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.

Your union contract is important to you as a worker. It tells you how much you should be paid. It lists your benefits such as medical and vacations. It spells out your rights on the job.

In 2003 and 2004, the U.S. Department of Education tested 19,000 people over the age of 16 to determine how well they could use the written materials found in modern society. The survey is called the National Assessment of Adult Literacy. The people came from all 50 states. Their background information was collected so the results could be analyzed by age, race, education, income, employment, and other factors.

The test involved completing tasks which became more and more difficult. An example of a simple task is to find the expiration date on a driver’s license.

Hawaii has many programs that can help adults at all literacy levels improve their skills. Hawaii has 11 community schools for adults which are part of the public education system. There is no cost for the basic education classes. Some classes may charge a small fee for books. A reasonable fee is charged for general interest classes. The program is open to all adults.

Classes are held in the Spring, Summer, and Fall. You will need to sign up for these classes in advance. Many of the classes are held in the evenings for people who work during the day.

The first comprehensive study of adult literacy in the US was done in 1992-1993, following the passage of the National Literacy Act of 1991. The Clinton Administration published the detailed results of the study in August 2003, a few months after the study was completed. The results were startling—26% of American adults had no more than basic literacy skills and 22% had little or no literacy ability in the English language.

A follow-up study was done in 2003 to see if adult literacy improved after 10 years.

“Have you done any volunteer service with an organization to help improve the lives of people in your community?”

When we asked this question of our union officers and stewards, they mentioned volunteering for their school, church, or club. Some shook their heads, embarrassed to say they did nothing. Not one of them said they did volunteer service for their union. Yet every one of them spends many hours every month helping their fellow workers.