Union boss who threatened to ‘cripple’ economy lives in luxe 7,000 square-foot mansion
By Published Oct. 2, 2024 Updated Oct. 2, 2024, 4:50 p.m. ET

Harold Daggett — the union boss who has vowed to “cripple” the US economy if ports don’t ban automation and raise dockworkers’ wages sharply — had a Bentley convertible parked outside his sprawling mansion in New Jersey this week, exclusive photos obtained by The Post reveal.
Photos taken by drone on Tuesday show the British luxury car parked with its top up outside what appears to be a five-car garage that’s connected to his 7,136-square-foot, Tudor-style home by a covered skyway.
The hulking, two-story mansion — located on a 10-acre property in Sparta, a leafy enclave 50 miles west of New York City — encircles a spacious backyard patio with an amoeba-shaped pool.

The image above shows a Bentley parked in front of the Sparta, NJ home of Harold Daggett. LP Media for NY Post
A covered outdoor bar is situated next to what appears to be a massive, brick pizza oven.
A gate on the far side of the patio opens toward what looks like a free-standing sauna surrounded by a spacious wooden deck. A expansive swathe of forest surrounds the property on all sides.
The posh compound is nestled in a picturesque section of the Garden State near the Delaware Water Gap, where five-bedroom homes list for as much as $6 million, according to Zillow.

One realtor who spoke to The Post said that Daggett put the four-bedroom, six-and-a-half bathroom property on the market in 2004 at a listing price of $3.1 million before reducing it to $2.9 million. He eventually took it off the market.
Daggett, who fought back federal accusation of having Mafia ties, became president of the International Longshoremen’s Association in 2011, a job that comes with a salary of $728,000 annually on top of an additional $173,000 from ILA-Local 1804-1.
In 2005, he was accused of steering union benefits contracts to firms that paid kickbacks to organized crime at a Brooklyn trial, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Daggett took the witness stand that year after federal prosecutors charged him and two others with racketeering.
He described himself as a target of the mob – though a turncoat Mafia member had testified Daggett was a member of the Genovese crime family, The New York Times reported.
During the course of the trial, one of Daggett’s co-defendants – Lawrence Ricci, an alleged Genovese associate – disappeared. His body was found weeks later decomposing in the trunk of a car outside a New Jersey diner.
Ricci’s death remained unsolved, though speculation circulated that he was killed after refusing to plead guilty to avoid news reports of the trial.
Daggett was acquitted, along with the other co-defendants.

The 10-acre compound includes an in-ground pool, large patio and what appears to be a guest house. LP Media for NY Post
The 78-year-old boss — who is often seen in public sporting a polo shirt and a chunky gold medallion around his neck while casting himself as a staunch advocate for blue-collar workers — also previously owned a 76-foot yacht, according to reports.
“They’re gonna be like this,” Daggett said, grabbing his neck in a choking gesture during an interview last month as it became apparent that the union and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), the group negotiating for the ports, would fail to reach agreement on a new contract.
“I’ll cripple you. I will cripple you and you have no idea what that means. Nobody does,” he said.
The foul-mouthed union boss has apparently dug in his heels for a protracted strike.
“I don’t have a f—ing crystal ball between my legs, but it will last very long, I would tell you that,” he told The Wall Street Journal.
More than 45,000 dockworkers went on strike on Tuesday, shutting down 36 ports from Maine to Texas for the first time in nearly half a century.

The home is located in a secluded part of New Jersey, where homes sell for as much as $6 million, according to Zillow. LP Media for NY Post

Daggett’s home features a likely outdoor sauna. LP Media for NY Post
The dockworkers’ strike, their first since 1977, could snarl supply chains and cause shortages and higher prices if it stretches on for more than a few weeks. It is also costing the US economy more than $3 billion per day.
Beginning after midnight, the workers walked picket lines Tuesday and carried signs calling for more money and a ban on automation that could cost workers their jobs.
Experts say consumers won’t likely notice shortages for at least a few weeks, if the strike lasts that long, though some perishable items such as bananas could disappear from grocery stores — although at this time of year, most other fruits and vegetables are domestically grown and not processed at ports, according to Alan Siger, president of the Produce Distributors Association.

A large brick pizza oven stands poolside at the Sparta home. LP Media for NY Post

A skyway from the main home gives covered access to a five-car garage. LP Media for NY Post

Daggett is president of the International Longshoremen’s Association. AFP via Getty Images
In anticipation of a strike, most major retailers also stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items.
The USMX said both sides did budge from their initial positions.
The alliance offered 50% raises over the six-year life of the contract.
Comments from the union’s leadership had briefly suggested a move to 61.5%, but the union has since signaled that it’s sticking with its initial demand for a 77% pay increase over six years.
“We have demonstrated a commitment to doing our part to end the completely avoidable ILA strike,” the alliance said Tuesday.

The ILA’s 45,000 members walked out on the job at ports stretching from Maine to Texas. Bloomberg via Getty Images
The ports’ pay offer is more than every other recent union settlement, the group said.
“We look forward to hearing from the Union about how we can return to the table and actually bargain, which is the only way to reach a resolution,” the statement said.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration put pressure on port employers to raise their offer to secure a deal with dockworkers.
Administration officials led by Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su have been urging both sides to return to the bargaining table.
With Post Wires


https://nypost.com/2024/10/02/busin...as-bentley-5-car-garage-and-guest-house/

I believe that Harold Daggett is the son of George Daggett, and old-time associate of the Genovese Family.

