HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA—Michael J. Vigneron was unanimously reelected to a second term as President of the Atlantic Coast District (ACD), International Longshoremen’s Association, on the final day of the three-day 36thQuadrennial Convention, held at the Diplomat Beach Resort Hollywood Hotel.
Hundreds of delegates cheered as President Vigneron pledged to keep the ACD moving forward and building on the success of the union’s new six-year Master Contract Agreement negotiated last year.
Delegates representing ACD ports from Maine to Virginia on the East Coast; Eastern Canada; Great Lakes ports and Puerto Rico also returned James Stolpinski for a third term to his Secretary-Treasurer’s position and Bernard Dudley as ACD General Vice President. The ACD Convention sessions were held Tuesday to Thursday, July 16-18, 2019.
Fifteen ACD Vice Presidents were reelected to new four-years terms with Harry Hennessey from the ILA’s United Marine Division and Don Josberger from the ILA affiliated International Organization of Masters Mates and Pilots, joining the ACD Board for the first time.
The ACD’s three-day convention was highlighted by addresses from the union’s International President Harold J. Daggett who challenged ILA members to prove to management that longshoremen could outperform automated machinery to protect ILA work and jurisdiction. The Mayor of San Juan Puerto Rico, the Honorable Carmen Yulín Cruz, delivered a heartfelt address where she recounted the devastation her homeland suffered from Hurricane Maria nearly two years ago and the gratitude Puerto Ricans felt from union members, like the ILA, who offered assistance in the hurricane’s aftermath.
The ACD Convention heard from a number of speakers from labor; shipping; health care professionals and legislators. The ACD Convention is held a week before the International’s 55thQuadrennial Convention which will begin on Monday, July 22, 2019, also at the Diplomat Resort Beach Hollywood Hotel.
Those ACD Vice Presidents reelected to a four-year term include: Richard Krueger (Baltimore); George McEvoy, III (Ports of New England); Owen Boyle (Ports of Canada); Albert Batten (Ports of Canada); Larry Bachtell (Port of Hampton Roads); John Daggett (Port of New York and New Jersey); James Cocchia (Port of New York and New Jersey); David Cicalese (Port of New York and New Jersey); Richard Suarez (Port of New York and New Jersey); John Cuozzo (Port of New York and New Jersey); Michael Izzo (Port of New York and New Jersey); Brian Witiw (Port of Philadelphia and Wilmington); Carlos Albertorio Santiago (Ports of Puerto Rico); Andre Joseph (Ports of the Great Lakes) and Michael Baker (Ports of the Great Lakes).