Harris Backs Striking Dockworkers, Blasts Trump for Appointing ‘Union Busters’
Vice President Kamala Harris came out in support of the nation’s striking dockworkersWednesday, casting the work stoppage that shut down ports from Maine to Texas as a fight for “fairness.”
“Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown,” the Democratic presidential nominee said in a statement. “The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits.”
Tens of thousands of workers walked off the job Tuesday morning amid a contract dispute with port employers. Their union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, is calling for significant raises and protections against automation in a new six-year deal. A prolonged strike could end up squeezing the economy just as the November election approaches, putting Harris and President Joe Biden’s administration in a tricky spot.
But so far, the White House has resisted calls to intervene in the dispute and force workers back on the job in the name of national security. Biden has said he believes in the collective bargaining process and that the two sides need to sort out their differences at the negotiating table.
On Wednesday, Harris used the strike as an opportunity to highlight how she’s different from her GOP opponent, former President Donald Trump, who was hostile to unionsthroughout his time in the White House.
“Donald Trump … wants to pull us back to a time before workers had the freedom to organize,” she said. “As President, he blocked overtime benefits for millions of workers, he appointed union busters to the NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] - and just recently, he said striking workers should be fired.”
The latter was a reference to a recent chat Trump had on X, formerly Twitter, with his supporter Elon Musk, the social media platform’s owner. The former president praised Muskas the kind of guy who would fire strikers, which is generally illegal. (The two men laughed.)
“The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits.”
- Vice President Kamala Harris
Harris is also correct that, as president, Trump appointed anti-union officials to the NLRB who made it more difficult for workers to organize.
He also watered down a reform by his predecessor, Barack Obama, so that millions fewer workers would have overtime protections when they work more than 40 hours in a week. (If Trump wins in November, he could once again undermine a progressive overtime reform, this time issued by Biden.)
Most major labor unions have endorsed the Harris campaign, with the exception of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which declined to back either candidate. Multiple labor historians recently told HuffPost that they consider Biden’s administration to be the most pro-union since at least Franklin D. Roosevelt’s, and that Harris could build on Biden’s legacy should she defeat Trump.