers on the East Coast earn about $39 an hour. That’s a substantial gap.
On the third hand I’m not particularly sympathetic with the dockworkers’ opposition to automation. Port automation is the future. Worldwide there are around 70 automated ports and they’re being added every year. The U. S. only has three fully-automated ports and they’re all on the West Coast. The dockworkers’ unions are the main obstacle to their acceptance in the U. S. To the extent that the days of Terry Malloy weren’t over decades ago, they soon will be and the only thing the dockworkers can accomplish is making the U. S. quaint and old-fashioned by world standards.
I may have mentioned the Chinese port of Taijin before, which is near Beijing. This port has very few employees. It is highly automated, and the robots are optimized using AI running on 5G networks. This system loads and unloads large containerships in a few hours. The typical American port requires days to do the same job.
So, anything like Chinese efficiency will eliminate almost all longshoremen jobs. They will never again get high-paying jobs like the ones they lost.
One of my grandfathers was a steamfitter another was a worker in a laundry. My father was a union pipefitter in Boston. I understand the trades ethic and vulnerability. The awfulness, even horror, of the future workman face cannot be exaggerated. Most Americans face a future of destitution and oppression. They need, deserve, a French Revolution complete with Terror and guillotines.
We have a difficult decision to make. Either we’re going to be an isolationist island, cut off from the rest of the world, or we need to remain up-to-date. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration is presently trying to have it both ways. Billions were appropriated to modernize ports. “Modernizing” means automation. But on the other hand they stand behind the dockworkers and the dockworkers oppose automation. It’s not a secret. That’s the bigger of the issues they’re striking about.
Build back better earmarked money for port efficiency, if it’s to go into the pockets of Democratic constituents without actual efficiency, the payouts are corrupt. But I think the workers should benefit from actual efficiency with pay-raises or retirement benefits.