News / Prelude to ILWU west coast labour talks brings up thorny issue of automation

In the run-up to the nervously awaited contract negotiations between dockworkers and employers on the US west coast, verbal sparring is already in progress over automation – an issue on which the two sides are at loggerheads.

With the current contract set to expire on 30 June, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents nearly 14,000 port workers in California, Oregon and Washington State, and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) on behalf of shipping lines and terminal operators at ...