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Season 5, Episode 198

45,000 Longshoremen on strike for new contract and better protections

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America's Work Force Union Podcast AWF HuffPost

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Guest Name:

Dave Jamieson

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Dave Jamieson | HuffPost 

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Dave Jamieson, the labor reporter for the HuffPost, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss his recent article on the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike and provided insights into what he’s learned through his interviews and research.

The ILA has gone on strike at 36 East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. After negotiations for a new contract brokedown, 45,000 workers began their strike at midnight on Oct. 1, following the expiration of their previous agreement.

ILA International President Harold J. Daggett said that negotiations broke down after the employer wanted to automate the docks, did not offer fair wage increases and would continue to require mandatory overtime. Jamieson discussed the similarities between this strike and the 2023 Teamsters strike at UPS over wages and SAG-AFTRA’s strike against the video game industry this year over the unregulated use of AI in games. Jamieson said that the ILA is trying to avoid automation. With complete automation at the ports, there would be a significant loss of workers as they would not be considered necessary, he said.

In his article, Jamieson discussed the pressure placed on President Joe Biden to intervene and end the strike. He talked about the options available to the President through Taft-Hartley regulations. According to some economists Jamieson has spoken with, a short strike would not significantly impact the economy, but a prolonged strike would be different. He said that it does not appear that President Biden will get involved as he sees this as workers exercising their right to collective bargaining. 

Listen to the show above to hear more from Jamieson on the ILA strike.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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