A historic solidarity agreement between the two unions that represent most of Hawaii hotel workers will give the unions more power and leverage in negotiating fair labor agreements with the major corporations that now dominate

Democrats and union-endorsed candidates did very well in Hawaii’s November 2 General Election. Democrats won all of the most important races—the governor’s race, the three congressional races, and 13 state senate seats, including one seat that was held by a Republican. In the Hawaii State Senate there is now only one Republican, along with 24 Democrats.

In the 51-member Hawaii State House, Republicans picked up two seats and now have eight members in the House, while Democrats won election to 43 seats.

If you repeat a lie often enough, some people will begin to believe the lie is true.

Republican and Conservative propaganda in the media want you to believe that the Obama Administration and the Democratic majority has done nothing to help working families in the last two years.

Division Directors Richard Baker and Michael Machado led a discussion at the Tourism Caucus on September 27- 28, 2010 on mobilizing members and preparing for negotiations.

In an earlier session, Division Directors William Kennison and Dave Mori talked about how the union should never give the company any concessions without getting something in return.

Tourism caucus attendees filled out a survey which asked six questions about how they thought the workers at their hotels felt about the union and management.

They were asked to rank those feelings on a scale of one to nine. A score of 1 was “Very negative,” 3 was “Negative,” 5 was “Neutral,” 7 was “Positive,” and 9 was “Very Positive.”

The same survey was done at the Tourism Conference held in 2006, which allows us to see how workers’ attitudes and feelings have changed over the last four years.

In 2009, Hilton Worldwide ranked as the third largest hotel chain in the U.S. based on the number of guest rooms. This is according to the annual survey of the Top U.S. Hotel Companies conducted by Hotel & Motel Management.

The Wyndham Hotel Group held the number one spot with 464,660 rooms and 5,968 US properties. Marriott International held second place.

The contracts for just two ILWU hotels expired in 2010—the Royal Lahaina Resort contract expired in September and the Honolulu Airport Hotel expires in December— but over the next four years, many more are expiring. ILWU units should begin preparing and mobilizing their members for contract negotiations at least six months before their union contract expires.

“I’d like to grow the membership and make more powerful”

HONOLULU—Oahu Division rank-and-file members and Business Agents participated in an organizing training class on December 13, 2010, in order to learn how the ILWU organizes new members, as well as why organizing is so important to the ILWU.

“The ILWU has a very strong organizing program compared to other Hawaii unions,” said ILWU International Representative Tracy Takano, who was the lead instructor for the day-long training session.

Good morning everyone. It’s great to see so many of you here, celebrating Labor Day in the way it was meant to be celebrated—by gathering here with other union members and their families, sharing food, and enjoying the music and fellowship.

Support candidates who support working people.

Polling place: The General Election is Tuesday, November 2, 2010. You should have been mailed a notice of where you should vote. Polling places are open from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. If you work on this day, your employer is required to adjust your schedule to give you at least 2 hours time to vote. Call your union office if you have any questions about this.