A dockworker union is suing the Virginia Port Authority in federal court, alleging the port is violating a labor agreement by purchasing and installing semi-automated equipment.
In an Aug. 26 complaint, the International Longshoremen’s Association accused the Virginia Port Authority and its CEO and executive director Stephen Edwards of violating a union contract by purchasing and installing several types of semi-automated cranes at Norfolk International Terminals. The union has previously fought automation efforts, saying automated cranes will chip away at port jobs and are a national security risk due to cyberattacks.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, says the Virginia Port Authority has been purchasing semi-automated equipment like rail-mounted gantry cranes and stacking cranes.
The lawsuit says the equipment was purchased and installed without notifying or bargaining with the union. A contract signed between the union and Virginia International Terminals, a separate legal entity under which the port authority conducts business, states that any new technology is subject to bargaining between the parties, according to the lawsuit.
The container ship Tolten is escorted by tug boats into the Norfolk International Terminals in Norfolk on Oct. 4, 2024. A dockworker union is suing the Virginia Port Authority over the use of semi-automated cranes at Norfolk International Terminals. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
However, the lawsuit says Virginia International Terminals management told union representatives that, because the cranes were purchased by the Virginia Port Authority, they were not subject to the contract.
“VPA is purchasing new technology for VIT so that VIT can avoid its contractual obligations to bargain about the purchase and implementation of new technology,” the complaint says.
Virginia Port Authority spokesperson Joe Harris said the organization does not comment on pending litigation. An International Longshoremen’s Association spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
The port directly employs around 450 people, but union dockworkers are not included in that figure and are hired on a daily basis, Harris said. The union’s regional branch had around 3,400 workers in 2023 per federal labor filings cited by The New York Times.
The union is seeking relief under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which outlines the process of collective bargaining. The union asked the court to enjoin Edwards and the Port Authority from interfering in collective bargaining, for an injunction preventing them from interfering with the union grievance process, and a jury trial where applicable.
The union and several East and Gulf Coast ports ratified a six-year contract in February after a strike in October halted Port of Virginia operations. That strike was called off by union leadership after three days to give the parties more time to negotiate a new contract. The contract says new technology must be negotiated over and approved by the union and outlines that process.
The complaint says the Port of Virginia is the East and Gulf Coast port most resistant to complying with the new contract provisions around new technology.
The Port of Virginia has spent millions of dollars in recent years on modernization efforts at Norfolk International Terminals, including new automated stacking cranes and renovations to its central railyard.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/09/06/dockworker-union-sues-port-of-virginia/
