It's election season! And not just any election season. This year, there are several heavy-hitting leadership roles up for vote: governor, lieutenant governor, mayoral races on Kauai and Maui, and three of Hawaii's four congressional seats.
ILWU has always understood the importance of political action because we believe in strength in unity. Just as a single worker is powerless against his or her employer, a single voter is powerless to influence the political process. In both the union and in politics, we are strongest when we are united.
There are many examples of how Union Political Action created benefits for working families. One just has to look to this year's past legislative session, where one of our biggest priorities, increasing the state's minimum wage, finally passed after sitting on the shelf for five years. Raising the minimum wage will not only help our ILWU brothers and sisters in grocery stores and hotels, but help raise the standard of living for working families everywhere. Our ILWU PAC team used organized and sustained pressure at the legislature this past session to make this possible.
This same level or organization and consistency can be seen in other PAC efforts across the state as well. Here is just a small collection of photos of our PAC efforts in this primary election season in key races. When ballots start arriving in your mailbox come July, please join us in this strong union tradition of empowering yourself through voting!

What better way to ensure that our legislators are properly representing us than to have one of our own in office? That is the vision, being helped made possible by longshoreman Makai Freitas. Makai is a rank-and-file ILWU member from Big Island Stevedores. If you are from or know anyone from House District 8 - Waimea, Waikola Village, Kawaihae, North Kohala, please encourage them to vote for Makai.