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
A message shared to us from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 4 on the West Coast….Thank You!!!
It’s Labor Day in Portland 1902 and it’s time for the parade! Thousands of union workers are filling the streets. Banners are up, bands are playing, every trade has its place in the parade.
And then comes the waterfront. ⚓️
An entire section of the parade is called the Water Front Federation. Marching together are the Teamsters’ International Union, Grainhandlers Local 20 ILA, Dockworkers Local 204 ILA, Longshoremen Local 208 ILA, and the Stevedores and Shipliners’ Union. The Teamsters and Grainhandlers bring their own floats, and the whole waterfront division marches behind their military band.
Labor Day was a big deal back then. You didn’t just get Monday off and fire up the BBQ. You showed up. In some Portland unions, skipping the Labor Day parade could get you fined or even get your name printed in the local labor newspaper.
After the parade, everyone heads over to Multnomah Field, where Providence Park stands today. There are speeches, races, baseball and contests between the different trades.
And this is where things get good.
Longshoremen vs. Team Drivers.
Tug-of-war.
$100 a side.
We couldn’t find a record of who won but 124 years later, we’re pretty confident it was the longshoremen. 💪
Happy Labor Day from ILWU Local 4!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
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Saint John
New Brunswick
Canada
ILA LOCAL 273 LABOUR DAY PARADE
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Go Union
Labor Day 2026
Enjoy your Labor Day holiday ILA Sisters and Brothers!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
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Recognition and appreciation for all who work for the International Longshoreman Association ! Liberty and justice for all !!
A MESSAGE FROM ILA INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT DENNIS A. DAGGETT:
Labor Day is an opportunity to reflect on the generations of working men and women who came before us and the sacrifices they made to build a better life for their families. For the ILA, that history can be seen in the incredible transformation of our industry and the ability of our Union to survive and evolve through it.
There was a time when nearly everything coming across our docks was physically handled by longshoremen. Breakbulk and palletized cargo required tremendous manpower, but it also required skill, experience and trust among the Longshore people working the ship. Longshore work was physically demanding and dangerous, and the people who performed it took great pride in knowing their craft and getting the job done.
Containerization changed the waterfront forever. Beginning in the late 1950s and 1960s, cargo that once required large gangs of longshoremen could suddenly be placed inside a steel or aluminum box and moved by container handling equipment. In many respects, containerization was the automation of its time, and the impact on our workforce was enormous. The Port of New York and New Jersey once had approximately 50,000 ILA members. Today, even on our busiest days, we have a little over 5,000 working. Containerization took us from 50,000 members to 5,000. We cannot afford to lose any more, and that is why we fight so hard to protect and preserve the jobs and opportunities we have today.
But the ILA survived because we evolved with the industry. Today’s longshore workforce operates and maintains some of the largest and most sophisticated cargo handling equipment in the world. Our members have become highly skilled crane and equipment operators, mechanics, clerks, checkers and just simply waterfront professionals working in complex, technology driven marine terminals. The work of yesteryear demanded physical strength and endurance, while today’s waterfront demands skill, precision and experience to safely and efficiently operate some of the most sophisticated equipment in the world. The waterfront may look completely different, but the experience, judgment and skill of the people working it remain just as important.
As we face another technological phase of challenges through automation and artificial intelligence, we must remember the lessons of our own history. We know what technology can do to a workforce, and we cannot allow another generation of good jobs to simply disappear.
Our strongest defense is to demonstrate every day why a skilled ILA workforce remains essential to this industry. Safety must always come first, because no production number is worth someone getting injured or not returning home to their family. At the same time, we must work efficiently and productively. We should never give an employer an excuse to use poor productivity as an argument for replacing our members with machines.
Technology should be used to make our members safer and more productive, not to eliminate them. Employers may continue looking for ways to reduce manpower, overtime and labor costs, but our responsibility is to continue proving the value of the human element on the waterfront, and we will continue to fight back.
