The first week of October saw a brief, but consequential, strike by East Coast dockworkers that was seemingly settled after a few days. However, if we look below the surface, the issues raised by the striking dock workers transcends the longshore industry.  This strike received so much attention because shutting down the ports on the East and Gulf coasts would have adversely impacted the economy. The potential fallout could have affected the election. A long-term strike would have resulted in shortages and price increases of many goods. Indeed, the strike was even the purported cause of people rushing out to hoard toilet paper.   There are two reasons for the strike. The first is wage and salary demands; the second is how to address impending industry automation.  The International Longshoremen’s Association sought a 77% pay increase spread over a four-year term. The United States Maritime Alliance offered to increase pay by about half that amount. The two sides tentatively settled on a 62% increase, subject to ratification by union members.   This is important because wage increases are generally seen as inflationary unless they are accompanied by corresponding worker productivity increases. Prior inflationary periods have come in two waves.  The first, called “demand pull” inflation, results from material shortages. That phase is often followed by a second surge, called “cost push” inflation, which is typically characterized by workers seeking higher wages to offset their diminished purchasing power caused by the first phase.  The higher wages, in turn, increase the price of goods and services produced by the workers who received the pay increase.  The strike had enormous political implications for the Biden Administration, which has strongly supported unions, but also needs to tame inflation.  Republicans wanted Joe Biden to follow George Bush’s example and invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, under which the administration could seek a court order for a cooling-off period that would temporarily halt the strike.  The union responded by threatening to order a work slowdown if Taft Hartley was imposed.  The administration apparently worked behind the scenes to get the two sides to reach an agreement giving the union most of the salary increase that it wanted in exchange for the union returning to work.  While the salary issue was resolved, the parties did not reach an agreement addressing automation that could eventually replace human labor performed by dock workers.   The agreement provides that the dock workers receive a pay increase and return to work while the two parties have until Jan. 15, 2025, to reach an agreement on the automation issue.  If an agreement is not reached by that date, the union could order another strike which would have to be addressed by the next president.  One wonders whether the United States Maritime Alliance agreed to a wage increase substantially higher than its original bargaining position because it believes that a productivity increase will result from a large portion of those jobs being fully or partially replaced by automation.   For centuries, longshoremen loaded and unloaded cargo on and off of ships in a labor-intensive effort. During the 20th century, cargo began to be loaded into containers and the role of dockworkers evolved from loading the cargo itself to loading containers.  Container loading involves using cranes rather than muscles. As machines do more of the loading and unloading activities, the need for human labor is reduced.   The reduction in human labor means that businesses will be less sensitive to wage increases that can be offset by employment reductions.  If you don’t believe this, just walk into a typical fast-food restaurant in California. Instead of people behind the counter taking your order, you now order from a kiosk. This is how many fast-food restaurants have dealt with the wage increases forced upon them as a result of the minimum wage increase.  From the dockworkers’ perspective, just as the kiosks replaced the fast-food order taker, the cranes and other equipment are capable of being automated.  As artificial intelligence and robotics evolve over the next few years, they are more likely to replace human labor. Unions will try to delay this, but human labor inevitably will have to adapt.  Several years ago, an author named Martin Ford wrote a book called “Rise of the Robots,” which analyzed many major industries to predict the impact of artificial intelligence and robots on the workplace.  As the dockworkers’ strike illustrates, the times about which Mr. Ford wrote are rapidly approaching and the resulting disruption will likely be a major issue requiring future presidential leadership.  Jim de Bree is a Valencia resident. The post Jim de Bree | Recent Dock Strike Foreshadows Issues for Next President appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.