Before the holiday season, workers at America's busiest ports are fighting the robots

Automation has become a hot-button issue at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The shipping industry is pushing for more automation of the work loading and unloading ships. But dockworkers warn robots will only kill American jobs. (Philip Cheung for NPR)

It's a never-ending line of massive ships stacked high with colorful containers that come and go from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach these days.

This busy scene is not unexpected as the volume of goods coming across the Pacific Ocean has hit new records during the pandemic.