Welcome to the ILWU: Auto-processors at San Francisco’s Pier 80 just won their first ILWU contract. This photo shows dayshift workers (L-R) Kee Sgengsourichanh, Jameca Kemp, Boris Garcia and Henry Ormeno. When the contract was signed was signed on January 16th, the team was tracking and preparing 4,200 Tesla automobiles for export to Asia and beyond.
Organizing has been essential to the ILWU’s success since the founding of our union. It began with the militancy of west coast longshoremen, then inspired a march inland to organize warehouse and industrial workers. Across the Pacific, in Hawaii, the spark of organizing struck a chord with plantation workers.
These and other efforts were part of a movement that allowed workers to rise through labor unions during the 20th Century. Unions made it possible for workers to improve working and living conditions, secure new rights and power on the job, and achieve greater political power for the entire working class. Our commitment to building a progressive, democratic, and inclusive union has been part of that organizing legacy.
This tradition has been reaffirmed by rank-and-file delegates at our International Conventions who frequently ask us to honor the motto: “An Injury to One is An Injury to All.” These words apply to helping more than just those within our union. Living true to these words obligates us to extend our hands to fellow workers who are unorganized, because we are all members of the working class, and we can only make meaningful progress by working together. We must continue to organize – or this union and everything won by generations who sacrificed before us – will die. We are the ILWU’s Mainland Organizing Department. Our aim is to strengthen and expand the ILWU and advance a program that promotes working-class solidarity.
Who we are
Our Mainland Organizing Department consists of four regions, each staffed with a Lead Organizer: Southern California (Carlos Cardon), Northern California (Agustin Ramirez), Oregon Area (Ryan Takas) Puget Sound/Alaska (Jon Brier). Researcher Bridget Wack works in the San Francisco headquarters.
The Organizing Department Director is Ryan Dowling, who reports directly to ILWU Vice President (Mainland) Bobby Olvera, Jr. Our efforts are further supported by other ILWU staff, including Communications (Craig Merrilees & Roy SanFilippo) and Education (Robin Walker and Russ Bargmann). Legal advice and support is provided by attorneys at the Leonard Carder law firm.
At the elected helm of the department is the ILWU’s National Organizing Committee (NOC), made up of the Titled Officers, and the International Organizing Committee, a subcommittee of the International Executive Board.
Most importantly, the Organizing Department is financially supported by ILWU members and fueled by brave and selfless workers who give their time to organize.
What we do
Night-shift: Pasha auto-processors on the night-shift include (L-R) Miguel Rivera, Paul Wesley Adams and Kieren Broussard. The new contract provides minimum raises of 38% plus good benefits for the Pier 80 workers who are now members of Local 6.
The Organizing Department is responsible for bringing new workers into our union. Sometimes workers are already self-organized within their workplace and reach out to join the ILWU. Other times we are contacted by individuals, friends or family members. The Department investigates these leads, conducts targeted research, and meets with workers to gauge what kind of leverage may exist with an employer (often referred to as the “hammer”), We also assess the level of interest within the workforce (known as “heat”). Assessing both the “hammer” and “heat” are crucial, along with information provided in meetings with workers about the behavior of their employer and attitude of co-workers.
Sometimes those leads turn into organizing drives, while other leads lack sufficient interest within the workforce. Sometimes workers would be better served by affiliating with a different union that has clear jurisdiction. Cases that lead to an active organizing drive see the Organizing Department working hard to ensure that workers have the best chance of securing their first contract.
After contract ratification, the new workers join an ILWU Local, and the Organizing Department returns to helping a new group of workers.
Besides helping new workers join the union, the Organizing Department also helps locals and Divisions when they come under attack or need assistance. Each local and Division is autonomous and decides when and how they interact with the Organizing Department.
One common form of support is training for worker activists and leaders. Recently, the Inlandboatmen’s Union (IBU) requested training to help members understand how to identify potential groups of workers nearby who may be interested in organizing. A day-long training was organized to provide IBU officers and activists with the tools they needed for this purpose.
In some cases, the threat to a Local or Division is urgent, and requires our full and immediate assistance. This was the case when Local 30 members in Boron, CA were locked-out by the global mining corporation, Rio Tinto in 2010. It became an all-hands-on-deck moment for the ILWU, with all Organizing Department and other staff assigned to help Local 30 by deploying boots on the ground, offering strategy and tactical advice, media outreach, research and training. The mobilization of these resources allowed Local 30 and the ILWU to emerge victorious after the 100-day lockout.
We are fighting
While organizing is critical to our union’s survival, it requires lots of time and resources. Labor laws are stacked against workers – even more so with the current anti-union Trump administration. Appointees to the U.S. Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board are recruited from corporations and corporate law firms. Despite this hostile environment, the Organizing Department is successfully starting and sustaining campaigns that include:
- Animal hospitals.
- Logistics and supply chain.
