ILA’s Civil, Human & Women’s Rights Committee To Honor Herbie Hall, Sr.; Vincent S. Cameron; Lovette McGill and John Atkins

“Our ILA Civil, Human & Women’s Rights Committee has selected four outstanding labor and industry leaders to honor at the 2024 dinner,” said ILA President Harold Daggett. “Herbie Hall, Vince Cameron and Lovette McGill are accomplished ILA leaders, who have extended their talents to serve top-level posts with the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), NAACP and the Urban League. John Atkins has amassed an impressive maritime career, coupled with dedicated service to his community.”

Herbert Hall, Sr., will receive the “Martin Luther King, Jr. Award” from the organization he has led as co-chairman for many years. His waterfront career began when he joined ILA Local 1233 in 1979. A principled and natural leader, Herbie Hall was elected Business Agent of ILA Local 1233 in 1992, a position he still holds 32 years later. On the ILA’s Executive Council, Herbie Hall serves as an International Vice President as is the long serving president of the Union County Chapter of APRI.

Herbie Hall did labor studies at Rutgers School of Labor in New Brunswick, New Jersey and the George Meany Labor Education Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

A devoted husband, Herbie Hall is married to Sherryl Gordon-Hall, and together, they have five children: Shamin, Quiana, Talnisha, Herbert, Jr., and Symira.

Vincent S. Cameron has been a leading fixture at the Port of Jacksonville, Florida for decades and rose in the ranks at his ILA Local 1408 to serve as President. Today, he holds two important leadership posts: President of the Southeastern Dock and Marine Council (SEDMC) and International Vice President. He helped establish the first-ever SEDMC Women’s Maritime Conference. He is slated to receive the “Labor Leader Award” at the November 2nd dinner.

In his native Jacksonville, where he raised his six college-educated children and is married to Dr. Jaynell Smith-Cameron, Vince Cameron civic involvement includes serving on the City of Jacksonville Civil Service Board; Jacksonville Urban League Auxiliary; The Propellor Club; Leadership Jacksonville and the NAACP Executive Board.

Vince Cameron’s collegiate career include studies at Florida Junior College and the University of Texas at Austin.

The 2024 ILA Civil, Human and Women’s Right Committee “Women’s Right Award” goes to the ILA’s progressive and legendary labor leader, Lovette McGill. Her professional career is that of a longshorewoman, as a long-time member of ILA Local 1416 in Miami, Florida, where she holds the distinction of being the first female elected to office in her local in 2016 and re-elected in 2020 to the local’s Audit Committee. Her secondary career includes decades of giving back to countless community organizations, charity campaigns and holding top local and state-wide offices with the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

For 16 years, she served as President of the A. Philip Randolph Institute Miami-Dade Chapter and now serves as their Treasurer in addition to the title “President Emeritus.” Lovette McGill served for two years as President of the APRI Florida State Chapter.

A graduate of the University of Miami-Coral Gables as a Dean’s List student in 1976, Lovette McGill shines in her role as Queen of the South where she has organized Toy Drives to benefit Miami Mission shelter for Women and Children; Organizing “Operation Teddy Bear” to collect stuffed animals throughout the South Atlantic to send to the youngest victims in earthquake ravaged countries; Haiti Children’s Charities; and each year collects and fills 500 school backpacks to donate to Miami’s Overtown neighborhood children.

John Atkins, who will receive the “William Bernard Dudley Humanitarian Award” on Nov. 2nd, is a well-respected maritime executive who has worked closely with the ILA throughout his 39-year career. In his current role as CEO of Port Liberty Terminals, he is responsible for the strategic oversight and daily operations of Port Liberty’s two container terminals in New York and New Jersey. John Atkins has held senior management positions including posts at CMA and NYK.

John’s leadership role is also extended into the Port Community. He is Chairman of both the Confidential Discussion Agreement and the Sustainable Terminal Services Agreement, which are two entities that help to further the service of the terminals in the Port of New and New Jersey. John Atkins serves on the Board of several charities in the Staten Island and Hudson County communities, furthering Port Liberty’s corporate philosophy of being a good corporate citizen.

For dinner information contact Billie Jean Easley at [email protected] or call cell 908-296-6598