Members state-wide voted in elections held November 14-20, 2015 to elect the top officers who will direct the work of the union for the next three years. Elected are 26 full-time officers, 11 rank-and-file members to the Local Executive Board, and 11 Delegates to the ILWU International Convention. The election results were announced on November 24, 2015. All officers serve a term of three years, beginning January 4, 2016 and ending on December 31, 2018.
Unit 4526 - Pacific Beach Hotel Balloting Committee member Jeffrey Cho allows voter Alberto Cargo to inspect the ballot box, while Balloting Committee member Guillerma Ulep checks the eligible voter list in the background. Cargo has worked at the hotel for over 18 years and was the first member at Unit 4526 to cast his ballot. This is the first time Pacific Beach Hotel workers have participated in the ILWU’s Local Election.
Members re-elected President Donna Domingo, Vice President Teddy B. Espeleta, and Secretary-Treasurer Guy Fujimura. This is Guy’s tenth term as the union’s Secretary-Treasurer, a position he has held since 1985. Article V of the ILWU Constitution charges the titled officers with the responsibility of directing the work of the union between meetings of the Local Executive Board.
The next highest positions are the five Division Directors—Longshore, Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and Oahu—who administer the work of the union in their division. They are charged with the responsibility of directing the work of their division and supervising the work of the business agents and division office staff.
William “Baba” Haole was elected as Longshore Division Director; Elmer Gorospe, Sr. was re-elected as Hawaii Division Director; Stephen Castro, Sr. was re-elected as Director of Maui Division; Michael Yamaguchi was also re-elected as Oahu Division Director; Pamela Green was newly elected as Kauai Division Director.
In the Longshore Division, Richard Kamoe was elected as Vice Division Director and Drake Delaforce was elected as Secretary-Treasurer.
The three titled officers and the five division directors also serve as the union’s executive committee and meet monthly to coordinate the work of the union, particularly in the areas of contract negotiations and grievance handling.
Business Agents
Of the 19 elected business agents (BAs), who carry out the day-to-day work of the union, only one will be new to the job.
On the Big Island, members will continue to see familiar faces, as all of their business agents were incumbents: Delbert DeRego, Greg Gauthier, George Martin, Francine Molina, and Corinna Salmo. Maui Division will see four of their former business agents return to office as these incumbents were re-elected: Roberto Andrion, Jr., Jerrybeth De Mello, Claro Romero, Jr., and Stephen West. Joseph Aquino will join the team as a newly elected business agent.
On Oahu, members will also continue to see familiar faces as all their business agents were re-elected. They are Wilfred Chang, Jr., Paris Fernandez, Dillon M. Hullinger, Karl Lindo, and Brian Tanaka.
On Kauai, Doreen Kua was re-elected as an incumbent business agent and incumbent Division Representative Calvin Corpuz will come on board as a new business agent.
incumbent Division Representative Calvin Corpuz will come on board as a new business agent.
Local Executive Board
The ILWU Local Executive Board is composed of 21 people—the three titled officers, the four island division directors, the longshore division director, and 13 rank-and-file members. Eleven members were elected as there were no candidates for two positions.
Rank-and-file members elected to the executive board include the following. Three Division Trustees were elected— Michael Dela Cruz (Hawaii), Douglas Cabading (Maui), and Bryon Ponte (Kauai). There were also three Division Representatives elected—Roland Shimaoka, Jr. (Hawaii), Trudy Azeka (Kauai), and Dona Hamabata (Oahu); and five Industrial Grouping Representatives— Esther Manibog (Sugar), Samuel Kaaihue (Longshore), Samuel Ramirez (Pineapple), Boyd Isnec (General Trades), and Rhonda Morris (Tourism).
International Executive Board members from Hawaii also sit on the Local Executive Board as observers.
Best Wishes for a Productive, Prosperous, and Peaceful 2016
—from ILWU Local 142 Officers and Staf
Update to election results
As the VOICE went to press, Hawaii Division Business Agent Greg Gauthier resigned to assume a position with the port of Seattle, and Michael Dela Cruz was appointed to take his place. Since Dela Cruz will be a full-time officer and cannot hold a trustee seat at the same time, a trustee will be appointed for Hawaii Division.
Other vacant seats, such as the Oahu Division trustee seat and the Maui Division Representative to the Local Executive Board will be appointed as well.
International Titled Officers Re-elected
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has confirmed the final results of the ILWU International Election held this past summer. The four incumbent Titled Officers were re-elected: President Robert “Big Bob” McEllrath from Local 4 Vancouver; Vice President Mainland Ray A. Familathe from Local 13 San Pedro; Vice President Hawaii Wesley Furtado from Local 142 Hawaii; and Secretary-Treasurer William E. Adams from Local 23 Tacoma.
Twenty two board members were elected. The following board members were elected from Local 142 Hawaii: Douglas Cabading for the Pineapple Industrial Group, Lynden Koerte for the General Trades Industrial Group, Kelly Ruidas for the Sugar Industrial Group, Nelson Rita for the Longshore Industrial Group, and Michael Dela Cruz for the Tourism Industrial Group. Alan Cote will represent the IBU Marine Division, Rainiero Salas will represent the Panama Canal Division, and Mark Gordienko will represent ILWU Canada
The Southern California region elected three board members: Michael Podue from Local 63 Marine Clerks San Pedro, Julie Brady from Local 13 San Pedro, and Luisa Gratz from Local 26 Los Angeles. Darrell Nichols from Local 30 Boron will serve on the board from the Southern California Mining Region and Chuck Wendt from the Alaska Longshore Division was elected from the Alaska Region.
Northern California board members include: Sean Farley from Local 34 San Francisco, Melvin Mackay from Local 10 San Francisco, and Fred Pecker from Local 6 Oakland. Board members from the Oregon/ Columbia River Region will be: Dane Jones from Local 40 Portland and James Daw from Local 8 Portland.
The Washington/Puget Sound Region members include: Max Vekich Jr., from Local 52 Seattle and Dean McGrath from Local 23 Tacoma.
Elected to the Coast Committee for California was Frank Ponce De Leon from Local 13 San Pedro, and the Coast Committeeman representing the Northwest was Cameron Williams from Local 19 Seattle.
All International officers, board members, and coast committee members will serve a term of three years.