This education link has been set up to keep all ILA members informed of what’s taking place in our industry; past and present. This site will include articles, stories, photographs and videos. At times, some of the videos will include training and be educational. Other times, we will take a look into our past and learn more and more about the history of this union and how it was built into what it is today.
ILA Education/History
OFFICIAL ILA EDUCATION/HISTORY PAGE ENDORSED BY OUR INTERNATIONAL
Never forget the sacrifices ILA members made to build our great union into what it is today
Port of New Orleans
August 28, 1943
Longshoremen load barrels into a ship’s hold at the Port of New Orleans during the summer of 1943.
We are the International Longshoremen’s Association
Established 1892
Int'l Longshoremen's ILA South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
1 CommentComment on Facebook
In 1968 that was how we loaded drums in Houston.
Port of Savannah
THE SEAPORT FEDERAL CREDIT UNION IS COMING TO THE PORT OF SAVANNAH
We are proud to announce that the Seaport Federal Credit Union is expanding to yet another ILA port. On Wednesday, August 12, 2026 the ILA members of Local 1414 out of the Port of Savannah had a chance to meet the Seaport Federal Credit Union team of Elaine Thompson, CEO and Melissa McCann, COO as they informed ILA members all the about what the Seaport Federal Credit Union has to offer to them and their families.
The International Longshoremen’s Association continues to educate their members and their families about the financial opportunities that are available to them to buy a home, purchase an automobile, create a savings account, apply for a student loan and/or prepare for retirement.
For more information go to the following link:
seaportfcu.org/services/
MEMBERSHIP IS CONVENIENT
“We realize that it may not always be convenient for you to visit our office to conduct your business in person.”
Direct Deposit: Automatically deposit your paycheck, retirement, or government checks into your account each pay period—free, secure, and no office visit needed.
Payroll Deduction: Have part or all of your pay automatically deposited into your account—ideal for loan payments or regular savings contributions.
Debit Card: Access your account at ATMs nationwide; use Allpoint Network ATMs to avoid fees (find locations at Allpoint.com).
A message from Seaport Federal Credit Union CEO Elaine Thompson:
“We’re excited to announce that our credit union is expanding into Savannah, Georgia! We look forward to serving our members and becoming a part of the I.L.A local 1414 community. We’re incredibly excited for this next chapter and all that’s ahead!”
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
14 CommentsComment on Facebook
Look at me… 👀 Inquiring minds wanna know about this NEW credit union! 🤔💰 I’m doing my homework because if they’re talking better rates, lower fees, and better benefits… BABE, I’m listening! 😂💅🏾
Rock Lovett Karsene HodgesJawan White this the new way to bank for US
Great turnout !!!!!
How do we get this to spread to more ports? Would love to see this come to Baltimore 👍
My favorite ILA drivers
Khalil Sharif Abdullah Michael Frye
Mary Barker
💪🏾
💪🏾🤍⚓️💙
💪🏽 Head Teller and only Teller from 2007 - closed 2016 secretary 2014-2016🩷 International Longshoremen's Federal credit Union Local 1402 Tampa🙌🏽⚓🤑🙌🏽
I hate I’m just seeing this
Can anybody join?
Awesome for the union members family and friends
Go Union
UNITE’S SHARON GRAHAM RE-ELECTED GENERAL SECRETARY
The International Longshoremen’s Association congratulates Sharon Graham as she was recently re-elected General Secretary of Unite the Union.
The ILA delegation was inspired when meeting and hearing Sharon Graham speak at the International Dockworkers Council Mid-Term Conference in Liverpool, England in April of 2024.
Unite Union is the largest general trade union in the UK and Ireland and represents over 1.2 million workers.
**CONGRATULATIONS**
3 CommentsComment on Facebook
Sharon has been an amazing and inspiring leader. Fighting for working people. Fighting for union power ✊️✊️✊️
Wow that’s great news 👏🥳
Andy we would love to have her for the ILA women’s conference
Port Miami
ILA LOCAL 1416 GIVES BACK TO COMMUNITY AS CHILDREN PREPARE FOR THE UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR IN MIAMI
On Sunday, August 9, 2026, ILA Local 1416 out of Port Miami sponsored and participated in the “Back to School Community Giveaway” as they organized their union hall and set it up for the boys and girls of the surroundings neighborhoods to get ready for the upcoming school year. Free haircuts, free painted nails, free food, free backpacks, free clothes and free sneakers were given to the children so they can arrive at their first day looking sharp and ready for another year!
This was all made possible by ILA Local 1416 and its members and volunteers.
ILA Local 1416 President Champ Dixon and Business Agent Larry McKnight were on hand to participate in this annual event.
The International Longshoremen’s Association continues to give back for the betterment of their port communities and surrounding areas.
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
12 CommentsComment on Facebook
Job well done! Blessings to all of you.
