Past, present and future leaders: Over 200 delegates and guests attended the fourth ILWU Young Workers Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Over 200 registered delegates and guests gathered at the Maritime Labour Centre in Vancouver, B.C., from September 4-6 for the fourth biennial ILWU Young Workers Conference. This was the largest Young Workers Conference yet with the largest delegation of workers from the ILWU International. In addition to impressive membership turnout from Canada and the U.S., this meeting had the largest number of international delegates with workers from Australia, Indonesia, Poland, Croatia, and the United Kingdom.
Recognizing the First Nations
ILWU Canada’s Second Vice President Dan Kask began the conference by acknowledging and thanking the First Nations people’s, on whose land the conference was held. A moment of silence followed to honor all union members who passed since the last Young Workers Conference.
In his introductory remarks, Kask said the purpose of the conference was to build worker power by providing young workers with the tools and space to organize. “This year’s theme, ‘Educate, Agitate and Organize,’ contains three words that you will hear in any discussion about the history and struggle of the ILWU,” said Kask in his opening remarks. “This conference is about providing the next generation an opportunity to write the ongoing history of militant rank-and-file unionism. If we want to strengthen our unions, we must build workers’ power.”
The conference covered ILWU history, the union’s Ten Guiding Principles, political action, and other concerns, such as workplace health and safety, port security, international solidarity and social media. Also featured was a theatrical performance from a musical, The Battle of Ballantyne Pier. A wide variety of speakers included international guests, current and former ILWU elected officers, rank-and-file leaders, along with active members and pensioners from many of the union’s divisions.
Leaders past, present and future
Past, present and future leaders: Over 200 delegates and guests attended the fourth ILWU Young Workers Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The first speaker was former First Vice President of ILWU Canada, John Cordecedo, who spoke about the history of the ILWU Longshore locals in British Columbia. ILWU Canada President Rob Ashton followed with a short but inspiring speech that touched on the first of the conference’s three themes: “educate.” He encouraged delegates to learn throughout their careers to keep up with an ever-changing industry.
“This is our future here in this room,” he said, “and our future is ever-evolving. As we go through our lives as workers, we have to educate ourselves. Don’t be stagnant. Don’t expect that today is going to be same as tomorrow. It’s going to change whether we like it or not. Learn about the technology that’s coming. Learn to use it; learn to fight against it. Learn to protect what you have and expand upon it for the future.”
Next up were members of the Young Workers Committee who were elected two-years ago at the previous Conference. Ashley Bordignon, Tyler Gerard, Danielle Phelan, Isaac Baidoo, Viri Gomez and Stef Flores each offered their reflections on the ILWU’s Ten Guiding Principles. Conference participants then held small group discussions where they proposed a “new” guiding principle.
Pensioner experience
A panel of ILWU Canada pensioners provided an important perspective on ILWU history. The group included former ILWU Canada President Tom Dufresne, Herb Howe, Ted Grewcut and Gord Westrand. Each reflected on their most memorable experience of rank-and-file power in the workplace, their thoughts about leadership and automation, and sharing what they miss most about working on the waterfront.
Musical interlude
Following the lunch break, conference attendees were treated to a performance from the Battle of Ballantyne Musical. The musical was written by award-winning playwright Sherry MacDonald and tells the story of the 1935 strike by longshore workers in Vancouver. The remainder of the afternoon featured sessions on Canadian Transport Security Clearances and social media.
Internationalism and activism
Young Workers Committee: The newly elected committee members (L-R): Tyrel Ratich, Local 500; Bryan Delwo, Local 502; Alexander Fernadez, Local 29; Brittni Hodson, Local 508; Tereza Tacic, Local 500; Lateesha Myers, Local 502; Paul
Gill, Local 502.
The second day emphasized international solidarity with a panel of workers from the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). Delegates watched a short documentary on the Patrick’s dispute that took place in 1998 when the Patrick Corporation fired MUA members in four Australian ports and replaced them with non-union workers. The ILWU responded by refusing to unload cargo from Australian ships loaded by non-union workers. The firing of MUA members was later ruled illegal by Australian courts. The film was followed by a panel of MUA speakers who discussed the current issues and struggles facing Australian maritime workers.
