Diversity is strength: ILWU’s first Annual Women, Trans, and Non-binary Workers’ Conference
The ILWU held the First Annual Women, Trans, and Non-binary Workers’ Conference on April 26 and 30. The event was held online over Zoom. The conference was the result of the tenacity and the hard work of several members who wanted to see a conference for ILWU women.
Event organizers drafted a resolution to host a women’s conference and submitted it to the ILWU International Convention, the union’s highest governing body, in June 2021. The resolution was amended at the Convention to include trans and non-binary workers, and passed with overwhelming support. A planning committee was convened to help organize the event. Members of the committee included women and non-binary workers from across all ILWU divisions who provided input into the event themes, sessions, outreach, and the selection of panelists.
ILWU International Secretary-Treasurer Ed Ferris welcomed everyone to the conference. “We’re building worker power. We’re promoting inclusion. “That’s what we’re all about. Just look at the ILWU’s Guiding Principle number three: workers are indivisible. I want to thank and acknowledge all the hard work that has been put into this program and looking forward to learning a lot tonight,” Ferris said.
Gender in the workplace
The first panel, “Gender in the Workplace,” focused on the ways ILWU leaders have encouraged participation from women, trans, and non-binary workers. The panel was facilitated by Adrienne Smith, a labor and social justice attorney from Vancouver, British Columbia. Their work includes conducting workplace trainings on labor law, and racial and gender inclusivity.
The panelists for the session were Local 5 Union Representative Myka Dubay, Local 94 member Fran Grove and Local 19 Alternate Dispatcher Sarah Esch.
“Union is a verb”
“I think we really get into trouble when we stop thinking about union as a verb and we start thinking about it as a noun,” Smith said. “Union is a thing that we do. And it’s a way that we hold ourselves together.” Smith said that in preparing for the event, they were struck by how radical the ILWU’s 10 Guiding Principles are.
“What you say in your Guiding Principles is that there is this basic democracy and the union is the people. You also say workers are not divisible and the fact that employers try to keep us apart is answered with organizing,” they said. “That boils down to a solidarity that is tangible and we celebrate it; it’s also a call to arms. Part of what we’re doing here today is making sure that the solidarity that some of us have enjoyed will be extended into the world.”
Years in the making
Local 94 member Fran Grove was one of the driving forces for the conference. Grove said that prior to coming to the ILWU, she was with the building trades, which already had a conference for tradeswomen.
When she started on the waterfront, she was surprised that a union as progressive as the ILWU did not have something similar.
“It took probably about 10 to 15 years before we got to this point,” said Grove. “But we finally had a group that was able to push it forward. We’ve gotten to the place now that we’re having our first conference. It’s a fantastic thing.” Local 5 union representative Myka
Dubay talked about how union contracts can be used to fight for all workers.
“We have the power with a contract to build stuff that protects more marginalized workers,” Dubay said. “You can do more. You can fight for a trans-inclusive healthcare, you can fight to get like spouse/ domestic partner language into health care access. We try and support our members, by fighting for these smaller things that maybe only impact a couple of our members, but it shows them that this contract is for them.”
ILWU Canada’s anti-bullying campaign
The second panel focused on the ILWU Canada anti-bullying and harassment prevention program called Be More Than a Bystander. The panel featured Tracy Porteus, Local 500 members, and Be More Than a Bystander program coordinators Jessica Isbister and Angela Talic, and ILWU Canada President Rob Ashton.
Porteus is a leader in the Canadian anti-violence sector who has worked for the past 40 years addressing gender-based violence in communities, workplaces, and families. She kicked off the panel by giving an overview of the Be More than a Bystander program.
“We are working to make violence and disrespect socially unacceptable,” Porteus said. She compared the program to the decades-long effort that changed cultural attitudes around smoking and normalized wearing seatbelts. The change didn’t happen overnight but was the result of consistent messaging over time.
“The vast majority of men don’t commit violence,” Porteus said. “But many men are bystanders. They have seen and heard negative and disrespectful attitudes towards women and girls. They see firsthand down putting jokes and are privy to abuse and violence going on around them.”
