WATCH: Longshoremen President Says He'll 'Cripple' The American Economy To Get 'The Kind Of Wages We Deserve'

On Monday, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) launched the first strike of US ports in decades at seaports across the eastern seaboard and the Gulf Coast as the union's 25,000 workers strike to get better pay and regulations of automation. ILA President Harold Daggett explained that he is willing to cripple the American economy to get "the kind of wages we deserve" from the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX).

According to CBS News, 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 report from the New York Harbor Waterfront Commission 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."

In a video posted to the ILA's YouTube page last month, Daggett explained that he was willing to cause tremendous damage to the American economy to get what he thinks his members deserve. "In today's world, I'll cripple you. I will cripple you, and you have no idea what that means."

WATCH:

Longshoremen pres. boasts about a strike hurting everyday Americans: “People never gave a shit about us until now, when they finally realize that the chain is being broke now. Cars won’t come in, food won’t come in, clothing won’t come in.” pic.twitter.com/rHJf1e96YU

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 1, 2024

Listen up and listen good.

International Longshoreman's Association President Harold J. Daggett is about to give you a master class in power.

Not fake, op/ed writing, Davos-flying, “Adults are back!” power,

Not Harvard-educated “norms of state behavior” power.

Real power. pic.twitter.com/KgBB2SrqQQ

— joshua steinman (🇺🇸,🇺🇸) (@JoshuaSteinman) October 1, 2024

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