International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) President Harold Daggett has jumped into the national spotlight as he heads up negotiations for the union in its strike at ports across the U.S.
The ILA launched its first strike since 1977 early Tuesday with Daggett leading the charge after the union's six-year contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents port employers, expired.
According to Daggett's biography on the ALI website, he was first elected president of the union in 2011, and is currently serving in his fourth four-year term at the helm after working more than 60 years in the industry. The write-up credits him with winning "groundbreaking protections for his ILA members against the ravishes of automation" over the past decade.
Daggett also served as president of Local 1804-1 for 14 years, stepping down in 2011 when he was named President Emeritus of the local. The ALI bio notes that the union honored Daggett by erecting a statue of him outside 1804-1's North Bergen, New Jersey, headquarters in 2023.
Union filings from the Department of Labor indicate Daggett was paid a $728,000 salary by the ALI last year, and another $173,000 from 1804-1.
Daggett's oldest son, Dennis Daggett, currently serves as the executive vice president of the ILA and as president of 1804-1. Dennis was paid salaries of $388,000 and $314,000, respectively, by the labor groups last year, filings show.
In 2017, The New York Times reported that "the Justice Department, which has lost two cases against [Harold] Daggett, has described him as an ‘associate’ of the Genovese crime family whose rise through the union ranks was part of the mob’s plan."
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The Times also noted that, at the time, the ILA president owned a 76-foot yacht, the Obsession, and Daggett had been seen riding in a Bentley by members.
The news of Daggett's salaries and luxury lifestyle grabbed attention on social media on Tuesday, and a report that the union leader sold his yacht last year prompted Elon Musk — one of the richest men in the world — to joke, "Dude had more yachts than me!"
