In coordination with the ILWU Coast Longshore Division, four ILWU workers spoke with NPR on the impacts of automation. An excerpt:
Andrea Hsu, NPR: Jimmy Monti, a crane operator, has never worked at an automated terminal. But he’s seen the changes that automation has brought to other parts of this port complex. He points to a ship waiting to be unloaded. In a traditional operation, he says you’d have a minimum of 16 truck drivers waiting to receive containers off the ship, and four top handlers – or forklift operators – stacking the containers on the dock.
MONTI: Those jobs would all be gone. They’re all gone on automated terminals. … Look at other places in the United States, like Flint, Mich., Detroit, Mich., Youngstown, Ohio. Those economies, just completely disrupted.