ILWU Canada members, friends, family and affiliates gathered for the 30th Convention, 20th Biennial on April 1-4 in Surrey, British Columbia under the theme “Against All Odds.”

    A total of 80 delegates registered for the convention, including representatives from the Retail Wholesale Union of British Columbia, the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union of Saskatchewan, and the Grain Services Union of Saskatchewan, which are ILWU affiliates along with the 12 longshore, marine and warehouse locals in British Columbia.

    ILWU International Secretary-Treasurer Willie Adams was an invited guest and speaker at the event.  He emphasized the importance of unity and cooperation between union members in Canada and the U.S and the importance of longshore contract negotiations in the U.S.

    “Your theme, ‘Against All Odds,’ is a good one that sums up the experience of our entire union,” Adams said. “Every bit of progress we’ve made has been a struggle, and many of those struggles seemed impossible at the time.”

    Adams talked about the difficult times in the 1930’s when the ILWU was born.

    “Those were hard times, but I remember that my grandmother used to say ‘it’s only when it’s dark enough that you can see the stars.’  We lived through dark times back then, and we’re living in dark times now with the anti-labor governments in Canada and the U.S. We’ve seen them try to crucify the working-class, but I think there’s going to be a resurrection as people realize how much pain and greed have damaged both our nations.”

     Joining Adams was ILWU Director of International Affairs Ray Familathe out of Local 13 who is now coordinating international support for the U.S. longshore contract effort.

    Mick Doleman, Assistant National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, greeted delegates with a sober message and video presentation about their militant struggle against union busting that took place 10 years ago during the Patrick’s dispute. Many in the room drew parallels with the anti-union governments now in power at the provincial and national level in Canada.

    ILWU Canada’s Longshore Caucus met a day before the convention to discuss developments in their industry and debate policy.  The Caucus came on the heels of a challenging contract negotiation that lasted more than a year before a tentative settlement was reached on Jan. 25 and the agreement was ratified in March. The contract provides new benefits for casual workers along with wage and benefit increases for registered longshore workers.

The new contract will require day shift workers to arrive at the hiring hall 15 minutes earlier, a move that generated some opposition.  The Convention debated and passed several resolutions, which were unavailable in finished form as the Dispatcher goes to press, but should be available next month.