Labor Champion and ILA Endorsed New Jersey Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Sweeney was Valuable Asset to Union’s Rank-and-File Members Working Behind the Scenes to Help End Three-Day Strike; “We are Grateful to Steve Sweeney for His Help,” Said ILA Leadership
NORTH BERGEN, NJ (October 10, 2024) New Jersey Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Sweeney used his extensive political leadership skills as the former NJ State Senate President, and his lifetime career as a proud union member and of the Ironworkers, to help his fellow union members – the rank-and-file Sisters and Brothers of the International Longshoremen’s Association – end the three-day strike last week that shut down all ports from Maine to Texas. ILA members returned to work late Thursday, evening, October 3, 2024.
Throughout the week as tens of thousands of ILA members and supporters walked picket lines at all ILA ports, Steve Sweeney reached out to Federal, State and local New Jersey authorities to champion the rights of ILA members to strike for a fair and decent wage package.
“The International Longshoremen’s Association extends a special thank you to our long-time friend and labor champion, Steve Sweeney, for his invaluable behind-the-scenes help ending the ILA’s three-day strike against United States Maritime Alliance USMX),” said ILA President Harold Daggett. “One of the many reasons the ILA was among the first unions almost a year ago to endorse Steve Sweeney for New Jersey Governor 2025, is his ability to bring many coalitions together to support American workers. Steve Sweeney, our union brother, and the former New Jersey Senate President did just that as he joined our fight for ILA longshore workers and their just demands for wage increases that compensated them fairly based on the billion-dollar revenues the foreign shipper employers were making.”
“Steve Sweeney used his leadership skills to convince Democratic and Republican leaders alike, that ILA longshore workers were American front-line heroes who worked through the pandemic keeping America’s commerce moving and growing,” the ILA leader continued. “I know our New Jersey ILA-members, their families, and friends will remember this as the 2025 Gubernatorial race heats up.”
President Daggett said the ILA will actively campaign and support Steve Sweeney For Governor in next year’s primaries and the general election.
