White House Dodges on if Port Union Head’s Salary Came Up in Talks

On Friday’s “CNN Newsroom,” White House National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard responded to a question on if International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett’s large salary came up during negotiations over the port strike where higher wages were demanded by stating that “the president thought it was very important to get the two parties back together, to get the collective bargaining process back on track, to get the ports re-opened. He pushed really hard for that and he got it done.”

Host Jim Acosta asked, “Lael, Daggett is facing criticism for giving — for some of these demands of his, companies forking over money, but he makes over — apparently makes over $900,000 a year as a union leader. Was that brought up during the negotiations?”

Brainard responded, “You know what, let me just step back and say, from day one, the president thought it was very important to get the two parties back together, to get the collective bargaining process back on track, to get the ports re-opened. He pushed really hard for that and he got it done. And yes, I think it is important that the companies came forward to make a generous wage commitment. That’s important, because these workers, for the six previous years, some years, they didn’t see any wage gains, other years, they saw only $1. And, don’t forget, these are workers that came out every day during COVID. They risked their lives to keep goods moving for American families and consumers. And the companies did actually do very well following COVID, and this allows the companies to share with the workers those benefits, and it puts the collective bargaining process back on track. So, I think the president and the vice president, they strongly believe collective bargaining works, and this is an instance where, by sticking with that, we’ve gotten good outcomes for American families.”

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