VIDEO: ILA ramps up port strike rhetoric

Harold Dagget: “Mark my words, we’ll shut them down October 1 if we don’t get the kind of wages we deserve.” [Screengrab from YouTube]

Fears that a Maine to Texas port strike by the International Longshoremens Association (ILA) could become a reality on October 1 are growing, with Torsten Hartmann, senior director trade management transpacific at Hapag-Lloyd, saying on the latest edition of The Freight Buyers’ Club podcast, that a strike closing ILA-manned ports would have far-reaching, global consequences.

“I’ve been asked by the management in my company, ‘What’s your Plan B?,’” he continued. “The honest answer is there’s no way you could possibly circumvent a full-blown strike on the U.S. East Coast. The volume that is being moved there, you will not be able to work your way around that.”

The employers, represented by the United States Maritime Alliance (UMX) have said nothing since an August 30 statement saying that each party in the dispute had filed a Notice to Mediation Agencies (Form F-7) with the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS).

“The purpose of filing these notices is to inform the FMCS of a dispute between the parties, and they do not represent an agreement for mediation,” said USMX.

Meantime, the ILA union has been anything but quiet, with ILA president Harold Daggett and executive vice president Dennis Daggett yesterday releasing a video in which they emphasized that the union is ready to strike at 12.01 a.m. on October 1.

Here are a few excerpts

Harold J. Dagget:

“Together we have successfully negotiated two landmark six year agreements, now as our current deal’s expiration date is on September 30, there’s a real chance we won’t have a new agreement in place. We could be hitting the streets at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.”

“The shippers represented by Unites States Maritime Alliance might think the ILA won’t go on strike, let me tell them and all of America, the ILA will most definitely hit the streets on October 1 if we don’t get the kind of contract we deserve. These greedy companies have made billions in the past few years, especially during COVID. We never shut the ports down during COVID, ILA members lost their lives while people worked from home.”

“Mark my words, we’ll shut them down October 1 if we don’t get the kind of wages we deserve.”

“I was around for the last ILA strike back in 1977, at the end of the ’74-’77 contract, the wage was $8…after a two month strike, the hourly wage increased 80 cents during each year of the new contract. Only after this strike in 1977 did the ILA earn the respect of management.”

“It looks like we must get their attention again in 2024, I am grateful for the overwhelming support from our ILA members and their families. They have shouted that they are ready to hit the streets.”

“When I get done with our contract, I’m going to form an alliance around the world with every dock worker. We’re going to get all the unions around the world to meet in Portugal….Because in today’s world you have three big companies that want to push automation on everybody. Well, I’ve had it up to here. The only way to fight this is by having our alliance.”

Dennis A Dagget:

“If you don’t sit down at least three times a year with the other side and talk about issues and problems, these things fester and by the end of the contract, a lot of animosity builds up. We don’t have the luxury like the employers when they can lay us off and cut out hours, we don’t have that luxury…we have to respect and live by the terms of the agreement. So, the only time we can do that is in bargaining, if the employers don’t address problems throughout the contract, then there’s a lot of animosity at the end. This is our only time to bargain to make change.”