Harold Daggett — the union boss who has vowed to “cripple” the US economy if ports don’t ban automation and raise dockworkers’ wages sharply — had a Bentley convertible parked outside his sprawling mansion in New Jersey this week, exclusive photos obtained by The Post reveal.
Photos taken by drone on Tuesday show the British luxury car parked with its top up outside what appears to be a five-car garage that’s connected to his 7,136-square-foot, Tudor-style home by a covered skyway.
The hulking, two-story mansion — located on a 10-acre property in Sparta, a leafy enclave 50 miles west of New York City — encircles a spacious backyard patio with an amoeba-shaped pool. A covered outdoor bar is situated next to what appears to be a massive, brick pizza oven.
A gate on the far side of the patio opens toward what looks like a free-standing sauna surrounded by a spacious wooden deck. A expansive swathe of forest surrounds the property on all sides.
The posh compound is nestled in a picturesque section of the Garden State near the Delaware Water Gap, where five-bedroom homes list for as much as $6 million, according to Zillow.
One realtor who spoke to The Post said that Daggett put the four-bedroom, six-and-a-half bathroom property on the market in 2004 at a listing price of $3.1 million before reducing it to $2.9 million. He eventually took it off the market.
Daggett, who fought back federal accusation of having Mafia ties, became president of the International Longshoremen’s Association in 2011, a job that comes with a salary of $728,000 annually on top of an additional $173,000 from ILA-Local 1804-1.
In 2005, he was accused of steering union benefits contracts to firms that paid kickbacks to organized crime at a Brooklyn trial, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Daggett took the witness stand that year after federal prosecutors charged him and two others with racketeering.
He described himself as a target of the mob – though a turncoat Mafia member had testified Daggett was a member of the Genovese crime family, The New York Times reported.
During the course of the trial, one of Daggett’s co-defendants – Lawrence Ricci, an alleged Genovese associate – disappeared. His body was found weeks later decomposing in the trunk of a car outside a New Jersey diner.
Ricci’s death remained unsolved, though speculation circulated that he was killed after refusing to plead guilty to avoid news reports of the trial.
Daggett was acquitted, along with the other co-defendants.
The 78-year-old boss — who is often seen in public sporting a polo shirt and a chunky gold medallion around his neck while casting himself as a staunch advocate for blue-collar workers — also previously owned a 76-foot yacht, according to reports.
“They’re gonna be like this,” Daggett said, grabbing his neck in a choking gesture during an interview last month as it became apparent that the union and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), the group negotiating for the ports, would fail to reach agreement on a new contract.
“I’ll cripple you. I will cripple you and you have no idea what that means. Nobody does,” he said.
The foul-mouthed union boss has apparently dug in his heels for a protracted strike.
“I don’t have a f—ing crystal ball between my legs, but it will last very long, I would tell you that,” he told The Wall Street Journal.
More than 45,000 dockworkers went on strike on Tuesday, shutting down 36 ports from Maine to Texas for the first time in nearly half a century.
The dockworkers’ strike, their first since 1977, could snarl supply chains and cause shortages and higher prices if it stretches on for more than a few weeks. It is also costing the US economy more than $3 billion per day.
Beginning after midnight, the workers walked picket lines Tuesday and carried signs calling for more money and a ban on automation that could cost workers their jobs.
Experts say consumers won’t likely notice shortages for at least a few weeks, if the strike lasts that long, though some perishable items such as bananas could disappear from grocery stores — although at this time of year, most other fruits and vegetables are domestically grown and not processed at ports, according to Alan Siger, president of the Produce Distributors Association.
In anticipation of a strike, most major retailers also stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items.
The USMX said both sides did budge from their initial positions.
The alliance offered 50% raises over the six-year life of the contract.
Comments from the union’s leadership had briefly suggested a move to 61.5%, but the union has since signaled that it’s sticking with its initial demand for a 77% pay increase over six years.
“We have demonstrated a commitment to doing our part to end the completely avoidable ILA strike,” the alliance said Tuesday.
The ports’ pay offer is more than every other recent union settlement, the group said.
“We look forward to hearing from the Union about how we can return to the table and actually bargain, which is the only way to reach a resolution,” the statement said.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration put pressure on port employers to raise their offer to secure a deal with dockworkers.
Administration officials led by Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su have been urging both sides to return to the bargaining table.
With Post Wires
Posts
