Story: Automation will likely cause changes to the ports of LA, Long Beach.

What will happen: When the Port of Los Angeles largest terminal applied to bring in automated equipment this year, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union members and supporters objected to the move, turning out in large numbers for rallies protesting the growing trend of port automation that promises to take some jobs.

The specter of robots taking over jobs on the docks and displacing workers fueled an impassioned movement at the end of this decade which will only grow as the 2020s get underway.

Port automation has been on the horizon for some years, but U.S. ports have been slower to adapt than their European counterparts, in part due to strong unions that are quick to circle the wagons when jobs are at stake.

Tour of the Long Beach Container Terminal showing phase 1 of the Automated Shipping Container Cranes and battery-operated sleds that move the containers around the yard by remote control.To go with story by Rachel Uranga for P-T. Photo by Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze/SCNG/06-20-17

ILWU members and supporters took a moment of silence for all member before attending another Harbor Commission meeting to vote on the appeal regarding the permit allowing zero-emissions automation to move forward on the APM (Maersk) Terminal in the Port of Los Angeles. This vote came after Los Angeles City Council rejected the ports earlier support of the permit and sent it back to harbor commissioners for reconsideration. Ultimately the commissioners voted exactly the same as they did previously 3-2 in favor of the permit for APM in San Pedro on Thursday, July 11, 2019. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

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Harbor Commissioner Edward R. Renwick asks a question during another meeting to vote on the appeal regarding the permit allowing zero-emissions automation to move forward on the APM (Maersk) Terminal in the Port of Los Angeles. This vote came after Los Angeles City Council rejected the ports earlier support of the permit and sent it back to harbor commissioners for reconsideration. Ultimately the commissioners voted exactly the same as they did previously 3-2 in favor of the permit for APM in San Pedro on Thursday, July 11, 2019. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

More than 1,500 ILWU members and supporters showed up for another Harbor Commission meeting to vote on the appeal regarding the permit allowing zero-emissions automation to move forward on the APM (Maersk) Terminal in the Port of Los Angeles. This vote came after Los Angeles City Council rejected the ports earlier support of the permit and sent it back to harbor commissioners for reconsideration. Ultimately the commissioners voted exactly the same as they did previously 3-2 in favor of the permit for APM in San Pedro on Thursday, July 11, 2019. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Some automation already has come to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. But when APM Terminals, on L.A.s Pier 400, applied for what was a routine permit to bring in new equipment in the summer of 2019, the ILWU erupted.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti brought the two sides together for private talks and, in the end, an they agreed on a deal allowing the terminal to move forward with automation while providing re-training for workers to save jobs.

But the issue wont die there.

Especially with the onset of computerization, automation in all job sectors continues to change the way business is done.

Automated ports also promise a cleaner operation the equipment will help meet strict pollution-cutting standards set out by both ports in the coming years.

How to balance the advantages of automation with the human factor providing and preserving needed jobs presents what will be an ongoing challenge for years to come.

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Stories that will define the next decade: Automation will likely cause changes to the ports of LA, Long Beach - The Daily Breeze