A second panel of featuring International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) delegates included workers from Australia, Indonesia, Poland, Croatia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. ILWU International Secretary- Treasurer Ed Ferris spoke on this panel and reported about efforts by the ITF Dockers’ Section Occupational Safety and Health Working Group.
Afternoon Activism
The conference took time out during the afternoon for some hands-on agitation. Delegates rode by bus to Vancouver’s Jack Poole square where they participated in some street theater by staging a mass “die-in” – part of ILWU’s Canada’s “Kill a Worker, go to Jail” campaign. The effort dramatized on-the job fatalities and serious accidents caused by poor enforcement and weak health and safety laws. Afterward, delegates held a short rally that included a speech from Secretary-Treasurer Ed Ferris.
“I’m tired of losing family and friends every year for corporate profit,” said Ferris. “You have the right to go home to your family at the end of the day. We need to start valuing our lives a little bit more.”
The rally also heard from Local 502 President Tom Doran: “We have not stopped industrial manslaughter because we haven’t even begun to enforce the law.”
History lesson
During the Friday morning session, Mark Leier, a history professor at Simon Fraser University, explained how movements can build solidarity. His session included small group brainstorming and a sing-along to a song written by the famous Wobblie organizer Joe Hill.
Community activism
ILWU Local 23 young workers Zack Pattin and Brian Skiffington delivered a presentation about their effort to connect the union with community activism. The example they used was a tenant organizing campaign assisted by Local 23 members who helped working-class tenants in Tacoma’s Tiki Apartments resist evictions by greedy landlords. ILWU members helped the tenants organize and provided assistance to displaced tenants. They also worked with tenants and community groups who forced the City Council to delay evictions and pass stronger tenant-protection laws.
Call to Action: ILWU International
President Willie Adams challenged the
delegates to apply what they learned at
the conference when they return to their
locals.
Internal organizing
Puget Sound IBU Business Agent Ryan Brazeau and Columbia River IBU Business Agent Adam Smith discussed the recent effort by Inlandboatmen’s Union activists to strengthen their public-sector membership by enlisting employees to recommit their union affiliation in light of the Janus decision. In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that non-union members represented by a union contract are no longer
required to pay representation fees that cover the costs of contract administration and enforcement. Anti-union forces funded the Janus court fight and they continue funding nationwide campaigns aimed to weaken labor unions.
ILWU President Willie Adams
ILWU International President Willie Adams delivered a keynote address on Friday that shared details about his forty-year evolution from a young worker on Tacoma’s waterfront in 1978 to being elected ILWU International President in 2018. Adams challenged workers to encourage greater participation and combat apathy when they return to their local unions. “What are you going to do when you get home?” he asked. “We are going to kill this working-class, labor movement if we don’t have participation from our brothers and sisters,” he concluded.
The afternoon session also featured a training to “build power on-the-job” that was led by Barbara Madeloni and Joe DeManuell-Hall from Labor Notes. A final inspired and heartfelt address was provided by Steve Nasby, former ILWU Canada Second Vice President who helped establish the Young Workers’ Conference.
The final order of business was the election of a new Young Worker’s Committee that now includes Local 500 members Tyrel Ratich and Tereza Tacic, Local 502’s Paul Gill, Lateesha Myers and Bryan Delwo, Local 508’s Brittni Hodson and Local 29’s Alexander Fernadez. Local 5’s Andy Anderson said they left the conference with a sense of urgency and a renewed commitment to activism in their union.
“It’s important to show up and be a part of things,” they said. “There was a challenge issued at the conference for every member to attend at least one union event every year. If you can’t make it to your membership meeting, show up to another event.”
Local 10’s Morall Griffin said he intends to take the challenge issued by President Adams and put it into practice when he returns.
“This experience made me realize there is a lot of work that needs to be done when I get back home. I’m going to share what I learned here with my peers back home,” he said.
