Business reporter margotroosevelt brings us up to speed on the fierce struggle over automation that’s erupted at the Port of Los Angeles. Tonight on LATimesToday at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Spectrum News 1.
A 2008 International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract, renewed in 2015, explicitly allowed West Coast ports to continue automating. Two large terminals — one at the Port of Long Beach and one in Los Angeles — have already introduced the driverless vehicles known as UTRs, or utility tractor rigs.
APM officials decline to say how many jobs will be eliminated if what they call “self-guided container handling equipment” is introduced. Union officials say hundreds are at stake. One in nine jobs in the five-county region is linked to commerce flowing through the port complex, according to port officials.
“This proposal is not about clean air and streamlining business practices,” Mark Mendoza, president of ILWU Local 13 told the five-member commission. “It is about Maersk maximizing their profits at all costs.… It will ultimately ensure the economic demise of the Southern California region.”APM’s permit request to install infrastructure to support the automated vehicles, along with scaffolding for containers and an upgraded Wi-Fi system.
Hundreds of union members and community members from San Pedro and Wilmington show their opposition to automation during a Harbor Commission meeting. City Councilman Joe Buscaino alluded pointedly to the fact that the City Council has the power to overturn any commission decision. Two congresswomen, and more than a dozen state senators and Assembly members, including Speaker Anthony Rendon, along with seven neighborhood councils in San Pedro and Wilmington, and the Los Angeles Democratic Party wrote letters expressing reservations or outright opposition to the automation plan, calling for the preservation of jobs.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
To some, renaming Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is an insultUSC's sale of naming rights to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is being criticized as dishonoring the historic stadium's dedication as a memorial to soldiers who fought and died in World War I.
Read more »
Rapper Nipsey Hussle killed in shooting outside his L.A. storeGrammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle was killed in a shooting outside his clothing store in Los Angeles, multiple law enforcement sources told NBC News.
Read more »
Man armed with sword fatally shot at Scientology church near Los AngelesA sword-wielding man who arrived in a luxury car was fatally shot at a Scientology church building, police said. Two police officers suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, authorities said.
Read more »
Reports: Rapper Nipsey Hussle shot to death in LALaw enforcement officials tell the LA Times, NBC and TMZ that rapper Nipsey Hussle has been shot to death in Los Angeles.
Read more »
As New York moves closer to congestion pricing, an effort in L.A. gets a nudgeA new government study on congestion pricing in Los Angeles says charging drivers $4 to enter a part of the city around Santa Monica would significantly ease congestion and speed commutes.
Read more »