President-elect Donald Trump this week voiced support for tens of thousands of unionized dockworkers in a dispute with major shipping companies. Negotiations between workers and management are deadlocked over the companies’ plan for further automation of ports, which the union said would eliminate jobs. “I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it,” Trump said Thursday in a post on Truth Social .
“The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen.” The vow of support for dockworkers aligns with Trump’s campaign promise to safeguard blue-collar workers threatened by global capitalism, depicting automation as an unwelcome change foisted on workers by foreign-owned shipping firms, some experts said. MORE: Amazon workers authorize strike at company's first-ever unionized warehouse Trump’s rejection of automation highlights a tension found in his economic policy, however, some experts added.
Like tariffs, the policy aims to protect a narrow set of workers at the possible expense of importers and consumers, who could suffer higher costs as a result of a missed opportunity to improve the supply chain, some experts said. While others defended Trump’s attempt to protect dockworkers from technological change. The Trump transition team did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.
Here’s what to know about the labor dispute over automation at .