Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“When Harold Daggett, the horny-handed son of toil who for more than 10 years has been president of the International Longshoreman’s Association, grips with his callused hands the steering wheel of his Bentley (the least expensive of these British-made beauties costs north of $200,000), he knows that the president of the United States will be riding shotgun. Donald Trump, ever transactional, has rewarded Daggett for the ILA’s neutrality (in 2020 it endorsed Joe Biden) in the 2024 presidential campaign. A brief October strike shut 36 East and Gulf coast ports that Doggett’s union controls — the first Maine-to-Texas strike in 47 years. Longshoremen won a tentative 61.5 percent pay increase over six years. … Daggett, however, threatens another strike on Jan. 15 unless any additional automation — e.g., automated cranes loading and unloading containers — is banned.” (12/18/24)