Porteus said the harassment prevention program was about teaching people in the workplace the skills to know how to intervene safely and effectively when they see harassment or bullying in the workplace. “We’re not born with skills and confidence and knowing what to say or what to do.”
ILWU Canada President Rob Ashton took the course and said that he learned important skills and also learned a lot about himself. “This program is going to give people the courage to help stand up and make our culture better, and to make our union better. That’s what this is about.”
“Cultural change takes time. But this is a positive step towards a better waterfront,” concluded Isbister.
The second day of the conference focused on women in leadership, and how to grow the ILWU through internal and external organizing programs.
Diversity is strength
Before the panel discussions began, the conference heard from guest speaker April Sims, Secretary-Treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council. Simms is the first woman of color and the first Black person elected as a Washington State Labor Council executive officer.
She spoke about the importance of diversity and how hearing other people’s viewpoints can expand your vision of the possible and lead to stronger, more effective organizations.
“We need the diversity of opinions, ideas, perspectives, and experiences of all workers if we really want to build power for the working class,” Sims said.
“We know that our solidarity makes us stronger. And anything that divides us makes us weak. When we come together across ideology, or political affiliation, regardless of background or race, no matter our gender, identity or ability, when we build together, nothing can tear us down. We know that organizations that are the most effective, the most competitive, and the most efficient are also the most diverse.”
Organizing the Untraditional
The first panel discussion of the day was “Organizing the Untraditional,” a conversation with ILWU activists who have been involved in organizing across genders in the ILWU. The panel was facilitated by ILWU Canada Organizer Genevieve Lorenzo.
In her introduction, Lorenzo spoke about the importance of the ILWU’s Third Guiding Principle, which states: “Workers are indivisible. There can be no discrimination because of race, color, creed, national origin, religious or political belief, sex, gender preference, or sexual orientation. Any division among the workers can help no one but the employers. Discrimination of worker against worker is suicide. Discrimination is a weapon of the boss. Its entire history is proof that it has served no other purpose than to pit worker against worker to their own destruction.”
Lorenzo noted, “It’s in the very foundation of our union to actively seek out and value workers as they are and as they exist. Diversity is not division. It is a unifier. Without change, growth, and evolution, we stagnate. A diversity of experiences makes us stronger and more resilient in the face of challenges. And we can accomplish that through organizing. Not only by bringing in new workers through organizing externally but also internally.”
The panelists for this topic were Local 5 organizer Kate Stubblefield, Local 500 member Joulene Parent, and IBU member Krissel Calibo. Stubblefield spoke about the efforts in the Portland area to organize early childhood education workers, the fight for better pay and working conditions in that industry, and the gendered nature of the work. “It’s work usually performed by marginalized people,” she said. “Because we live in a racist, patriarchal, capitalist society, those workers are treated worse and paid less. It’s a liberatory action to organize in places where the most marginalized people are working.”
Parent talked about the importance of community alliances, solidarity, and supporting struggles outside of your union.
“It’s very important to go out there and support other people who are dealing with struggles,” Parent said. “Answer the call to that invite, and bring somebody. I cannot highlight enough, the importance of just inviting somebody along.”
Krissel Calibo from Inlandboatmen’s Union (IBU), the ILWU’s Marine Division, spoke about the internal organizing effort by the IBU on the Washington State Ferry system in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME decision.
Find your voice in leadership
The final panel of the day focused on women in leadership, which featured Local 54 Vice President Stef Flores as moderator, Local 142 Vice President Corinna Nguyen, Alaska Longshore Division Unit 60 Secretary-Treasurer Sonya Hibbets, Local 10 Recording Clerk Vanetta Hamlin, and Local 519 Young Workers leader Viri Gomez. The panelists discussed their own unique stories about finding their way into leadership positions in their unions.
“I just encourage everyone to take that first step,” Hamlin said. “Get involved, regardless of the discouragement, because it’s always going to be there. And just keep learning. I’m still learning right now, today. Every day is a learning day for me.”
Planning for the next Women, Trans and Non-binary workers’ conference is already underway. A date has not yet been set, but once it has, it will be announced in the Dispatcher.
.