Dockers' strike over automation is just the beginning: Morning Brief

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Whether it's robots stacking shipping containers or ChatGPT editing a script, workers are worried about technology this year.

Dockers who walked off their jobs this week over demands for higher wages and a ban on automation were the latest example of collective fear taking over. In the absence of workplace policies that balance the technological onslaught with job security, more labor measures are expected to fill the gap.

Unionized workers are increasingly making their own decisions about the impact of technological advances, rather than fully accepting the whims of their employers. This applies to dock workers as well as to Hollywood authors. (Just a few days ago, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a high-profile bill that would have been one of the most comprehensive policies regulating AI in the United States.)

“We know from history that professional success tends to lead to greater success,” said Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, an associate professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University and a former U.S. Department of Labor official.

Hertel-Fernandez said it is no coincidence that we are seeing longshoremen's courageous stand in light of recent industrial action by several other unions, including Hollywood Creatives, the UAW and Kaiser Health Workers. The high-profile incidents had a spillover effect, he said. They encourage workers who see others making gains in a supportive public environment and a favorable political environment.

“In general, across a wide range of sectors, we are seeing technology being introduced in ways that empower workers but also disrupt their work or even displace them altogether,” he said.

The potential impact of the port strike on the economy is a key influencing factor for workers. The timeline remains unclear, but experts believe a prolonged work stoppage would lead to significant delays in unloading cargo, higher prices and product shortages. These plausible consequences have also led to backlash in some circles. The striking dock workers are acting selfishly, critics of the action say, demonstrating resistance to what many see as inevitable technological advances in manual labor.

But a compromise wouldn't have to ban automation entirely, said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. A broader policy solution could mandate worker retraining so that workers can reskill for other roles if their jobs are displaced.

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“We don’t want people to be left behind. We don’t want robots to make them obsolete,” he said.

The debate surrounding the longshoremen's strike also highlights the self-serving belief that automation will only disrupt manual jobs, as if a laptop job were a protective moat.

“At some point this will happen in every sector,” he said. “So if people aren’t worried about longshoremen losing their jobs, they will be worried in a year when they lose theirs.”

Hamza Shaban is a reporter for Yahoo Finance covering markets and economics. Follow Hamza on X @hshaban.

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