'When the military needs to move cargo, we do whatever we have to do, and do it well,' ILA Local 1422 President Ken Riley said. 'It’s beyond me why, after all these years, the military is moving from best value to lowest bid. Our troops deserve the best.'
The International Longshoremen’s Association said its protest of a stevedore’s use of non-ILA labor would continue this week in Charleston, S.C., where a military pre-positioning ship is being loaded with ammunition.
The ILA is protesting the hiring of International Union of Operating Engineers labor from Jacksonville, Fla., to load ammunition onto the USNS Lewis & Clark for the Marines.
Ken Riley, president of ILA Local 1422 in Charleston and of the South Carolina AFL-CIO, said the ILA has provided the military for years with a reliable work force that can meet emergency needs.
“When the military needs to move cargo, we do whatever we have to do, and do it well,” he said. “It’s beyond me why, after all these years, the military is moving from best value to lowest bid. Our troops deserve the best.”