Organizing on the move

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ILWU Organizing Department scored several recent victories in Tacoma, San Francisco, and Southern California. Although the victories occurred in a diverse range of industries—freight forwarding, craft chocolate makers, and chassis technicians—many of the issues that drove the workers’ interest in unionizing were remarkably consistent: fair wages and conditions, health and safety, adequate staffing, and a voice on the job.

“It takes a lot of courage for workers to stand up and organize their workplace,” said ILWU International Vice President Bobby Olvera. “These workers came to the ILWU to help them form a union because of our strength, our commitment to organizing the unorganized and because we are a democratic, rank-and-file union. I couldn’t be prouder of these workers and our organizing staff. These victories would be an achievement even in non-pandemic times. The Titled Officers are firmly committed to helping workers fight for a better life for themselves and their families through our organizing program.”

P&B Intermodal win voluntary recognition

At the end of January, chassis technicians in the Port of Tacoma launched a campaign at P&B Intermodal where workers perform repairs at the intermodal yard where Union Pacific Railroad transfers marine cargo between rail and truck. Over the last year, workers had faced a series of egregious health and safety violations by management.

“There were explosive canisters of acetylene and oxygen being kept right where trucks pull in for repair,” said Levi Kamel, a worker in the yard. “We have had close calls where trucks might collide with something.”

Another serious issue was management’s neglect of proper safety protocols for inflating tires without mandating the use of a cage, which could save lives in the event of an exploding tire—a hazard which in 2019 took the life of one Local 13 member and hospitalized another in the Port of Los Angeles.

“When I started here, I thought that cage sitting off to the side was a bike rack,” said Ethan HannaMcCormack, another worker. “Managers never once trained us to use it or even discussed it.”

Meanwhile, management paired an unsafe workplace with pressure on injured workers not to report accidents or follow light-duty rules. “Because of company negligence, there was a loose stair on the office trailer which caused the accident which tore my Achilles tendon and put me in physical therapy for six months,” said Thierry Williams, one of the longest-employed chassis technicians. “And then, supervisors pressured me to do physical tasks and exceed limits on my standing and walking, which would have violated my doctors’ orders.”

Soon after, the company fired another employee who had a reputation as an advocate for safety on the job. ILWU Local 23 members work in an adjacent part of the intermodal yard for a union contractor also servicing the railroad. P&B Intermodal relies on Local 23 hostler drivers to bring chassis and containers bound for repair.

When workers decided to stand together and go union to confront these unacceptable conditions, Local 23 members stood in solidarity in support of them. Levi, Ethan, Thierry, and other employees marched in on the supervisor, demanding he and management immediately correct safety hazards and negligent practices. When a manager illegally interrogated Levi about his union activity, the workers decided it was time for action. They walked off the job the next day, filing federal charges and going on strike.

Throwing up picket lines, the P&B employees were joined by supporters from around Tacoma at both gates into the yard. Local 23 hostler drivers respected the workers’ picket line and refused to bring in equipment, paralyzing all company operations. “It was incredible to feel that solidarity,” said Mike Turner, another P&B worker. “To see everything shut down meant we were in a very powerful position to force our demands.” Almost 24 hours later, workers ended the strike and returned to work. Later that day, the group marched back into the managers’ office and demanded union recognition. Just six hours later, the company gave in and recognized workers as new members of ILWU Local 23. The group is now pushing ahead to win a first union contract.

“This employer depends on ILWU labor, so when these workers took action to demand health and safety protections, our solidarity brought all employer moves to a halt,” said Jared Faker, president of ILWU Local 23. “Workers have tremendous leverage in situations where we can disrupt the supply chain.”

OIA Global workers vote to join ILWU

In February, the National Labor Relations Board certified the union ratification vote by workers at the Southern California office of the freight forwarding company, OIA Global, after the NLRB denied the employer’s challenge to the election. The unionization effort began approximately three years ago when an OIA employee reached out to Local 63 OCU President John Fageaux.

“We saw this as a great opportunity for us to represent workers in a field that is very similar to what Local 63 OCU has experience with. We thought that it has the potential to expand across Southern California and all of the other freight forwarders that exist out there.”

Fageaux explained that the job functions that OIA workers perform are very similar to the job functions performed by Local 63 OCU members in their duties working for the shipping lines on the terminals.

“Freight forwarding companies work as a shipping line but they don’t have ships or a terminal,” he said. OIA workers process bills of lading, handling rail billing and those things associated with the movement of cargo.”

