ILA Longshore Members To Distribute Water in Newark This Thursday and Friday…

ILA Longshore Members To Distribute Water in Newark This Thursday and Friday; Newark ILA Local 1233 Spearheading Effort To Get Water To Newark Community

NORTH BERGEN, NJ (August 26, 2019) – Longshore workers from the International Longshoremen’s Association will be distributing bottled water to communities at three Newark, New Jersey locations over two days this Thursday and Friday, August 29th and 30th, according to an announcement by officers of Local 1233, International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO, who are helping coordinate this humanitarian project.

For weeks now, citizens of Newark, New Jersey have been subjected to elevated levels of lead in their water and have been subjected to waiting on long lines in stifling heat to secure safe bottled water.

ILA Local 1233 announced today that “ILA Local 1233’s Officers and Executive Board and Auditing Committee have secured a commitment from the Port Employers, PNCT, Maher Terminals and APM to donate water to the citizens of Newark affected by the water crisis in the City.

“ILA Waterfront Workers Are Bringing Water to the Waterfront Community,” said W. Bernard Dudley, President, Local 1233. “Newark, New Jersey isn’t just where our ILA members work. We are a part of this community and have always done whatever we can to help the citizens here, especially during a c risis like this water crisis.”

Buddy Smith, Secretary-Treasurer of ILA Local 1233, and John Daggett, Business Agent/Sergeant-at-Arms for ILA Local 1804-1, as well as Administrator for the Port of Discovery for the Port of New York and New Jersey, are coordinating the effort on behalf of the ILA. After securing the water donations, Smith and Daggett are rounding up ILA volunteers to help distribute the water this Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday, August 29, 2019 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., ILA members will be distributing bottled water at its current local headquarters at 19 Fenwick Street in Newark and also at its former headquarters at 731 South 10th Street in Newark.

On Friday, August 30, 2019, also from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., water will be distributed at Good Neighbor Church, 100 Chancellor Avenue, Newark.“All ILA members, affiliates and friends are welcome to assist in the distribution,” said Buddy Smith.

“We hope to have full ILA involvement in the distribution of water to our Sisters and Brothers in Newark,” said John Daggett. “ILA members have always answered the call – this is an urgent issue.”

In an article in today’s New York Times, reporter Nick Corasaniti wrote about the crisis in Newark: “Years of neglect, mismanagement and denials have plunged this city into one of the largest environmental crisis in an American city in years, provoking anger, confusion and frustration among Newark’s 285,000 residents.”

In addition to William “Bernard” Dudley, President and Clifton “Buddy” Smith, Secretary-Treasurer of ILA Local 1233, other officers, trustees, auditing committee members and sergeant-at arms of the 800-member deep-sea ILA Local 1233 include: Herbert Hall, Business Agent; Victor Thomas, Vice President; Robin Suggs, Recording Secretary; Anthony Brown, Chaplin; Trustees Linda Wilkins, Ali Vinning, John Sharpe, Dwight Speight, Betty Hooker and Malik Knight; Auditing Committee Members Sean Jones, Norman Jackson and Lamont Jones and Sergeant-At-Arms Tyreke Wells.

“I am so proud of the officers and members of ILA Local 1233 for stepping up to assist the City of Newark during this water crisis,” said International President Harold J. Daggett. “This is a local with a long and proud history of community activism and promoting social justice. Their government may have let them down, but the citizens of Newark always can count on the ILA.

“Whether it’s their Thanksgiving Breakfast and Coat Drive or their annual Scholarship Awards Dinner, ILA Local 1233’s service to the Newark community is exemplary and deserving of our praise and gratitude,” President Daggett continued. “I also want to thank my son, John Daggett, for his efforts securing the water donations and for assisting mightily in this important effort.”

For information about ILA Local 1233 water distribution, contact Buddy Smith at 973-824-7323 (office), 201-259-8576 (mobile) or buddysmith@ilalocal1233.org.

For information about the ILA, contact Jim McNamara at 917-853-0440 or jmcnamara@ilaunion.org.