Mike Machado, retired Kauai Division Director, took this group photo of the pensioners attending the conference from Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, and Kauai.

Every two years, the ILWU State Pensioners Association sponsors its biennial state conference, rotating among the Divisions. The 28th biennial conference was held this year on June 7-9 in Hilo and attended by 95 pensioners representing 18 ILWU pensioner clubs statewide.

The conference is an opportunity for participants to get together, share information about their clubs, learn from speakers and about ILWU programs, and just have a good time. The formal meetings were held in the afternoon of the first day and the morning of the second day, but the rest of the time was spent talking story with each other, playing bingo, eating, going shopping, visiting the Pacific Tsunami Museum, touring Hilo, and entertaining one another with song and dance.

Speakers educate and entertain 
The conference participants heard from a number of speakers, including Local President Donna Domingo, Local Secretary-Treasurer Guy Fujimura, Hawaii Division Director Elmer Gorospe, Dwight Takamine of UH-West Oahu, Rep. Mark Nakashima of the Hamakua district, Derek Kurisu of KTA Super Stores, Dr. Kimo Alameda of the Hawaii County Office on Aging, and Kat Revuelto of Hawaii Life Flight.

Derek Kurisu, who hosts a local TV show and whose father was a sugar worker, independent sugar grower and author of the book “Sugar Town,” reminisced with the pensioners about life on the plantation and how his parents struggled to raise five kids without making it seem like a struggle. Derek took the values he learned on the plantation into his work for KTA and started up Mountain Apple brand just when the sugar companies were closing down on the Big Island. One thing he learned from plantation days was “no waste food”—make use of everything—which is what Mountain Apple products do. He also remembered that everything they ate was fresh—freshly grown produce or homemade food. Long after the plantations shut down, Derek’s brother, Duane Kurisu, had the opportunity to purchase the C. Brewer building in Honolulu. Derek said that plantation laborers could not enter the building when they were working for the company, but when Duane bought the building, it showed that the workers had won and they could call the building their own because their co-worker’s son is now the owner.

Dwight Takamine thanked the pensioners for honoring his father, Yoshito, by dedicating the conference to his memory and that of Franco Longakit and Moses Moke, who all passed away within the past two years. Dwight reflected on what the union has done for working men and women statewide with passage of the minimum wage increase and the law permitting agricultural workers to be organized by card check. For Dwight, relationships matter, and he is proud to be associated with the ILWU.

Rep. Mark Nakashima said his campaign slogan has been “Big Island roots, country values.” Growing up, he and his friends would talk about which plantation they would work for because few other options were open to them. He eventually became a teacher and was teaching at Honokaa High School when Hamakua Sugar closed down. Since then, he has seen a change in demographics in his community and a change in values but hopes that community and plantation values will remain a part of Hawaii’s culture.

Dr. Kimo Alameda is the Executive Director of the county’s Office on Aging and gave an entertaining yet educational speech in a down-to-earth, “local” style. In a half hour talk and another half hour of questions and answers, he regaled the audience with stories and jokes that conveyed the message that Hawaii’s elderly need help—including financial— for services to help them continue to live in their own homes. He reviewed the purpose of the Aging and Disability Resource Centers and said his own ADRC provides a “one-stop center” for seniors and their caregivers to access services and information in a single location (the old Sun Sun Lau). A resolution in support of a long-term care financing program was adopted by the conference following Dr. Alameda’s speech.

Pauline Enriques, Clyde Silva, and Margaret Ann Cabudol of the Pahala Pensioner Club entertained the crowd at the conference banquet.

Kat Revuelto of Hawaii Life Flight informed the pensioners about a membership program (Ohana Plus) with a nominal fee that pays for air ambulance services.

Reports and resolutions 
Robert Girald, president of the ILWU Memorial Association (M.A.), provided a report on the organization, which sponsors the biennial conference by paying for the expenses of two delegates from each club with at least 10 members to attend the conference. Reports were also provided by representatives from each of the pensioner clubs on the number of members in the club, officers serving, activities held, future plans, etc. The sad but shared reality was the decline in club membership due to age, poor health and death, but clubs were encouraged to draw new members from others in the community who can embrace ILWU policies and principles. Several pensioner club members and even officers are not from the ILWU rank-and-file and actively and enthusiastically participate in ILWU activities and support ILWU programs.

Conference participants also adopted resolutions on recognizing and remembering Yoshito Takamine, in support of the ILWU Political Action Program and ILWU-endorsed candidates, in recognition and appreciation of the role of sugar in Hawaii, in support of the ILWU Pensioner Program, in support of ILWU participation in the Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans, and in support of the Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship.

Many thanks to the “host” committee 
As the “host” for the conference, Hawaii Division pensioners organized a planning committee soon after the previous conference concluded and met regularly, made assignments, and ensured that everything ran smoothly.

Many thanks to Richard Baker, chair; Gilbert DeMotta, who arranged bus transportation and even served as a “tour guide”; Eli Miura, who donated many of his handcrafted massage sticks for door prizes; Nani Kaeha and Judi Meyers, who solicited donations for door prizes; Barbara Hanog and Nani Kaeha, who took and filled orders for omiyage; Flo Soares, who made leis for each conference participant; May Otomo, who made leis for special guests—and the many other pensioners who donated their time and talent for a successful conference. Finally, much appreciation to the Hawaii Division FTOs, led by Division Director Elmer Gorospe, for their guidance and support.

The 29th biennial conference will be held on Oahu in 2018. If you are interested in joining a pensioner club or forming a new one, contact the Division Pensioner Coordinator in your Division: Wilfred Chang and Jose Miramontes, Oahu; Michael Dela Cruz, Hawaii; Calvin Corpuz, Kauai; and Jerrybeth DeMello, Maui.