More Than 1,000 Greek Dock Workers and Sailors Join the Strike

On November 20th, workers across Greece gathered for a 24-hour strike to protest the rising cost of living, demanding higher wages and better living conditions. Approximately 12,000 people marched in the center of Athens, while another 5,000 held protests in Thessaloniki. Protesters chanted slogans like "Workers' rights are the law" and carried banners against the rise in prices. The strike also affected public hospitals, schools, and transportation, with many workers joining in.

The financial crisis from 2009 to 2018 devastated a quarter of Greece's economy, but the country has been committed to economic recovery. Despite improvements, workers say wages are still too low and the cost of living is too high.

The Greek government has raised the minimum wage four times since 2019, and it is currently at 830 euros. They plan to increase it to 950 euros by 2027. The new budget for 2025 includes increased spending on wages and pensions. However, the General Confederation of Workers of Greek (GSEE) states that since 2019, workers' purchasing power has decreased by 8%.?The union accuses the government of not taking enough measures to help workers cope with the high costs of basic goods, energy, and rent.

Coincidentally, in early November, negotiations between ports and unions in British Columbia, Canada, failed to make progress, leading to an strike at several ports on the west coast of Canada, including Vancouver Port and Prince Rupert, on November 4th. Reports on November 9th indicated that despite federal government mediation, negotiations remained at an impasse. The strike was due to wages and automation.

According to?several?reports, the recent strikes by dockworkers can be broadly attributed to two reasons: salary and automation, with this article mainly using the U.S. port strikes as an example.

Reason One: Demanding Higher Wages

The working environment for dockworkers has always been harsh, especially in the early 20th century when they generally faced low wages, long working hours, and an insecure existence. Between the 1920s and 1930s, the American labor movement flourished in ports. Workers protested against capitalist oppression through strikes and ultimately won formal recognition of their unions, improving working conditions and protecting workers' rights.

However, on October 1, 2024, local time in the United States, 45,000 dockworkers on the eastern and southern coasts initiated a strike, shutting down 36 ports from Maine to Texas, to fight for higher pay.

According to CNN, under the preliminary agreement, the maximum hourly wage for dockworkers, which was $39, would immediately increase by $4 and gradually rise over the next six years of the contract, reaching $63,?resulting in a cumulative pay increase of 62%. Dockworkers had been advocating for a 77% raise, while the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), representing port operators and shipping carriers, was initially only willing to offer a 22% increase. After several negotiations, it first became 40% and finally just under 50%. This directly led to the workers' strike.

A report cited by the American media shows that the maximum hourly wage for dockworkers on the U.S. East Coast is $39. With a normal schedule, the annual salary is over $80,000, and most workers earn more than $100,000 due to overtime. Among the 3,726 dockworkers in New York, more than half have an annual salary of over $150,000, a fifth have an annual salary of over $250,000, and 18 employees earn over $450,000 annually. In contrast, the median annual income for American households is $74,580, and the U.S. President's annual salary is $400,000.

U.S. SaaS data providers indicate that the average annual salary for full-time U.S. West Coast dockworkers in 2022 was around $200,000, with senior dock officials earning over $300,000, which is 24% higher than the average salary of American CEOs.

From the above data, it is not difficult to see that the U.S. port strikes are not only due to salary issues but also due to the development of automation.

Reason Two: Resisting the Development of Automation

Entering the 21st century, China's rise has brought profound changes to the global trade pattern. A large amount of Chinese goods enter the United States through trans-Pacific routes, making U.S. ports on both coasts extremely busy. With the automation upgrade of China's supply chain and the improvement of port efficiency, the pressure on U.S. port workers comes not only from the increase in cargo volume but also from the competition in efficiency between Chinese and U.S. ports.

World Bank data shows that, calculated by the time ships spend in port, China's Yangshan Port ranks first in global port efficiency, while the best-performing U.S. port ranks only 53rd.

On November 12th, local time in the United States, the Eastern U.S. union announced the early termination of the four-day negotiations with employers, due to the union's opposition to the introduction of dock automation and semi-automation clauses in the contract, leading to an impasse.?Automation has always been a core issue in the negotiations.?Although the union demands higher wages, ports and shipping companies hope to offset increased costs by improving efficiency, but this also directly threatens the employment of dockworkers.

The union's strike leader stated that they are not opposed to introducing technology that can make workers more efficient, but if automation replaces workers' positions and leads to unemployment, it will be opposed.

To improve efficiency, the U.S. government and port management have taken some measures, such as implementing a 24/7 work schedule and a policy of daily additional fines for overdue containers. However, these measures have not solved the fundamental problem. Low automation efficiency, relying on overtime to increase working hours is unsustainable, and the related costs will be passed on to retailers and consumers.

As economic growth gradually slows down in the future, the conflict between technology and jobs will become more severe. The case of the U.S. port strike is also a reminder that technology and the industry need to be prepared in advance. In addition, how to balance technological progress and human care is a question worth considering.

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Note: The worker salary data in this article are all sourced from the self-media outlets “南方人物周刊”?and “风云之声”.