Vice President Kamala Harris came out in support of the dockworkers strike, which the union boss declared would “cripple” the economy.
In a statement released on Wednesday and published on X, Harris endorsed the International Longshoremen’s Association strike — claiming that the economy-crippling strike “is about fairness.”
“This strike is about fairness,” the statement read. “Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits.”
Harris also used the occasion to attack her opponent, claiming that former President Donald Trump has made “empty promises” to workers while vowing that she would “have workers’ backs” and fight for an “opportunity economy” — Harris’ new favorite meaningless phrase that she has refused to define.
“Donald Trump, on the other hand, wants to pull us back to a time before workers had the freedom to organize,” she claimed. “Donald Trump makes empty promise after empty promise to American workers, but never delivers. He thinks our economy should only work for those who own the big skyscrapers, not those who actually build them.”
Statement from Vice President Harris on the International Longshoremen’s Association Strike pic.twitter.com/R8mbSXbbMS
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 2, 2024
International Longshoremen’s Association president Harold Daggett has threatened to “cripple” the economy if the dockworkers — whose union has donated more than $1.6 million to Democrats — did not get exactly what they are demanding for their contracts.
Despite endorsing President Joe Biden, Daggett has been lashing out at the Biden-Harris administration as the strike loomed.
Biden has the power to pause the strike for 80 days — which would effectively protect Harris from facing the consequences of the strike before the November election — using the Taft-Hartley Act. However, Biden has confirmed that he has no intention to use it, prompting many to speculate that he is refusing to go out of his way to help Harris after the Democrats forced him to end his reelection bid and endorse her.
Others have speculated that Biden’s refusal to pause the dockworkers strike is part of an effort by Democrats to court the union vote — as Harris has struggled to gain support from unions, despite the fact that it has been a reliable voting bloc for Democrats for decades. Harris is the first Democrat presidential candidate to not get an endorsement from the Teamsters Union in nearly 30 years, with almost 60% of Teamsters members endorsing Trump and the union as a whole refusing to issue an endorsement.
Meanwhile, this strike is going to cause serious problems for the Harris-Walz campaign. According to the Daily Wire: “As the strike continues, Harris is caught between trying to appease thousands of union members and averting economic disaster. So far, she has faced an uphill battle to win over voters with her economic message, and polls show that the majority of voters favor Trump on the economy.”
