For the first time, the ILWU Local 142 will be holding its convention on a Neighbor Island instead of the Island of Oahu.

The convention was originally scheduled to be held at the Ilikai Hotel in Honolulu from September 18-22, 2006. However, the hotel was sold in February 2006, the management contract with Renaissance was terminated, and the new owners began moving forward with the renovation and sale of half of the hotel rooms as condominium units.

High gas prices good for sugar workers

High oil and gasoline prices have led to higher world prices for sugar, and that is good news for Hawaii’s sugar industry and workers.

“11 years! One raise! Fair Contract NOW!” This chant sums up the injustice faced by the Pacific Beach Hotel workers who won an election to be represented by the ILWU over two years ago and are still struggling to get a fair contract with their employer—the HTH Corporation. HTH also owns King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Resort on the Big Island and the Pagoda Hotel in Honolulu.

When the 200-room Kapalua Bay Hotel opened in 1978, it was a place local people called the “end of the road”, because that was where the paved road turned into a dirt road, which continued along the shore of the leeward coast of West Maui. There were no houses or developments beyond that point.

We have a chance this year to turn our country around because voters are discovering the truth about George W. Bush and his way of life and everything that they stand for.

Hawthorne Pacific members approved a new collective bargaining agreement in May and June 2006. The statewide agreement run two years and covers most of the production and clerical workers in units on Maui, Kauai, Hilo, Kona and Oahu.

Can you spare a few hours this week? 
The September 23 Primary Election is only a few weeks away and we need to elect candidates who will work in the best interest of working families.

Hawaii Del Monte workers hoped to pass an official resolution and collect a few hundred signatures for their petition at the ILWU International Convention which was held from May 15-19, 2006, in Vancouver, Canada.

Politics is vitally important to working people, but a lot of ILWU members know very little about the union’s political action program. Many don’t vote. And if they do vote, they may not be voting for candidates endorsed by our union.