Why an old photo of Trump, Longshoreman's president returned to prominence with strike
Update: US port workers and operators reach a deal to end East Coast strike immediately on Oct. 3. Read more.
Images of the President of the International Longshoremen's Association meeting with former President Donald Trump circulated on social media as the union went on strike Tuesday.
The images are pulled from a July post on the union's website where union President Harold Daggett asked for members to "pray" for the former president in the wake of the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
In the post Daggett recalled a 2023 meeting with Trump where the former president appeared to express support for the Longshoremen.
"We had a wonderful, productive 90-minute meeting where I expressed to President Trump the threat of automation to American workers," Daggett said. "President Trump promised to support the ILA in its opposition to automated terminals in the U.S. Mr. Trump also listened to my concerns about Federal 'Right To Work' laws which undermines unions and their ability to represent and fight for its membership."
The strike begins the same day as the vice-presidential debate and days after Trump, appearing at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, admitted to avoiding paying overtime.
“I know a lot about overtime,” the Republican candidate said Sunday. “I hated to give overtime. I hated it. I’d get other people, I shouldn’t say this, but I’d get other people in. I wouldn’t pay.”
Trump administration fought unions in office
Progress for many workers' rights issues was stagnant leading into 2016, and Trump tapped into that frustration, Celine McNicholas, policy director at nonpartisan research organization Economic Policy Institute Action, previously told Paste BN.
"He was maybe the first Republican in a long time to kind of, like actually give some voice to that outrage," she said. "But I think it stops there."
She said he proposed cuts to worker protection agencies, and Economic Policy Institute called moves under his administration to overturn worker protections "unprecedented."
"With the incredible flurry of activity that...came from the Trump administration, the chaos, I think, actually served to....obfuscate their actual progress on some of these anti-worker and anti-fair economy policies that they really consistently pushed forward," McNicholas said.
Despite the administration's reputation for being anti-union, the national Teamsters union withheld its endorsement from either Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris, though a slew of swing state locals independently endorsed the Democratic nominee.
The ILA has not announced an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race but put their weight behind then candidate Joe Biden in 2020.
What does the ILA want?
The ILA is looking for a 61.5% pay increase over six years, according to CNBC.
It's also concerned about automation. In June, it halted talks with port operator USMX over an automation dispute. In a release then, the ILA said “ILA President (Harold) Daggett made it clear that the union will take a firm stance against any technology that threatens ILA jobs.”
On Monday, USMX said in a statement that it had offered to hike wages by nearly 50%, triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans, improve health care options, and keep its current language around automation and semi-automation.”