Willie Adams’ final column

Let me start this farewell message by saying that this has been the hardest column I have ever written. The ILWU has been a blessed part of my life and my family for the last 46 years. I will be taking my leave on January 1, 2025, but I want all the members of this union, active and retired, to know that my life, with the good times and the bad, would have been nothing without you. Thank you.

I started my journey in 1978 as a Local 23 longshore casual in Tacoma, Washington. I was just a young man from Kansas City back then, who was mentored on the Tacoma waterfront by some ILWU stalwarts: Martin Butler, George Emery, Jr., Terrence Mason, Ike Morrow, and Jim Stevens, Sr. Their counsel was instrumental to my growth. In 2000, I was elected to the International Executive Board (IEB). I served 21 years as an International officer, including 15 years as Secretary-Treasurer and six as President. I worked under two International Presidents, first James Spinosa and then Robert McEllrath. For the last 13 years, I have served on the San Francisco Port Commission and before that on the San Francisco Film Commission. I started on the Port Commission while International Secretary-Treasurer and continued in that role as International President and now as International President, Emeritus. It has been a privilege and a high honor to follow former ILWU International Presidents Harry Bridges, Jimmy Herman, and Brian McWilliams in this important post. I hope there will be other ILWU members appointed to commissions up and down the coast.

Now that our new Officers have been sworn in, I am proud to endorse them unconditionally. I have complete confidence in their abilities to handle the challenges of the coming years. There are many additional things to say in these parting words. But first, thank you all very much for the opportunity and the privilege I have enjoyed in serving this great union. Throughout my career in the ILWU, I have always tried to approach union office with gratitude and without taking anything for granted.

Over the past six years, the ILWU has had to deal with many vexing problems. When I took office as President in 2018, the Titled Officers inherited an existential threat stemming from our relationship to the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI). That company had already secured a National Labor Relations Board decision against us for a secondary boycott infringement under the Taft-Hartley Act. In 2019, ICTSI won a multi-million-dollar jury award against us, a settlement so large that it threatened to undermine the entire union. Unfortunately, ILWU adherents had not previously recalled and learned from the Juneau Spruce lawsuit against the union of the late 1940s and early 1950s, which also involved a secondary boycott charge. In the ICTSI case, our legal costs mounted to unsustainable levels. In 2023 we had to file for bankruptcy.

With the determination, fighting spirit, and leadership of our Officers and the strength and conviction of our rank and file, we resolved the bankruptcy and the ICTSI dispute through mediation in 2024. We incurred a large debt but settled it completely with greatly appreciated help from Local 142, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). We will never forget how so many people rose up to save this union from disaster. The lesson learned from all of this is that you cannot leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution.

Soon after the 2018 Officers came in, the union was hit with a Department of Labor lawsuit as well. This challenge resulted from a complaint against the union filed in the wake of the 2018 ILWU International elections. This long-lasting case has still not been resolved.

Our union also had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain crisis that followed. ILWU members still went to work and heroically moved America’s needed products. Many became sick. At least 50 died. The Officers met with President Joe Biden and other federal government officials to improve cargo flow. It was not easy, but ultimately supply chain conditions improved dramatically.

The pandemic forced the union to hold its 2021 International Convention in San Francisco virtually and despite the challenges posed by the pivot to this format, we made it work. In 2024, we returned to an in-person convention. This was important because we needed to be together to debate issues and address problems as a unified body with energy and passion.

Another big challenge we faced was the Coast Longshore Division negotiations with the employers’ bargaining agent, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). Bargaining lasted for 13 months over 2022-2023, during which our committed negotiating team members performed their duties with grit and determination. Ultimately, they earned well-deserved success. We achieved an outstanding contract with substantial improvements in wages and working conditions, maintenance of benefits, and upgrades for pensioners and widows. When it comes to negotiations and other endeavors in other Divisions and locals, including those in Hawaii, in warehouse, and elsewhere, I have always striven to be as directly helpful as possible.

The union was saddened in 2019 by the passing of Dave Arian, a legendary, fiery Local 13 stalwart and a former ILWU International President. The following year saw the death of International Vice-President for Hawaii Wesley Furtado, a well-respected, long-serving senior ILWU officer. Tragedy struck Hawaii itself in 2023 when a horrendous wildfire hit Maui. The historic town of Lahaina was destroyed. The fire killed seven Local 142 active members and seven retirees. Many other Local 142 members were injured and thousands lost their jobs or housing. ILWU locals and members on the mainland responded with donations of money and shipments of containers filled with life-saving supplies. In October 2024, at their annual meeting in New York, the United Seamen’s Service honored Local 142 and the Hawaii Longshore Division with a special Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) plaque for their heroic actions during and after the Maui fires.

Despite our challenges, the union has seen many important positive developments over the last six years. We expanded our Organizing Department and, between 2021 and 2024, brought 700 new members into our union. Some of our organizing efforts were calculated to strengthen our ILWU Warehouse Division and our Marine Division affiliate, the Inland Boatmen’s Union (IBU). As both Secretary-Treasurer and International President, I strongly supported and applauded their progress.

We recommitted ourselves to international solidarity in many ways, including updating our contract with the ITF and continuing to support the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ), and other worker maritime organizations overseas. We doubled down on our dedication to labor education by holding successful Leadership, Education, and Development (LEAD) and Secretary-Treasurers’ Conferences. We encouraged the advancement of women and young members in sponsoring women’s and young workers’ conferences. When a horribly abusive police officer murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, we shut down West Coast ports in protest and marched together to demand social justice. The union was also instrumental in getting former Local 52 stalwart Max Vekich appointed to the Federal Maritime Commission. The United States Senate confirmed his nomination in 2022. This was a first-of-its-kind appointment for the ILWU.

Two long-term San Francisco projects are dear to my heart. The ILWU was very much involved in both. The first is the Pier 27 Project, in which the Port of San Francisco named their new cruise terminal after Jimmy Herman, our second International President. The ILWU fought hard to get the impressive new terminal named for him. This is the only terminal in the world named after a labor leader. Second, this year saw the completion and opening of the San Francisco Port’s Islais Creek Interpretive History Park on the city’s south waterfront. Twenty-six years in the making, this project honors the ILWU and its members in several of its state-of-the-art display signs. ILWU activists Harvey Schwartz, Bill Ward, Don Watson, and Cleophas Williams worked energetically on this project over a long period. Members of the Port Commission were happy to help move the project along.

In parting, I would like to reemphasize that I have the fullest confidence in our new International Officers and Coast Committeemen, whom I have known and worked with for years. There is no doubt about their honesty, integrity, and devotion to the membership. Given what they experienced and faced so fearlessly over the last six years, it is clear that they will succeed. I also have absolute confidence that our rank-and-file members will determine a true course for the union. They will remain strong and unified in the face of whatever adversity might challenge them.

Beyond this, we can strengthen our union by establishing closer ties with select groups outside the ILWU. A good example of this would be the development of partnerships with Indigenous communities in Canada, Oregon, and Washington. Having allies is important. Above everything else, our rank-and-file members must commit to staying informed about union affairs, participating in the lives of their locals, and redoubling their efforts to vote in all ILWU elections.

Whenever called upon by the Officers to lend a hand, I intend to do so happily and enthusiastically. I hope to be around for a long time and look forward to seeing many of you at ILWU gatherings and conferences. Finally, to everyone in the ILWU family—active members, retirees, federated auxiliary participants, and our loyal, hard-working staff—goodbye and good luck, and thank you for your support over these many years.