Back in 1980…
A legacy was born on the New Orleans waterfront.
ILA Local 3000.
Before the machines, before the technology,
there were strong hands, strong backs,
and men and women who came to work.
This is our history.
[Verse 1]
Back in 1980, we answered the call,
ILA Local 3000, standing proud and tall.
Down on the waterfront, working night and day,
Building up a legacy the old-fashioned way.
We hand-stowed cotton, coffee by the sack,
Sugar on our shoulders, heavy on our backs.
Butter, cowhide, chicken coming through,
Whatever hit the docks, Local 3000 moved.
Steel and rocks, we handled every load,
Rice by the ton, working down that road.
Sweat on our faces, strength in every hand,
Longshoremen together, united we would stand.
[Chorus]
We are Local 3000,
Born on the waterfront, proud of who we are.
From hand-stowed cargo to the ships of today,
We worked for everything that came our way.
Cotton and coffee, sugar and steel,
The sweat and sacrifice made this legacy real.
From 1980, hear our voices ring—
ILA Local 3000, we can handle anything!
[Verse 2]
Then the waterfront started changing with time,
New technology came, but we stayed on the line.
Containers got bigger, ships began to grow,
But Local 3000 kept the cargo on the go.
Container ships rolling down the Mississippi,
Automobiles coming into our city.
Cranes reaching high underneath the Southern sky,
Longshoremen working while those big ships pass by.
The equipment changed, but the heart stayed the same,
Generations came and carried on the name.
From the old-school docks to the modern-day port,
Local 3000 never came up short.
[Bridge — Spoken/R&B Breakdown]
Don’t forget where we came from…
Before containers were stacked to the sky,
somebody had to pick that cargo up.
Cotton.
Coffee.
Sugar.
Rice.
Steel.
Cowhide.
Chicken.
Automobiles.
We moved it.
From hand-stowed cargo…
to gantry cranes and container ships…
we were there.
[Final Chorus]
We are Local 3000,
Our history lives in every ship that arrives.
From the hands of the old school
to the workers of today,
We keep that mighty river moving every day.
Cotton and coffee, sugar and steel,
Generations of longshoremen keeping it real.
New Orleans waterfront, let the whole world know—
ILA Local 3000 keeps the cargo on the go!
[Outro]
1980… and the legacy continues.
Different cargo.
Different equipment.
Same pride.
Same strength.
Same union.
ILA LOCAL 3000.
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.
BUILT ON THE WATERFRONT.
