Australian port workers are demanding a 28-hour workweek without loss of pay as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation expands across the country’s ports.
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) said port logistics giant DP World, which is leading the AI push, had workers’ jobs in its “crosshairs”.
“If DP World wants AI and automation, it must pay a social dividend,” the union said. “There is no need for new technologies to cost our members or put their livelihoods at risk just so terminal operators can increase profits.”
The BBC has contacted DP World for comment and MUA for further details.
Dubai-based DP World is increasingly testing AI tools to manage employees and work schedules, according to a study by the International Center for Corporate Tax Accountability and Research commissioned by MUA.
The automation program is part of a pattern of applying AI to operations “without genuine consultation” and threatens up to 1,000 jobs, or more than 60% of the dock and maintenance workforce, the study said.
The company added that it also proposed the use of AI-enabled remote control cranes and driverless vehicles.
In a statement on July 3, the labor union called for a 28-hour workweek, saying, “This technology should be used to improve the lives of workers, not destroy them.”
DP World dockworkers are estimated to work between 32 and 35 hours a week, depending on their current location, according to the Australian Financial Review, which first reported the negotiations.
State-owned DP World is one of the world’s largest port operators and is ultimately controlled by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
In Australia, millions of shipping containers are transported each year through ports in Sydney, Melbourne and other regions.
With operations in 84 countries and more than 126,000 employees worldwide, the company handles approximately one-tenth of the world’s container traffic.
Last year, DP World’s Asia Pacific chief executive Glen Hilton said the company was using AI across ports in the region to manage increasingly complex supply chains.
He said the use of the technology is “no longer optional” but essential.
