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1 1 (January 13, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govesaa0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Port Automation and Payroll Fraud January 13, 2025 East and Gulf Coast port workers were set to go on strike again on January 15, 2025, had an agreement not been reached with their employers over automated cargo handling equipment. The January 9, 2025, agreement reportedly will extend the current contract language concerning automation for another six years; details have not been disclosed publicly. Current language reportedly allows some automation equipment to be introduced as long as it is accompanied by paid job positions. In October 2024, a three- day strike was resolved with a 62% wage increase for port workers over the next six years. Congress has specified that a new federal grant program for purchasing zero emission port equipment can be used only for human-operated or human-maintained equipment (P.L. 117-169, §60102). Several U.S. container ports are partially automated. Automated equipment refers to remote controlled cranes for loading and unloading ships, driverless vehicles that move shipping containers between a port's dock and staging areas, automated container stacking cranes, and unmanned gates where trucks enter and exit the port. Automated equipment is capital intensive. It is intended to speed cargo flow for the much larger container ships now calling at U.S. ports. In 2015, Panama finished constructing a wider, deeper canal that can accommodate ships with a 50-foot draft and has capacity to carry three times more containers than previously. Aided with federal funds, many East and Gulf Coast ports have since deepened their harbors, with some raising the height of bridges over the shipping channel to allow bigger ships to pass underneath. U.S. container ports are not ranked highly worldwide for their speed and efficiency of handling cargo. In response to the historic port congestion during the COVID-19 pandemic, one recommendation was to shift to 24/7 operation of U.S. ports. The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) represents over 47,000 longshoremen at East and Gulf Coast ports who handle containerized cargo and car carrier ships carrying automobiles. The U.S. Maritime Alliance, Ltd. represents the ocean carriers and port terminal operators, the employers. In 2022, East and Gulf Coast seaports accounted for 60% of the import and export containers shipped through U.S. seaports (West Coast seaports accounted for 40%). That year, East and Gulf Coast seaports accounted for 15 of the top 20 U.S. container ports. Containers carry a wide assortment of goods. Retail goods and manufacturing parts tend to comprise a large share of imported containers; U.S. exports often consist of intermediate goods and agricultural items. A focus of recent negotiations, and likely of future labor negotiations on both coasts, is automation. ILA argues automation will reduce port jobs. Some others cite instances where automation increased jobs after automation increased the number of containers handled and therefore the number of workers needed. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12483 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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