December 16, 2013
By James McNamara
Jersey City, NJ – (Dec. 11th, 2013) Kenneth C. Riley, President of ILA Local 1422 in Charleston, South Carolina and an International Vice President traveled to New Jersey this week and addressed the monthly meeting of ILA Local 1804-1 on Tuesday evening, December 10th, 2013 in Jersey City. Dennis A. Daggett, President of ILA Local 1804-1 and the leader of the ILA’s Atlantic Coast District called Brother Riley a “mentor” of his and a champion of working men and women in the United States and around the world.
In his address to hundreds of ILA 1804-1 members, Brother Riley said the ILA’s influence and power was tied into its role handling commerce. “This local (1804-1) is an example of the power of the ILA,” Kenneth Riley said. “When you move commerce, you hold the power.” ILA International President Harold J. Daggett, the former president of ILA Local 1804-1, addressed his home local and both he and Dennis Daggett reported on the current battle between NYSA-ILA and the Waterfront Commission in New York Harbor and of the successful Labor-Management Summit in the White House last week.
Brother Riley said the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor’s interference in the NYSA-ILA Collective Bargaining Agreement was not unlike his own local battle with the South Carolina State Ports Authority. The South Carolina ILA leader said the State Ports Authority has robbed his home local 1422 and other Charleston locals of waterfront jobs. “Government interference is never good,” said Brother Riley. Thomas Mackell of the ILA also addressed the meeting of ILA Local 1804-1.