I love this. We need to do this Charmomof Fhive Joseph L Williams Darnell Calhoun Edward Lee
I LOVE THIS!!! #ILASTRONG #ILALOCAL1248
1416 💪🏾
The ILA is always there 👏
Awesome
ILA/IDC NEWSLETTER #23
To all ILA members:
Please scroll through and read latest edition of the ILA/IDC Newsletter, which includes the following:
-A recap of the 93rd South Atlantic and Gulf Cost District Convention
-Landmark Death Benefit for families of ILA members killed on the job
-10th IDC General Assembly in Brazil
ILA Local Presidents and Delegates:
When you have a moment, please share this newsletter with the membership.
Thank you!!
Google Drive Version:
drive.google.com/file/d/1l0WtxD1Dx7cFWlKZc5qdFfqqPObjtuFI/view?usp=sharing
Int'l Longshoremen's ILA South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District Local 1804-1 HarolDennis A. DaggettA. DaggJames A. McNamara. McNamara
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THE INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN’S ASSOCIATION
ESTABLISHED 1892
Please take a few minutes to read this message from ILA International Executive Vice President Dennis A. Daggett:
As a fourth-generation ILA member, there are moments when the history of this great Union hits me in a way that words sometimes cannot describe.
When I saw this image at the ILA South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District Convention, it stopped me in my tracks. It touched my heart and, quite frankly, gave me chills.
Look at this picture.
On one side are the longshoremen who came before us working breakbulk, bulk and palletized cargo by hand. Men whose backs, shoulders, hands and forearms carried the commerce of this nation. On the other side stands the modern waterfront, massive container ships, towering cranes, sophisticated equipment, advanced technology, and today’s highly skilled ILA workforce.
That distance between the two sides of this picture represents 134 years of ILA history.
But as different as those two waterfronts may look, there is something connecting them that has never changed: the men and women of the International Longshoremen’s Association.
Those of you who know me know how often I speak about our ancestors and the importance of paying homage to those who came before us. I believe deeply that we have an obligation to remember them. We stand where we stand today because they sacrificed. They fought. They struggled. And many of them performed backbreaking work under conditions most people today could hardly imagine.
There was an old saying on the waterfront:
“The ships were made of wood, but the men on the docks were made of steel.”
Those men of steel built the foundation upon which today’s mighty ILA stands.
Years ago, a longshoreman needed a wide back, and big forearms to survive a day’s work on the waterfront. Today, the women and men of the ILA are highly skilled professionals operating and maintaining some of the most sophisticated equipment and technology in the global transportation industry. The work has evolved dramatically, but its importance has not. Our members remain absolutely important to moving the world’s commerce.
And neither has the responsibility passed down from generation to generation changed.
Their hands built this Union. Their sacrifices protected it, and now it is our responsibility to carry it forward.
Being fourth generation makes that responsibility deeply personal to me. This Union has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up around this industry. I have watched it change, watched our membership grow stronger, and had the incredible privilege of witnessing four of the nine International Presidents in the history of the ILA lead this great organization.
When I look at where we started and where we stand today, I cannot help but feel that God does love the ILA.
We have endured depressions, wars, containerization, technological revolutions, economic crises and countless challenges to our jurisdiction and our livelihoods. Yet generation after generation, the ILA has survived, adapted and grown stronger.
And we are still here.
This photograph speaks volumes without saying a word. It reminds us that progress did not simply happen. It was earned! Every improvement in our working conditions, every advancement in wages and benefits, every piece of jurisdiction we possess, and every opportunity enjoyed by today’s ILA members rests upon the sacrifices of the generations who came before us.
So when we walk onto today’s modern marine terminals, we should never forget the men who once walked those wooden docks, or the first women who were truly pioneers.
We should remember what they physically endured.
We should remember their aching backs.
We should remember their courage.
And most importantly, we should remember that they built something bigger than themselves so that generations they would never live to see could have a better life.
Now it is our turn!
One day, future generations of ILA members will look back at photographs of us and the waterfront of today. I hope they will say that when our time came, we protected what was handed to us, strengthened it, and left the ILA better than we found it.
I love this Union. I love its members. I love this industry that I was fortunate enough to grow up around.
Looking at this picture and thinking about 134 years of sacrifice, struggle, progress and solidarity, there is really only one way I can describe how I feel:
My heart is full….
God bless our ancestors!
God bless every ILA member and their families!
And may God continue to bless the International Longshoremen’s Association!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
17 CommentsComment on Facebook
Thank You for posting this! Every member should read the history of the Greatest Union on the Planet!
Dennis , we in Philly would say the same thing “wooden ships and iron men, when some men would slack off we said iron ships and wooden men”. Everything I have I got through the ILA UNION AND THE MEN THST CAME BEFORE ME!! Joe Naulty 73 years old retired local 1291 ILA.
Every member should read Men Along The Shores.
