Claro Romero 
Division Director

Claro Romero is from Unit 2409 - Island Movers, where he works as a truck driver.

My goal as a Business Agent is to provide better service to all members. I think that some members feel that they are not getting the representation that they should be getting on the job.

I want to change their minds by always being there for all members and also by empowering and educating members about how they can help themselves.

I am especially concerned about members who may be immigrants and speak English as a second language, such as the many Filipino workers who are employed in ILWU units.

I will do everything I can to facilitate communication between members and the union.

ILWU Maui Division
Lahaina Office
840 Wainee Street #H-4 & 5
Lahaina, HI 96761
 

Wayne Takehara 
Business Agent

During this term of office, I would like to continue to have more unit members participate in union programs to educate and improve their working relationship, conditions and their benefits for all employees. The union’s strength is in the union membership.

The union leadership should continue to negotiate good contracts, build on the membership and improve the life style for the members, their family and retirees. We need to continue to support of political action programs by voting for union endorsed candidates that support labor now and in the future for our members in the community and country

ILWU Maui Division
Lanai Office
840 Ilima Avenue
Lanai City, HI 96763

Fair and democratic union elections—continued from page 1

The Department did raise three technical issues with the ILWU’s elections procedure which could theoretically cause some problems, but the Department could not show that this actually happened or would have affected the results of the election.

The ILWU has a long history of running clean and fair elections. The ILWU holds its officer elections every three years. In 2006, there were 70 candidates running for 57 elected positions in the union.

Rank-and-file run the election 
The ILWU elects its officers with an election procedure that is thoroughly democratic with many safeguards in place to ensure that every election is fair and legitimate. The election itself is run by a committee of rank and file members and over 250 volunteers who run some 350 balloting sites. These elections and balloting committees follow strict election rules which govern every step of the election process from distributing ballots, voting, keeping the ballot boxes secure, and the counting of ballots.

Steps to encourage democracy 
The ILWU is serious about democracy and takes additional steps to encourage members to vote and to make voting as easy as possible. Voting stations are set up at every workplace, and are typically held in the employee’s lunchroom or break areas. In companies where workers are spread out in different locations, voting places will be set up for each group of workers. Sugar and pineapple companies, for example, may have several voting areas for harvesting, factory, maintenance, and clerical workers.

The polls are open at different times of the day and night to accommodate workers on every shift. Some voting stations opened as early as 1:00 AM and closed as late as 11:30 PM. Hotels and hospitals for example will have multiple voting times throughout the day. Depending on the numbers of members at each company, the voting stations are open for one to five days, with the average polling place open for 2 days.

All of this adds up to around 801 balloting times and places which are run by the 250 members of these volunteer balloting committees. The 80 chairpersons of these committees receive 2 days of training, about 12 hours, on the proper election procedures. In comparison, the State of Hawaii gives their lead poll workers only about 5 hours of training.

Opportunity to vote 
Many of the ILWU’s election procedures go far beyond those required by the State of Hawaii for its own elections. Hawaii’s general election is held on only one day and the polls are open for only 11 hours. The ILWU runs its election over a seven day period and some polls are open 12 hours a day and a total of 58 hours over 5 days. The State of Hawaii requires new voters to register one month before the election, while a union member who can verify their status on the day of the election are entitled to vote in the ILWU’s election.

The State of Hawaii uses 3500 poll workers to run 353 polling sites, or about one poll worker for every 100 voters. The ILWU uses 250 members to run 801 polling sites and times, or about one poll worker for every 33 members. The State of Hawaii’s voting booths are open a total of 3,883 hours, which comes out to about 40 seconds for the 348,988 people who voted in 2006. In comparison, the ILWU voting booths were open a total of 1,850 hours, giving each of the 8,400 members who voted about 13 minutes each.

The ILWU holds itself to the highest possible standards when it comes to ensuring democracy within the union. ◆