Love’s Bakery members were employed statewide, so the effort to take care of the membership needed to be as comprehensive as possible. A key union value is cooperation; no one does anything alone. Through the proactive communication and networking efforts of the Local, the Union was able to partner with organizations such as the City and County of Honolulu, the State of Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and the State Department of Education and Oahu Workforce Development Board to create sessions arranged on every island for members to create email accounts, unemployment profiles, and register for job placement search sites.

On Oahu specifically, there have been over 25 of these sessions held as of print time at the ILWU Honolulu Hall, serving six to twenty members at a time.

Present at each session is a diverse crew of helpers to provide individual support and one-on-one attention to members as they get through the processes of filing for unemployment and looking for new jobs.

Facing the future with as much support as possible 
This can be a daunting process, especially for our members in the sanitation and production department at Love’s who had limited computer knowledge.

However, with so many experts on hand, it was easier to feel confident and supported.

“I had the same route delivering bread for 33 years,” said Mark Nakagawa, a driver for Love’s who showed up to an unemployment info session on March 18. “In that time, I also served as a union steward. I would always tell my fellow drivers, ‘Look, the union is there to answer any questions you have. You just need to ask.’ Sometimes we don’t even have to ask, and the union is there to help anyway.”

Supportive partnerships 
The city and state agencies provided 20 laptops in addition to their professional knowledge on how best to navigate the unemployment and sites to search for new jobs. The Local will also be providing follow up sessions in addition to these initial account establishing sessions, and is also looking into seminars on digital literacy.

“The silver lining in this,” said Oahu Division Director Michael Yamaguchi, “is that we now have these contacts in the city and state, and resources we can offer to other members should they need them.”

These sessions will be ongoing for at least the next few weeks. Your union is here for you. Please keep in touch with us so we can offer you the best service possible.

Supporting families... Pictured above is Love’s member Frank Hunter who came to one of the union’s unemployment info sessions with his wife and daughter for support. Frank worked in the engineering department as a general foreman. “I don’t want to be on unemployment for long, I want to work. I was good at what I did, and want to support my family.” Also pictured above are the logos of some of the organizations ILWU worked alongside to make these sessions possible; teamwork is key.

Love’s legacy is its hard workers...Top left : Ryan DeGuzman from the sales department at one of the info sessions at the union hall. Top right: Mark Nakagawa, driver for 33 years.

Making transistions as gracefully as possible; from machinery into a digital age..Above left : Th e Love’s production plant on one its last days. Above right: John Uyechi, driver for 38 years who came to the Hall by 6 am to make sure he had parking driving in from Waianae. Th ank you to our members for accepting the help of the union as you proceed into the next phase of your lives.