Local 52 President Garbriel Prawl
In January of this year, Gabriel Prawl was elected the first African-American President of the ILWU Clerks Local 52. Prawl was born in Panama. He immigrated to New York when he was 15 to join his parents who had moved there in the late 60s and early 70s. The Prawl family has been migrating to America since the early 1900s from Jamaica and Europe, he said. At the age of 16, Prawl moved to the Pacific Northwest, but after graduating high school, he returned to New York where he lived for 11 years before finally returning to Seattle in his early 30s. He started working as a causal at
Local 19 in 1994. He was introduced to the work through his uncle and some friends who were casuals at the time. “I became active in the ILWU after getting my A-book,” Prawl said. “I requested to be a part of the Local 19 Education Committee, and eventually became the chair in 2004. When I started learning about the real history of the ILWU—that is what inspired me.” He was also elected to the Local 19 Executive Board for five years and also attended the Leadership, Education and Development program put on by the Coast Longshore Division. Prawl said that he was influenced by many of the rank-and-file activists from Local 10. “Leo Robinson was a mentor to me,” he said.
Gabriel Prawl, first African American President of ILWU Local 52 Prawl transferred to Local 52 in 2010 after suffering a rotator cuff injury. He was elected to several leadership positions at Local 52, serving on the Labor Relations Committee for four years and as Vice President for two years. He ran for President of Local 52 with the encouragement of outgoing President Max Vekich. In addition to his leadership position in the union, Prawl also serves as the Seattle chapter President of the A Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), an organization of Black Trade Unionists who fight for racial equality and economic justice. Through his position at the APRI, Prawl sits on the Board of the Washington State Labor Council. “I want to be in a leadership position so I can make a difference,” Prawl said. My goal is to make sure we educate our members, build solidarity within our membership, and make connections with organizations outside our union.”