From left to right: Capt. Alvaro Moreno, Business Manager, Panama Canal Pilot Union; Robert McEllrath, ILWU International President; Capt. Rainiero Salas, Assistant Secretary General, Panama Canal Pilots Union; Wesley Furtado, ILWU International Vice President; Capt. Londor Rankin, General Secretary, Panama Canal Pilots Union; Ray Familathe, ILWU International Vice President; Willie Adams, ILWU Secretary-Treasurer.
The global supply chain has many important links including dockworkers on the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada. But three thousand miles to the south, the Panama Canal remains one of the world’s most vital links and an essential group of workers there has just decided to affiliate with the ILWU.
By an overwhelming vote, the Panama Canal Pilots Union decided to affiliate with the ILWU on September 7, the same date that an agreement was signed 32 years ago between the governments of Panama and the United States to return control of the Canal Zone to Panama.The Canal had been in U.S. hands since it was opened in 1914.
“This is an historic agreement that unites workers in different countries with a critical link in the global supply chain,” said International President Bob McEllrath upon hearing the decision by Pilots to affiliate with the ILWU. “We want to welcome these union brothers to the ILWU family and look forward to helping each other.”
“We are very proud to become part of the ILWU family,” said Captain Londor Rankin, Secretary General of the Pilots Union which has 250 members.
“We’re looking forward to meeting our new brothers and sisters.” Rankin and other officers from the Pilots Union are scheduled to
attend the ILWU International Executive Board meeting on September 15-16 in San Francisco.
The Panama Canal Pilots Union was founded in 1921 and like the ILWU, engaged in decades of struggle to protect their union and help workers. Rankin says the years when the Canal was transitioning between U.S. and Panamanian control were especially challenging. “We had two or three very difficult years during that period around 1999, and had to flex our muscles a few times,” he explained, adding that the union maintains respectful relations with the Panamanian government. “Most of our recent struggles have been with middle management of the Canal administration,” he added.
The Panama Canal is undergoing a dramatic transformation to widen and deepen the engineering marvel so it can accommodate giant container ships that are currently too large for the canal that was built almost a century ago. The process for moving ships through the canal will also change, with new technologies and procedures, but Rankin says the Pilots will retain their vital role in the new Canal.
Bloody History
The first to consider building a canal through Panama was King Charles of Spain in the middle 1500’s. He ordered a study to see if a canal could make it easier for shipments of gold and silver to reach Spain from the new colonies in Mexico, California, Central and South America. The Spanish abandoned their plans for the canal, choosing to use slaves instead for hauling their treasure over the mountains between the Pacific and Atlantic.
The next serious canal effort began in 1880 under French leadership, but was abandoned after 21,900 workers died from malaria, yellow fever and landslides. The United States launched the final – and successful effort to build the Canal, but 5,600 workers were killed in the process.
When it opened in 1914, the U.S. maintained control of the Canal and surrounding Canal Zone until December, 1999. George H.W. Bush invaded Panama ten years earlier, in December 1989 after Panamanian President Noriega refused to step down after being exposed as a CIA operative.
A brighter future
This summer, McEllrath travelled to Panama with Vice President Ray Familathe to meet with the leaders of the Pilots Union and answer
their questions about the ILWU. “Both unions will benefit from this new affiliation that will provide each with more solidarity and support that will be there when we need it,” said McEllrath.
“With more of our employers now operating around the globe, this kind of strategic alliance makes a lot more sense today.”