[dialup_sounds]

The existing agreement was a complete ban.

The 2018-2024 contract already said no fully automated terminals or equipment at all, and the 2024-2030 negotiations stopped in June because ILA considered a gate at one port (the actual gate that trucks pass through) to be in violation of the previous contract.

[45HCPW]

In the context of container terminals a gate refers to the process of registering and routing containers, not just a physical gate but also a process. Not knowing any details, probably this process was automated, which the union objected to?

[dialup_sounds]

It's a process, sure, but it feels distinct from the gantries or carriers that actually move containers.

This video published by the same terminal operator is the closest thing I can find to illustrate the process, and it's hard to imagine why in 2024 you would do it any other way: https://youtu.be/bd-RDpMBBHg

It's difficult to know what ILA objected to, as the system had apparently been in place at the port of Mobile for over a decade. It may just be the principle of the thing more than a specific objection, and that's their right. But the point is they definitely have a hard line stance on automation if something like OCRing container numbers is going to far.