The campaign got side-tracked after personnel turnover at the company, but interest in the union rose again about in early 2020, said Melissa Pangelinan Hailey, a worker at OIA. Understaffing, excessive workloads, overtime, lack of management support, and adequate compensation were some of the key issues for workers.

“Wages and retirement benefits are probably number one on the list,” Hailey said. “We want an acknowledgment of our hard work and we want our compensation package to reflect that. We have people who have worked in this industry for 10-20 years but are not getting paid what the average freight forwarder makes.”

“One of the reasons the employees reached out to us is that they felt like they didn’t have a voice on the job, that they were forced to work long hours on a salary basis not receiving overtime, they felt like they were not being heard by the employer,” added Fageaux. “They heard about the ILWU through word of mouth and how they take care of their members and they wanted to be a part of that.”

The size of the bargaining unit has not been established yet but is expected to be approximately 15 workers. The next step is to bargain the first contract.

“They have hired Littler Mendelson, a very anti-union firm. That doesn’t send a good signal, but we’ve dealt with them before and been successful with them. We look forward to getting to the bargaining table and getting the best contract that we can with these workers,” Fageaux said.

Hailey said she is proud to be a part of the ILWU. “I don’t think there is a better union,” she said. “We hope to be the trailblazers for the freight forwarding portion of the logistics machine. We are the first freight forwarders to unionize and hope that other freight forwarders will follow suit.”

Dandelion Chocolate workers announce unionization effort

After a year-and-a-half of organizing, workers at San Francisco’s Dandelion Chocolate presented management with an official letter notifying them that they intended to form a union during a Zoom call on March 17.

During the call, workers asked the employer to voluntarily recognize their union. On March 19th, workers filed a petition for a representation election with the National Labor Relations Board. If the employer voluntarily recognizes the union, or if a majority of workers vote in favor of joining the union, the Dandelion workers will become a part of ILWU Local 6.

An election will be held on April 20th. Local 6 has represented chocolate workers at Guittard Chocolate for the past 40 years. Workers cited the need for transparency from management, increased worker input in decisions around how the company operates, understaffing, stagnant wages, career development, worker safety, and overall working conditions.

If the unionization effort is successful, it will include approximately 40 workers at Dandelion’s four San Francisco locations. This number could double once COVID-19 restrictions are eased and Dandelion returns to its pre-pandemic staffing levels. This includes customer-facing employees in the retail locations—such as salespeople and chocolate educators—along with people who make the products and those who work in the warehouse.

The Dandelion unionization drive is a part of a wave of workers in San Francisco’s Mission District who, with the assistance of the San Francisco chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, have organized with the ILWU in recent years to improve pay, benefits, and working conditions by forming a union. In December of 2019, workers at Anchor Steam Brewery ratified their first contract. In 2020, workers at Tartine Bakery voted to join ILWU Local 6. The NLRB finally certified the 93-90 majority vote in favor of unionization on March 30th, 2021. “

Right now, we have a lot of topdown decisions that get made for us without input,” said Christine Keating, a lead chocolate educator who has worked at Dandelion for seven years. “We want to have a seat at the table when those decisions are made. “The union is important because it empowers more amazing, passionate, smart people to have more of a voice and to make this company better.”

Dandelion workers said they were inspired by Anchor and Tartine unionizing and that the ILWU is open and welcoming and it’s the community they wanted to be part of. Approximately 200 workers and community members turned out to San Francisco’s Dolores Park on Cesar Chavez Day to show their solidarity with Dandelion Chocolate workers. ILWU members from Local 6—including workers from the Anchor Brewing and Tartine Bakery—Locals 10, 63, and the Inlandboatmen’s Union turned out to show their support.

Kenneth Cabrera was one of five Dandelion workers who spoke at the rally. “We’re not asking for a chest full of gold; we’re asking for better pay and better treatment,” Cabrera said. “We want you to eat our chocolate, it’s our pleasure. We just want to make a living at the same time.”

Tartine workers officially join the ILWU

Workers at Tartine Bakery who voted on March 12th of last year to join the ILWU, are officially a part of ILWU Local 6. On March 19th, 2021 the NLRB denied a request by the employer to review a ruling made by the San Francisco NLRB Office in October of 2020 that determined that of the 24 contested ballots, 14 were illegitimate and that the remaining 10 ballots should be counted.

On March 30th, the remaining ballots were counted resulting in a 93-90 vote in favor of the union. The campaign will now turn to negotiating the first contract and ensuring that the employer complies with San Francisco’s the Right to Reemployment Ordinance that mandates certain businesses who laid-off employees must give them first right of refusal to a comparable job when the business begins rehiring after COVID19 restrictions are eased and business begins to return to normal.