• drd@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    Yes, I work in supply chain. Being a dock worker is a tough grueling job, wouldn’t we want to automate that as much as possible? Besides cost, automated ports are both safer and more efficient. I think the ideal scenario would be to grant some sort of retraining.

    • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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      2 months ago

      We would if there were just equivalent, just as well paying jobs elsewhere. However until we topple the system that makes us work to make the rich richer just to survive we have no choice.

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Refusing to act until the system is toppled is the same as refusing to act. Just you can pretend you’re not complicit.

        There’s no point waiting until capitalism is destroyed in the Great Socialist Rapture. We should be trying to improve society under capitalism right now.

        In this case, advocate for skills retraining and UBI.

        • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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          2 months ago

          Skills retraining is great if, like I said, there’s OPEN and comparable jobs to move them to that aren’t displacing other workers in the process. Unfortunately it’s not usually that easy

          • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            We have pretty low unemployment right now and aside from covid it’s been like this for a while. There are plenty of jobs out there for those with the skills.

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      Automation will only be used to make the job tougher and more grueling.

      A job that used to take three people now has to be done by one, but at a much faster pace and now there’s a deadly robot that you have to work with.

      You work in supply chain. Let me guess. Desk job?

      • drd@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        Automated ports do not work that way, where employees interact directly with a robot. Instead employees stay at a desk and minimal employees are on the ground. Like I had mentioned, automated ports are safer.

        https://youtu.be/P5kO_BnXAwc

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          I know that automated Amazon sorting facilities kill workers, the conveyance systems especially are extremely dangerous. People get sucked in to belts, bashed over the head by moving machinery and product, etc.

          In the real world there are always workers forced to risk their lives with these machines.

          Automation isn’t inherently bad, but it is bad when it’s implemented as a way to increase worker exploitation. That’s how it always works in real life, rather than promotional videos.

          Not everyone gets to be at a desk.

          • drd@lemmy.ml
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            2 months ago

            Again I am talking about automated ports not Amazon sorting facilities, please look into how automated ports work, in fully automated ports there are less workers working directly with machinery than in a standard port. You’ll need to provide sources that automated ports are not safer or more efficient. The transportation and movement occupation has the highest number of fatal injuries in my state, not only can it be fatal but it also takes a toll physically as well, we should be helping these workers and automation can help do that.

            • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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              2 months ago

              I gave you an example of automation not making workers safer in Amazon sorting facilities to demonstrate the worry that port workers have - they don’t want to be treated like Amazon employees! That’s it. I’m not saying that all automation is bad, only that it can be and you shouldn’t assume it’s automatically good.