Biden Labor Secretary Signals Support For Striking Workers After Union Boss Boasts They’ll ‘Cripple’ U.S.

The union boss who launched a massive dockworkers strike on Wednesday thanked the Biden-Harris administration’s Labor Secretary for her “wisdom.”

Harold Daggett, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association, responded to a statement from Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su expressing support for the union’s demands. Daggett said the union’s 85,000 members are “grateful for the wisdom, courage and leadership of our Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su.”

“Our ILA rank and file members will continue to strike for fair wages and their share of the Foreign Ocean Carriers record billion-dollar profits and we are grateful to have the support of the U.S. Labor Department,” Daggett said.

Su praised dock workers for putting “their health and safety on the line to keep working through the pandemic,” and slammed port owners for refusing “to put an offer on the table that reflects workers’ sacrifice and contributions to their employer’s profits” as “their CEOs bring in millions of dollars in compensation per year.”

Su’s words of support could signal a return to normal relations between the White House and the union, which has donated more than $1.6 million to Democrats on Daggett’s watch. Daggett endorsed President Joe Biden, but began lashing out at the White House as the strike drew near. About 45,000 dock workers walked off the job and hit the picket lines on Tuesday in a massive strike that has shut down billions of dollars in trade.

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“The American economy has defied all expectations thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s leadership,” Su said. “There is room for both companies and their workers to prosper. The parties need to get back to the negotiating table, and that must begin with these giant shipping magnates acknowledging that if they can make record profits, their workers should share in that economic success.”

The strike snarls supply chains and chokes off nearly 50% of U.S. imports, including products like coffee, bananas, cars, clothing, and Christmas decorations. A total of 14 ports along the East and Gulf Coast are affected, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The union rejected a last-minute deal from port ownership, represented by the United States Maritime Alliance, which offered the union a nearly 50% wage raise. The union had demanded higher wages and zero port automation.

Su oversaw billions of dollars in COVID unemployment fraud as Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Su, who never secured Senate confirmation, recently came under fire for a proposed rule that would require companies involved in the Labor Department’s apprenticeship program to implement diversity, equity, and inclusion measures, The Daily Wire reported.