- Other campaigns involving
hundreds of workers. We are continuing to help these workers organize and fight for their first contracts. Along the way, we have achieved small but meaningful victories. The struggles here – along with resulting victories and failures – have become woven into the tapestry that is the ILWU’s legacy of collective struggle. For CRVS, a marker of that success has been my experience watching new leaders take more responsibility for negotiations. I was initially the lead negotiator and main spokesperson at the bargaining table, but the team has grown immensely, allowing me to sit on the side as workers speak in their own voices and as equals with the company officials and lawyers. It’s inspiring to see workers build confidence, find their voice, and speak truth to power.
These workers have discovered the ILWU way. At SFVS, workers achieved their first strike at a veterinary hospital, then doubled-down to do it again. Director Ryan Dowling recounts one of his favorite moments:
“Last year, I watched workers at SFVS go out on their second strike to protest Unfair Labor Practices. This happened after the County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution calling out MARS – yes, the candy bar company who also owns VCA – as a poor employer. The strike also received some of our most favorable earned-media coverage, on ABC news.”
In addition to these public campaigns, there are also several other organizing drives underway where workers have not yet declared their decision to join the union – known as “walking on the boss,” but they will do so soon. We look forward to sharing more updates on these campaigns in future editions of The Dispatcher.
We are winning
Because of these collective efforts, we have seen several amazing victories for the newest members of the ILWU. Recently, workers at Pasha and Anchor Steam ratified their first contracts. They now enjoy the rights and benefits that were achieved through organizing and the collective bargaining process.
Both groups will join the ranks of Local 6, part of our effort to rebuild the Warehouse Division after decades of decline. Lead Organizer Agustin Ramirez, shepherded both groups throughout their organizing campaigns.
“It was incredible to see the amazing growth of the Anchor workers’ bargaining committee as negotiations progressed,” said Ramirez. “They held together, built solidarity inside and out, and made some smart moves that helped obtain their first contract.”
He feels the same way about progress made by Pasha workers. “Pasha workers at Pier 80 in San Francisco recently won their first contract and it was a game-changer that improved people’s lives with better wages, benefits and rights on the job.
The Employer was between a rock and a hard place. The workers were the rock and the Longshore Division was the hard place. The contract resulted from worker solidarity and Longshore power. That’s what can happen when we work together.”
Resisting political attacks
We’ve also been organizing internally to beat back employer and political attacks. The IBU has been under attack on multiple fronts – the most recent being the Janus decision by the Supreme Court that allows public employees to avoid paying dues while still benefiting from union representation.
The Janus case was planned and funded for several decades by antiunion legal and political groups.
The IBU tackled the Janus challenge with help from their officers, ILWU organizers, rank-and-file members, staff, and union-friendly elected representatives. The strategy called for conducting personal conversations with hundreds of members in which we did a lot of listening, and explained about how Janus was intended to weaken the union. As a result of this work, IBU members and other ILWU members in the public sector resoundingly rejected the temptation of “free riders,” choosing instead to continue supporting their union.
We also supported IBU efforts that prevented Alaska’s Governor from dismantling the state’s public ferry system. Failure in either campaign could have potentially decimated the IBU membership. Lead Organizer Jon Brier worked tirelessly with local activists and leaders on both campaigns, building a coalition of members, community activists, and politicians to ensure that the IBU would remain strong.
“It was inspiring to work with members who jumped into action against these political attacks,” said
Brier. “When the US Supreme Court declared open season on public sector unions, IBU and ILWU leaders and activists secured membership renewals from well over one thousand members in Puget Sound, Alaska and other regions.”
Brier said the challenges were equally daunting when Governor Dunleavy slashed funding for Alaska’s public ferry service and other critical state programs. The IBU launched a broad movement to save the Alaska Marine Highway System by holding rallies, providing testimony in the legislature, and mobilizing supporters across the state from Ketchikan to Anchorage to Dutch Harbor. They also helped organize what was reported to be the single largest public testimony turnout in state history.
“While both fights continue,” said Brier, “our internal organizing has strengthened the union to the point that they’ve built a stronger foundation for future campaigns.”
Conclusion
“Organize or Die” is not just a catch-phrase within the ILWU. It acknowledges that the only hope and future we have in this world is to join together so we can protect and improve conditions for ourselves and the working class. If we become complacent and content to rest on our past accomplishments, the future will slip away.
The Organizing Department looks forward to publishing updates in future issues of The Dispatcher that provide you with information about new and ongoing campaigns.
Finally, I’d like to take this moment to express my appreciation to the ILWU membership. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve as a Lead Organizer of the Oregon Area. It is such an incredible honor to help fellow workers raise their living and working standards by joining the ILWU. On a more personal note, I was one of those workers that this union welcomed into it’s ranks and provided an opportunity for me to improve my life with solidarity and collective bargaining.
At the beginning, we were minimum-wage retail workers. But with the support of ILWU members and the Organizing Department, we succeeded in organizing Powell’s Books in the year We secured our first contract and took that first step towards a fair and just workplace. Twenty years later, I remain grateful for that very tangible improvement in my life and the lives of my co-workers. Thank you.
In Solidarity,
Ryan Takas
Oregon Area Lead Organizer
ILWU Organizing Department