The calamitous dockworkers strike that has paralyzed ports on the East and Gulf Coast coasts is as much about AI as pay and benefits.
The International Longshoremen’s Association contends 85,000 U.S. workers and tens of thousands more around the world have declared war on AI and are demanding nothing short of a “total ban on automation” at cargo ports. Their prohibition would extend to cranes, gates and moving shipping containers at commercial dockyards. To illustrate their sentiment, some of the 45,000 workers on strike wore signs like “robots don’t pay taxes” and “automation hurts families.”
Conversely, employers see tracking cargo as a highly dangerous job that has resulted in dozens of accidents, necessitating the use of AI-powered robotic trucks, automated cranes and auditing equipment as safer and more efficient solutions.
The strike, which is costing the U.S. economy up to $4.5 billion a day, is the latest conflagration entangling AI, labor rights and a growing resistance to automation among workers who view the technology as a direct threat to their jobs. The longshoremen’s demand for job protection offers strong echoes of the SAG-AFTRA actors strike in 2023, as well as a recent video game performers’ work stoppage over the same issue.
Labor reps expect more disputes in the coming years as AI improves and is increasingly deployed throughout the American workforce to improve operational efficiency, slash costs and replace or assist humans. Specifically, unions consider AI to be especially disruptive to jobs in manufacturing (robots) and the distribution of goods (self-driving vehicles).
“This is evidence of the need for Congress to come up with a workforce response to AI’s integration in our economy,” Brad Carson, co-founder and president of Americans for Responsible Innovation, said in a statement. “The longshoremen strike is not the last we’ll see in the face of increasing AI’s growing use.”
Members of the International Longshoremen Association covering the East and Gulf Coasts made it crystal clear last month that it wouldn’t stand idly amid the increasing impact of technology on some high-paying union jobs. The union was particularly miffed over an automated gate that led trucks to a small port in Mobile, AL., and claimed its contract, which expired Sept. 30, allows for “semi-automated” machinery but bars equipment “devoid of human interaction.”
As unions grapple with the growing prospect of autonomous vehicles delivering passengers and goods — whether on city streets or factory floors — the use of robots is growing everywhere. Indeed, more than 70% of knowledge workers, accompanied by a robot, will routinely use AI in their daily tasks by 2026, according to a study by market researcher GAI Insights.
Employers also contend AI won’t steal office jobs but rather goose worker productivity.
It all adds up to more labor strife over AI in the coming years cross all industries, says one labor expert.
“We’re not in the middle of AI strikes, but at the beginning of an ongoing wave,” Chris MacKenzie, a spokesman for Americans for Responsible Innovation, said in an interview. — “We’ve seen these strikes partially because these industries are so heavily organized and AI has a huge impact on these jobs.”
There has been movement to address the skill and learning gap in the workforce. California and NVIDIA Corp. are partnering on a project to train state workers and educators on AI, while Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., has introduced national bipartisan legislation to strengthen America’s workforce pipeline in AI, cybersecurity and other critical technologies.
“The narrow view, the knee jerk reaction, is AI is coming for all of our jobs. We need to panic and fight it,” Chris Feudo, a labor and employment attorney whose focus is on the energy, hospitality and manufacturing sectors, said in an interview. “This is a utopian future for the next 20 to 30 years, and it might get worse for many in labor each year.”
