Mr. Harold Daggett, President
International Longshoremen Association
Mr. Daggett:
I just encountered this report about a speech you gave last year:
“Who the hell is a foreign company like Maersk, to come on to American soil and build fully automated terminals,” ILA President Harold Daggett asked in a fiery speech at a 2023 convention. “This foreign company Maersk tries to shove fully automated terminals down our throats and for what reason? To eliminate good paying American jobs, ILA jobs.”
If you can spare a moment away from leading your striking workers in shoving down our throats the protectionism so craved by Donald Trump, I’ve a few questions for you:
– If Maersk were an American company trying to fully automate terminals, would its efforts then be acceptable? If not, why do you mention that Maersk is a foreign company?
– Is Maersk attempting to implement automation at gunpoint or otherwise through coercion? If not – that is, if Maersk is using only its own money and property, as well as money and property that Americans offer to it – in what way is Maersk ‘shoving’ automation “down our throats”?
– Because all automation eliminates some particular jobs – jobs that, until the automation was implemented, paid the workers who held them more than these workers could have earned in other jobs – are you opposed to all automation? And do you believe that the automation that humanity has accepted over the millennia – from the wheel, lever, and rope to the overhead crane, forklift, and automobile – was shoved down people’s throats and impoverished workers? Also, do you think that the workers who you represent would be better off if government were to outlaw the likes of wheels, levers, forklifts, and automobiles? If not, why do you presume that the particular kinds of automation that you now oppose will be bad for workers over time?
– Finally, who the hell are you to stand in the way of your fellow citizens’ ability to enjoy the fruits of human ingenuity?
Your answers to these question would be welcome.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
