‘Shark Tank’ star says there’s ‘zero evidence’ that automation at ports ‘hurts wages at all’

Fox Business via NY Post ^ | 10/04/24 | Kristen Altus

[Libloather]

As East and Gulf Coast ports begin to operate as normal again, one of the country’s top entrepreneurs is weighing in on “the trouble” with union workers’ demands.

“The trouble with East Coast ports is they’re very old, they’re very inefficient,” O’Leary Ventures Chairman and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary said on “Varney & Co.” Friday.

“And when you start to compare them against other international ports like Singapore and the other Asian ports,” he continued, “we’re just not holding much up against them. And that’s very bad for productivity.”

US dockworkers returned to work Friday morning after reaching a tentative agreement with employers on an improved wage offer.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which represents 45,000 striking workers, said the union and USMX have reached a “tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues.”

FOX Business reported that workers accepted a 62% wage increase, effective immediately.

But the ILA’s tentative deal statement mentioned nothing about protection from technology and automation.

A Tuesday statement from the ILA said that it is “steadfastly against any form of automation – full or semi – that replaces jobs or historical work functions. We will not accept the loss of work and livelihood for our members due to automation.”

[Uversabound]

It’s hard almost impossible to stop progress. Remember when the computers were coming out and then early to mid 90s I would’ve never believed I would have a phone where I could do everything on it by plane tickets do all kinds of work. There’s so much progress that should have been stopped. Can’t think of an example now but it’s gonna be impossible for them to stop automation down the road I believe.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Building efficiencies into a system does reduce head count, however those union members who would be affected can be retrained for the jobs that support automation and the additional activities that automation will create. Work can be done faster which means more inter-modal transportation opportunities.

[cymbeline]

“There will be some new jobs with far higher wages.”

True that there will be jobs maintaining the automated handlers, but there will be fewer jobs for us humans, won’t there?

MHO - Making Humans Obsolete.

[JeanLM]

The protected labor unions like dock workers on both coasts and teachers and municipal workers , and steel workers, and the UAW have fueled inflation, harmed education, blown municipal budgets,and crippled industries everywhere. The Democrats want to extend protections even more.
In unprotected private sector manufacturing the unions are below 7% participation.

[central_va]

UAW union wages are not that great anymore:

Copilot:

Sent by you:

average uaw wage line worker

Sent by Copilot:

The average wage for a United Auto Workers (UAW) line worker is around $28 per hour12. This can vary based on factors like tenure and the specific automaker. For example, top-tier workers, who joined before 2007, earn about $33 per hour2. Meanwhile, newer hires might start at lower rates, around $17 per hour2.

Is there something specific you were curious about regarding UAW workers?

[central_va]

The wage increase spread out over the dollar value shipped to ports is a rounding error at best.

[central_va]

The UAW priced themselves out of the car market

Not really. Did any auto maker that offshored proction to get cheap 3rd world labor brag about retail price reduction because of same?

Yeah, I don't remember that either.

[PIF]

We will not accept the loss of work and livelihood for our members due to automation.”

—
That statement is rephrasing of the zero-sum liberal economic theory. Every machine breaks down, parts wear out, etc - they all need a human operation/engineer to fix the problem, replace the part.

They would likely end up with more jobs than they have now.

[Arkady]

If Kevin is such a genius he should know that foreign entities own most of our ports. The only Americans involved in this mess are the dock workers.
Automation is great but even that means remote operators, i.e., slave labor from India, etc

[JeanLM]

Don’t know where you got your figures but with the 2023 settlement the staring wage went up 70% to over $30/hr.
Pay for veteran workers at Detroit Three to rise by 33%
UAW won right to strike future plant closures
Contract will boost GM labor, pension costs $7 bln -sources: Reuters
It was the most the UAW got in decades.
None of the transplant plants from Europe and Asia have unions although VW lost a recent election and is appealing.
The 100% tariff on imported pickups is government protection for the market where the big three make their money.
This government protection is the only reason the 3 US car manufacturers are still in business, although the EV mandates will likely kill everyone but the Chinese.

[central_va]

I am in favor of US labor. 7% of it is union. Still, at least to me the "evil" of unions far exceeds giving up the USA's manufacturing base. THINK LONG TERM.

PS: Co-Pilot is AI. The data is usually accurate.

[Phlyer]

The question was not what was a fair wage, nor whether port profits are high. The question was whether automation increases wages. I still maintain that it does, even as it reduces the number of workers.

In the long run, the only thing that will keep worker jobs is productivity.

If I could just snap my fingers and force a new economic system, I'd have all wages/salaries/compensation be based on the Moby Dick model. Everyone, from newby floor worker to CEO gets a pre-defined share of the profits. If there are no profits (like, during a strike) there is no pay - for anyone. If the company makes huge profits, then the workers get a share of that.

Most Union-model profit-sharing is based on an assumption of future profits, and they want to be paid as though those profits were already banked. That's not the same.

But if a company makes a huge profit and it all goes to the executive offices, then eventually profits will fall. The problem with our American model is that the executives get their huge payday, and when the company folds due to lack of productivity, they have long retired with their money. I think that model is as bad as the demand for higher wages not linked to higher productivity.