Last-minute talks between terminal operators and union leaders rolled into a second day Thursday, June 27, as Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office pushed both sides to seek an agreement over the Pier 400 automation plans.

The Los Angeles City Council is scheduled to vote Friday on whether to reject the harbor commission’s June 20 vote supporting the automation permit, potentially sending it back to the commission for further vetting.

But if an agreement can be reached Thursday, the item may be pulled.

Since March, Garcetti has facilitated closed-door talks between both sides to help find common ground on how automation can move forward at the Port of Los Angeles’ largest terminal while mitigating impacts on the workforce; the talks, while likely specific to APM Terminals, could hint at the future of automation across the L.A.-Long Beach port complex.

Talks went on all day and into the evening hours Wednesday and were in full swing again by Thursday morning.

But members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union were still counting on the Friday showdown at City Hall.

They were lining up buses to take workers to downtown Los Angeles for the Friday morning meeting, which will include public testimony. As of Thursday afternoon, as many as 1,000 workers were expected to show up at City Hall.

But earlier this week, APM Terminals, owned by Maersk, tried to dampen the fight to defeat the effort, penning a letter saying that if the permit to automate using zero-emissions and electric equipment is denied, it can — and will — move forward with diesel-fueled automation.

Automation is permitted for operators; the longshore union also acknowledged in its most recent contract that such modernization, including bringing in unmanned straddle carriers, can proceed in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

When APM Terminals on Pier 400 moved in January to automate, however, the union organized an opposition effort that has brought thousands of workers out to L.A. port meetings and marches.

The union decided to appeal the Port of Los Angeles’ original administrative decision to grant the routine Level 1 permit, which would allow the zero-emission infrastructure to be brought to prepare for automation.

Several packed public meetings followed to discuss the issue.

The harbor commissioners last week voted 3-2 to deny the appeal and uphold the permit, prompting Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino to call for what’s known as a “245” motion, putting the decision before City Council review. The council has the authority to assert jurisdiction over the commission’s action and send it back to that body for review.

The volatile debate has spread quickly throughout the Harbor Area and sparked movements to boycott port-sponsored events, such as the popular Cars and Stripes Forever automobile and fireworks show planned for Friday night, June 28. It’s also brought social media pressure on at least one harbor commissioner, Lucia Moreno-Linares, who voted against the appeal. Moreno-Linares has been a long-standing Wilmington resident active in local causes, but has taken intense hometown heat for her vote.

Other local lawmakers, including Buscaino and Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, have moved quickly to back the union in its fight to retain the well-paying waterfront jobs; longshore workers, according to a report from a county meeting earlier this week, make 85% higher wages than median incomes in the area.

Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson, meanwhile, has introduced Assembly Bill 1321, which would authorize the State Lands Commission to approve the use of automated technology on coastal ports on a case-by-case basis.

Automation is more widely used at European ports. U.S. ports have been slower to transition — though the Long Beach Container Terminal and the L.A. port’s TraPac terminal are automated — partly because of labor opposition.

On Monday, June 24, Moody’s Investors Service released a report on semi- and fully-automated ports, noting that automated terminals have 40% to 70% lower labor requirements. The process to transition to automation, however, requires significant capital investment and, at least in the short-term, provides uncertain productivity gains.

Advantages include meeting new clean-air standards, maximizing land-use efficiency and, in the long-term, maintaining competitive costs and profits.

Moody’s also reported that 3% of the approximately 1,300 terminal facilities worldwide in 2018 were using automation technologies.