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
ILA’s Mary-Elizabeth Jaeger To Be Honored On Thursday, June 11th At 2026 Mo’Hair Foundation “Men and Women of Distinction Fundraising Gala”, Held At Jersey City’s Liberty House
NORTH BERGEN, NJ (June 10, 2026) The Mo’Hair Foundation, a unique and loving charitable foundation whose mission is to provide services to women, men and children in the tri-state area who suffer from hair loss due to various medical conditions, will honor Mary-Elizabeth Jaeger, the ILA’s Assistant Controller and Executive Assistant to the International President, with the “Men and Women of Distinction Award” at their 2026 Gala, scheduled for Thursday, June 11th, 2026 at 6 PM and held at the exclusive Libert House in Jersey City, New Jersey.
“We are so proud of Mary Jaeger and grateful to the Mo’Hair Foundation for recognizing her with their ‘Woman of Distinction’ Award,” said International President Harold J. Daggett. “I am blessed that Mary is my beautiful niece, but also an important part of our ILA’s International staff. Mary continues a long tradition of the Daggett family’s involvement with the ILA.”
Mary Jaeger is a fourth-generation member of the ILA. Her late father, Richard Charles Jager, was a career ILA longshoreman with Local 1804-1. Her late mother, Bettejane, Dorothy Jager was the sister of current International President Daggett.
Mary Jaeger joined the ILA in August 2018, as Assistant Controller. She was instrumental in modernizing many financial data systems for the ILA. She played a major role assisting the ILA’s President, Secretary-Treasurer, and ILA Controller with the 2019 and 2023 International Quadrennial Conventions. She will oversee all housing for ILA delegates, family and guests at the upcoming 2027 International and Atlantic Coast District Conventions in Hollywood, Florida.
She belongs to ILA Local 512, where she was unanimously elected Vice President/Recording Secretary in October 2025.
Mary Jaeger is married to Todd Milliken, and the couple reside in Sparta, New Jersey. She is the proud mother of two daughters, Justine and Devyn, who have followed in their mother’s footsteps as fifth-generation ILA members. For more than a year, Mary Jaeger has enjoyed her most cherished occupation – as grandmother to Emersyn Elizabeth.
In her spare time, Mary Jaeger enjoys Pilates; traveling and attending musical concerts.
A capacity crowd is expected at the Liberty House for the 2026 Gala. In addition to Mary Jaeger, other honorees include: Nancy Aleman; Tami Weaver-Henry; Madeline Fiadini Lore; Joel Morales; and Akbar Prey.
Operation under the motto of “Uplifting the lives of those we serve,” the Mo’ Hair Foundation, Inc. a 501c3, nonprofit organization based in New Jersey that provides complimentary nonsurgical hair replacements to adults and children that are experiencing hair loss due to all medical conditions.
A licensed master hairstylist with decades of experience, Monique Smith-Andrews founded the Mo’ Hair Foundation, Inc., in 2008 to honor and pay tribute to her beloved mother, Josephine Smith, who courageously battled cancer and experienced hair loss during her treatment. What started as a personal tribute became a powerful mission to bless others, restore self-esteem and to make one feel whole again.
"As a Hairstylist, I’ve seen the emotional toll how hair loss can take on an individual. My calling is to bless others walking in this journey with dignity, beauty, self-esteem, and blessing individuals with 100% human wigs, because they deserve to feel like themselves again," Monique Smith-Andrews said
47 CommentsComment on Facebook
Mary Jaeger has been an amazing asset to the ILA’s International since day one… Thank you Mary for all you do at the offices’ of the ILA…your dedication to our union is as good as it gets!! Congratulations!! ILA PROUD
Congratulations,Mary!!
Congratulations Mary! Well deserved 🎉👏
Congratulations Mary! Extremely well deserved with all your dedication and hard work! Looking forward to being there
Great job Mary!! Well deserved you work so hard!!
Congratulations 🎉
Congratulations! Very well deserved! 
Congratulations Mary!
Congratulations, my sweetheart. I’m so proud of you.
Mary !! Proud of your accomplishments. Congratulations! ✨
So proud of you Mary!! So well deserved Wish your Mom and Dad could witness this. Love you honey 🥰🥰🥰
Muchas felicidades Mary Jaeger! It is a great cause. Nobody knows what people with certain conditions go through loosing their hair. I have lupus and suffer alot with hairloss. I’ll be reading more about this foundation. Bravo for you. Hugs🙏🏼
Congrats mary!
Congratulations
Congratulations
Congratulations Mary!
Congratulations!
Congratulations Mary Jaeger!!
Congratulations!
Congratulations Mary!
Congratulations 🍾
Congratulations!
Port of NY/NJ
ILA SAFETY
ILA AT MAHER TERMINALS IS THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2025 SANYNJ SAFETY AWARD
Congratulations to all ILA members at Maher Terminals at Port Newark, NJ as they are the recipients of the Shipping Association of NY/NJ Safety Award 2025 for “Lowest Lost Time Accident Frequency” in the Port of New York and New Jersey.
The International Longshoremen’s Association continues to educate the membership about staying safe on the docks to ensure that they are able to return home safely to their families after putting a days work in on the waterfront.
God Bless You All!
Stay Safe!!
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
Lamar Tilley ready for the pizza party
🫡
Port of Oakland, CA
WOMEN ON THE WATERFRONT
NOELLE DEMARTINI
ILWU LOCAL 10, SAN FRANCISCO, CA
OUR LONGSHORE ILWU SISTER NOELLE DEMARTINI OUT OF THE WEST COAST DOCKS SHARES HER STORY OF INSPIRATION
“Seven years ago today I got my first job as a Casual “ ID” Longshoremen at the Port Of Oakland @portoakland ..I was 24 years old. I was scared to death, I had never been in a union or worked in a blue collar environment, let alone had to climb up on a ship. I had just left my first relationship & wanted to see the possibility of providing for myself with a “big girl job.” Lashing is one of the most dangerous jobs we have on the water front, and we have lost brothers and sisters from it. I waited for 8 days and finally got a job. I was so excited but so nervous. Some people cried that shift, some threw up. We lashed on that ship at SSA until 5am and the shift started at 6pm.
I thought, “I’m not sure if this job is for me”….the bosses would yell and scream, the A men weren’t friendly. It was like nothing I had ever been around in my life coming from my families businesses in Vacaville.
I am so glad I stuck with it and here I am becoming an A Women Lonshoremen in just a month, operating equipment and training inside portainer cranes and working cranes in the yard loading truck drivers. I would HAVE NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS thought I would be operating at a port. Unions provide a good living wage as well as benefits. Work isn’t always there when you start, but if you keep at it one day the work becomes steady. I would implore any young woman reading this to look into a trade and or check your local Longshore Hall to see if they have a casual list you can apply for.
I am glad I can provide myself medical benefits, as well as a pension. It will be scary when you join a union as a woman, you will cry, you will have terrible days, people will be mean to you. You are the minority being a woman. even today- but it will be worth it. Persevere knowing you aren’t alone & I am always here for any woman needing or wanting to talk or ask any questions. Unfortunately our Union isn’t currently hiring.” 🩷🙏🏻
Noelle DeMartini👷♀️#Longshoremen #ILWU
Thank you Sister Noelle!
You are an inspiration to the men and women on the waterfront!
ILA/ILWU
SOLIDARITY
51 CommentsComment on Facebook
Felicitaciones, pero te hubieras tomado la foto atrincando!
Hair tied up surely…..working on deck…?
Demasiado brilla ese chaleco 🙄
Took me 19 years to become an A book …. The casual hall stole my youth…. 😑😆🙏🏻
Keep going girl you got this my niece is down there.She is a casual.My daughter will be back in soon. I was a casualt one time.It is a tough job.Keep your head up on a swettle.
ILAALLTHEWAY#2046SAV,GA
You don't smile like that when lashing. Hard work.
I love all the dumb ass comments on here.🙄 If you read her story you’d know this is a photo from one of her first jobs. Girl stuck it out and is now making A. Congratulations! This job is no joke and it’s not for everyone. God bless and keep pushing on! 💪🏽
Get it sister! 🫡. Be safe out there!!😊
تعالو شوفو العمال عندنا. حاجات تفتح النفس للشغل 😂 الأسد أبودياب . شوف
⚓️🩷🙏🏻
Congratulations! Great encouraging message and a true inspiration for all longshoremen,men and women alike!
So proud of you Sister Noelle ☆ you got this 👍 💪 ILWU 502 New Westminster Canada 🇨🇦
Local 1423 congratulations 👏👏👏
Hello from Halifax Nova Scotia Canada!
Get it, girl!! I only made it a few years—4th generation. I gave it my very best, but eventually had to walk away. It’s hard work for a little woman!! ✨🙌🏼✨
Looking good. From port Newark
Brand new casual
How interested been working container ship before
Congratulations!! Great story!
Io da anni ho visto donne marinaie lavorare a bordo fare lashing italiane no
Congrats! ID life is ROUGH right now. See you at the hall!
Rio Grande Brasil 🇧🇷
Local 10 baby
Get lashing fuk that smiling 😃 IJS BE SAFE DOING SO
Port of Philadelphia
March 1, 1966
Longshoremen gather outside Pier 98 at Delaware and Oregon Avenues at the Port of Philadelphia. Ships sit at the dock as ILA members strike at 8am for better wages and working conditions on March 1, 1966.
Let’s us never forget the incredible sacrifices ILA members made to build our great union into what we have today.
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
14 CommentsComment on Facebook
That’s Mooney Boyer with his hands in his pockets
I was 10 yrs old, and remember that strike.
