Australian dock workers fight against AI rollout
Australian dock workers are asking for a 28-hour working week in response to plans to increase the use of AI and automation in their work.
The Maritime Union of Australia has accused logistics giant DP World of putting workers’ jobs “in the crosshairs” as it tests tools that can make operations more efficient at its sites.
The technology is yet to be introduced and discussions are being held on a site-by-site basis.
A union report on the introduction of AI estimates that DP World’s plans could put up to 1,000 jobs at risk, although the company has denied this.
The plans are reported to include the introduction of driverless, sensor-driven vehicles rather than human-operated trucks, and remote-controlled gantries that would carry containers. It could also operate quay cranes from remote officers, the union claims.
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“If they can operate these machines from a data centre in Sydney, they will seek to operate them from a data centre somewhere else in the world at the lowest possible cost,” according to MUA national secretary Jake Field.
“The MUA’s position is that there can be no automation or AI without agreement and there can be no loss of jobs and no loss of pay.”
MUA’s report calls for changes to labour laws so that AI “reopens the full suite of bargaining rights and the right to take protected action”. Otherwise, workers and unions could seek arbitration, it said.
In a statement last week, it called for a 28-hour working week with no reduction in pay, adding that the technology “should be used to improve workers’ lives, not destroy them”.
Australian workers’ rights campaigners are actively pursuing agreements that could compel businesses to reach an accord with their workforce before major AI adoption.
Many enterprise agreements contain consultation clauses requiring employers to consult employees and unions about “major workplace change”, but this does not necessarily mean that workers can stop the change.
In response to the suggestions in the MUA’s report, DP World said: “DP World is a long-term investor in Australia’s trade and logistics infrastructure and plays a critical role in facilitating the nation’s international supply chains.
“Our operations support thousands of jobs and involve substantial ongoing investment in Australian port and freight infrastructure.
For the reasons outlined above, we reject the characterisations contained in your correspondence, including the conflation of terminal automation with artificial intelligence, the presentation of speculative employment impacts as established fact, and the inclusion of unrelated allegations that have no evidentiary connection to DP World’s Australian operations.”
DP World, headquartered in Dubai, attracted widespread criticism in 2022 when its subsidiary P&O Ferries sacked 800 workers and replaced them with agency workers on lower pay.
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