WHAT WAS THE ILA END GAME ????

 

By Brooke Sutherland, Josh Wingrove and Laura Curtis (Bloomberg) — When the history books are written about the fate of longshoremen in the US, few characters will loom as large as Harold Daggett.

The 78-year-old has risen from working on the docks to become one of the most influential and highest-paid union leaders — a firebrand who rails against corporate greed while taking home nearly $1 million in annual pay. And despite reports of a lifestyle of luxury cars, a mansion in New Jersey and previous allegations of ties to powerful mobsters, members of the International Longshoremen’s Association have fully embraced Daggett and his bare-knuckled approach.

After just three days of sthat disrupted every major port from Maine to Texas, the New Yorker has already wrung concessions from the alliance of port operators and shipping lines, securing a tentative agreement for a 61.5% wage increase over six years — a huge boost, albeit below an initial demand of almost 80%. In return, dockworkers have agreed to extend their contract through January 15, deferring the much thornier dispute over port automation for future negotiations.

The showdown on the East and Gulf coasts has demonstrated the power of dockworkers to play havoc with the US economy, draining billions of dollars each day and threatening supply chains for everything from fruit to automobiles. It’s been playing out just weeks before the presidential election, an ultra-close contest in which union support has become an important trophy for both parties. 

The ILA endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 but it has refrained from officially backing either Vice President Kamala Harris or President Donald Trump this time around. In a statement on Thursday evening, Biden praised the port agreement.

“I want to thank the union workers, the carriers, and the port operators for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding,” Biden said. “Collective bargaining works.”

The strike also highlighted just how much is at stake for longshoremen who face looming and possibly existential threats to their jobs. Shipping lines flush with pandemic-era profits after skyrocketing freight costs have an opportunity to usher East and Gulf Coast ports into a modern era of automation that other global hubs such as Rotterdam and Los Angeles have already embraced. 

While there’s still debate in the industry over whether labor-saving technologies like automated cranes and driverless vehicles have truly cost workers their jobs, for Daggett and the ILA it’s a red line.

“They’re making billions and millions of dollars,” Daggett said on the picket lines this week, referring to the shipping lines and port operators. 

“But they don’t want to share it. They’d rather see a fully automated terminal right here on the East Coast so they can make more money. They are money crazy.”