Harry Bridges got a lot of things done for the longshoremen.. quite a few really tough strikes..
Good luck trying to get up that gangway!!!
Power to the people unions all the way.\nOtherwise you'd be making peanuts
God bless them all.
God bless collective bargaining
🫡🫡🫡
FRISCO THE BOOMS
Hellow Jacky boy
Benefits pay
I’m waiting to see Terry Maloyd.
Port of NY/NJ
ILA Local 1804-1 Vice President John Daggett is at the mic as he welcomes the “ILA Kids” up front and centerstage during the local’s 31st Annual Outing in which hundreds of ILA members and their families came together to enjoy an incredible day at Costa del Sol in Union, NJ.
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
1 CommentComment on Facebook
Great job!! Great picnic!! Good beer!!
Union, NJ
ILA LOCAL 1804-1 HOSTS ITS 31ST ANNUAL OUTING IN UNION, NJ
12 CommentsComment on Facebook
Great time as always!!
Great times always provided by my brothers of ILA….So happy to join the best union in the world …..!!!🤘🍷🍷
Great Time !!!! ILA Proud!!!⚓️🇺🇸⚓️🇺🇸
Great ILA Family , friends and colleagues picnic 🎉🤝🍔🌭🇺🇸
❤️
Go Union
Looks like a wonderful time!
I forgot it was today! next year I’m gonna go
Port of New Orleans
ILA International Assistance General Organizer/South Atlantic & Gulf Coast District President Alan Robb visits the Port of New Orleans
Port of New Orleans Local 2036 President Blaine Ehrlich welcomed ILA International Assistant General Organizer/SAGCD President Alan Robb to the Port of New Orleans on Thursday, June 4, 2026.
During the visit they met up with ILA Local 3000 President Henry Glover, ILA members working at the shops and they were also able to tour three locations at the Port of New Orleans: C&C industries, Port of New Orleans and Ports of America for two days.
———————————————————————
A message sent to us from ILA Local 2036 President Blaine Ehrlich:
“” It was a complete honor and privilege to have President Alan Robb come down to New Orleans to tour the terminals and depot and meet with the membership. He really put time into speaking with them and that is much appreciated. I thanked Alan and expressed to him how great of a leader he is for the ILA.
Alan showed solidarity to the highest level to the Executive Board and members of ILA 2036, Maintenance & Repair on the docks of New Orleans. Thank you all so much for the hospitality and leadership displayed here!”
ILA ALL THE WAY 💪🏻
@ilaunion @ilasagcd
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
1 CommentComment on Facebook
ILA Local 2036 !Thanks Alan Robb for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit New Orleans and our MNR operations.ILA Strong!
Port Miami
ILA LOCAL 1922 WELCOMES THE SEAPORT FEDERAL CREDIT UNION TO PORT MIAMI
ILA Local 1922 President Obel Cruz and Executive Board members welcomed Elaine Thompson and Melissa McCann of the Seaport Federal Credit Union to Port Miami on Thursday, June 4, 2026.
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/
Seaport Federal Credit Union CEO Elaine Thompson shared this statement with us:
“A massive thank you to the leadership and members of ILA Local 1922 in Miami for the incredibly warm welcome at your union meeting!”
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).
Member Audio Access (MAA): Manage your accounts and perform transactions anytime using a touch-tone phone.
CU-By-Mail/Fax/Phone: Complete many account transactions conveniently by mail, fax, or phone.
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
✊⚓
#ILALocal1922
14 CommentsComment on Facebook
Is it open to retired members of 1922?
Congratulations local 1922 Miami
Thanks for Sharing
Seaport is the Best… sorry I missed the meeting
Looks exclusive ,congratulations on making an idea a reality 🤔 😳 👀!!!
Elaine & Melissa are the best! Very knowledgeable and always there to help!
The best credit union ever!!!!!
👍🏾
Local 1414 is Knocking at your front door
What location?
RAULITOOOO !!!
Go Union
Port of Boston
Longshoremen on the waterfront at the Port of Boston right after the turn of the century in April of 1901. These men were the dockworkers that moved the cargo that helped build the infrastructure of our great nation.
Nine years before this photograph was taken the International Longshoremen’s Association was formed by 11 delegates in the Great Lakes region in the city of Detroit in 1892.
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
I wonder who they are? Great photo
THE ORIGINAL LONGSHOREMEN !!!!
The Knights of Labor
Loaded unloaded ships barges of the cargo on or off
Port of NY/NJ
Lady Liberty stands tall and proud as container ship passes by her with the Freedom Tower in the background as ILA members look on at Port Liberty Container Terminal in Bayonne, NJ
May God Bless America and God Bless ILA members and their families!
Have a great evening ILA sisters and brothers!
We are the International Longshoremen’s Association
Established 1892
#InternationalLongshoremensAssociation
6 CommentsComment on Facebook