The conflicts in container terminal automation

Interesting to read the news that APM Terminals wants to introduce automation to its Pier 400 terminal in Los Angeles - and see the immediate backlash from the ILWU. I've put together this matrix to show the relationship between the cost of dock labour and the strength of dock unions. In places where the cost of dock labour is high, the attractiveness of terminal automation is generally greater (and in the case of California, you could add in the desire for green-ness). However, the feasibility of implementing automation is influenced by how strong the dock unions are (stronger the union, the greater the opposition usually).

The top left quadrant of the matrix is where you have high labour cost and low dock union strength - in theory the ideal combination for allowing automation. There are some examples here of countries with automated terminals (and feel free to challenge my judgement on the level of union strength for the countries named). However, most terminal automation is actually elsewhere in the matrix - either in places like the US where labour cost is high and despite union opposition, a number of automated terminals have been developed - or interestingly in places like the UAE where labour cost is low and so is dock union strength.