WASHINGTON — Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO, issued this statement of support for America’s largest port workers union, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which halted contract negotiations with port management this week:
“From coast to coast, we stand strong with union port workers and the 85,000 ILA members who are fighting for a fair contract. For centuries, the longshore industry has provided a pathway to economic opportunity for people of color and other workers who have faced unjust barriers. Since the 19th century, port worker unions have fought to improve working conditions, secure regular employment, and increase wages for dockworkers, longshoremen, and other essential workers who support our domestic maritime industry.
“In recent decades, foreign shipping conglomerates have raked in increasing profits off the backs of U.S. port workers who endure brutal and dangerous work conditions without seeing a fraction of those profits returned to them. The shipping companies who make up the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) are bringing in billions in revenue and can afford to increase the wages of the employees who make those profits possible.
“Corporate greed is on the rise but so is our solidarity as we reject the elimination of essential port jobs and the introduction of port automation technology to replace workers. We saw corporate greed in action during the 2022 national contract fight in the freight rail industry. We saw it last year when writers and actors went on strike in Hollywood, and again when unionized auto workers were forced to go on strike. In every industry across America, workers are rising up and demanding their fair share. Rest assured that longshore workers are doing the same and we will not rest until our brothers and sisters in the U.S. maritime industry receive what they are owed.”
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As America’s largest transportation labor federation, TTD represents 37 unions and millions of American workers in maritime, construction, aviation, rail, transit, manufacturing, and more. The ILA is one of the 37 proud unions affiliated with TTD.