The triennial Convention will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 655 Burrard Street in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 15, 2006, and closing on or about Friday, May 19, 2006. The elected Convention delegates will vote to decide the International budget, proposed increases in per-capita rates, as well as policies and direction of the ILWU for the next three-year period. Pursuant to Article VI, Sections 3 through 7 of the ILWU International Constitution, nominations and primary elections for the offices of the International President, International Vice President (Mainland), International Vice President (Hawaii), International Secretary-Treasurer and for approximately 19 International Executive Board members will be held on the last day of the Convention, which is expected to be on Friday, May 19, 2006.

All Convention delegates have the right to nominate candidates for titled office. Nominations shall be from the floor and shall be conducted separately for each titled officer. No person may be a nominee in Convention for more than one titled office. There shall be no limit for the number of nominees. No one not an accredited delegate from his/her own local to the Convention may be nominated, except that titled officers who by virtue of having held office in the previous term shall be eligible to be nominated for office. A role call vote shall be held and the two (2) nominees receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected in the primary election. No person may be nominated for any International office unless such person has been a dues paying member of the ILWU for at least five (5) years, including having worked as a rank-and-file worker under jurisdiction of the ILWU for at least two (2) years, or has been a dues-paying member of the ILWU for a period of at least ten (10) years. The nominees so elected in the primary election shall be placed on a referendum ballot for a vote of the entire International active membership for final election.

At the Convention, caucuses of the delegates from each geographical area shall be held at the time and place designated by the International President for the purpose of nominations and primary election of Executive Board members. The nominations and primary election of Executive Board members shall be conducted by each caucus in the same manner as such nomination and primary election are conducted for titled officers by the Convention, provided that no more than twice the number of Executive Board members to be elected from the respective area shall be declared nominated at the primary election. Executive Board members shall in no case be a candidate to succeed themselves unless they are accredited Convention delegates from their own local at the time of nomination. A referendum ballot shall be conducted for the election of Executive Board members in the same manner and at the same time as titled officers, provided that only the active members of the local within each area designated by the Convention shall vote for executive board members for their respective area and provided further that exclusive of titled officers there shall not be over one executive board member from any one local. This restriction shall not apply to Local 142 in Hawaii. In Hawaii, there shall not be over one executive board member from any one industrial group in Local 142.

With respect to any primary election held at the Convention, such election shall be conducted by the International President, provided he/she is not a candidate for office. In the event the International President is a candidate for office, he/she shall appoint another International titled officer who is not a candidate for office to conduct the primary election. If all titled officers are candidates for office, the International President shall appoint an incumbent IEB member who is not a candidate for office, and if none is available then a credentialed Convention delegate who is not a candidate to conduct the primary election.

Each Convention delegate may vote for up to two (2) nominees in the primary election. A role call vote shall be taken either by each affiliate or by individual Convention delegate within an affiliate as determined by the procedures of each affiliate.

A local may send as many delegates as it chooses to the International Convention. Delegates shall be elected by either secret referendum ballot of the entire membership or by ballot at a regular meeting of the local, or where for geographical reasons meetings of the entire membership are not practicable, by ballots of regular meetings of its subdivisions. Nominating procedures for delegates shall be established by the local. Where a local has more than one division or unit, it is up to the local to allocate delegates among the divisions or units. A local’s constitution and/or by-laws may provide that one or more officers of the local, elected in a secret ballot election, are Convention and/or Caucus delegates. The credentials of delegates elected shall be signed by the President and Secretary of the local, must bear the seal of the local and certify that the delegate was elected as provided herein.

All credentials must be in the International Office thirty (30) days prior to the Convention.

The International determines the number of votes allocated to each local based on the average per capita payments on union members in the prior calendar year (2005). The number of votes allocated to each local is provided in the Call which is sent to each local. The International will send each of the locals copies of all resolutions, statements of policy, and Constitutional amendments for distribution to their delegates at least two (2) weeks prior to the beginning of the Convention.

All members in good standing of any affiliate of the ILWU shall be eligible to vote in the election in accordance with such affiliate’s established rules defining membership in good standing that conforms to the International Constitution.

Pursuant to Rule 6.C of the ILWU Election Rules, which are an Appendix to the ILWU Constitution, any accredited delegate to the International Convention who publicly declares an intention to run for International office may request from the International Union a list of accredited delegates to the International Convention at any time within thirty (30) days prior to the Convention. A list of addresses of those delegates will also be available at the International Union for inspection. The International Union will not provide copies of the addresses of delegates or members of the Union.

Any accredited delegate to the International Convention who publicly declares an intention to run for International office may designate an individual to view on his/her behalf, the list of accredited delegates to the Convention with the following provisions: 1) The candidate must specify in writing the name of the individual designated to view the delegate list and the writing must be signed by the delegate; 2) the individual so designated by a candidate must be an ILWU member in good standing; 3) the rules governing the inspection of the delegate list will apply to the designated representative; and 4) if the candidate’s designated representative inspects the delegate list, that will constitute the candidate’s permitted one inspection of the delegate list.

The custodians of the Convention delegate list are International Research Director Russ Bargman and Manager, Accounting Dept. Karen Coffey located at the ILWU Headquarters Building at 1188 Franklin Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, California. For inspections, please first contact Russ Bargman and only if he is unavailable then ask for Karen Coffey. Inspections of the delegate list may only occur during regular business hours between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., and between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Nominations and primary election for the offices of two (2) ILWU Coast Committeeman will take place during the Longshore Division Caucus, which will convene on Monday, May 22, 2006 and close on or about Friday, May 27, 2006. The Longshore Division Caucus will also be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 655 Burrard Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Longshore Division Caucus elected delegates may vote to decide such matters as the budget, any proposed increases of the Coast pro-rata and other fees as well as the policies and direction of the ILWU Longshore Division and ILWU Coast Pro-Rata Committee. All Longshore Division Caucus delegates have the right to nominate candidates for the position of Coast Committeeman. Nominations shall be from the floor and shall be conducted separately for each position. No person may be a nominee for more than one Coast Committeeman position. There shall be no limit to the number of nominees. No one not an accredited Caucus delegate from his or her own local may be nominated, except that incumbent Coast Committeeman by virtue of having held office in the previous term shall be eligible to be nominated for office. A roll call vote will be held and the two (2) nominees receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected in the primary election. The nominees so elected in the primary election shall be placed on a referendum ballot for a vote of the entire Longshore Division membership for final election.

Publicly declared candidates for the position of Coast Committeeman have the right to inspect the list of accredited delegates to the Longshore Division Caucus at any time within thirty (30) days prior to the Caucus meeting. The procedures for inspection shall be the same as those provided with respect to nominations and primary elections held at the ILWU International Convention. ◆