The ILWU Local 10 Drill Team threw itself a party for its 40th Anniversary Dec. 2, celebrating four decades of service as ILWU ambassadors, spreading good will and solidarity for the union. The evening’s ceremonies also honored its leader and founder, Captain Josh Williams.
Williams established the Drill Team Dec. 12, 1965 along with Joe Brown and Richard Thomas. The 20 longshoremen who comprised the first Drill Team gave their first public performance in 1966, leading the United Farm Workers grape strike solidarity parade down San Francisco’s Market Street.
Since then the Drill Team has represented the ILWU proudly at many important events. They escorted Martin Luther King Jr. when he visited the Local 10 hall and was made an honorary member of the local. They marched in South Carolina at the demonstration supporting the Charleston Five, over the Vincent Thomas Bridge during the celebration of Harry Bridges’ 100th birthday, at the protest in front of the PMA during the 2002 longshore contract struggle and performed at International Conventions.
That evening ILWU International President James Spinosa presented Josh Williams with a plaque honoring him for his 40 years of leadership. “Your creative contributions as Drill Team Captain exemplify the high quality standards, traditions and discipline of the rank-and-file men and women of the ILWU” the plaque read.
