The need for an International Organisation of Port Workers

Capitalism is trying to make shipping, stevedoring, logistics and product delivery as automated as possible. Massive amounts of capital are being invested in order to make this happen.

Massive attacks on working class living standards are as well. In order to implement this level of automation breaking any force for workers’ interests will be needed. This will allow for the causualization of work and making workers struggles more difficult to wage.

Shipping companies and their economists are quite open about this. It is easier to run 24/7 automated ports than with workers. Also workers have ability to stop the flow of trade with job and strike actions. By disrupting ships getting in and out of port as well as container delivery times, job actions can raise costs exponentially.

This ability to raise significant disruptions to shipping gives port workers a great deal of power. Even short job actions can cost shipping companies millions.

Industry analysts estimate 40-50% reduction of work force in automated over contemporary container ports.

The Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, is the shipping industry’s model automated port. considered the most «advanced» in the world, with all three major parts of the container moving process automated. In Rotterdam’s other terminals, almost every single transport vehicle and stacking crane are fully automated.

Some of the currently existing automated terminals are located in Rotterdam, Dubai, Hamburg, Odessa, Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia), Hong Kong and Singapore. The largest American ports – New York (Atlantic) and Long Beach/Los Angeles (Pacific) are being automated now. In Italy the Port of Vado is being automated with investments from Danish and Chinese shipping companies.

Breaking Unions

Of course, shipping and terminal companies have been active in breaking dockworker unions for a long time. What we are seeing now is a more coordinated international effort which represents the capabilities of a more consolidated industry. For example, below there are many references to the Danish APM Terminal (AMPT) company, the 3rd largest operator in the world. APMT is owned by the Maersk shipping company, the world’s largest.
Some Examples

SPAIN: The European Court of Justice ruled in 2014 that the local Port Authorities set up to administer Spain’s docks – and hire dockers – is in violation of the EU Treaty. The EU is demanding these agencies be dismantled and hiring be done by private Terminal companies. Currently, in early 2017, there have been a number of nationwide one day Port strikes. The European Dockers Union Council has also called for European-wide strikes.

SWEDEN: Swedish dockworkers are currently in ongoing battle with AMPT in Gothenburg, the largest Port in Scandinavia. The largest union at Gothenburg – the Swedish Dockers Union (SDU) – is not party to the national labor agreements. The government recognized Swedish Transport Workers Union (STWU) has been attempting to make agreements with AMPT to eliminate the 1972 split off SDU.

COSTA RICA in August 2014 Dockworker union SINTRAJAP joined in nation wide protests against the concession awarded to the Danish APM Terminals to operate the Moin Container Terminal. On 22 Oct, 2014 the union went on a strike which ended on 5 November when they accepted mediation. Strikers were accused of shooting AK-47s towards Riot Police.

GREECE: In 2016 the Greek government privatized the country’s largest ports – Piraeus to the Hong Kong based COSCO and Thessaloniki’s sale is being negotiated currently. All jobs would likely be causualized. The Dockers union called a strike to stop privatization plans. The strike seemed to have some success – hurting cruise ship income during the tourist season – but was called off just before the Parliament’s vote.

ATLANTIC COAST USA: Port authorities have been reducing the number of union dock (longshore in US) workers. In most workplaces there is only one legal union. In the port of New York – the second largest in the USA, only 33% new hire workers are members of the International Longshhore Association (ILA) union. Similar arrangements are being forced in other Atlantic Ports. The ILA has been conducting single day strikes to protest. There have also been a number of significant wildcat strikes especially in New York.

PACIFIC COAST USA – the pacific coast dockers’ International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is one of the most militant in the US. Several years ago they repeatedly shut down all Ports on the west coast to protest a non-union terminal in Longview, WA. The terminal was forced to agree to ILWU workers.

On the west coast there have also been many strikes by 1000s of the truck drivers who take containers from the Ports. These are very precarious jobs held mainly by immigrants from Mexico and India. Many of the strikes have been spontaneous, non-official union and to the end shutting down the largest ports in the USA. And often successful. Proving that hard struggles can win