“ Longshoremen’s Start” The word Longshoremen come about in a time , When men worked all day for only a dime As the ships pulled along the wood planked shore , You could hear the first mates enchanted roar Come along shore men ships are here , Come along shore men put down your beer Ships would shape up gangs by size , Starting with the foreman and his trusted guys His men were big and full of wit , It didn’t take long for the weakest to quit Men would work all day and all night , With what seemed to be no end in sight No matter the commodity they loaded it all , From bales of cotton to bundles of straw Rice and beans was stuffed in sacks , Loaded aboard by the big man’s back As time rolled on year after year , There was a lot more work and a lot less beer Then Along come progress so it was here , Men were told they had nothing to fear The containers pop up and changed the game , Now our manning is nowhere the same As the containers rolled in and multiplied , The men were told to step a side Thank God for the union of the ILA , And the officials we had who saved the day For Without the contracts and royalty fund , Our line of work would surely be done So what ever we do let’s not forget , Those hard working men that started this shit The way we load ships has come a long way It couldn’t have been done without the : “ILA” “Big”Jack Pennington
Our daddies got it out the mud! ILA 1414 Savannah, GA 4 Life 💖💪🏿
Beautiful picture
Well said
Great pic….. Local 333 Baltimore
Cool picture
ILA Philly is tops.Thank You Boise Butler!!
❤️🔥💪🙏
REAL TALK ✊🏿 ACARD
(Beautiful Picture) thank you so much for posting it I am going to have it printed off of my phone and put it in a big frame because without the ILA l would not be living the life that I live and I thank God for it! Debbie Bradley 63 years old retired local 1423 ILA BRUNSWICK.
Squamish B.C. Westcoast Canada loc.500
I am proud to be a longshore worker. And love all the people I work with.it is a blessing
Amen great words picture as well your words tell.the whole story for sure unions might have merged but still strong if not stronger God bless prayers to all
Port Everglades
April 17, 1955
ILA Local 1526 members out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, FL move bales of cargo by hand on April 17, 1955.
Containerization would be introduced to the world exactly one year later in April of 1956.
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
18 CommentsComment on Facebook
It's called "beaming up". Forklift raises pallet and the gang hand stows the bags up to the top of the bottom the next deck in the wings all the way out to the square. We all hated it. But we had to suck it up and get strong or another guy in the hall was waiting and wanted our job. Lol. This pic is in the warehouse, kind of weird because we would high pile the pallets with 36 100lb bags of rice 5 high. Better be damn good so the pile doesn't tip over.
Back piled cocoa beans at Pier 98, Port of Philadelphia, up to the ceiling. Loved it, talking trash all day, like getting paid to go to the gym.
I am Dennis Stewart me and Tommy Brown were partners Leo Mullen deadeye Georgie Kelly. I forget the rest. There was a guy named Calhoun, big goofy guy. He had brand new gloves he wasn’t looking and he put him down what did cut all the fingers and put them back in the glove, but they borrow my knife they gave it back. He seen me with a knife. He went nuts, Matt Bilbo, all open all.
Been there done that
Mechanization contract and then containers
Pier 98 load’em up
Did same first started docks local 829 balto MD
That's our local 1526 port Everglades
That's Us ILA LOCAL #1526 FT.LAUDERDALE FLORIDA 🌴 I Love ❤️ Hearing the story's
I did cocoa beans in Brooklyn and coffee at Howland Hook…i feel for those men, it must have been hot as hell down there…They broke their asses.
Back piling one of my first jobs on the Philadelphia ILA waterfront
Man I loaded a bunch ships just like this as a young Longshoreman!!!
 Hard ass work  846 Newport News, Virginia
Así trabajamos los que estamos retirados, todos con la espalda rota y dolores de por vida y por un miserable retiro que nunca tuvimos un aumento y los responsables lo saben, ojalá un día dios les toque el corazón y hagan algo por nosotros 🙏
Yes sir. I have an idea, again.
Same thing in 87 local1414
Same here ILA Local 3000 New Orleans La.As they say “Those Were The Days”.
Port Houston, TX
ILA Local 24 member Juan Peña getting the job done on the docks at Barbours Cut Terminal at Port Houston, Texas.
“Back to working daytime shift. It sure is hot out here!! But we gotta take care this business!”
Thank you Brother Juan Peña!
Have a great weekend ILA Sisters and Brothers!!
Be safe!!
God Bless you all!!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
8 CommentsComment on Facebook
I always you at the Twic office lol 😂
Be safe 🙏 bro
💘💘💘
Amen, take care the business.
Yeah we miss you at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. shift night shift LoL 😂😆
💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾
God bless you sir union all the way
Congrats brother Juan 💪🏾
Port of NY/NY
ILA Local 1814 Longshoremen reporting for work on the Brooklyn waterfront
NYC
Year Unknown
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
5 CommentsComment on Facebook
Barcos de puntuales yo trabajé uno q le decían el California y otro el Maru
Philadelphia ILA 1291 Dennis Stewart, the best union in the world my opinion
Muslims go to Mecca. Jews go to the Western wall. Longshore's pilgrimage is New York, New York.
Right on union
Go Union