U.S. Ports Should Work With Unions on Automation, Labor Secretary Says

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said U.S. ports should consider automation to compete with high-tech rival destinations abroad, but labor should be involved in the process

By ERICA E. PHILLIPS

Jan. 19, 2016 4:08 p.m. ET

U.S. seaports need to consider the interests of organized labor as they move to automate jobs performed by dockworkers today, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said in an interview.

Mr. Perez, who toured automated operations at the Port of Hamburg over the weekend, said as the U.S. expands its efforts to boost exports, they could learn from more advanced operations. That includes Hamburg, which he called “one of the most modern ports in the world.”

“The whole issue of technology and automation is an important part of that discussion,” he said. In Hamburg, automated technology includes robotic cranes that organize containers into stacks and automatic vehicles that move containers around the yard.

But Mr. Perez added that Hamburg’s success has depended largely on the direct involvement of workers and labor groups throughout the automation process.

“You can’t impose by fiat automation and expect it to succeed,” he said.

Both the West Coast-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the East Coast’s International Longshoremen’s Association union allow for automation technology in their contracts with port employers.

Port automation has hit snags in Los Angeles and most recently in Rotterdam, where earlier this month workers staged a 24-hour strike at the port’s container terminals over concerns that automated operations would replace hundreds of dockworker jobs.

The president of the ILWU Local 13 in Los Angeles, Bobby Olvera Jr., said there was a “huge loss” of jobs when one L.A. terminal introduced automation technology two years ago because the need for many truck drivers and container gangs was eliminated. But Mr. Olvera said that automation doesn’t have to mean job losses, as long as port terminals and labor groups innovate together.

Port of Los Angeles officials and other port leaders are conducting a “sector review” to understand what jobs will be needed at high-tech ports and how to best train workers, said Port Director Gene Seroka, who traveled with Mr. Perez to Hamburg.

If automation means fewer workers are needed to move each container, but also makes it possible for more containers to move in and out of a port, that wouldn’t necessarily eliminate jobs, said Paul Bingham, an economist with the Economic Development Research Group Inc. “They may come out as a whole with higher-skilled job categories getting paid more money,” Mr. Bingham said.

“There is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it,” Mr. Perez said on the phone from Germany Saturday after his tour. “The way to make sure you do it right is to have meaningful dialog and a legitimate seat at the table for everyone.”