1) Your Local Titled Officers President Donna Domingo, Vice President Corinna Nguyen and Secretary-Treasurer Brian Tanaka assisting with assembling food boxes with volunteers from Kaiser at Oahu’s first food drive at the ILWU Hall on June 6, 2020. 2) Eggs Hawaii, an ILWU unit, donated over 500 cartons of eggs to the food drive on July 11, 2020. If you buy the Hawaiian Maid brand of eggs or the Ka Lei brand, you are supporting your union brothers and sisters (pictured here is Jo-Ann Lee)! 3) Oahu Business Agents Corin Kekua and Paris Fernandez load up a member’s car with help from Randall Tenn volunteering from Unit 4412 Servco at a Food Drive on June 6, 2020. 4) Business Agents Jose Miramontes, Dillon Hullinger, and Dural Duenas assemble bags of Love’s bread -- another ILWU unit that donated generously -- with Oahu Division Director Michael Yamaguchi at a food drive on July 11, 2020.
ILWU Local 142 has been making every effort to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic fallout that has followed in its wake.
Every island Division has large service industries and units that were hard-hit, and the Local continues to find new ways to serve the membership in this trying time.
Food drives on Oahu
Oahu Division held drive-through food pick ups on June 6, July 11, and August 15 at the ILWU Hall in Honolulu for unemployed members, essential workers, and pensioners in need.
The Local and Oahu Division coordinated the distribution of over 1500 boxes of produce with Kaiser and Farmers to Families (a USDA program that purchases farmers’ excess food while replenishing supplies for organizations in need). Each box contained over 30 pounds of produce, in addition to either 15 pounds of chicken or 2 cartons of eggs and Love’s bread.
The union difference
Many families expressed gratitude for the food boxes because of the financial hardships they are encountering through the pandemic.
“Every bit counts, and I am thankful the union is looking out for us,” said Bobby Hew-Len from Unit 4404 Anheuser-Busch Sales of Hawaii as he picked up his food box in the auto line.
ILWU Local 142 strives to be here for all members in their time of need, not just on Oahu, but across all Divisions and industries.
Rhonda Morris, from the tourism industry on Kauai (Unit 3511 Grand Hyatt Kauai) said at the most recent Local Executive Board meeting held in June, “Certain departments in the hotel are not union, and they see the difference in how we get treated having ILWU on our side, and how they are lacking in certain benefits and help in general. They wish they had a union right now, but who knows, maybe they can join us one day and be part of the ohana.”
Your union is here for you; the pandemic is not going anywhere and we aren’t either. Please visit our website at www.ilwulocal142.org for updated information and do not hesitate to get in touch. (the next Local Executive Board meeting will be held via ZOOM on September 18, 2020).
