Longshoremen Union Strike Holds Economy Up For Ransom

What does a port strike mean for the US economy?

Harold Dagget, the chief negotiator for the International Longshoremen Association explains:

“I will cripple you, and you have no idea what that means. I do. Let me explain…” pic.twitter.com/5fIkNGAiyg

— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) October 1, 2024

How Dirty Union Greed Is Holding The American People Hostage

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 – 00:30 Opening
01:55 – 15:35 How Dirty Union Greed Is Holding The American People Hostage
17:03 – 41:45 Matt’s Review And Breakdown Of The Vice Presidential Debate
41:46 – 46:52 Doug Emhoff Accused… pic.twitter.com/k3HtYRD05D

— The Matt Walsh Show (@MattWalshShow) October 2, 2024

Union boss behind port strikes has sprawling mansion in NJ — complete with Bentley, 5-car garage and guest house https://t.co/Uamz882e0m pic.twitter.com/ApFAK1tIDj

— New York Post (@nypost) October 2, 2024

Harold Daggett earned $728,000 last year from the ILA, plus $173,000 as President of a local union branch.

He drives a Bentley and recently sold his 76-foot yacht, Obsession. https://t.co/rsMtxmrp34 pic.twitter.com/56ze9YlLBl

— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) October 1, 2024

pic.twitter.com/tmavHZ185D

— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) October 1, 2024

You have to admire the balls on this guy to show up to the union dockworkers strike in $1,300 gold plated Cartier sunglasses. ??? pic.twitter.com/VuxwcUYJ9W

— David Santa Carla ? (@TheOnlyDSC) October 1, 2024

Recreate this bawler ass look for $10,735… pic.twitter.com/nXqticCSaQ

— David Santa Carla ? (@TheOnlyDSC) October 1, 2024

Normally, I am sympathetic to unions, but I have taken an instant dislike to Harold Daggett who is the leader of the Longshoremen’s Union, mainly because of thick Yankee accent and the way he has threatened to ruin other workers all over the country who live a far more precarious existence. He comes across like a corrupt Democratic mob boss … an unsympathetic Frank Sobotka.

New York Times:

As the strike shutting down East and Gulf Coast ports enters a third day, the man behind the work stoppage shows no signs of relenting.

Meet Harold Daggett, 78, the president of the International Longshoremen’s Association. He is taking advantage of organized labor’s resurgent power to pose a major challenge to the American economy in the name of higher pay for his members.

“We’re going to show these greedy bastards you can’t survive without us,” Daggett said in a speech on Tuesday as the I.L.A.’s roughly 45,000 members walked off the job at more than a dozen ports. The union is pressing major shipping companies for steep rises in pay and benefits, including a 61.5 percent increase in wages over six years.

But Daggett isn’t stopping there, demanding limits on ports’ adoption of automation technology despite the U.S. falling behind other global terminals in efficiency. …

New York Times:

But the few truck drivers who were on hand tended to be critical of the dockworkers, accusing them of jeopardizing paychecks for many in pursuit of raises reaching more than 60 percent over the next six years.

“It’s not realistic in this economy,” said Joseph Green, a truck driver who was headed to Massachusetts, pulling a container he had retrieved from the port on Monday. After that, he expected to be without work. “I’ll come back empty and wait until those guys finish negotiations,” he said.

As is typical at ports around the country, truck drivers in Newark express resentment toward longshore workers, describing them as veritable aristocrats of the docks. Dockworkers deny access to bathrooms, the drivers complain, even as they are forced to sit in their cabs, sometimes for hours, waiting to pick up containers. …

“CORPORATE GREED VERSUS WORKER RIGHTS,” declared signs wielded by picketing dockworkers outside the marine terminals of Newark. “NO WORK WITHOUT A FAIR CONTRACT.”

But the people feeling the most direct heat are other blue-collar workers who are paid much less than the dockworkers, whose wages — after accounting for overtime — often reach $200,000 a year. Truck drivers are rarely unionized, and frequently operate as independent contractors, with minimal job security. …

The ports in China are being automated. This is what we need to do here.