Union boss threatens to “paralyze” America with a major strike

Harold Daggett, president of the International Longshoremen Association (ILA), threatened Tuesday to “paralyze” America by shutting down a significant portion of the U.S. economy while about 45,000 union members waged a major strike.

In a video message shared on X, formerly Twitter, Daggett said: “If my men take to the streets from Maine to Texas, every single port will be closed.”

Daggett warned that the first week of the ILA strike would see constant media coverage. In the second week of the strike, Daggett said that car dealerships would no longer be able to continue selling cars and that they would be “laid off” because the cars were not being shipped to U.S. ports. The ILA president claimed that from the third week of the strike, shopping centers would close because they were no longer able to “get the good stuff from China” or continue to sell products such as clothing.

“Everything in the United States comes on a ship. They go out of business. Construction workers are being laid off because the materials aren't coming in, the steel isn't coming in, the lumber isn't coming in,” Daggett said. “They’re losing their jobs.”

Daggett warned that companies represented by the US Maritime Alliance “would be better off sitting down” and signing a contract with the ILA. Otherwise, Daggett threatened: “I'm going to cripple you, and you have no idea what that means,” Daggett said.

In another video, Daggett can be heard telling a Fox News reporter that the US Maritime Alliance needs to strengthen protections against the automation of worker jobs. He claimed that the companies represented by the US Maritime Alliance were caught “dodging the contract” and that they “didn’t care.”

“It’s not fair,” Daggett said. “And if we don’t accelerate now, they would like to run us over, and we won’t allow that.”

READ MORE: 45,000 workers strike, threatening to cripple US economy

The union leader claimed it was “time for Washington” to put “pressure” on the US Maritime Alliance to get companies to agree to the union's demands for significant wage increases and protections from automation.

Daggett stressed that if the contract dispute isn't resolved quickly, “there would be no cars, no food, no clothes.” He added, “Do you know how many people rely on our jobs? Half the world.”