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Armand Domalewski
@ArmandDoma
the ILA staking out a naked anti-automation position really put off a lot of people. “we demand to do our jobs poorly in perpetuity” is not something a lot of people are sympathetic to. If it was just a demand for better wages and benefits I’d be totally on board
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Conor Sen
@conorsen
My online bubble is extremely anti-ILA despite often showing pro-union sympathies in general and in other labor fights specifically.
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David Watson 🥑
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PhillyCaralho
@CaralhoPhilly
It isn't any different from employer positions of refusing to electrify freight rail network while making incredible profits but you notice which of these has a concerted effort to be turned into villains. Media consistently attacks workers if they ever refuse to supply treats.
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Ryan Boodram 🇬🇾🥥🌴
@ryanbdrm
The thing is demanding higher wages and more benefits without prohibiting automation just makes automation more appealing. I say this as a pro-automation person, but understand where the demand is coming from.
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AmusedToDeath🥥🌴
@AmusedToDeath1
I'm a huge union person, I was on strike for 2 weeks once. I joined a hotel picket line last month in my city to help fill out their lines. And the ILA is just wrong here and not getting my sympathy. They're turning me into Reagan for this specific union
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Ian
@Kirblar024
Combo'd with the checkered legal history and political history of the leader, it's hard to come away from it thinking anything other than "this is a nakedly partisan political ploy in favor of the anti-union, pro-corruption party."
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Nick Simmonds
@Diacritic
Sure, but you ask initially for things that you don't expect to get. It's not as if the counteroffer was all of the wage increase but not the automation ban. USMX is still trying to get by with an insufficient raise.
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CursedKnives
@Tlacuwise
I am always pro-union, when it’s a good union that works as they should. Unions are there to protect people, not “jobs”. Automation isngonna come and their position will only get weaker. Now’s when to negotiate a ‘golden parachute’ exit and get to re-training.
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Ricky Shah
@RickyShahatty
“We demand the return of toll employees” is a thing he actually said, so yeah, not a lot of sympathy. Banning online payments so that people have to go to the DMV in person and more employees can pay the union dues is the next step.
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Joyful Traveler
@DolomiteMick
I think the conversation should be about who benefits when tasks get automated. Maybe instead of richer bosses and hoards of unemployed people, it would be better if automation led to existing employees working fewer hours for the same pay.
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Donal
@Spelt_D_o_n_a_l
The guy literally said “we showed up in Covid.” Yeah, those of us who could work remotely didn’t have to go around exposing ourselves and our families. Why would you push back against that? If you have your memberships’ best interests at heart..?
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voisine 🔑
@voisine
They have political power that effectively gives them ownership in the port. Fine, pay them off by giving an equity stake that incentivizes them to support maximizing the profits of the port. Give the men who lose their jobs ownership in exchange.
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Zachary Pleat
@zpleat
same. we saw just a few years ago what a weakened supply chain looks like. i dont want to go back to that.
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Isobel Sturgeon
@isobelks
The ILA has always demanded concessions when faced with automation that would decrease the need for labor. They got them in the past along with new tech. They are smart and realistic.
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Gluon Spring
@gluonspring
Almost like the leaders were intentionally poisoning the well with these asks because they wanted a strike because they are themselves pro-Trump.
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Benjamin Culkin
@ashardalon23
Yeah, that’s precisely my issue with them. I’d be willing to endorse a ‘buy-out’ for jobs lost to automation, but forsaking automation is a hard no
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Adam Faris
@afaris1978
Even if the anti-automation is just something to yield on during negotiations, its a bad look. He isn't talking about how to make sure automation isn't taken too far. He's pitching it all as bad.
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Lex
@lex_nyc
Really, what this country needs is some baseline better laws for all employees (statutory right to severance, paid vacation, and paid parental leave) in exchange for a categorical ban on featherbedding in union contracts.
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Tess The Dog
@tess_dog
More expense for the same subpar efficiency. But the national guard was about to publicly expose how easily they can be replaced. It might have taken 72 hours to be fully operational. Within two weeks they were likely going to exceed the unions output. That was the deal breaker
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ChristPimpHands
@ChristPimp
I worked somewhere trying to automate and the employees were pushing hardest for it but owners had to find money for the investment. It wouldn’t eliminate any jobs but it would mean less employees hired as it expanded.
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NJE
@nannereich
They’re just Luddites at this point , and we know how that turned out.
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Poisonous Powerfrab
@wykstrad
Problem is, port owners would undoubtedly say, "Oh yes, here are your better wages and benefits, oops, we just automated all our ports, you're all fired, guess you won't get those better wages and benefits, too bad." I mean...sorry that longshoremen aren't complete suckers?
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Paul
@Paul82136106
Also comes off an inflation cycle where a factor is that ports were fucked due to dependence on human labor during a pandemic.
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Rokovoko
@Rokovoko2
That was part of it. Daggett also comes off as a thug engaging in extortion at the expense of the average American while simultaneously trying to Iran Hostage the election. Fuck him. Signed, a union worker.
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Dr. Gabbagool
@NeilTedrow41922
Opposition to automation has always been a part of union organizing. The entire point of automation is to eliminate jobs. That means fewer jobs for Americans and fewer union members. Check the productivity vs wage graphs.
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Andrew Szafran
@aszafran
Not a lot of people in techie dweeb bubbles. In the real world, people like to have a stable job, and know that automation is coming for theirs next. In the US, with no safety nets, this is a scary prospect, and rightly so.
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Nadeem Aswathi🇮🇳🇮🇱🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️♿️⚧️
@A1234569989
I was starting to scratch my head when reading about how they blocked temp sensors in containers so men could walk around with thermometers to manually check temps. Just seems backwards and objectively worse. Might as well replace stoplights with traffic cops
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Nope🇺🇸🇺🇦🇻🇪
@LordGem3
I think this is true and I think the messaging was terrible on this one, but sometimes this is the way negotiations go. You ask for outrageous things only to remove them to get back to your actual position. Which in this case should be pay raise and security from automation.
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Shafique Pappa
@unclestartup
The sad truth is we have an oligarchy made up of roughly 4 companies that control 85% of ports in the eastern and southern district… they were quite successful in making the ILA look like mobsters… most ridiculous story was foreman demanding 50% of a worker’s pay to get hired…
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Rick White
@RealTexasRick
Organizations and interested parties should use the strike suspension to make plans for how to defeat the ILA when they resume their strike in January.
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Whitecrow
@corvineblanco
So you're okay if all their jobs disappear in ten years and they're out on the street? Without a fully funded plan to retool displaced workers all you'll get is defiance by said workers.
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HunterBidensLaptop
@getcaselaw
“We want to do our jobs poorly and our mob boss is going to threaten your family’s well-being if we aren’t allowed to” is never going to be popular.
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A
@AAnneka
That and their leaders transparent support of Trump and borderline collusion to help him win an election.
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355 Fan
@Beagle355
I generally think using the threat of shutting a business down if they don’t hand over more money shouldn’t be legal.
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