America’s middle class may be suffering from high gas prices and canceling plans to vacation in Hawaii, but the number of millionaires in the world is growing and they will continue their luxury travel and spending even during rough economic times.

The economies of the United States, the European Union, and Japan have slowed, but the Middle East, Latin America, India, and China are booming.

Most of the new millionaires are coming from India, China, Brazil and Russia and they have a big appetite for luxury goods and first class travel.

Every union contract has one—it’s called a wage schedule. This is usually found near the back of the contract and shows a list of job titles, the hourly wage paid to each job title, and the dates of wage increases.

The following example shows some of the job titles and wage increases from a typical ILWU hotel contract.

About 120 representatives of the ILWU’s 20 pensioner clubs from all Divisions gathered on June 23-25 in Hilo for the 24th biennial conference of the ILWU State Pensioners Association. They heard from guest speakers, passed resolutions, and had a grand time seeing old friends and making new ones.

Most medical plans provide for regular physical exams and health screenings. It’s a good idea to take advantage of this benefit.

Health screenings are done to prevent serious health problems and to detect disease early, when the disease is more easily cured.

Tests are done to determine the possible presence of a disease or other health problem. Health screenings are often done routinely as a preventive measure, or may be done when there is reason to suspect a particular health problem exists.

Negotiating Committee members from left to right: Robyn Tadio; SecretaryTheresa Cabulizan; Leanne Perez; Hawaii Division Director-Richard Baker; Business Agent-Elmer Gorospe; Unit Chair-Myra Spencer.

Notice of Primary Election at Local 142 Convention

ILWU democracy is unique among American unions in that rank-and-file members make the policies that direct the work of their International union. They do this once every three years at a five-day Convention which was held this year in Seattle, Washington from June 8 - 12, 2009.

Constitutional Amendments 
C-1 Convention Locations - updates the rotation of the Convention to the seven areas of the ILWU: Southern California Area - 2012; Hawaii Area - 2015; Oregon/Columbia River Area - 2018; Northern California Area - 2021; ILWU Canada - 2024; Washington/Puget Sound/Alaska - 2027; Southern California Area - 2030.

International President 
Robert “Big Bob” McEllrath