Political action in Local 142 is on fire and getting hotter everyday. The primary election is on September 18 and there are only a few weeks before the November 2 General Election.

Each of the four island Divisions of Local 142—Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and Oahu—are already hard at work registering members to vote and educating members on the issues. As the election gets closer, the work will shift to actively supporting those candidates endorsed by the union and getting members to vote at the polls or by absentee ballot.

Hawaii Division 
The Island of Hawaii is known as the “Big Island” because of its size—all the other islands in the state could fit neatly within its 4,038 square miles. Because the Big Island is big, they have two coordinators—Brev Blas does the east side and Juanita Pedra takes the west side of the island. Their division’s volunteer deputy registrars have been registering members at work and through house visits. Brev has found it better to visit members at home—there is more time to talk and the atmosphere is more relaxed then the frenzy at the workplace. Plus there’s the added advantage of being able to register family members as well.

Maui Division 
Maui Division has 43 members trained and deputized as voter registrars. They have been going to neighborhoods with high concentrations of members, armed with the addresses of every ILWU household on the street. They discovered that members were much more receptive in the afternoon, while morning visits were often unsuccessful. They are also registering members at the workplace and at membership meetings. At the same time, they are using pledge cards to recruit more volunteers.

Kauai Division 
Kauai has recruited 20 rank and file members as deputy voter registrars. The focus in that division is registering members on the job. Thus far they have registered new voters at the Hyatt Regency Kauai, Wilcox Hospital, Foodland stores, and Princeville Resorts.

Oahu Division 
Oahu has 60 rank and file activists working to register the members at their workplaces. Oahu also has the added burden and responsibility of dealing with the candidates in as many as 50 races—two to three times more than any other division. In comparison, Maui has the largest membership but only has 19 races to deal with. Much of Oahu’s time was spent interviewing candidates who have asked for the union’s endorsement and in giving this support to those candidates already endorsed by the union.

All four divisions are also using unit bulletins, newsletters and leaflets to educate all members about the issues at stake in this election.