Moving target

In the US, something as benign as a reefer plug turned Portland into a union battleground in July with terminal operator ICTSI caught in the crossfire.

The spate – a dispute between International Longshore and Warehouse Union members and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers over which union workers should maintain reefers – brought traffic to a standstill at Portland’s Terminal 6.

The port’s longshore union says the jobs are theirs under their contract with the Pacific Maritime Association. The electricians’ union says the jobs are theirs.

At the start of July, a federal judge intervened in the conflict, ruling that the longshore union had to stop its slowdown under a ten-day restraining order in a bid to end three weeks of port disruptions and diversions of traffic. However, tensions are still running high.

Then, down under, Asciano’s recent announcement that it is to lay off more than half of its Sydney workforce as it automates its Port Botany container terminal went down like a lead balloon.

The introduction of automated straddle carriers will result in the loss of 270 jobs from Asciano’s 511-strong Sydney workforce. The union here is also unimpressed: Maritime Union of Australia claims that the company had previously issued assurances that the expansion would not result in job losses. Strike action is on the cards.

Both situations make cautionary reading for port bosses. The dispute at Portland has hit the port hard and all for a job that requires the equivalent of two full-time workers. ICTSI has remained decidedly tight-lipped on the whole debacle, but the fracas just goes to show the importance of watertight labour agreements at the concession stage.

In Australia, tensions are sure to bubble over on the automation choice, illustrating how port progression inevitably sits uncomfortably with fragile labour relations. Automation is here to stay and dockers have no choice but to accept that fact, in Australia and beyond. Job losses are sadly inevitable as machine continues to beat man hands down in error counts and productivity.

The labour game is one that can tie up valuable resources which, it could be argued, would be better spent securing new business and maintaining existing calls. And even when agreements are reached, the changing business environment means that nothing can remain static, something that both sides should keep in mind.