US port worker speaks out on the picket line: ‘We’ve taken less than we’ve deserved in the past’

U.S. port workers are starting to speak out on the picket line, providing a better understanding of the top issues union members are advocating for.

“I started 27 years ago and my wages increased only $25 over the 27 years,” Joe Mosquera told FOX Business’ Lydia Hu outside his workplace in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on “Mornings with Maria.“

“So to me, I believe that we’ve taken less than we’ve deserved in the past. So now it’s time,” he added.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which represents 45,000 dockworkers, began its first strike since 1977 after its six-year contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents port employers, expired Monday night.

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Negotiations between the ILA and USMX have been deadlocked thus far over the union’s demands related to wage hikes and compensation, as well as protection from automation at ports.

“We are just looking to be paid fairly and for the goods we take care of every day. And we did not stop during COVID, and we don’t want to stop right now,” Mosquera explained. “We are willing to go back as soon as they decide that they’ll give us a fair contract.”

USMX reportedly made a new offer to the ILA on Monday afternoon that would’ve raised wages by nearly 50% over the new contract as well as tripling employer contributions to retirement plans, better health care and kept language about automation in the deal. Sources told FOX Business that the ILA rejected the offer and didn’t make a counter.

“What’s fair is whatever my union president is willing to negotiate to. But to be low-balled, he’s not going to agree to that,” Mosquera said.

ILA President Harold Daggett claimed the initial negotiation offers “didn’t work out,” but the group is “always willing to sit down when the right number is hit.”

“Right now, everything is off the table,” Daggett told FOX Business. “Nobody’s talking right now. We got Congress trying to bring them to the table. And that’s where we are right now.”

Though the union’s president declined to disclose what that exact wage number is, President Biden, whose administration has tried to facilitate talks between the two sides, has said that he won’t use a federal labor law known as the Taft-Hartley Act to intervene in the strike.

Under that law, Biden could take action that results in an 80-day “cooling off” period for negotiations to resume while workers are back at work.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest trade group representing American businesses, urged Biden in a letter to invoke Taft-Hartley to “protect our economy” by avoiding a work stoppage.

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But Mosquera stood firm that union workers are committed to staying on the picket line “as long as it takes.”

“We want to protect our jobs. We want to protect our jobs for the future,” he said. “We want to make sure that everybody will have the chance to make a good living working down in the port.”

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FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.