Hillary Clinton’s Election As President Will Halt “Right To Work” Campaign And Other Legislation Harmful to ILA Members and America’s Labor Movement
NORTH BERGEN, NJ – (March 29, 2016) A week from today, Tuesday, April 5, 2016, the ILA’s Great Lake State of Wisconsin will host its presidential primary; in preparation ILA President Harold Daggett spoke about the reasons the ILA endorsed Hillary Clinton for president last November and why it is so important for the ILA and working families to support her candidacy.
“Secretary Clinton will certainly be the Democratic nominee for president,” said ILA President Daggett. “We applaud many of the pro-labor positions her Democratic opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders has taken, but he just does not have the support across the nation to overtake Mrs. Clinton and win the nomination.”
The ILA leader continued, “The current Republican leading candidate—Donald Trump—has stated clearly that he favors the frightful prospect that all 50 States in America pass ‘Right To Work’ legislation. And Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich’s anti-union positions are well-documented. Trump, Cruz or Kasich would be a disaster for the ILA and the middle class. Hillary Clinton is America’s Best Labor Candidate.”
In a meeting last week in Tampa, Florida with the leaders of all ILA locals from Maine to Texas and the Great Lakes, President Harold Daggett reviewed the many legislative attempts last year to curb the rights of longshore labor from protecting their hard-won gains through strikes and other legal measures. Much of this legislation was prompted following the contentious negotiations on the West Coast between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association.
“Big business and the ultra-right wing of Congress looked to punish ILWU members and ILA members and take away all our negotiation weapons by placing longshore workers under the Railway Labor Act,” said President Daggett. “Other legislation tried to establish dangerous and unreachable productivity standards at our ports that was aimed at destroying the two longshore unions.”
President Daggett told ILA officers that Hillary Clinton came to the union hall of ILA Local 1422 in Charleston, South Carolina last October to demonstrate her strong commitment to the ILA. She was greeted by International Vice President Ken Riley, president of ILA Local 1422 in Charleston, who delivered the news of the ILA endorsement.
“I spoke to Secretary Hillary Clinton shortly after her appearance at ILA Local 1422 and she again pledged her full support to the ILA and its members,” said President Daggett. “The ILA will have a friend in the White House in Hillary Clinton.”
The ILA President intends to create an “ILA Army” to spread out in all the primary states campaigning for Hillary Clinton, starting with Wisconsin.
“I urge all ILA members and their families in Wisconsin to get out and vote for Hillary Clinton for the April 5 primary,” concluded President Daggett, “and I hope all ILA members across America will continue to support this great labor candidate.”