How can YOU support your union?

Union members can do their part in supporting their union. Specifically each member should:

1. Know the terms of the contract so that they can recognize violations by the employer and help other workers learn about the contract. 

2. Call all violations of the contract to the attention of their union steward or business agent. 

3. Assist the steward in every way to find all the facts about a given violation or grievance. 

4. Go with the steward or business agent, if asked, to see the supervisor. In these meetings, the individual member should follow the tactics agreed upon in advance, let the steward or business agent do most of the talking, and be prepared to support them with the facts when called upon. 

5. Recognize that sometimes their grievance is not a good one and that the steward is correct in refusing to handle it. It may not be a good grievance because the member doesn’t understand the contract. If the steward fails to convince the member that his grievance is a poor one, the member has the right to speak to the unit officers or business agent. 

6. Attend union meetings and volunteer for union political action. Read the union bulletin board, The VOICE of the ILWU, and help make and carry out union policy. 

7. See to it that the members who work beside them are good union members too; that they are members in good standing; that they attend union meetings, and do their part in building the union.