Longshoremen Strike Reignites a Labor Debate on the Right

• A major dockworkers’ union demanded wage increases and a ban on automation

• After President Biden pressed for a deal, the Longshoremen agreed to a 61.5 percent wage bump

• The strike uncovered a split on the right between the pro-worker right and more traditional, big-business Republicans

The story

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) brought ports along the East and Gulf Coasts to a halt, demanding a 77 percent wage increase and a total ban on the automation of container-moving trucks, cranes, and gates to protect their jobs.

Despite several generous offers from employers, including a 50 percent wage increase and expanded retirement benefits, the ILA initially rejected the deals and proceeded with a strike they had been threatening for over a year.

Within a week, a tentative deal on wages was reached to increase wages by 61.5 percent over six years, but negotiations are set to resume after the Christmas season in mid-January.

The strike made headlines because of the damaging effects it could have on supply chains and the cost of goods, but it also uncovered a debate on the right between more traditional, Ronald Reagan-era Republicans, who are often skeptical of labor unions, and those on the new right who take a more populist approach to economics and labor.

The politics

Traditionally conservative outlets such as National Review argued that the strike was harmful not just to port operations but to the entire economy, and the magazine called for President Biden to use his powers under the Taft-Hartley Act to end it.

The Taft-Hartley Act grants the president the authority to end strikes by imposing an 80-day cooling-off period if they pose a threat to national security or public welfare.

From this perspective, the strike was a clear case of labor overreach, where union bosses like the wealthy ILA President Harold Daggett wield too much power at the expense of ordinary workers and consumers. Daggett, it is worth mentioning, has an annual salary of $728,000, lives in a massive estate with a five-car garage and a Bentley, and once owned a 76-foot yacht.

Critics argue that the union’s demand for a ban on automation is economically impractical and harmful, as it would lead to inefficiencies that drive up costs for all Americans. For these conservatives, invoking the Taft-Hartley Act is the only way to restore balance and prevent further damage.

On the other side of the debate, the new right sees the strike as a legitimate fight for worker rights. Sohrab Ahmari, for example, argues that the ILA is pushing back against decades of corporate overreach that has gutted the working class.

Ahmari points out that beginning in the 1970s, “corporations teamed up with politicians of both parties to smash FDR’s New Deal.”

In this instance, the populist right aligns with the populist left in believing that this corporate-government alliance led to lower wages, a rise in service-based jobs, and an economy dominated by Wall Street and aggressive profit-seeking.

Supporting the dockworkers’ strike, to this faction of conservatives, is a crucial step for empowering middle-class workers in an economy dominated by big business.

This divide between free-market conservatives and the new pro-labor right reveals the broader ideological tensions within the conservative movement.

Misrepresented in the media

The media often overlooks the resurgence of the labor movement’s influence, with over half a million workers participating in strikes and walkouts in 2023 — a sharp rise from 2021. Support for organized labor has also reached its highest level since 1965, with 70 percent of Americans approving of labor unions.

What’s also rarely acknowledged by the mainstream media is the role of figures like Donald Trump and JD Vance in shifting the economic ideology of the GOP, who have positioned themselves as champions of the working class. Both advocate for bringing back American manufacturing from overseas and oppose the corporate-government alliance that, in their view, has harmed American workers.

Vance, in particular, strongly emphasizes the importance of American manufacturing from overseas — a point the media often fails to address or contend with. Once celebrated on MSNBC as a working-class hero for his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance is now vilified, despite holding the same economic views he had back then.

Why it matters

The longshoremen strike is more than just a short-term dispute — it’s part of an ongoing battle over the future of American labor. As automation threatens jobs across industries, the ILA’s fight to prevent it at US ports highlights the broader concern many workers have about being replaced by machines.

Conservatives are sorting out which economic and political vision they want for the country: siding with businesses, the free market, and prioritizing lower costs for goods and services — or embracing the growing populist push to support workers even if it brings short-term pain to the economy.