Children’s activities included a train ride sponsored by Kimo Apana, bouncers, and fun games that were sponsored by the Hawaii State Teachers Association and run by HSTA members. 

Hawaii Division held its Labor Day pensioner’s picnic on August 27 at Wailoa State Park. Two hundred pensioners from nine clubs attended the picnic, which is held every other year in Hilo. Big Island full-time officers prepared all the food, including beef from a cow donated by former Business Agent Herman Amaral.

Administration moved with incredible speed. Within hours after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the Bush Administration was hard at work, taking care of big business while cutting wages and safety rules for working people.

More profits for the food industry

One day after Katrina made landfall, on August 30, Bush took care of his friends in the packaged food industry by changing the rules to allow the early entry of 2006 foreign sugar and the import of an additional 110,000 tons of Mexican refined sugar.

While the departure of a couple of major unions and the boycott of the AFL-CIO’s 50th anniversary convention by them and several others dominated the news coverage of the  event, a number of other significant and far-reaching actions by the remaining delegates eluded the national media’s reporting.

The ILWU will hold meetings to provide information to pensioners and active members about the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit that begins enrollment on November 15 of this year. All Medicare beneficiaries are eligible for Medicare Part D.

How do you enroll? What kinds of plans are being offered? What if you already have a drug plan?
These questions and more will be answered at the meetings.

Union members in Hawaii made their votes count and their voices heard in the 2004 elections. They worked extra hard to elect candidates who shared their views and would best represent their interests as workers. Volunteers made thousands of phone calls and went house-to-house to talk to fellow union members.

ILWU, you did a great job in this election. On behalf of the Local Officers, I want to thank everyone who gave their time and energy to this union’s political action program.

Union political action wins big in Hawaii, continued from page 1

None of this happened. Instead of gaining 8 seats in the House, the Republicans lost 6 seats in areas thought to be Republican strongholds. Instead of close races, most of the targeted Democrats won by huge margins. Lingle waved signs and walked house-to-house for Republican challenger Don Couch, but Maui’s Roz Baker still beat him by over 2,400 votes. Former Republican Mayor of Kauai Maryanne Kusaka was expected to give Gary Hooser the fight of his career, but Hooser ran

More than 200 pensioners from McBryde Sugar, G&R, Lihue Plantation, Kekaha Sugar, and Kauai Tourism enjoyed food, fellowship, games, and political speeches at Kauai Division’s annual pensioner picnic on September 11. 

Pensioners reflected in a moment of silence for our brothers and sisters who have passed on and all those who perished in
the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

LANAI CITY—“I believe this Labor Day celebration on Lanai is a tremendous success,” said Maui Division Director Willie Kennison. “And we must thank the unit officers and stewards on Lanai who worked so hard to make it a reality.”