The wealthy union boss behind a dock workers’ strike that is choking shipping and causing billions of dollars in damage has delivered a stark message about the power of his 45,000 tool-downing members.
In comments that have since gone viral, Harold Daggett, the leader of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), showed no remorse for shutting down half of the country’s shipping.
Daggett, who earns about $900,000 a year and reportedly has a penchant for luxury vehicles, told reporters on the picket lines on Tuesday: “Now you’re starting to realize who the longshoremen are, right?”
“People never said anything about us until now, when they finally realized that the chain is being broken.”
The combative 78-year-old added: “There are no cars coming in. No food coming in. No clothes come in.
Outspoken port union chief Harold Daggett says the strikers could cripple the US economy
Tech boss Elon Musk and others have highlighted Dagget’s lavish lifestyle of luxury cars and a yacht. He previously owned the yacht Obsession and was spotted driving around in Bentleys, according to The New York Times
‘Do you know how many people depend on our jobs? Half the world. And it’s time for them, and it’s time for Washington, to put so much pressure on them to take care of us.”
The ILA strike has blocked goods from bananas to car shipments at dozens of ports along the East and Gulf coasts, from Maine to Texas, a disruption that analysts say will cost billions of dollars a day.
The union launched its strike just after midnight on Tuesday after talks with the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) over a new six-year contract collapsed.
USMX had offered the union a 50 percent wage increase, but Daggett says members want more, including a $5 per hour wage increase for each year of the new six-year contract and an end to port automation projects that threaten union jobs.
“We’ve been here 135 years and brought them to where they are today, and they don’t want to share,” Daggett said. “Well, I’m done.”
At rallies, Daggett has criticized “greedy b******s” and used other invective against global shipping bosses, who are mainly based in Europe and Asia and have made huge profits in recent years.
But his combative language and moment in the spotlight have reignited concerns about Daggett’s own personal wealth, and whether his lavish lifestyle is appropriate for a four-term union president.
His ILA salary in 2023 was an eye-watering $728,000, and he pocketed another $173,000 as president emeritus of 1804-1, another union.
Fox Business has reported that Daggett owned a 75-foot yacht, the Obsession, and was seen driving a Bentley.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk noted on his platform X on Tuesday that Daggett “had more yachts than me!”
The father of three is from New York City and worked his way up from longshoreman to union president in 2011. He lives in a large $1.7 million home in Sparta, New Jersey.
Wealthy union boss Harold Daggett, 78, wears a tuxedo at a holiday event with his son John in 2019
The Daggett family at an April 2020 memorial for the union leader’s sister, Bettejane Daggett Jaeger
Daggett reportedly lives in a sprawling two-story home worth $1.7 million with a pool in Sparta, New Jersey.
Daggett met with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November 2023, where they discussed the “threat of automation to American workers.”
The Justice Department accused Daggett in 2005 of being an “associate” of the Mafia family, although he was acquitted at trial on racketeering charges.
The strike that Daggett masterminded is already having an impact, although experts say its crippling effects won’t be felt for several weeks.
More than 38 container ships were already at U.S. ports on Tuesday, compared to just three on Sunday before the strike, according to Everstream Analytics.
Economists at Morgan Stanley said late Tuesday that the strike could hit growth and increase inflation, “but only if it is prolonged.”
Hundreds of longshoremen demonstrated Tuesday at a New York City-area shipping terminal in Elizabeth, New Jersey, holding signs and shouting slogans such as “ILA all the way!” as music blared and vendors sold food.
Operations at other ports along the East Coast and Gulf Coast have also slowed or come to a halt.
President Joe Biden’s administration has put pressure on U.S. port employers to increase their labor deal offers with striking dock workers.
“Foreign shipping has posted record profits since the pandemic, when longshoremen put themselves in harm’s way to keep ports open,” Biden said in a post on X late Tuesday.
“It is time for the ocean carriers to offer a strong and fair contract that reflects the contribution of ILA workers to our economy and their record profits.”
Retailers who account for about half of all container traffic have said they were doing their utmost to minimize the impact of the strike as they head into the winter season.
Shares of shipper Maersk fell 2 percent in Copenhagen on Wednesday, while ZIM Integrated Shipping fell 4 percent in pre-market action in New York.
The strike, the ILA’s first major strike since 1977, is worrying bosses who rely on maritime shipping to export their goods or secure crucial imports.
Daggett, left, president of the International Longshoreman’s Association, slams the ‘greedy b******s’ who run global shipping but cut wages
Workers seen at the longshoremen picket line at the Red Hook Terminal in Brooklyn, New York on October 1, 2024, seeking higher wages and limits on automation
Experts say banyans will be hardest hit by the strikes, along with other fresh fruits from South America and the Caribbean
It affects 36 ports – including New York, Baltimore and Houston – that handle everything from bananas to clothing and cars.
About half of U.S. imports arrive by water, while 37 percent of exports travel by water, Morgan Stanley says.
The strike could cost the US economy as much as $5 billion a day, JP Morgan analysts warn.
The National Retail Federation urged the Biden administration to use its federal authority to stop the strike, saying it could have “devastating consequences” for the economy.
Republicans, including Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, have also called on Biden to end the strike, warning of its effect on the economy. Biden has repeatedly said he won’t do that.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday it doesn’t expect any significant changes in food prices or availability in the near term.