Mr. Dennis A. Daggett

President, Atlantic Coast District, ILA, AFL-CIO
President, Local 1804-1, ILA, AFL-CIO

Dennis A. Daggett was unanimously elected President of the Atlantic Coast District, International Longshoremen’s Association at the District’s quadrennial convention in July 2011. The Atlantic Coast District covers a wide port area including all North Atlantic ports from Maine to Virginia, the U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes ports, Eastern Canada and Puerto Rico. He had previously served as Secretary-Treasurer of the ACD.

Daggett also serves as President of Local 1804-1, International Longshoremen’s Association. Prior to his election to the local’s top position in September 2011, Daggett served a variety of positions with the largest ILA local in the country.

A fourth generation member of his family to work in the longshore industry, Dennis Daggett followed the path of his grandfather, who was a checker with the ILA, and his father, Harold J. Daggett, who currently serves as the ILA’s International President. Dennis’ paternal grandfather and great-grandfather were ILA members working as longshoremen in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

One of the youngest and brightest officers in the ILA, Dennis Daggett, 37, has introduced new bargaining and educational strategies and techniques to current Master Contract negotiations. He orchestrated groundbreaking research programs to better equip ILA officers in their negotiations with United States Maritime Alliance. He also successfully led current Master Contract negotiations in Container Chassis work that will better protect members’ jobs well into the future.

Dennis Daggett’s own longshoring career began when he was employed in container repair for Maersk Line with Universal Maritime Service Corporation in Port Newark, NJ. With his ILA local, Daggett was elected Business Agent in December 2000.

On the International level, Dennis Daggett previously was Safety Director for the 50,000-member International Longshoremen’s Association, a position he was first appointed to in December 1997 by then ILA President John Bowers.

As International Safety Director, Dennis Daggett was instrumental in instituting rigorous safety regulations and modern training programs into the ILA contract.

Daggett was responsible for directing and monitoring all ILA Safety and Training Programs; investigating longshore accidents and safety violations and working closely with Federal, State and local safety agencies including the Occupational and Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

For his outstanding efforts in improving safety for ILA members, Dennis Daggett was honored by the Hampton Roads Shipping Association-ILA in Virginia.

In 2006, he received the President’s award from the A. Philip Randolph Institute of Union and Essex Counties of New Jersey.

In November 2011, the Labor Advisory Board of the United Negro College Fund in Edison, New Jersey honored Dennis Daggett.

Daggett studied political science and public speaking at Iona College, Hunter College and the University of Vermont and also completed studies in Collective Bargaining for Local Union Leaders and Occupational Safety and Health at Cornell University for Industrial Labor.

Daggett resides in Sparta, New Jersey with his wife, Marisa and two children, Alexa and Joseph.