Run by the Rank-and-File
Local 142 is one of 60 individual locals that make up the ILWU. These local unions are located in California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Canada, and Panama. Most of these locals were part of the ILWU since the 1930s and share the same principles of a democratic union run by the membership.
You are a member of a Unit within the ILWU. Units elect their own officers and hold regular membership meetings to run their affairs and carry out union programs. Units are the basic building block of the ILWU’s democratic structure.
Meetings to Get Involved
Unit officers are also members of the Division Executive Board (DEB) which meets monthly to guide the work of the Division. These meetings are open to members. There are four divisions that hold these meetings: Hawaii, Maui (County), Kauai, and Oahu. We encourage you to contact your division for the dates and times of these meetings and start to learn about the workings of the union!
The Local Executive Board is made up of elected representatives from the five divisions - the four island divisions and the Longshore Division. They meet quarterly to make policy and guide the work of the entire union (see photos). Even if you are not an elected representative at this meeting, it is your right as a member to attend and be privy to the work done.
Conventions to Facilitate
Democracy Every three years, there are two major meetings (we call them conventions) where ILWU members will have the opportunity to set the policies and direction of their union.
International Convention
The first major meeting is the ILWU International Convention, which will be held in San Francisco in the spring of 2021. The last International Convention was held in June 2018 in Portland.
Actions taken by the International Convention, including changes to the constitution, take effect immediately upon adoption. Thus, the convention is the highest governing body of he ILWU and this is how the members determine the future direction of the union.
Delegates to the International Convention are elected by direct rank-and-file vote by the members of each ILWU local or affiliate.
Local 142 Convention
The second major meeting is the Local 142 Convention to be held in Honolulu in September 2021. Just as the International is the highest governing body of the International union, the Local 142 Convention is the highest governing body for ILWU Local 142 in Hawaii.
During the Convention, rank-andfile delegates review the work of the Local officers, set the policies of the union in Hawaii, and propose amendments to the Local 142 Constitution.
Immediately following Local 142’s Convention, membership gatherings to ratify the actions of the Convention must be held to give members a full accounting of the decisions that were made and to get their vote of approval. In the ILWU, the members have the final say of what happens in their union. This is what makes the ILWU democratic.
Meet the Newest Members to the LEB (Local Executive Board)
In the last election in 2018, members voted in new representation to the Local Executive Board (LEB).
The LEB meetings happen four times a year and there are representatives from every division and industrial grouping.
Pictured above from left to right are: Jesse Andrade (Longshore), Chris Barut (Maui Division), Ricardo Dela Torre (Pineapple), Sierra Delgado (General Trades), Kenneth Hunt (Maui Division Trustee), Elizabeth Visitacion (Tourism).
The next LEB meeting is scheduled for June 21, 2019.
The ILWU is a democratic union, run by the rank-and-file. That means all titled officers, full-time officers and representatives are voted in by YOU!
The International Executive Board is the second highest governing body of the union and has the power to take action and make policies between the conventions. The executive board must meet at least three times a year. Pictured here from left to right are International Vice President (Hawaii) Wesley Furtado, Sam Ramirez from Oahu (Pineapple), Local 142 President Donna Domingo, Dona Hamabata from Oahu (General Trades), Rhonda Morris from Kauai (Tourism), Emmanuel Baltazar from Maui (Tourism), and Dustin Dawson from Oahu (Longshore) at the International headquarters in San Francisco in the fall of 2018.