Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas go on strike

Re:Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas go on strike by ElevenLathe on Tuesday October 01, 2024 @11:35AM (#41709790)

The demand for no automation at all is clearly an initial bargaining position. What the union (hopefully) really wants is some kind of phase-in of most of this tech that allows current members to keep their jobs and retire with dignity before they are replaced by robots. IMO dignity like this is the absolute minimum we owe to ourselves as workers and citizens.

If the port operators were smart, they would have done this already and avoided the massive strike that will cost them billions of dollars, by using a small portion of that savings to keep their workers happy and on the job.

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Re:Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas go on strike by CleaveIt2Beaver on Tuesday October 01, 2024 @03:10PM (#41712877)

This is the nuance I wish more people (and especially the articles reporting this info) brought to the table. Not necessarily something everyone would consider at first blush, but very important contextually in contrast to the "why tf would they never want automation ever?" reaction.

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Re:Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas go on strike by hyperG on Tuesday October 01, 2024 @11:11PM (#41716827)

I wouldn't be surprised if it is an entirely throw away bargaining chip.

"Ok, Ok, we will give up on the anti-automation demands but we aren't budging on the wage increase demands!"

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