A prime labor union chief breathlessly praised President-elect Donald Trump for proving him mistaken and displaying {that a} Republican can champion the working class.
Dennis Daggett, the chief vice chairman of the Worldwide Longshoreman’s Affiliation — the union that shut down ports with a strike earlier this yr — mentioned his current assembly with Trump was “an expertise I by no means imagined in my wildest desires.”
“This man really desires to combat for America and its working class. In over 25 years of working in Washington, I’ve by no means seen a Republican take up the mantle for working-class folks. President-elect Trump proved me mistaken yesterday,” Daggett wrote on Fb. publish.
“He didn’t simply inform us in personal that he helps employees — he made it clear to the entire world.”
Daggett had beforehand been guarded about his opinions on Trump. However the ILA has largely backed Democrats.
Daggett and his father, ILA president Harold Daggett, met with Trump final Thursday. They talked concerning the union’s deliberations with the US Maritime Alliance, which represents port operators, delivery strains and different key employers.
“It’s uncommon to fulfill a pacesetter who really listens, and even rarer to seek out one who’s keen to behave,” Daggett mentioned.
“[Trump] was not simply attentive to our issues; he was receptive and genuinely engaged in a dialogue concerning the existential menace automation poses — not solely to the Longshore sector however to our communities and the very cloth of this nice nation.”
Following that assembly, Trump took on one in every of their prime grievances — automation.
“I’ve studied automation, and know nearly all the pieces there’s to find out about it,” Trump wrote on Fact Social after the assembly.
“The sum of money saved is nowhere close to the misery, damage, and hurt it causes for American Employees, on this case, our Longshoremen. Overseas corporations have made a fortune within the U.S. by giving them entry to our markets.”
In October, ILA went on strike for about three days earlier than reaching a brief deal that prolonged contracts till Jan. 15, shopping for time for extra negotiations.
That strike had spooked markets and raised issues about provide chains getting snarled. It marked the primary strike by the union in practically 5 many years.
Negotiations had been stalled amid issues about wages and automation.
Republicans have typically been at odds with unions, skeptical that heavy-handed negotiating ways on behalf of employees might hurt job creation and the economic system writ massive.
Nonetheless, underneath Trump, the Republican Occasion has made beneficial properties amongst working-class voters and shifted in a extra protectionist route with regards to commerce.
Trump had famously invited Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien to the Republican Nationwide Conference in July, marking the primary time that the union’s management at spoken on the celebration’s marquee gathering.
In September, the Teamsters declined to endorse a Democrat within the presidential contest for the primary time in practically three many years.
Previous to doing so, the Teamsters launched inner polling information displaying {that a} majority of its rank-and-file members backed Trump. A number of native Teamsters chapters endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats seethed on the nationwide management for the snub.
Trump additionally drew reward from labor in November by tapping Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) as his decide for Secretary of the Division of Labor.
Chavez-DeRemer is the only Republican lawmaker within the Home to have sponsored the Defending the Proper to Manage Act, which bolstered advantages for employees becoming a member of unions and blunted some provisions in state right-to-work legal guidelines, which defend employees from being compelled to hitch a union.
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