International Longshoremen Association (ILA) President Harold Daggett threatened to “cripple” America on Tuesday by shutting down a significant portion of the U.S. economy amid a major strike by roughly 45,000 union members.
In a video message shared on X, formerly Twitter, Daggett said, “When my men hit the streets from Maine to Texas, every single port will lock down.”
Daggett warned that the first week of the ILA strike would receive constant media coverage. By the second week of the strike, Daggett said that car dealerships would not be able to keep selling cars and would be “laid off” because cars would not be shipping into U.S. ports. The ILA president claimed that by the third week of the strike, shopping malls would begin to close because they would not be able to “get the good from China” or continue to sell products like clothes.
“Everything in the United States comes on a ship. They go out of business. Construction workers get laid off because the materials aren’t coming in, the steel’s not coming in, the lumber’s not coming in,” Daggett said. “They lose their jobs.”
Daggett warned that companies represented by the U.S. Maritime Alliance would be “better off sitting down” and finalizing a contract with the ILA. Otherwise, Daggett threatened, “I will cripple you, and you have no idea what that means,” Daggett said.
In another video, Daggett can be heard telling a Fox News reporter that the U.S. Maritime Alliance needs to increase protection against the automation of workers’ jobs. He claimed that the companies represented by the U.S. Maritime Alliance have been caught “circumventing the contract” and that they “don’t care.”
“It’s not fair,” Daggett said. “And if we don’t put our foot down now, they would like to run over us and we’re not gonna allow that.”
READ MORE: 45,000 workers go on strike, threaten to cripple US economy
The union president claimed that it was “time for Washington” to place “pressure” on the U.S. Maritime Alliance so that companies would agree to the union’s demands for significant pay increases and protection against automation.
Daggett emphasized that if the contract dispute is not quickly settled, “cars won’t come in, food won’t come in, clothing won’t come in.” He added, “You know how many people depend on our jobs? Half the world.”
