Rob Ashton: Automation at B.C. ports could kill thousands of jobs, harm provincial economy
Credit to Author: Gordon Clark| Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2019 01:00:45 +0000
Port terminal workers are deeply concerned that automation could eliminate more than 9,200 good jobs across B.C. in the coming years and damage our economy from lost wages and taxes.
And with major port-expansion projects like Roberts Bank Terminal 2 in Delta in the review stage and an alternative expansion of Deltaport proposed, voters should hear from all parties about how to protect jobs and communities before the Oct. 21 federal election.
Automation is a pressing issue facing many sectors, not just for the ports. A quick look around most grocery stores, banks or even media outlets and it’s clear that a huge number of jobs are at risk in almost every occupation.
That’s why the International Longshore and Warehouse Union — Canada commissioned a study on the impact of automation on port terminal workers and the communities where they live and work to ring an alarm bell in not only our industry but many others where automation has and will eliminate jobs, as well as revenue our government needs to pay for the services we all rely on.
And it’s why ILWU-Canada is asking to meet all major party leaders — to hear from them directly as to how they would deal with automation issues for affected workers.
Let’s be clear: the ILWU-Canada is not like King Canute, the 11th-century monarch of Denmark, England and Norway, trying to hold back the tides of automation. We’ve been dealing with it as a union for decades. We have gone from handling cargo in wooden sailing ships to massive container ships and we understand that automation is a given.
But how automation takes place, how much automation and whether workers are treated fairly and given the opportunity to transition to other meaningful employment within or outside our industry, are all options — and government has the ability to decide.
The report conducted by PRISM Economics and Analysis says that automation puts more than 9,200 marine-terminal jobs at risk across B.C., up to 90 per cent of all direct and indirect jobs.
It is not only marine workers who will be affected; the provincial economy stands to take a significant hit from lost income — in excess of $600 million annually, with tax revenues alone declining by more than $100 million a year.
The study also forecast that 11 per cent of middle-income employment ($70,000-plus per year) and 23 per cent of high-income employment ($100,000-plus per year) in the community of Delta alone is at risk of loss due to future automation in the marine terminal industry.
In Prince Rupert, a quarter of middle-income and fully two-thirds of high-income employment is at risk due to future automation — a devastating loss to that region.
The economic analysis is based on two scenarios: a “Brownfield Scenario” forecasts that 50 per cent of selected marine terminal occupations — about 5,200 jobs — are automated out of existence when existing terminal facilities are modified to allow for partial automation.
A “Greenfield Scenario” forecasts that 90 per cent of selected occupations would be automated out of existence — more than 9,200 jobs — when new facilities are fully automated.
Either way, it’s clear that the next federal government will need to quickly establish retraining, job search and other programs to mitigate the economic harm that is done to workers and communities hit by employment losses of this scale.
And government should stop rewarding companies with tax breaks and subsidies when they automate good, middle-class jobs out of existence to their exclusive benefit, leaving workers and communities to pick up the pieces afterward.
Putting forward a comprehensive plan during this election to protect workers’ jobs and to modernize Canada’s approach to job loss through automation would be a good place for them all to start.
Rob Ashton is president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Canada.
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