Dockworkers join other unions in trying to fend off automation, or minimize the impact

NEW YORK — The massive port workers’ strike that has shut down all the major dockyards on the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. and the Gulf coast is highlighting a fear held by many workers: Eventually, we will be replaced by machines. “You cannot ban automation, because it will creep up in other places.” History of pushback against automation It’s not the first time that port workers have resisted automation. Harry Bridges, who led the union at the time, negotiated pay increases and job security arrangements for some of the workers, said Adam Seth Litwin, associate professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University. And I think he also recognized that fighting automation rarely makes a whole lot of economic sense, particularly if you’re talking about a market that’s at all competitive,” Litwin said. How do you become a senior associate arguing before the Supreme Court if you don’t start as a junior associate?” When companies embrace artificial intelligence, it doesn’t always result in workers losing jobs.