Harold J. Daggett Reelected President; 14 New Officers Join Top Board

ILA Convention Concludes with Harold J. Daggett Reelected President; Executive Council Reshaped With 14 New Officers Joining Top Board

SAN JUAN, PR – (July 24, 2015) The 54th Quadrennial Convention of the International Longshoremen’s Association concluded on Thursday with the reelection of Harold J. Daggett as President and 14 new officers joining the Executive Council.

Donning a baseball cap immediately following his reelection as he addressed convention delegates, ILA President Daggett told a cheering crowd, “From the top of my head to my toes, I am ILA all the way.

“I fight for the guy on the pier,” continued President Daggett. “We are the most respected union in the world. I’m looking to take us into the future.”

Steven Knott, the General Vice President and acting Secretary-Treasurer for the past four years, was elected Secretary-Treasurer and Dennis A. Daggett, who did not run for reelection last week as ILA Atlantic Coast District President, was elected Executive Vice President. Nearly 400 delegates representing ILA ports from Maine to Texas, Great Lakes, Eastern Canada, major U.S. rivers and Puerto Rico and representing some 65,000 members, voted on the final day of four-day International convention held at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“We as the ILA need to take the lead,” said newly elected Executive Vice President Dennis A. Daggett. “Starting today, this ILA is going to take charge and bring social and economic justice, not only to the longshoring industry, but to the middle class as a whole.”

The International’s top slate was filled out by the election Wilbert Rowell from Wilmington, North Carolina, who was elected General Vice President; and John D. Baker from Cleveland, Ohio, who was elevated to General Organizer from Assistant General Organizer. A constitutional changed added a second Assistant General Organizer and an Executive Vice President Emeritus. Filling the two Assistant General Organizer spots were James Paylor, from Philadelphia and Alan Robb, from Houston. Benny Holland, who did not run for reelection as Executive Vice President, became International Executive Vice President.

Ten new International Vice Presidents joined the 23-member International Executive Council: Virgil Maldonado; Patrick Murphy; Captain Donald Marcus; Vincent Cameron; William Ashe; Kerry Scott; Louis Gonzales; John D. Baker, Jr.; and Richard Krueger. Vice President reelected to new four-year terms include William McNamara; Clyde Fitzgerald, Raymond Sierra, Ronald Capri, James Campbell, Louise Pernice, Michael Dickens, Kenneth Riley, William Yockey, Vincent Cuozzo, John Healy, Thomas Little, and Willie Seymore.