International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) President Harold Daggett announced Sunday that the union is endorsing Joe Biden for president.
Daggett urged ILA members in Florida, Ohio and Illinois to support the former vice president in Tuesday’s presidential primaries in those states.
The ILU represents longshoremen working at many ports on the East and Gulf coasts as well as the Great Lakes and some inland rivers.
“Joe Biden’s friendship and support of the ILA goes back decades from his time as a U.S. senator from Delaware,” Daggett stated in an announcement. “He was close friends with ILA leaders Skinny Wilson and Alex Talmadge and is the best candidate in 2020 to defeat Donald Trump and return honor, dignity and prosperity to the United States of America.”
The ILA said in its endorsement that Biden’s campaign “is built on a promise to check the abuse of corporate power over labor and hold corporate executives personally accountable for violations of labor laws; encourage and incentivize unionization and collective bargaining; and ensure that workers are treated with dignity and receive the pay, benefits and workplace protections they deserve.”
Daggett charged that President Trump “has filled the courts with anti-union and right-wing conservative judges who look to further weaken labor laws protecting workers. He supports national right to work legislation and will continue to weaken the voice and power of America’s working class. We must elect Joe Biden as president.”
