PALM BEACH, FL. (December 12, 2024) – President Donald J. Trump met with the two top leaders of the International Longshoremen’s Association – International President Harold J. Daggett and Executive Vice President Dennis A. Daggett – to discuss the union’s negotiations with United States Maritime Alliance, at a two-hour meeting at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. The soon-to-be inaugurated 47th President of the United States sent a lengthy message out on Truth Social, following the meeting with the ILA leadership expressing strong support for ILA Longshore Workers, and taking a stand against job-killing automation.
“There has been a lot of discussion having to do with ‘automation on United States docks,” President Trump wrote. “I’ve studied automation and know just about everything there is to know about it. The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen. Foreign companies have made a fortune in the U.S. by giving them access to our markets. They shouldn’t be looking for every last penny knowing how many families are hurt.”
“I am so grateful to President Donald Trump for his courageous support for American ILA longshore workers,” said ILA President Harold Daggett. “He totally understands the threat that automation and semi-automation has in destroying jobs and families. He has stood up for us in his strong statement against the foreign-owned ocean carriers pushing automation on American ports and then taking their billion-dollar profits back home with them.”
ILA Executive Vice President Dennis Daggett shared the ILA’s concern that America’s national security is threatened from cyber-attacks on automated equipment from China and other U.S. adversaries, an issue President Trump indicated was of great concern to him and his advisors.
“I hope this strong support from President Trump will encourage USMX to remove any language on automated or semi-automated equipment in their proposals moving forward, and we can get a new Master Contract without any disruptions,” said President Daggett.
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