The generations before us fought to give us the opportunities we have today. This Labor Day, we honor them not only by remembering what they accomplished, but by protecting what they left behind and making sure there is an opportunity for the generations that follow us.
The equipment has changed, the ships have changed and the waterfront has changed, but the responsibility of the ILA has not: protect our members, protect our jurisdiction and protect the future of longshore work!!
This weekend please keep those ILA member’s who paid the ultimate sacrifice in your thoughts and Prayers….
Happy Labor Day to our ILA family and to the working class!!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
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Great message 👍
Happy Labor Day!
I wasn’t raised in the ILA but I had 3 other union jobs. We are so lucky that we can learn our history. I hope the young union members check this page out!
Go Union
LABOR DAY 2026
On this Labor Day weekend we take a moment to salute all our ILA Sisters and Brothers working around the clock, day and night, to keep this country moving.
We also want to recognize and remember all who came before us that have sacrificed so much to build the ILA into a workforce that is known all throughout the world!
Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!!
Be safe!!
God Bless!!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
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Yes and those old trolly carts , we landed the the pallets of sacks on !
In the port of HFX we had bags going to Russia called Jumbo 180 lbs slug them all day was no problem sleeping at night 🕺👍
Happy Labor Day stay safe and don’t stand under the freight going out of hole what goes up can will come down you all make the world go round
Thank God for Farmers,Truck Drivers,Nurses and the ILA!!!
Labor is what we sell.
I can remember sack jobs ..heavy lifting work
Yes indeed be safe to all.have a great couple of days if possible thank all.for there work ethic
Port of Philadelphia
November 1923
This Longshoremen stands with his four children outside of his Philadelphia home at 2nd and Brown Streets as he gets ready to leave for work on the docks at the Port of Philadelphia in the fall of 1923.
More often than not, his children would be taken out of school and sent to work on the waterfront with him so his family could make a living and bring home a decent income.
God Bless the ILA!
Enjoy your Labor Day weekend Sisters and Brothers!!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
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Great message Brother Dave Scala! Thank you!!
A different time. Thank you for sharing! This should humble us all and make us reflect. Thank God for Unions and how they changed the landscape for ALL workers within the United States. I believe around 1935, it was Unions that fought to protect children and insisted congress adopt the Child Labor Laws that exist to today. Those laws help protect our nation's children from these sad situations that once exsisted. Unions negotiated fair wages for its members to be capable of earning a living wage, so that their children could attend school. After the great depression, our country banded together to protect one another from the suffering that happened during the depression. A massive labor movement lead by Unions strengthened our nation. By the 1950s Union activism had reached its peak; even the labor force who was not Unionized benefitted from Union protections. That time is generally considered the greatest era of growth for our country. Since that time, some (not all) businesses began its onslaught against labor and specifically Unions. False narratives, disinformation, and the purchase of political machines have attempted to drive a nail in organized labor, as we, the ILA experienced in our most recent strike of 2024. Once again you will witness Unions being the instrument that protects ALL workers from the threat to their livelihoods, and their dignity being taken away by profiteers who will automate their jobs. A great capitalist grows its business while growing its labor force and sharing in its growth with its workforce. A bad capitalist decimates its workforce by reducing labor and stripping away a living wage. I know this just seems like another post, but if you can for a moment feel what that member and his family went through in the early 1900s; you can put into perspective where we are today. It is our duty as Union members to continue to protect and honor what so many had sacrificed for. That members life didn't just change after he signed a pledge card. Lets again for a moment think about the actual realities in which early organized labor movement had to face; loss of employment, threats, physical confrontations, arrest, starvation, and even death. That member didn't just sign a pledge card and begin to receive wage increases, pensions, medical care, and other benefits the next day. It took years of activism (fight) to begin to reach those levels. Banding together with your neighbors who lived with the same struggles. I hope we all can reflect on what it means to be a member of a Union and ask ourselves if we are doing all that we can do to protect our Union, and also honor the sacrifice that this member and his family endured during the early years of the formation of our great Union. Happy Labor Day! I love my Union! ILA all the way!