George Daggett was a longtime union official and top mob functionary of the International Longshoremen's Assn., with his headquarters based out of Northern New Jersey.

Harold owes both his union position and his alleged mob connection to his dad.

Sounds like a very difficult individual in my opinion. Who the fuck would even want to do business with this guy?

Dockworkers’ union to suspend strike until Jan. 15 to allow time to negotiate new contract

DETROIT (AP) — The union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports reached a deal Thursday to suspend a three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract.

The union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, is to resume working immediately. The temporary end to the strike came after the union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, reached a tentative agreement on wages, the union and ports said in a joint statement.

A person briefed on the agreement said the ports sweetened their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%. The person didn’t want to be identified because the agreement is tentative. Any wage increase would have to be approved by union members as part of the ratification of a final contract.

The union went on strike early Tuesday after its contract expired in a dispute over pay and the automation of tasks at 36 ports stretching from Maine to Texas. The strike came at the peak of the holiday shopping season at the ports, which handle about half the cargo from ships coming into and out of the United States.

The walkout raised the risk of shortages of goods on store shelves if it lasted more than a few weeks. Most retailers, though, had stocked up or shipped items early in anticipation of the dockworkers’ strike.

“With the grace of God, and the goodwill of neighbors, it’s gonna hold,” President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday night after the agreement.
In a statement later, Biden applauded both sides “for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding.”

Biden said that collective bargaining is “critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up.”

The union’s membership won’t need to vote on the temporary suspension of the strike, meaning that giant cranes should start loading and unloading shipping containers Thursday night. Until Jan. 15, the workers will be covered under the old contract, which expired on Sept. 30.
The union had been demanding a 77% raise over six years, plus a complete ban on the use of automation at the ports, which members see as a threat to their jobs. Both sides also have been apart on the issues of pension contributions and the distribution of royalties paid on containers that are moved by workers.

Thomas Kohler, who teaches labor and employment law at Boston College, said the agreement to halt the strike means that the two sides are close to a final deal.
“I’m sure that if they weren’t going anywhere they wouldn’t have suspended (the strike),” he said. “They’ve got wages. They’ll work out the language on automation, and I’m sure that what this really means is it gives the parties time to sit down and get exactly the language they can both live with.”
Industry analysts have said that for every day of a port strike it takes four to six days to recover. But they said a short strike of a few days probably wouldn’t gum up the supply chain too badly.
Kohler said the surprise end to the strike may catch railroads with cars, engines and crews out of position. But railroads are likely to work quickly to fix that.
Just before the strike had begun, the Maritime Alliance said both sides had moved off their original wage offers, a tentative sign of progress.

The settlement pushes the strike and any potential shortages past the November presidential election, eliminating a potential liability for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. It’s also a big plus for the Biden-Harris administration, which has billed itself as the most union-friendly in American history. Shortages could have driven up prices and reignited inflation.

Thursday’s deal came after administration officials met with foreign-owned shipping companies before dawn on Zoom, according to a person briefed on the day’s events who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The White House wanted to increase pressure to settle, emphasizing the responsibility to reopen the ports to help with recovery from Hurricane Helene, the person said.
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told them she could get the union to the bargaining table to extend the contract if the carriers made a higher wage offer. Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told the carriers they had to make an offer by the end of the day so a manmade strike wouldn’t worsen a natural disaster, the person said.
By midday the Maritime Alliance members agreed to a large increase, bringing about the agreement, according to the person.
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What we're witnessing are the last vestiges of the "Irish" mob's power in this country....in concert with the Genovese Family (of course)

That is what they want, instead of a leader who will just give in. Think of it this way Rush: If you needed a representative to go in and get you a raise, would you want an easy-going type or him? The most successful union negotiators are the types who will argue, yell, and pound their fist on the table, the weak ones are the types who give in to that. If I wanted a raise and a negotiator had to go in and represent me, I'd take him over a Pete Buttigieg.

Definitely. I think this guy is actually very well liked among his guys just for the fact that he isn't some pushover cuck.

In a lot of corporations these days you get these managers who just shrug off all of the concerns of their direct employees all the while willfully bending over for their own higher ups whenever they invent some new moronic idea which may negatively affect the wellbeing and the motivation of their workforce. Those kind of managers are solely there to protect their overpaid wage and lose all their self-respect in the process. This results in tons of employees dropping out.

A guy like Daggett is far more old school in his approach and for a guy like that demanding respect is just as important as protecting his assets. People are less likely to drop out when they respect a "leader" and feel like the guy at the top is willing to go to bat for them. Make of his alleged mob-connections what you will, but in his approach there should be more people like Daggett and less of the cucklings we get these days who just brown-nose their way to the top.

I wish we had a got like him running our nursing union.

All good unions have men like him to negotiate for them, as does the people who argue for the sides of the big businesses. It's a shame people like nurses are often underpaid, or lack top notch benefits.

All good union leaders, worth their salt, fight for their membership like crazy. Thats what makes for a strong union, and makes for a beloved union boss.