Automation will soon come to the Port of Los Angeles’ largest terminal, after months of pushback from the longshore union.

Details on the tentative deal between the longshore union and APM Terminals are still unclear, but both sides have acknowledged the agreement signals an acceptance of where the shipping industry as a whole is headed.

Ray Familathe, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13, on Friday, July 19, described the deal — agreed to this week — as “bittersweet.”

The ILWU, for its part, agreed to stop protesting APM’s permit to bring zero-emission and near-zero-emission automated equipment to its terminal, on Pier 400.

In exchange, APM Terminals, owned by shipping-container giant Maersk, agreed to provide 900 workers with fully paid job training, Familathe said.

Maersk spokesman Tom Boyd did not respond to requests for comment Friday, but he confirmed the general outline of the deal on Thursday.

“This focus is on reskilling and upskilling” the workers, Boyd said at the time. “Everyone is quite excited about it.”

Familathe, for his part, said 450 mechanics at Pier 400 will receive the upskill training. That will consist of teaching the workers how to operate the new automated cargo-handling equipment.

Another 450 workers, including mechanics at other terminals and longshore personnel that work out of the union’s dispatch hall, will receive reskilling training. Familathe said it’s not yet clear what that reskill training will look like.

But generally, Familathe said, upskilling would give mechanics more complex training, so they can adeptly work with the automated equipment. Reskilling would train them for other jobs.

Familathe also said he didn’t yet have details on how long the training would last.

Those aspects of the plan, he added, will be decided after the deal is finalized, which will likely happen at the next Los Angeles City Council meeting in August.

“We will be working with the employer to establish a new training facility somewhere in the Port of Los Angeles,” Familathe said, “a permanent training facility where we could conduct our classes and have the necessary equipment for the students to work on.”

In the shorter term, Familathe said, six automated straddle carriers are expected to arrive at the port next week — the first handful of 130.

About 20 mechanics will go through immediate training to commission that equipment as soon as it shows up, Familathe said.

While Familathe said he’s glad so many workers will get help to remain competitive in the industry, he’s not convinced many jobs will be saved through the deal.

“Pier 400, now, is going to eliminate about 90% of our jobs out there,” he said. “So that’s the challenge. We see an opportunity with the upskilling and reskilling of our workforce, and the new automated technologies, but the jobs that will be available in the future won’t be equal to the jobs that we’re losing.”

Familathe said he expects the automation to mean a cut in about 500 jobs a day. It’s unclear for now, he said, if any new jobs will be created.

“Initially, we’re not going to be hiring one additional mechanic,” he said. “So we’re going to have to see, in the coming months, and as this project rolls out, about these opportunities that they claim will come.”

The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents terminal operators, declined to say anything more about the deal other than the statement it issued Thursday.

But that statement, in part, said the agreement “will help longshore workers prepare for the port jobs of the future.”

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, was “pleased” with the deal, which he said benefits both ILWU and APM.

“If finalized,” Seroka said in a Thursday night statement, “this would be a major step forward in securing the future of work at the port complex for years to come.”

APM’s permit has been the focus of controversy and multiple protests in recent months, reaching such a boiling point that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti stepped in to mediate the disagreement.

After the L.A. Board of Harbor Commissioners denied a union appeal against the permit last month, the City Council then sent the decision back to the Harbor Commission.

Then, last week, the harbor commission once again affirmed the permit.

The apparent end of the tussle, though, may just be the first chapter of automation at both the L.A. port and its twin, the Port of Long Beach.

In L.A., Councilman Joe Buscaino on Thursday urged the city to create a commission to study the future of automation and jobs. His office declined further comment on Friday.

But Mario Cordero, the Long Beach port’s executive director, said in a Friday phone interview that automation is becoming more and more common in shipping. Long Beach already has automation at one terminal.

“The global trend is automation,” he said, “so I think, in the future, you’ll see this discussion and implementation of various degrees at the ports throughout the world.”

But, as has been clear in the recent strife at the L.A. Port, Cordero said, balancing the efficiency that automation can offer with the need to maintain jobs will always be a part of the conversation.

“From a port’s perspective, our main metric is increased productivity,” he said. “So, at the end of the day, I think that’s the dynamic that’s at play.

“We’ll see,” he continued, “if automation does increase productivity.”

Editor’s Note: The Port of Long Beach has one terminal with automation. Because of a reporting error, the story had the incorrect number of terminals with automation. The story has been updated to reflect the correct information.