LABOR DAY
September 7, 2026
May God Bless the ILA members and their families on this Labor Day 2026!
We are the International Longshoremen’s Association
Established 1892
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
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My Grandfather gave his life on the docks in Baltimore.
The Dockerty, the Collins, the police, the EL fees, the lambs Hank, Riley, Leo Mullen, Mike Collins, Bill Boyd McKenna‘s Masse
Port of Virginia
Hampton Roads
ILA LOCAL 1624 CLERKS AND CHECKERS SWEARS IN NEW MEMBERS AT HAMPTON ROADS
Please join us in welcoming and congratulating the newly sworn in members of ILA Local 1624, Clerks and Checkers, out of Hampton Roads, Port of Virginia.
In photograph:
ILA Local 1624 President Kevin Halstead swears in new members at their monthly membership meeting on September 1, 2026.
We wish you success and happiness in your new career!!
Congratulations and welcome to the ILA!
Photo credit:
Mike Heath, Vice President, ILA Local 1624
Thank You!!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
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Congratulations from #1416
I'm trying to become a checker after I being a longshoreman in Savannah.. Maybe I can come up there and try to get on there.. I'm ready for a move.
Welcome Aboard
Congratulations
I’m so proud! Now get out there & don’t give ‘em the satisfaction!!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻
🫡💪🏾🫶🏽
Congratulations
Congratulations 🎊
Congratulations
Congratulations
CONGRATULATIONS!
Port of Galveston
Brother Titus “T-Bolt” Sennette of ILA Local 1504-8, Galveston, Texas, has gone home to be with the Lord. He was a 40+ year longshoreman and a true master operator. His knowledge, experience, and dedication to the waterfront deserve to be remembered as part of our I.L.A. history.
Rest In Peace Brother
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Rest at ease Skool it was a pleasure meeting & working with u 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Peace and Blessings be upon him and his family from Local 1233 NJ
Good Brother 💯💙💪🏾
Wanda he loves my teacakes
🙏
Rest in peace, dear brother, your dedication will never be forgotten 🙏🙏🙏
🙏🏾💙🕊️Local brother t bolt
Thank you, my brother for all that you do
Praying for his family. From ILA 1410 🪝
Rip 🙏🏾From your Brothers At 1414.
Rest in Peace "T-Bolt" you taught me everything I know from my first start at Pier #10 on that 30 gone but never forgotten.
A true legend, his legacy lives on forever 💖
RIP MY FRIEND 🙏
Prayers and strength 🙏🏾💪🏾🌴
You'll be deeply missed, rest in peace 🙏
Rest my brother
RIP sir
Sending my deepest condolences to all of his family and friends. Rest In Peace Brother!
Rest in Heaven 🌹 from, Paul Handy ( Local 851 )
RIP my brother and thanks you for all the blood, sweat and tears
My deepest sympathy and condolence to the family from ILA 1410
Rip T from your Local Brother. 1504-8
May your journey be peaceful and your memory be a blessing
My Sincere Condolences to Family and Friends
RIP from local 1416
Port of NY/NJ
ILA LOCAL 1804-1/PNCT GIVES BACK TO THE HOMELESS CHILDREN OF NEWARK AS THEY RETURN TO SCHOOL THIS FALL 2026
We are proud to be part of Port Newark Container Terminal and ILA Local 1804-1 as they came together on Wednesday, September 2, 2026 to donate 114 fully stocked backpacks, including breakfast and snacks, to Newark children beginning the school year in homeless shelters.
Local 1804-1 also donated more than $3,000 for uniforms and sneakers.
May God Bless all the children as they prepare for the upcoming school year.
The ILA is proud to make a difference for the children of Newark!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
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Bravo
Local 1804-1 🫡
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
The best ILA local. Yes I’m biased I was a member for 42 years.
If only you guys would give a local Parent an opportunity to work within your organization to provide for his children...... I been trying for years to get an opportunity n everytime I have been turned away with no compassion.😔
Multi million dollar company donates 3k lol