A reporter asked International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) President Harold J. Daggett if he’s worried the dockworker strike will hurt everyday Americans.

“Now you start to realize who the longshoremen are, right? People never gave a s*** about us until now, when they finally realize that the chain is being broke now,” Daggett said.

“Cars won’t come in, food won’t come in, clothing won’t come in. 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,” he continued.

WATCH:

“The ILA is demanding sizable wage hikes and a complete ban on the use of automated cranes, gates and container-moving trucks in unloading or loading freight. Members of the union make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000 annually with large amounts of overtime,” CBS News wrote.

“Union filings from the Department of Labor, meanwhile, indicate Daggett earned a $728,000 gross salary last year,” Fox Business noted.

Daggett also owns a yacht and drives a Bentley, reports indicate.

From the New York Post:

Fiery union boss Harold Daggett has long cast himself as a staunch advocate for blue-collar workers, even as he has lived in luxury, owning a yacht and driving a Bentley — and fought off alleged ties to the Mafia.

Sporting a polo shirt with a chunky gold medallion around his neck, the 78-year-old Daggett, who as president of the International Longshoremen’s Association is leading the port strikes stretching from Maine to Texas, was prone to theatrical flourishes in a September interview as he geared up for the strike.

“They’re gonna be like this,” Daggett said, grabbing his neck in a choking gesture. “I’ll cripple you. I will cripple you and you have no idea what that means. Nobody does.”

Since last year, Daggett has threatened to shut down the 36 ports covered by his union if “money crazy” shipping companies refused to issue wage hikes and protections for workers against industry automation.

“Who’s going to support [workers’] families? Machines? Machines don’t have families,” he previously said.

Meanwhile, Daggett — has worked at the ILA for 57 years and took the helm as president in 2011 — raked in $728,000 in compensation last year from the ILA.

He collected another $173,000 as president emeritus of a local union branch, according to labor department filings.

He lives in a 7,136 square-foot house valued at $1.7 million on a 10-acre lot in Sparta, New Jersey, according to Zillow and NJ Property Records.

Per CBS News:

The work stoppage, the first at East and Gulf Coast ports since 1977, follows a lengthy impasse in labor talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), a shipping industry group representing terminal operators and ocean carriers.

The strike was expected to involve 25,000 workers, according to USMX, and close 14 ports: Baltimore; Boston; Charleston, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Miami (USMX groups Port Everglades in Ford Lauderdale, Florida, with the Port of Miami); Houston; Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans; New York/New Jersey; Norfolk, Virginia; Philadelphia; Savannah, Georgia; Tampa, Florida; and Wilmington, Delaware.

“USMX brought on this strike when they decided to hold firm to foreign owned Ocean Carriers earning billion-dollar profits at United States ports, but not compensate the American ILA longshore workers who perform the labor that brings them their wealth,” ILA President Harold Daggett said in a statement posted on social media. “We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period of time it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve.”

 

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