Workers have only so much leverage, and striking now is the only play when, as you say, automation becomes inevitable. Continuing to work when negotiating isn't buying time for the workers, it's buying time for the docks and funding automation advances at the same time. The thing is, we're about to see a drop off in some imports as global instability catches up to the supply chain. The West Coast, which just recently went back online after a slow down in the previous years, hosts a more sustainable pipeline than the East and Southern Coasts; there is a very small window to strike before the shutdown permanently affects the supply chain on the Eastern Seaboard and makes any negotiated contract moot.