Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy.

Findings and Policies 

I’ve been thinking about the 300 sisters and brothers from Local 6 who gave up their pay checks in July to honor the Teamster picket lines at Waste Management. I read the article about their fight in the last Dispatcher, and it made me wonder if we really appreciate what those workers accomplished—and what it means for the future of our union.

LIHUE—The ILWU Kauai Division sponsored a picnic and activity day for its retirees on Saturday, July 21, 2007. About 100 ILWU pensioner club and family members attended the picnic, which is held annually at the ILWU Hall at 4154 Hardy Street in Lihue. ◆

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) forbids employers from interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of their rights to organize, form, join or assist a labor organization for collective-bargaining purposes . . .

Employers violate the law by:

• Threatening employees with loss of jobs or benefits if they join or vote for a union. 

• Questioning employees about their union activities or membership in such circumstances as will tend to restrain or coerce the employees. 

HONOLULU—Three teams took part in the 22nd Annual ILWU Slow Pitch Tournament on September 22, 2007, and the victor this year was PSD NAPA from Kauai Division, with a total of 44 runs scored in two games. The round robin tournament was held at Lanakila Park and sponsored by Oahu Division. Mahalo to the following tournament committee members for all their hard work: Oahu Division Sports Coordinators Brian Tanaka and Larry Ruiz, and scorekeeper Kenneth Ige from Unit 4412 - Servco Pacific Inc. ◆

On July 1, 2007, the Ka‘anapali Beach Hotel became the sixth hotel to provide medical and dental benefits to their unionized employees through the ILWU Health and Welfare Trust Fund.

Dave Mori 
Division Director

My first term as your new Division Director was a learning experience for me. What I discovered is our Union is in dire need of new and qualified leaders who will be committed to serving our members. Complacency has created a vacuum in our Union’s leadership as many elected positions go unchallenged.

Larry Ruiz 
Business Agent

I have three basic goals for this term: to strengthen the union by getting more members to be active participants in union programs, to strenghten our contracts through negotiations and a strong steward system, and to strengthen labor ’s position in politics through our Political Action Program.