美国国家公共电台 NPR--California dockworkers are worried about losing their good-paying jobs to robots

California dockworkers are worried about losing their good-paying jobs to robots

Transcript¹

West Coast dockworkers and the shipping² industry are locked in contract negotiations³. Dockworkers are fighting to keep high paying jobs from being automated⁵.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Up and down the West Coast, there's a fight to keep high-paying union jobs from going to robots. On one side, 22,000 dockworkers who play a critical role in the global supply chain, moving cargo⁶ off of ships onto trucks and trains - on the other, the shipping companies that say they need to automate⁴ more of that work in order to stay competitive. The two sides have been in contract negotiations since May, but the struggle dates back decades. Here's NPR's Andrea Hsu.

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ANDREA HSU, BYLINE⁷: I've come to Southern California, to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where 40% of imports in containers enters the U.S. Think clothes, computers, car parts. It's a vast landscape of ships, cranes and those colorful steel containers stacked high and wide for miles. And everywhere, trucks hauling those containers out to warehouses⁹ and beyond. A year ago, this was the site of a massive logjam. The country had gone on a pandemic buying spree that led to too many ships, too many containers, nowhere to move anything.

The shipping industry, represented by the Pacific Maritime¹⁰ Association, says more automation is key to avoiding a repeat. The dockworkers, represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse⁸ Union, say robots aren't the answer. They'll only kill American jobs. It's a major sticking point. With contract negotiations ongoing¹¹, the two sides have agreed to no disruptions to the work. Also, no commenting on the talks. But dockworkers will tell you they're worried about the future.

JIMMY MONTI: People are absolutely afraid.

HSU: Jimmy Monti, a crane operator, has never worked at an automated terminal. But he's seen the changes that automation has brought to other parts of this port complex. He points to a ship waiting to be unloaded. In a traditional operation, he says you'd have a minimum of 16 truck drivers waiting to receive containers off the ship, and four top handlers - or forklift operators - stacking the containers on the dock.

MONTI: Those jobs would all be gone. They're all gone on automated terminals.

HSU: Replaced by driverless vehicles and automated stacking cranes. So far, only a few terminals at LA and Long Beach have automated. It's an extremely costly¹² move. Still, increasingly, the question appears to be not if more terminals will bring in new technology, but when and how union workers will fare in the end. It's a dynamic that's existed in some form since the 1960s, when shipping containers revolutionized the industry. Until then, cargo crossed the ocean in sacks and crates¹³ and barrels. Longshoremen worked in the holds of ships, using hooks to move goods to shore.

JAMES SPINOSA: Long hours. Hard work. Everything done by hand.

HSU: James Spinosa arrived at the tail end of that era. He watched as gangs of longshoremen were replaced by cranes that could lift whole containers of goods at once. The union had foreseen the threat to jobs and negotiated a controversial agreement allowing for some mechanization of the work. At the heart of it was this philosophy.

SPINOSA: We would go along with mechanization, providing that mechanization took us along.

HSU: Meaning, there was something in it for the workers - above all, job protection. In 1989 came another turning point. Spinoza, then a rising union leader, traveled to Rotterdam to see a new type of crane that operated without a driver.

SPINOSA: And would pick up the container and put it onto that chassis¹⁴. And then we watched it track through the yard and come back to the pile.

HSU: It was amazing and alarming. His mind immediately went to the jobs that would be lost, as well as those that could be gained.

SPINOSA: Maintenance and repair of all this equipment, because that's replacing our traditional work. You don't see a longshoreman in here. You can't find them.

HSU: Later, Spinoza wandered into a room that was not part of the tour.

SPINOSA: The door was open, so I went in. And, lo and behold¹⁵, here was about six or eight people on computers.

HSU: Interfacing¹⁶ with that automated equipment. It was an a-ha moment. If cargo was being moved on the docks, union workers had to be on it, no matter the technology. Fast-forward to today, union workers at LA and Long Beach are still operating cranes and driving trucks at most of the terminals. But some have moved to new jobs, like automation coordinator¹⁷.

REBECCA SCHLARB: For me, it's bittersweet.

HSU: Rebecca Schlarb, a longtime Marine¹⁸ clerk, now sits in front of six screens overseeing the driverless technologies and troubleshooting problems, which she says are frequent.

SCHLARB: I'm a little bit of a geek, so I like the actual work. But the amount of jobs that have been lost for both clerks and longshoremen has been so substantial. And that's just a very scary prospect¹⁹.

HSU: Schlarb says some of her union brothers and sisters have turned down the work at the automated terminals. They don't want anything to do with it. Jimmy Monti, the crane operator, says the fear is pervasive²⁰.

MONTI: Every time there's a rumor²¹ about a new terminal even contemplating²² automation, people are scared.

HSU: Scared that jobs on the waterfront could vanish. This is some of the best paid blue-collar work in America. Union dockworkers can earn over $100,000 a year. And those with years of experience double that. They get free health care. Without the jobs, Monti fears the surrounding communities will wither²³ away.

MONTI: Look at other places in the United States, like Flint, Mich., Detroit, Mich., Youngstown, Ohio. Those economies, just completely disrupted.

HSU: Meanwhile, the pressure is on. LA and Long Beach are rated among the least efficient ports in the world. More modern ports in the Middle East and China get ships in and out much faster with 24/7 operations. The Pacific Maritime Association says more automation will allow LA and Long Beach to handle ever growing cargo volumes. In a video statement, CEO Jim McKenna described it as a win-win, more work all around.

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JIM MCKENNA: We have seen through experience that automated terminals were the most effective in handling historic volumes while also expanding work opportunities for ILW members.

HSU: But union members are skeptical²⁴. Even if there are efficiencies to be had, they ask, who's really benefiting? Container shipping is dominated by foreign-owned companies like Maersk, Evergreen²⁵ and China Ocean Shipping. Yvette Bjazevic, who's driven trucks and cranes and now works in the union dispatch hall, warns that Americans will lose out completely if union jobs are outsourced to robots.

YVETTE BJAZEVIC: These machines don't contribute to taxes. They don't contribute to the local economy. I think everyone should be a little outraged²⁶.

HSU: In her view, what's at stake is not just a job, but a way of life.

BJAZEVIC: I'm a hard worker. And I'm able to put two kids through college, not worry about a mortgage payment. And my husband's sick. Like, these are the basics. And I'm totally grateful.

HSU: For now, traffic at the ports is flowing. There's plenty of work. And contract negotiations are ongoing, with still much to hammer out.

Andrea Hsu, NPR News, San Pedro, Calif.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 automate   

v.自动化；使自动化

参考例句：

• Many banks have begun to automate.许多银行已开始采用自动化技术。
• To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today.使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。

5 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

6 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

9 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

10 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

13 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

14 chassis   

n.汽车等之底盘；（飞机的）起落架；炮底架

参考例句：

• The new parts may include the sheet metal,the transmission,or the chassis.新部件可能包括钢壳，变速器或底盘。
• Can chassis and whole-vehicle manufacturers co-exist peacefully?底盘企业和整车企业能相安无事吗？

15 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

16 interfacing   

衬布，衬头

参考例句：

• Careful study of the data sheets and a programmable input-output port solve most A/D interfacing problems. 若详细研究一下说明书和可编程序的输入／输出端口，则大部分A／D转换器的接口问题都可得到解决。
• Detailed techniques will be presented here to solve all the common interfacing problems. 本书将详细介绍解决所有公共接口问题的技术。

17 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

18 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

19 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

20 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

21 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

22 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

23 wither   

vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡

参考例句：

• She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
• In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天，树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。

24 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

25 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

26 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。