About

The SAGCD represents 30,000 longshoremen on the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The ILA was organized in 1892 along the U.S. Great Lakes; the ILA is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations; the Canadian Labour Congress and the world-wide International Transport Workers’ Federation.

To explore the origin of the word “Longshoremen,” we will begin with the roots of the ILA. The roots of the International Longshoremen’s Association lie deep in the history of colonial America when the arrival of each new ship bearing goods from the Old World was greeted with cries for “Men ‘long shore!” The longshoremen who rushed up to the ships were colonists, normally engaged in any number of full-time occupations.

The South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District is directly linked to the International Longshoremen’s Association. ILA was established in the late 1800s by delegates from eleven (11) ports. We organized in Detroit where they adopted the by-laws of the longshoremen’s Chicago local and the name National Longshoremen’s Association of The United States.

By 1895, the name was changed to International Longshoremen’s Association to reflect the growing numbers of Canadian members. Shortly thereafter, the ILA affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL).