As thousands of dockworkers prepare to strike if a deal is not reached by the end of Monday, a business leader is questioning the union’s demand for a complete ban on automation.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) said Sunday that its 85,000 members, along with “thousands of dockworkers and maritime workers around the world,” will picket and strike on Tuesday at all Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports from Maine to Texas. ,
The union is demanding higher wages and a complete ban on automation at ports in relation to cranes, gates and moving containers in the loading and unloading of goods.
Benchmark Capital’s Bill Gurley responded to the union’s demands on social media, writing that if the union wants a complete ban on automation, the federal government should step in.
“Outlawing the effective use of technology will undoubtedly ruin our country,” Gurley wrote. “We will become uncompetitive globally.”
The ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents employers at the 36 ports affected by the strike, are in a standoff over issues including wages and automation at the ports.
“The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) has refused to address half a century of wage cuts, where ocean carriers’ profits have grown from millions to mega-billion dollars, while ILA longshore wages have stagnated,” the ILA said Sunday. Stay.”
A White House official confirmed to Fox Business on Friday that senior officials from the White House, Labor Department and Transportation Department have met with the parties ahead of a potential strike, and have them at the table to negotiate in good faith and fairness. Has been requested to return. quickly.”
A potential port strike would disrupt a variety of export and import shipments from East Coast and Gulf Coast ports.
An analysis by JPMorgan estimated that the strike would cost the US economy up to $5 billion per day.
(TagstoTranslate)Business(T)US News(T)Strike(T)Transportation(T)Union
