The stand against racism and the War on Black America of my International Union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, makes me so proud!
Thanks to Buddy Smith, Dennis Daggett, Harold Daggett, Herbert Hall, G Rodney Owens, and the entire ILA! Yesterday, my International Longshoremen’s Association Local Union, ILA Local-1233 and the entire International Union shut down Port Newark and Elizabethport and every pier up and down the East Coast from Canada to Puerto Rico for one hour to make clear where we stand on the ongoing War Against Black People in the US.
Our forthright anti-racist leadership convinced all the terminal operators and their USMX and collective associations to agree on and sponsor these suspension of operations.
While other AFL-CIO International unions bite their tongues because they don’t want to offend their dues-paying law-enforcement membership, the ILA brooked no compromise.
ILA International President Harold Daggett spoke early, but came back at the end of the massive peaceful rally at APM Terminals in Elizabeth to share his heartfelt belief that Derek Chauvin, the murderous cop who tortured and killed of George Floyd, would “burn in hell.”
That statement by our brother (President) Daggett is what truly impressed me most from yesterday’s protest!