It is quite unusual for an American President to express opinions on container terminal automation. Nonetheless, Donald Trump has made a forceful intervention on the issue.

Having met the President of the International Longshoremen Association, Harold J. Daggett and the Association’s Vice President Dennis Daggett on Thursday 12th, Donald Trump issued a statement on his ‘Truth Social’ social media site asserting that “there has been a lot of discussion having to do with “automation” on United States docks. I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it. The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen”.

The port operating companies, represented by USMX made a statement in response, asserting that they “appreciate and value President-elect Trump’s statement on the importance of American ports” but “we need a modern technology that is proven to improve worker safety, boost port efficiency, increase port capacity, and strengthen our supply chains”.

The International Longshoremen Association are at present in vigorous negotiations with the port terminal operating companies. The two sides seem to have some sort of agreement over pay but arguments over the issue of automation are threatening to result in a strike in the New Year.

The implications of Donald Trump’s comments on the negotiations between the Longshoremen and USMX must be significant. It would appear that the next President has taken the side of the Longshoremen in the negotiation, which may make things difficult for the employers.

It also appears that Donald Trump is using the conflict between terminal operators and the Longshoremen to position himself politically. His statement asserted that “Foreign companies have made a fortune in the U.S. by giving them access to our markets. They shouldn’t be looking for every last penny knowing how many families are hurt”. For important groups of voters in the US this is probably an attractive message. For non-US companies, especially logistics companies looking to exploit the potential of automation, this is concerning.

Source: Ti Insight

Author: Thomas Cullen

You must be logged in to post comments