There is no technology to appreciably automate RO/ROs or bulkers more than we presently do, which makes up the large bulk of the longshoremen workforce, and value of goods going through East Coast ports. Automation takes on both sides are brain dead for whats a peripheral issue.
There are not quite 50K longshoremen on strike. For $50B -- chump change, really -- we could give them each $1M to retire in 5 years while we spend some multiple of that to fully automate all the ports. I bet they'd take it, then we could just move on.