With the strike in the news, I’d like to inform my opinion. Is it one job, or are the strikers everyone working in docks? Is it a highly skilled, high stress job? Is it a job that would be rendered obsolete by automation?
In: Economics
All of the above are true except for it being one job. There are many jobs on the dock and all of them are relatively easily automated now that essentially all cargo is containerized in standard size containers. IMO the union has let down its members by not being more creative in their demands over the past fifty years. The fact that most of the work is easily automated has become increasingly obvious during that period. The union, IMO, should have demanded money for retraining long ago.
It is long past time when unions need to demand management accountability for the survival of their jobs. We saw the impact of not being forward thinking during the 70’s by the UAW. The UAW consistently focused on short-term wins for their members. It was obvious to essentially everyone who wasn’t blinded by nationalism that Japanese automakers were making more reliable cars than U.S. automakers. This, IMO, was a gross management failure for which executives were never really held accountable. The union should have demanded management accountability for a relatively shitty product.
The longshoremen problem is more complex because it’s ALL about automation. Inevitably there will be fewer jobs to move the same amount of cargo. This was obvious fifty years ago when containers began dominating shipping. The union should have moved to protect its existing workers from that inevitability. It should be noted that although it will take fewer workers, there are still going to be a lot of workers needed even in a nearly fully automated port. Their jobs will be different, though.
Latest Answers