The top executive officers of ILWU Local 142 are the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary-Treasurer.

In addition to their individual duties, the officers work collectively as a three-person team called the “Titled Officers.” Together they direct and coordinate the work of the union and all other officers. They work out of the Honolulu Office.

It is no exaggeration to say that Hawaii could not function without the work on and near the waterfront. Our brothers and sisters in the Longshore Division have a history in the ILWU defined by exemplary moments of strikes and solidarity.

Hawaii Division’s main union hall is in Hilo at 100 West Lanikaula Street. There is also a smaller Kona office at 74-5565 Luhia Street Kaiwi Square.

Elmer Gorospe, Jennifer Yadao and George Martin work out of the Hilo office and can usually be reached there at 808-935-3727. Michael Dela Cruz, Roselyn Molina, and Tristie Licoan work out of the Kona office and can be reached at 808-329-2070.

Maui Division, which includes the islands of Molokai and Lanai, holds the largest membership with over 7,000 of our 18,000 members.

A large portion of Maui’s membership used to come from sugar. Sugar did not last as a viable industry for Hawaii’s economy, and the state’s last sugar plantation, Maui’s Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S), closed in 2016.

Oahu Division is located at 451 Atkinson Drive in Honolulu. Oahu is the second largest division of the ILWU Local 142 with close to 5,000 members. Over half of Oahu’s members work in the general trades industrial grouping, with Foodland Super Market being the largest employer.

PAMELA GREEN 
Division Director

Pamela got her start in the ILWU in 1980 as a Foodland Waipouli cashier. Pamela was elected as Local Trustee in 2003, and served as Unit Chair until 2004.

STATEWIDE — The past months had people buzzing about the latest Avengers movie. But here at Local 142, we have been building our own army. The Local has been holding New Steward Training classes regularly since February.

As of this writing, 87 members throughout the Big Island, Kauai, Maui, and Oahu have gone through this intensive day-long training.

Police and news helicopters circled overhead as hundreds of union and community supporters converged on the dusty entrance to the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal. The gathering occurred on May Day – the traditional workers’ holiday – and attracted supporters from near and far who marched and rallied with the ILWU and a host of maritime unions and business groups who are opposing plans for a baseball stadium and luxury condos on the Terminal’s 55 acres.

Retired ILWU Maui Division Director and long-time union leader William “Willie” Kennison passed away on May 21, 2019. Willie retired from the ILWU in 2012 after 30 years of active involvment in the labor movment.

The Local would like to honor William “Willie” Kennison in this issue of the VOICE because we are proud to call him ours. The ILWU Local 142 would not be the same kind of organization it is if we did not have people like Willie who devoted a good portion of their lives to the membership and the labor cause.

(Editor’s note: the following was written with information from Leah Bernstein, Director of the Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund - HBLSF).

Who was Harriet Bouslog? 
The scholarship is named for the lawyer who represented ILWU Local 142 in the 1940s and 1950s.

Harriet Bouslog defended workers who hardly had the means to defend their cases, let alone receive any type of counsel.

Bouslog’s courage and commitment to social justice coupled with the ILWU workers’ tenacity brought deep lasting change to the whole state.