DeSantis Orders National Guard to Keep Ports Open as State Recovers from Hurricane amid Longshoremen Strike

Governor Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) is making sure the disruptive east coast dockworker strike does not get in the way of his state’s ongoing hurricane recovery efforts.

DeSantis announced Thursday an executive order sending Florida’s National Guard to ports affected by the dockworker strike and directing Florida’s department of transportation to waive select tolls and weight regulations for trucks. He is also instructing the Florida highway patrol to oversee the flow of traffic from ports into the state.

“At my direction, the Florida national guard and Florida state guard will be deployed to critical ports affected to maintain order and if possible resume operations which would otherwise be shut down during this interruption,” DeSantis said.

“I’m also directing the Florida Department of Transportation to temporarily waive the collection of tolls and other fees for commercial vehicles using public highways in Florida and waving the size and weight restrictions normally governing vehicle transportation for the duration of this emergency,” DeSantis added.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) went on strike Tuesday after turning down a 50 percent wage increase from the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), causing contract negotiations to fall apart. The longshoremen are demanding a 77 percent raise and a halt to cost-cutting automation that threatens to make their jobs obsolete.

Harold Daggett, chief negotiator for the longshoremen, makes $728,000 annually from the union and owns million-dollar properties. Many longshoremen are suspected to have ties to mafia crime families, including Daggett, who was prosecuted in 2005 for racketeering over alleged ties to the Genovese crime family. He and his co-defendants were found not guilty, although one of them disappeared mysteriously during the legal proceedings.

President Joe Biden has said he will not use federal labor law to intervene in the dispute and prevent billions of economic damage to areas where the ILA strike is already disrupting commercial activity. The Taft-Harley Act allows the president to end economically destructive strikes and prevents unaffiliated unions from waging solidarity strikes. Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, have expressed sympathy for the striking union workers.

DeSantis observed that the economic consequences of the ILA strike are particularly important for areas where residents are still recuperating from Hurricane Helene, a category four storm that wrecked havoc across the southeastern U.S, and urged the Biden administration to ensure that good are able to flow into states where they are needed most.

“I would say that this is something that would have significant impacts on the nation’s economy anyways, but to have this happen in a way that could negatively impact people that are reeling from a category four hurricane, that is simply unacceptable,” DeSantis said.

Florida remains in a state of emergency as the DeSantis administration carries out hurricane recovery statewide. DeSantis is managing Florida’s efforts to help residents with power restoration, food and water, clearing debris, finding missing persons, damage assessment, and other vital services in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destruction. All of Florida’s school districts are operational following the storm, ensuring schools remain open for kids to resume classes.

DeSantis’s rapid and successful emergency management following Hurricane Helene allowed Florida to quickly send resources to North Carolina and Tennessee, two states suffering from extreme devastation wrought by the storm. Flooding in western North Carolina reached catastrophic levels and wiped out entire towns, leaving dozens of Americans dead and hundreds missing. The Biden administration is deploying federal funds and resources to aid North Carolina and other states in need.