The longshoremen’s strike that was supposed to destroy the U.S. economy by shutting down more than 30 East Coast and Gulf of Mexico seaports ended not with a bang but with a whimper — as the American people recoiled at the prospect of more economic pain, this time at the hands of union led by a comic book plutocrat.
In the early evening on Thursday, the union announced a truce with the United States Maritime Alliance:
The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. have reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025, to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues. Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume.
Whatever leverage the longshoremen had was undercut when people learned that ILA’s president since 2011, Harold Daggett, lives in a massive mansion compound in rural New Jersey 50 miles from the docks of New York City and Northern New Jersey.
Daggett earned more than $700,000 in 2023, while some of his union members earn $400,000, with workers taking home a $39 per hour base, roughly $80,000 per year.
The union boss demanded a base raise of $63, along with riders, to prevent the dock operators from automating certain jobs, such as reducing the number of security personnel by introducing security swipe cards used everywhere else.
CNN uber-pundit Scott Jennings called the longshoremen’s leader a union thug after he gleefully promised a long strike that would cripple the country unless his demands were met.
“The head of the union, Daggett, goes on television and talks as if he was a Batman supervillain,” he said.
Of course, the Biden-Harris put itself on the wrong side.
Vice President Kamala Harris said President Donald J. Trump does not understand the plight of the workers.
“He thinks our economy should only work for those who own the big skyscrapers, not those who actually build them,” Harris said.
My RedState colleague Teri Christoph covered the deep-seated tensions between the dock workers and Harris in her piece: “Dockworkers Strike, Day 3: Kamala Loves the Strikers, but the Feeling Isn’t Mutual.”
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, who is so radical Senate Democrats refuse to confirm her in the position she holds, said the American economy is big enough to take the hit from dock operators meeting the striker’s demands.
“The American economy has defied all expectations thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s leadership,” she said.
“There is room for both companies and their workers to prosper,” she said.
“The parties need to get back to the negotiating table, and that must begin with these giant shipping magnates acknowledging that if they can make record profits, their workers should share in that economic success,” Su said, using the term for the businessman harking back to the era of a more strident labor movement.
Boeing workers: Hold my beer
The 30,000 Boeing workers of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on strike since Sept. 13 are lost in the sauce as Americans struggle to recover from Hurricane Helene, and the country braced for the supply chain shocks delivered by the longshoremen’s own work stoppage.
While the union has halted the company’s non-defense production, some of the strikers have been posting about their time off, including bluewater fishing trips and beachcombing at Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, more than 2,500 miles from Seattle.
The photos were posted by The Daily Mail from the private 13,100-strong Facebook group “Boeing Employees (Lazy B),” an online community for Boeing’s IAM members.
Among its rules are: “Anti-union rhetoric, trolling, union busting, scabs, snitches etc will not be tolerated. You will be warned and then removed at admin discretion. We are here to better our lives for ourselves and our families.”
One economic consulting firm, the East Lansing, Michigan-based Anderson Economic Group, has been tracking the cost of the strike, and it reported that the costs have been monumental to the company, its shareholders, and the affiliated economy.
AEG CEO Patrick Anderson said the company was hemorrhaging in his firm’s Sept. 24 report.
“The second week of the machinists’ union strike against Boeing was more costly for the company and its suppliers, as is typical for major industrial strikes,” Anderson said.
“The company’s large backlog of orders and the fact that it is losing both current production and future parts and service business mean that Boeing shareholders are effectively incurring losses every day this strike continues,” he said.
“Boeing workers on strike are also losing, and as the strike goes on, more of Boeing’s suppliers will be forced to cut wages and hours,” he said.
In the first two weeks of the strike, AEG calculated that the losses from the strike reached $1.4 billion.
The aerospace giant was not in a great position before the strike. It closed 2023 with a $2.2 billion loss on $75 billion in revenues, and its market capitalization went from $123.3 billion in June 2023 to $95 billion at its close Thursday.
Meanwhile, the union leadership is holding firm — especially after Boeing sent its final best offer directly to its employees.
The Boeing offer is for a 30 percent wage increase, a $6,000 new contract bonus, a 100 percent matching of the first 8 percent of 401K contributions — it was 75 percent — and the return of annual bonuses.
The IAM leadership posted this Sept. 24 on the Local 751 Facebook page:
This morning, at 9 AM, Boeing notified us of what they call an “improved best and final offer.” While your Negotiating Team was still reviewing the details, Boeing took it upon itself to disrespect our entire Union by sending this offer directly to all members and the media without any prior communication from your Union. This offer was not negotiated with your Union; it was thrown at us without any discussion.
Let us be absolutely clear: THIS IS A NON-NEGOTIATED OFFER from Boeing. Your Negotiating Committee did not have any discussion or input on this offer. We have said all along that the Union would be available for direct talks with Boeing or, at a minimum, expected to continue mediated discussions when the company was ready. These direct dealing tactics are a huge mistake, damage the negotiation process, and attempt to go around and bypass your Union negotiating committee.
Boeing has not moved from its so-called final-best offer, and it posted Tuesday that it was optimistic.
“We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our represented employees and negotiating in good faith and want to reach an agreement as soon as possible. We remain prepared to go back to the bargaining table at any time.”
