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Automated Ports See West Coast Dockworkers Clock More Hours

  • Study at Los Angeles, Long Beach terminals commissioned by PMA
  • Findings released a week before labor-contract talks with ILWU
Cargo ships are unloaded at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California.
Cargo ships are unloaded at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California.Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg
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Employers at West Coast ports at the center of the U.S. supply-chain crisis released a study extolling the benefits of automation a week before the start of labor talks where the issue is set to feature.

Paid hours at the two automated terminals in the San Pedro Bay complex -- which includes the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach -- have increased 31.5% since 2015. That’s more than twice the rate at the 11 non-automated terminals, according to the study led by University of California at Berkeley professor Michael Nacht published Monday.