WATCH: Gov. Ron DeSantis Orders Florida National Guard To Ports Amid Longshoremen Strike - 'Florida Is Open'

On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced that he has directed the Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard to the state's ports amid the ongoing International Longshoremen's Association's (ILA) strike against the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) that has shut down ports across the eastern seaboard and the Gulf Coast. The deployment is meant to maintain order at Florida's docks and attempt to resume operations if possible.

"There are ships that have nothing to do with these negotiations. They may need a place to be able to come. We just want to send the message: You can come to the state of Florida," the governor said, adding that Florida authorities "will be deployed to critical ports, affected to maintain order and if possible, resume operations which would otherwise be shut down during this interruption."

"Florida is open - we want to use our resources to get this stuff to the market," DeSantis added. The Florida Republican demanded that the interruption to the supply chain, particularly after Hurricane Helene, is unacceptable and that the Biden-Harris administration has failed at handling the disruption of goods. 

"It is incumbent on the Biden-Harris administration to do everything in their power to ensure that these goods are where we need to be, that people are not left hanging out in the cold, waiting for these goods if they're sitting in the ocean somewhere and they're not being able to be used here in the state of Florida or in Georgia or North Carolina or where people are going to desperately need this," DeSantis explained. "We need to accelerate. We have no time for delays. Biden and Harris have a responsibility to stand up for the storm victims, stand up for the people who have their homes damaged or who have lost their homes and make sure they have what they need to get back on their feet."

Gov. DeSantis' move to ensure that Florida's ports remain open comes four days after the ILA began their strike to demand higher pay and guardrails against automation. As previously reported by the DC Enquirer, the ILA's previous contract with USMX had dockworkers starting out at $20 an hour, $24.75 per hour after two years, and $31.90 after three years. Dockworkers on the East Coast earn an average yearly salary of around $80,000 at the top hourly wage of $39; however, longshoremen can take extra shifts and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. A 2019-2020  New York Harbor Waterfront Commission report found that a third of longshoremen made over $200,000 a year. The ILA president explained that the dockworkers making over $100,000 a year often work more than 100 hours a week.

In an attempt to prevent the strike, USMX, whose contract expired with the ILA on Monday, offered a nearly 50 percent pay increase for dockworkers, a tripling of employer contributions to retirement plans, enhanced health coverage, and the preservation of safeguards against regulations that could eliminate longshoreman jobs at a fraction of the cost. These attempts weren't welcomed by Daggett, however, who is pushing for a 77 percent raise over six years.

"They have the capital to settle this thing," Daggett told Fox News. "Now you start to realize who the longshoremen are. People never gave a shit about us until now, when they finally realize that the chain is being broken now. Cars won't come in, food won't come in, clothing won't come in. Do you know how many people depend on our jobs? Half the world. It's time for them, it's time for Washington to put so much pressure on them to take care of us because we took care of them. We're here 135 years and brought them where they are today, and they don't want to share."

At my direction, the Florida National Guard and the Florida State Guard will be deployed to critical ports affected by the strike to maintain order and, where possible, resume operations.

It is unacceptable for the Biden-Harris administration to allow supply chain interruptions… pic.twitter.com/KfzVbBgI10

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 3, 2024

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