“When we began this incredible march,” said Maria Elena Durazo, head of the LA County Labor Federation that organized the event, “not only did we go from Hollywood to the Docks, but the docks went to Hollywood with the ILWU Drill Team and busloads of longshore workers!”

    Hundreds of ILWU members travelled by bus to kick-off the march on the streets of Hollywood on April 15th.  The ILWU Local 10 Drill Team flew down from the San Francisco Bay Area to dazzle the crowd with their fancy moves and cool routines. 

    When it came time to begin marching, hundreds of longshore workers, dressed in white caps and white shirts, led marchers on the initial leg down Wilshire Boulevard, where they met up with hundreds of janitors from SEIU Local 1877 who were gathered in front of Hollywood’s historic Wiltern Theatre.

    The aim of the march was to mobilize union members, build solidarity, and focus media attention on the 350,000 Southland workers covered by contracts that expire in 2008, including 20,000 longshore workers at the ports of LA and Long Beach.

    Some 200 union members volunteered to march the entire 28 miles from Hollywood to San Pedro, with the ILWU’s walkers forming the largest union contingent. Hundreds of other ILWU supporters from Locals 13, 63, 94, 63-OCU, 26, 29, plus Pensioners and Auxiliary members supported the effort at different points during the event.

    Among the ILWU walkers was Richard Flores of Local 13, who marched with his 16 year-old son Rich and 14-year-old daughter Amanda. Also marching were Tim Patrick and Andrea Miller, who once worked at the Rite Aid Warehouse in Lancaster where 600 workers recently voted to join the ILWU.

 Rite Aid worker Gabriel Ramirez took the day off from his job at the warehouse to participate in the final leg of the march. Several veteran ILWU members marched including Local 13 Chairman of Stewards Mike Freese and David Arian who carried his granddaughter on top of his shoulders during much of the march.  Local 94 member Louis Hill proudly marched the entire distance and carried his local’s banner the entire 28 miles, and declined all offers of relief.

    Local 13 member Mike Dimon summed-up the experience of many marchers, explaining how the experience transformed the way he thinks about the union and his co-workers.

    “When I first heard about the idea, I wasn’t very positive because I didn’t think marches and hunger strikes could really accomplish much,” he said. “But I gotta tell you, something almost spiritual happened to us during those three days because we came together for a cause, bonded with each other, and felt a kind of power that working people need to feel if we’re gonna turn this country around so that working people have more say and a real voice.”

    Marchers continued their long walk, heading south toward the ports of LA and Long Beach.  They reached the city of Torrance on the second day, where they went to a rally at the retail giant, Wal-Mart, and found ILWU members were on-hand to lend support.

    “The second day was a long haul down Vermont Avenue, but having everyone come out for the Wal-Mart rally really lifted all of us up,” said ILWU Local 13 member Sal Pardo, one of the union’s 20 core walkers.

    By noon on the third day, marchers were getting close to Wilmington and San Pedro.  They stopped for lunch at a nearby park where they were welcomed to the Harbor Area by newly-elected Assemblyman Warren Furutani. Environmental and community groups were also on hand to rally support for cleaner air and help port truckers who want to join the union. 

    As marchers walked the final stretch down Gaffey Street, then across Channel to Pacific Avenue, they were welcomed with the blare of car horns from supportive residents. Marchers responded with their final chant, “Pedro Town is a Union Town!”

    ILWU volunteers prepared a BBQ dinner for all marchers hosted by Local 13 and its Memorial Hall Association.  Afterward, marchers gathered at the ILWU Worker Memorial to lay a wreath commemorating the death of longshoreman Carlos Rivera who had been killed at work on the docks in Long Beach 13 days before.

    “This is a special place for us,” said ILWU Southern California Pensioners Group President Al Perisho who spoke with marchers that gathered around the stone-and-bronze monument erected to honor longshore workers, marine clerks and foremen who have been killed on the job at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach since 1934.

    “Almost 60 members have been killed here on these docks, and now, unfortunately, we have to add another name because brother Carlos Rivera was just killed on April 4th while working at Long Beach. When people get hurt now, they usually lose their life. The machines are big.  These cranes are huge.  For the companies, it’s all about productivity. But for the families – including the ILWU family – it comes down to tragedies like this that happen too often.”

    After paying their respects, marchers headed triumphantly toward the large crowd that was waiting for them at the docks to celebrate the end of the march with a solidarity rally.

    ILWU volunteers, led by Mike Piazza, Kevin Schroeder, and Patricia Aguirre  were waiting in force with a hospitality tent and cool drinks, balloons and temporary tattoos for kids, and the “Legacy of 1934” historical exhibit that were all big hits with families that came to the rally.  When the marchers finally arrived, attention focused on the rally stage where a rock band provided entertainment until the show began with a welcome from LA’s top labor official.

    “The Los Angeles Federation of Labor won’t let any worker down when the call is made for help,” said Durazo.  “When the longshoremen call, we will be there for them.”

    The large crowd heard from many speakers, including ILWU International President Bob McEllrath who appeared on a giant “jumbo-tron” screen to deliver his solidarity message from Sydney, Australia, where he and other longshore negotiating team members had just been meeting with dockworkers from around the world to shore-up support from international unions.

    International Vice President Joe Radisich took the stage and thanked all the walkers for their hard work and asked rally participants to salute the successful organizing campaign by 600 workers at the Rite Aid warehouse in Lancaster. Tim Patrick and Andrea Miller, both former Rite Aid warehouse workers, stepped forward to receive a warm round of applause from the crowd on behalf of their co-workers.

    Local 13 President Joe Cortez welcomed everyone “to the home of Local 13,” thanked ILWU members for coming, and urged workers from shipping, trucking, railroads, and airlines to come together and “share our power as working people.”

    ILWU International Secretary-Treasurer William Adams told the crowd, “The fight for good jobs is critical for our communities, but it’s not just a local issue – it’s a global issue and unions from all over the world are part of the same struggle.” 

    ILWU Coordinator of International Relations Ray Familathe who, with Adams and others, had just arrived after flying 14 hours from Australia, presented a special tee shirt to Maria Elena Durazo of the LA Labor Federation, signed by over a hundred union activists from all over the world who attended the global labor conference in Sydney. 

    “We’re presenting this symbol of support from workers in China, Japan, and Great Britain; from longshore workers, truck drivers, steelworkers, and miners,” said Familathe as he unfurled the signature-emblazoned shirt.  “Workers from around the world have lent their support to our fight, so workers in LA will never walk alone.”


    To see a large collection of full-color images from “Hollywood to the Docks,” go to:  www.contract2008.org

– Bill Orton