The following is reprinted from the ILWU Local 142 Guide for New Members revised February 2019. If you want a printed copy of the Guide for New Members booklet, contact your unit officers, Business Agent, or at the Division Office of your island.

Welcome to the ILWU!

You are now a member of the ILWU, one of many labor unions in the United States. Labor unions are organizations of working people who join together for mutual benefit and to promote fairness and justice on the job.

When workers are united in unions, they have the power to bargain with their employers for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. Through their unions, workers are able to protect their rights and have a stronger voice in what happens in the workplace. 

Unions also give working people the power to influence government and the political process. Through union political action, unions help improve the community and influence government to serve the needs of working people and their families.

This pamphlet will give you an over