International Maritime
ILWU pressure has slowed automation at LA-LB port terminals to a snail’ s pace. Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock. com
construction to proceed on a rail project in return for what it hoped would be the port’ s support to automate a new berth slated for a long-vacant lot next to the existing terminal.
The knowledgeable observer of Southern California longshore labor said TTI and Fenix might be far enough along to eventually implement automation, but“ anything beyond that, you are not going to see it unless something changes politically.”
The unofficial view at the two ports, based on numerous interviews, is that for automation to proceed, a terminal must come to the port commission hand-in-hand with the union. The precedent, sources said, is Long Beach Container Terminal, which secured the union’ s approval to engage in a multiyear automation project completed in 2021. It is now widely regarded as the most efficient facility in the harbor.
“ Technology is moving fast, but it cannot leave the workforce behind,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka told the Journal of Commerce.“ There is a way to combine both, an employer and the union coming together with politicians to find a way forward.”
Without ILWU sign-off, the ports risk a repeat of the headline-grabbing protests that disrupted meetings of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners in 2019, when it was considering a construction permit necessary for automation at APM Terminals’ Pier 400 facility. As one management source put it,“ This all started with Pier 400 and APMT.”
The union’ s views over automation had hardened since 2008, in parallel with the emergence of new labor-saving technology like AI and, more recently, a global anti-automation crusade led by International Longshoremen’ s Association President Harold Daggett. The 2019 clash inaugurated a new phase in the union’ s struggle against automation, even outside the collective bargaining agreement.
The risk of negative publicity for the ports, and the opportunity for the union to grab a global megaphone, is heightened due to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, set to begin two weeks after the current West Coast longshore contract expires on July 1, 2028. The ports also wish to avoid a labor showdown that could lead to further market share loss to the East and Gulf coasts. The ILWU declined to comment. Beyond port commissions, the PMA has found itself fighting off union efforts to undermine automation through legislation in Sacramento, where employers prevailed last October when Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have banned current and future automated or remotely operated technology at California ports from plugging into the state’ s power grid, in effect killing automation.
“ Efforts to use the political process to block or delay automation have not succeeded and will not alter the terms of the collective bargaining agreement,” the PMA said.
The PMA now carefully scrutinizes all proposed legislation for possible new restrictions on automation inserted by ILWU lobbyists.
Union efforts to thwart automation, at the state or port level, raise the question of whether it is violating the contract by doing so. According to the PMA website, the contract states,“ There shall be no interference by the union with the employers’ right to operate efficiently and to change methods of work to utilize labor-saving devices.”
To this point, some argue the labor activity is merely individual union members engaging in First Amendmentprotected speech. But others point to apparently official union views, including“ profound disappointment” at the Newsom veto expressed in a toughly worded letter by ILWU International President Robert Olvera Jr.
“ I do believe the ILWU will take a run at further restricting automation.”
The union’ s assertive anti-automation stance raises the possibility it will seek to roll back terminals’ automation rights during negotiations for the next coastwide contract.
“ I do believe the ILWU will take a run at further restricting automation on the US West Coast,” said a second knowledgeable source.“ They are actively seeking to control automation today through other means including licensing, permitting and trying to use legislation to restrict the use of green electricity.”
Other sources believe the PMA will never negotiate away its automation rights, while others believe the ILWU has already effectively won the issue.
“ The union can move on to other topics,” said the first informed source.“ They have their playbook, so they don’ t need to renegotiate automation.”
email: peter. tirschwell @ spglobal. com www. joc. com May 4, 2026 | Journal of Commerce 15