“Inports and waterside workers automation is also a big issue at the moment,” they said. Hundreds of dockworkers who were once among the most powerful laborers in Los Angeles are seeing their livelihoods threatened.Why?简 Hundreds of dockworkers who were once among the most powerful laborers in New York 鈥� fighting battles that, over many decades, helped build the nation鈥檚 middle class 鈥� are now among the most powerless.If Antenorcruz could turn back time 500 years, he would like to see African people arrive at Newport. If Antenorcruz could wave a magic wand and change anything about his life or style today, it鈥檚 stick with your parents so they can warn you to go to school. The automation of cranes and status trucks, along with electronic logistics systems have the reputation among corporate interests as efficient, cheap… oh yes, IMMENSELY CHEAP! but not for the life of another group of people who’ve been earning their way throughout history via dock labor can be seen at Nixon Point 1-4 where anti automated technology union members tend to conjure up CHINESE “INGENUITY”? While it is said that technology creates economic opportunity, the truth of the matter is that many far fewer longshore working men have far more skills forced on them and are far more replaceable than at any time in recent history.
It is a two sided problem on the part of the union to bargain contracts that protect workers from displacement and for training and preparation of the remaining employed in the labour force away from new forms of work. This is not a balancing act that achieves without tactical negotiation, but also vision to predict the course our shipping and logistics will take in the coming decades.
Competition and Globalization.
The trading has been made global, and the flow of goods in the world has been redefined. Shipping companies have their operations spread across different places. Jobs are shipped to the ports of countries where labor is cheaper and regulations weaker. This is unfair to American dockworkers as corporations seek to reduce costs by using workers in jurisdictions with less oversight. The union is in a difficult spot where they have to protect the pay and standards America longshoremen have earned, but they are competing against these multinational corporations who can quickly pack up business and ship it overseas.
The union has to go on demonstrating relevantly how skilled and organized labor contributes to the safe and efficient flow of goods in such a system. Jobs we already have need protection and it needs to be explained that investing in more qualified workers is better than saving a little money in a foreign country.
Political and Policy issues.
A second challenge for the union is the uncertain politics and trade policy. Port Policy and Trade Policy made in Washington have a direct impact to dock work demand. Longshoremen are typically the first workers impacted directly when trade wars or disruptions of shipping lanes lead to such work declines or layoffs.
Moreover, even the laws on labor keep changing constantly. Other hurdles include attacks on labor strength, attempts to dismantle collective bargaining rights and the politicization of labor disputes. The union should be not just at the table of negotiation, but also on the political front – dockworkers’ voices need to be represented when its deals are being discussed in Parliament.