'I will cripple you' - dockworker's union vows to shut down U.S. economy with strike

By Louis Goss

"I will cripple you"International Longshoremen's Association chief negotiator Harold Dagget

This was the warning given by the International Longshoremen's Association's chief negotiator, Harold Dagget, in September as the dockworker's union was readying itself to launch a major strike that on Tuesday saw the start of the biggest shutdown of U.S. ports in almost 50 years.

In a video posted by the dockworker's union last month, the ILA chief negotiator warned a dockworkers strike has the power to "cripple" the U.S. economy, by blocking the import of everything from cars and clothes to construction materials.

"These people today don't know what a strike is," Dagget said. "When my men hit the streets, from Maine to Texas, every single port will lock down... Everything in the United States comes on a ship."

The ILA chief negotiator, who first joined the dockworkers union in 1967, said the walkouts over pay and job security will slowly lead to a shutting down of America's economy that will eventually lead to layoffs if shipping firms fail to meet the strikers' demands.

"First week, be all over the news every night, boom, boom. Second week, guys who sell cars can't sell cars because cars ain't coming in off the ships, they get laid off. Third week, malls start closing down, they can't get goods from China, they can't sell clothes."

"Construction workers get laid off because the materials aren't coming in. The steel's not coming in. The lumber's not coming in. They lose their jobs. Everybody's hating the longshoremen now because now they realize how important our jobs are."

The ILA, which represents 85,000 dockworkers across the east coast of the U.S., has accused shipping companies of making record profits by "gouging their customers" through price hikes during COVID-19.

See also: Chamber of Commerce calls on Biden to stop dockworkers strike, citing inflation fears

-Louis Goss

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10-01-24 0451ET

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