The US ports are the last major ports in the world that have automation and are woefully behind the times. In the US, only three terminals (in Los Angeles and Long Beach) are considered fully automated. Another three (one in New Jersey/New York and two in Virginia) are classified
as semi-automated, meaning that machines do some of the sorting. A 2022
study by the Economic Roundtable of Los Angeles found that just 572 jobs a year were lost (about 5 percent of the workforce) after automation in California.
No one wants to lose their job to automation but it is inevitable in so many industries. Mining, manufacturing, auto, aircraft...the list goes on. The challenge is for the workers to be able to learn new skills so they can be employable in other jobs. Perhaps they can introduce contract language that offers early-retirement packages for workers impacted by automation. Some European ports did that when they automated.